Go Pro Hero 3 Black Upgrade - Heat Issue

[eqsone]

Does anyone have a heat issue since doing the upgrade to 3.0 firmware?

Yes, I do. Can't prove it with any measurements but after the 03.00 update I captured like 5 short clips in a row, each one about 3 minutes and when I screwed it off the tripod, it just felt **** hot for the first time ever.

I use a 'Transcend Premium microSDHC 32GB Class 10 UHS-I' in a BE and my common setup is 1080/50p/M/Protune/touch backdoor/LCD touch Backpack.

Anyway, I downgraded back to 02.39 and get no heat issue under the same conditions. At best it gets slightly warm, not hot as with 03.00.

I'm curious to hear about how the case continues..

 

[DeweyAXD]

Well an update on my case:
GoPro eventually (like 2 weeks after 2 of my emails) got back to me and someone that sounds like they know what they are doing got in touch. They agree that those temperatures are too high and need to be investigated. They raised a RMA case (Bascially a warranty return). I have had to pose the camera back to GoPro in Holland (Just the camera - no battery, SD card or anything like that).
I really need it for work soon so I asked what the return time would be (I wondered if they would fix mine or just replace it). They have told me that as soon as they recieve it in the warehouse they will post a replacement out to me.

Yes, I do. Can't prove it with any measurements but after the 03.00 update I captured like 5 short clips in a row, each one about 3 minutes and when I screwed it off the tripod, it just felt **** hot for the first time ever.

I use a 'Transcend Premium microSDHC 32GB Class 10 UHS-I' in a BE and my common setup is 1080/50p/M/Protune/touch backdoor/LCD touch Backpack.

Anyway, I downgraded back to 02.39 and get no heat issue under the same conditions. At best it gets slightly warm, not hot as with 03.00.

I'm curious to hear about how the case continues..

Regards to your situation I would advise the following (you may well have done this already).

1) Remove the black sticker from inside the battery bay. GoPro told me to do this. I kept it for safe keeping but it doesn't have the serial number on it so its not needed. This sticker is not only known for shorting across the 3 gold pins but (due to it being metal) transfers heat from the Camera board to the Battery which never helps.
2) Format the card in the camera but via a computer. E.g plug it in, right click on the drive letter in Windows and choose 'Format' (do a full format not just a quick one). GoPro advised that faulty firmware installation could cause problems... personally i think that is rubbish as Firmware tends to just work or not work but still it is never a bad idea to fully re-format solid state media from time to time.
3) Take one photo after formatting and then update the Firmware again via the GoPro websites automatic detection method
4) If this fails to resolve the issue do the same again but manually update the firmware (the website tells you how to do this).
5) Test it with the Touch Bacpac attached but turned off (I found the Touchbac adds 20 degrees f to the problem)
6) Test it with no Touch Bacpac

I strongly recomend getting a laser thermometer too and getting a few readings... they are really cheap and will help diagnose all sorts of things (especially an overheating Hero!). Last thing is to try and use someone elses SD card if you have other people with a class 10? Trascend are not on GoPro's (new) list of approved so they may argue its the SD card. If you got it from E-bay then google search some 'micro sd bench mark' software. This will tell you if you actually have a 10mb/s Class 10 card or if it is a fake (even Amazon sellers are fakes sometimes).

When I get the replacement I will run my tests and update this thread in case it helps people out with theirs.

 

[eqsone]

Thanks for your reply and advice, DeweyAXD.

I checked the black sticker yet right after unboxing, I read about that issue before I purchased it. This can't be related, because 02.39 works just fine.
Fully formating the cards after every session is a thing I do generally in all of my devices. I will try it once more the way you described, but I doubt this will make any difference. Formating and Up- or downgrading obviously works perfectly with 02.39.
I do all my updates manually. The Java-way is meant to be fast and simple but it quite often leads to malfunction from what you can read all over any GoPro related forum.
I'm sure the LCD Backpack raises the temperature additionaly somehow, but in 02.39 there is still no heat-issue, even with the LCD backpack and touch door attached.

