SmallHD 502/702 SDI issues (disappointing solder work from SmallHD, video inside)

[Josh Becker]

Hey everyone, so after about a year and half of use on my SmallHD, I started getting really bad input issues on the SDI jack. Of course, it was probably from a stiff cable or some pressure on the SDI jack (which was now wiggly and loose).

Since it was well out of warranty and I'm equipped with some electronics tools, I decided to take a peek inside and see if I could fix it. I ended up finding some pretty disappointing solder work on the posts of the SDI jacks. Long story short, SmallHD seems to solder and *then* flush-cut the posts of the SDI jack, and mine were cut pretty low to the board. This means the integrity of the connection was compromised big time and it was only a matter of time until it broke.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9Zf9Q30dqg&feature=youtu.be

I feel like I know a handful of people who have had issues with their SDI jacks and I thought this was worth discussing with the community, because in my personal opinion SmallHD did a poor job protecting against SDI jack damage ( less effort than they did for the HDMI jacks, if you watch the video) and I'm sure a lot of people paid for repairs to be made out of warranty.

 

[Arnaud Dumas]

Hi Josh and thank you for this video. I personnaly haven't had any issue with the HD-SDI port yet, as our 702 high brightness is quite new. However the Sony NP battery connector seems to be another weak part. After one or two days of use, the monitor was shutting down constantly when the battery was touched. The battery was wiggling a bit and it seems it was affecting the battery connection.

While our monitor was away for repair, I rented the same model at a local shop and they were having the same issue. They told me they switched to LP-E6 batteries after sending theirs back a couple of times.

 

[Chris Steel]

Something I noticed in your video.
There are almost no mechanical connections of any parts on that board. The SDI's and HDMIs are just handing out of the board by solder. That is not strong enough at all. granted they wedged the HDMIs in but that still doesn't completely resolve the issue.

If you've every taken apart a decent power tool, you'll see hot glue and epoxy resin holding parts in place. Sure hot glue isn't the strongest but it hinders any wiggle that would break solder joints.

I've had similar issues with the 502. HDMI was straight broken when I got to it. SDI out was intermittent. Updating the firmware the first time almost bricked the thing. Joystick was unresponsive one minute and giving false inputs the next.

They build the frame very solidly but the rest is just swinging free from it.

 

[Josh Becker]

Something I noticed in your video.
There are almost no mechanical connections of any parts on that board. The SDI's and HDMIs are just handing out of the board by solder. That is not strong enough at all. granted they wedged the HDMIs in but that still doesn't completely resolve the issue.

If you've every taken apart a decent power tool, you'll see hot glue and epoxy resin holding parts in place. Sure hot glue isn't the strongest but it hinders any wiggle that would break solder joints.

I've had similar issues with the 502. HDMI was straight broken when I got to it. SDI out was intermittent. Updating the firmware the first time almost bricked the thing. Joystick was unresponsive one minute and giving false inputs the next.

They build the frame very solidly but the rest is just swinging free from it.

Yeah, the frame is solid, I actually came out of this whole experience really admiring how they designed and made this monitor, there really is no wasted space. The ports were definitely a weakness of the design, but some of the responses I've received on Facebook groups I shared the video with say that SmallHD fixed theirs for free and added a stronger piece to reinforce the SDI jacks (basically a heavier "sticker" piece, I think, perhaps with a screw hole to pass through the aluminum frame? I haven't seen it) so it sounds like SmallHD has definitely improved it. Hopefully they are fixing out of warranty ones for free, I just assumed that since I was out of warranty that I would be SOL and be charged no matter what but maybe I would have been OK reaching out to them, haha.

 

[Hal Long]

Agreed. Having had two of the 702's with SDI and HDI problems that have forced me to remove them from SDI signal chains or lose monitors/recorders, I'd add that one of the Sony plates failed on each. Not impressed.

 

[Ganael Dumontier]

Hi Josh,
I'm running in some issues with my SDI port on my SmallHD 502, do you think you could make this video available again?
Or send me a private link? I will need to fix it myself as SmallHD doesn't want to cover it. I think your video might help me understand if I can do it myself.
Thank you!