TASCAM US-1800 ISSUES! Not Being Recognized, Over Heating USB Port?

F

FuneralGoat

New member
Hey folks, this is my first post! (sucks that it has to be this one, specifically!)

So I ordered a used tascam US 1800 off ebay awhile ago and just got it today. I went to plug it in to my PC and my PC refuses to recognize it.. ok.. So, I go through the painstaking effort of plugging it in to each USB port, uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers each time... still, nothing... I will be trying a new cable and a second PC in a day or two to eliminate the PC/cable factor and determine whether or not it is the unit...

One thing I DID notice though, is that a nice square section of where the USB is connected to on the unit, gets extremely hot in a short while, and the port itself seems to have excessive play (the cable wiggles a little bit quite easily when plugged in, its not as tight as it could be it seems) . Is this normal? It hasn't been sitting powered on for more than 20 minutes and its quite hot.. I wouldnt think so.. I used to have an MBOX pro 3 and it NEVER over heated like this off the hop.

I contacted tascam to see what they have in mind, and odds are I will most likely give this seller a negative rating and get it serviced. The fact it is over heating quickly and not being recognized has me wondering...

It's a shame because this thing still looks brand new!

Thanks for your help guys.
 
arcaxis said:
Look inside the connector on back of the US-1800. It should have a rectangle block in there (black on the US-1800). If the cable got yanked it may have broken off and now the pins inside may be shorting together.

View attachment 90853

If you do contact Tascam, curious to know what the cost estimate might be for the repair.
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Nope, the connector is still there, all the gold pins are intact and there.

I will definitely relay that cost info to you!
 
If it is hot, the unit has something wrong with it. Maybe it is the cable, but they are pretty reliable and several of us on here use the interface with little complaints. Hopefully there is some recourse for you to return the unit. They are going for about $170-200 new right now.
 
Yeah, you're right. I don't really want to open it up and have a dogs breakfast on my hands, and then become really screwed.

The seller agreed to a refund, and it was sold as a working unit, not as 'not working, or for parts'. He said it did get hot when he was using it, but hell, who knows. It was about $50 bones cheaper than a brand new out of the box one, before shipping. So I will most likely go with one of the new ones with free shipping, and cut my losses. I will give it one final try tomorrow on another PC JUST to make sure, but I think its hooped. As far as I have seen so far, these units are very reliable, and I trust all your judgements! I will definitely be snagging another one, thats for sure. They seem very popular on this board.

Thanks for the support guys.
 
Just curious - did it come with the power cable? The unit doesn't power over the USB, there's actually a separate power cord.
 
"Yes, it should have come with a separate power cord with a 12vdc inline power supply "

But the USB lead will still be presenting 5V at a potential 2.5W to the port. I dare say there is SOME circuitry on the power pins? I suspect a polarity protection diode has shorted.

Bounce it back.

Dave.
 
ecc83 said:
"Yes, it should have come with a separate power cord with a 12vdc inline power supply "

But the USB lead will still be presenting 5V at a potential 2.5W to the port. I dare say there is SOME circuitry on the power pins? I suspect a polarity protection diode has shorted.

Bounce it back.

Dave.
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Unlikely they'll even bother if there's an actual dedicated AC power input. Why add duplicate power input circuitry, only to use/require one of them anyway?

Since I was at home typing this I unplugged the ac adapter, and the power and usb lights front left both went out. It would appear USB isn't being utilized for power purposes.
 
Pinky said:
Unlikely they'll even bother if there's an actual dedicated AC power input. Why add duplicate power input circuitry, only to use/require one of them anyway?

Since I was at home typing this I unplugged the ac adapter, and the power and usb lights front left both went out. It would appear USB isn't being utilized for power purposes.
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Din't say it was used as backup power! What they MIGHT do is use it for "flagging" some system or other, after all there is always going to BE power at a USB B plug!

I bet you a decent quality USB lead that if you cut the power wires to an 1800 B port it won't run!

Dave.
 
I'm with you Dave, the USB power is used for something.
I would think the power cord is to run the 8 pre-amps and Phantom. That is a lot of energy to try and get out of USB power.
 
I'd expect that as well. A proper USB device ought to at least enumerate on bus power. That doesn't mean it will necessarily operate usably, but the USB chipset portion of the interface should be powered off of the USB bus. Otherwise, your digital ground isn't going to be the same as your computer's digital ground, and you'd get horrendous communication problems (or at least I'd think so).
 
ecc83 said:
Din't say it was used as backup power! What they MIGHT do is use it for "flagging" some system or other, after all there is always going to BE power at a USB B plug!

I bet you a decent quality USB lead that if you cut the power wires to an 1800 B port it won't run!

Dave.
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If you didn't yell at me you would have gotten a thanks.

;)

!!!!
 
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