In my eyes, GoPro is just punching their customers faces again by artificially reducing the bitrate used for the (until now) recommented SanDisks, that simply can't deal with the given speed values, instead of calling SanDisk to account and get them to resolve this issue. You have to go and by another top priced card now. Yeah right.
After releasing a 'high-end' action cam which remained in beta-status for about half a year because of simply unfinished, buggy firmware, this is a quite daring thing to do now in my guess.
Anyway, after all I won't ever go buy any item recommented by GoPro, even if this means no more updates for me now

I'm just quite lucky at the moment, that I don't really miss any of the 03.00 features and can use my camera just as bug-free as before by simply staying on the pevious firmware. My cheapo-card hasn't been limited in 03.00 and my BE has never shown any problems running this one under 02.39 until now, so I'm fine with that.

And yes, please update this once you know about how your exchanged cam will behave on that. Somehow I don't beleve in a hardware issue in this case, your experience could prove me wrong.

 

[DeweyAXD]

Yeah I am pretty miffed with GoPro from a customer service perspective but that is more based on poor quality delayed responses and untrained staff on the intial reporting of the issue. At least they have taken the camera back which is a good step but I don't think any customer should have to buy heat testing equipment to prove a problem on an in warranty camera!

The farce of the SD cards is a tricky one. They clearly had reason to think that SanDisk would work for them long term and they are one of the biggest players in the memory game. They are screwed either way having made that deal as every person that purchased one from GoPro direct in the last year has a case for replacement as they have basically admitted the product they sold is no fit for purpose. Sadly I saved £10 an got mine on Amazon so have no case on the SD front. They 'should' offer replacements or at LEAST a good discount on the new listed SD's but I'm sure if they did the next camera would suffer do to the financial losses.

2.39 should serve you fine. I'd press for a replacement if you have warranty personally as it will add value to it on selling. The only thing you'll miss out on is the (very good) GoPro App update which is a marked improvement on the old one. I rarely use it but when i do it works well. Saying that I used the Panasonic TZ40 with their app the other day and that sends the image 100% live... maybe 2ms delay? I was very impressed compared to GoPro's 5-30 second delay (although it is a LOT smaller cam of course).

My camera is arriving with them today according to tracking so hopefully this time next week I might be able to report back... might be being optimistic there!

 

[DeweyAXD]

Quick update on my case. Totally out of the blue Fedex arrived a few minutes ago with the replacement camera. Simple cardboard box so I can only assume it is a re-furbed camera (it is not my original). Interestingly there was also a battery in the box too which was an unexpected surprise (I was told not to send my batt so I now have a spare).

So now it is just a case of charging, updating and testing.... watch this space.

 

[eqsone]

(...) I don't think any customer should have to buy heat testing equipment to prove a problem on an in warranty camera! (...)

Indeed. And, still a cigar lighter or does it behave as before now?

 

[DeweyAXD]

Glad you ask as I just finished testing!

Basically yes it still had the problem and overheated after 37 mins on my first test (joy).

I was at the end of my tether with it really and I sure as hell wasn't going to loose my cam for anoter 3 weeks. I bit the bullet and spent £60 on a Samnsung Pro 64gb MB-MGCGB (as per GoPro's new recommendations). Bare in mind GoPro never once mentioned it could be the card that would cause the overheat, just the Firmware and how the card is formatted.

I've done a (crude) video that shows the results.... not my best work but didn't have a lot of time to spend on the edit.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQDhH2winlk[/youtube]

Net result (for those that can't be arsed to wait for the video to end) is that it was clearly the Sandisk Ultra 64gb that was the problem.

- Sandisk Ultra = 39min 30sec (overheated)
- Samsung Pro = 180 mins+ (ran out of space)

Indeed on looking at the footage from the camera as it was failing with the Sandisk, the image is awful! Screen shot of this:



Interesting both cards got to about the same heat (60c +). The Samsung seems to manage the heat better and doesn't trip the camera out. The latest firmware is meant to handle this problem (so they told me) by slowing the write speed down on cards that can't cope.... but it clearly doesn't work on my card.

So what now? Well as those following will know I got Sandisk card direct from Amazon (not GoPro) so fighting the case with GoPro is probably not worth more than a long shot email at best.
I am out £71.50 after replacing the card and posting the camera back. This is all due to buying the card GoPro suggested at product launch which clearly they have now acknowledged as not fit for purpose in the Black. If i got it from them direct I'd show them the screen grab and go the warranty route... i may even do so with Amazon cause it could simply be a faulty card. I have spent a LOT of money with GoPro in the last 12 months so a gesture of good will would be nice (I am a realist and know that is highly unlikely).

Still at least now I can use my camera!

 

[CameraGuy]

I did some time lapse stuff last week with my GPH3BE, and shot about 6000 frames over 2 hours. I didn't have any heat issue, and the 64GB card I bought - another ADATA seemed to work well.

I am using a battery pack that is not a GoPro item. Just one of those external USB batteries. It does eat the entire gopro battery, and the backup in that time.

I have not finished working on the sequence, but I will post it. It's a driving sequence that shows my morning school bus route.

D

 

[DeweyAXD]

Yeah timelapse was never a problem for the Sandisk either but then it is a much less labour intense task from a read/right perspective so causes less heat anyway. 1080p @ 60fps in Protune seems to be pretty torturous for the Hero but then that is one of the highest high frame settings going. 4k and 2.7 is pretty hefty but they are only at lower frame rates.
I'd be nterested to see others perform my test on their cards to see how it does for sure.

 

[martcerv]

Sandisk has ruined their name pretty badly with their dodgy c10 Ultra cards as they fail to meet spec for many people, there are some good and some terrible batches of these. If you buy a sandisk ultra c10 you expect a c10 card simple as that, gopro recommended them as they were known to be the most solid and reliable card prior to this issues.

At the GoPro user forum users found this issue quite a while back

http://goprouser.freeforums.org/this-is ... 12096.html

GoPro had eventually acknowledged this was a major issue and so made changes in the v3.0 firmware.

The thing is it made gopro look very bad when its all down to the fact that Sandisk and other micro sd card manufacturers were selling substandard cads that dont meet the rated specs. All genuine sandisk cards have a lifetime warranty and so you should be able to deal with them and get your money back as the cards you bought dont meet the spec. The lifetime warranty would surely mean that it will work as advertised for as long as you have it and its not physically damaged.

From the new recommended cards list by GoPro there have been no issues reported and you will get the full bitrates as designed by GoPro when using protune. The hero4 will most likely double video frame rates in all modes and so also will need to double bitrates and so will need to do very thorough testing on SD cards that will meet spec or also come with high speed internal memory.

SD Card Recommendations

It's important to use one of the recommended SD cards in your camera, or you may experience freeze-up or video corruption issues.

We recommend only purchasing name brand SD cards through reputable resellers. There are both counterfeit and underperforming SD cards out in the marketplace, which can prevent proper functioning of your HD HERO camera's features.

Here are the SD card requirements for each camera:

HERO3: Black Edition Camera

A Class 10 MicroSD card up to 64 GB is required.

Not all Class 10 microSD cards have the same data write speeds. If you plan to shoot in 4k, 2.7k, or Protune video modes with your HERO3: Black Edition camera, we recommend using one of the following microSD cards for the best performance:

Lexar 32GB SDHC 600x (LSDMI32GBSBNA600R)
Lexar 64GB SDXC 300x (LSDMI64GBBNL300R)
Delkin 32GB SDHC (DDMICROSDPRO2-32GB)
Delkin 64GB SDXC (DDMICROSDPRO264GB)
Samsung 64GB SDXC (MB-MGCGB/AM)

With the camera software update released July 29, 2013, using other microSD cards with your HERO3: Black Edition camera while shooting in 4K, 2.7K and Protune video modes may result in a reduction of the data stream rate from 45Mb/sec to 35Mb/sec.



For HERO3 Silver and White Editions, any class 10 microSD cards can be used, including SanDisk Ultra and Lexar.

HERO3: Silver Edition Camera

A Class 4 MicroSD card up to 64 GB is required.
A Class 10 MicroSD card up to 64 GB is required for 0.5 sec Time-lapse, 10/1 Photo Burst, and Protune.

HERO3: White Edition Camera

A Class 4 MicroSD card up to 64 GB is required.
A Class 10 MicroSD card up to 64 GB is required for 0.5 sec Time-lapse.

HD HERO2 Camera

A Class 4 SD card up to 32 GB is required.
A Class 10 SD card up to 32 GB is required to use 0.5 sec Time-lapse, 10/1 Photo Burst, and Protune.

HD HERO Original Camera & HD HERO 960 Camera

A Class 4 SD card up to 32 GB is required.

Im sure there are also some faulty gopro cameras out there, but the majority are down to dodgy cards. One other thing you should do prior to any use of a gopro camera is to always do an in camera format/delete all prior to use.

I have been using sd ultra 64 cards without issues but have just got some Samsung pro 64 cards so I get back to the full bitrate recording in protune. Many others have had nothing but issues with the SD ultra cards and I am sure this has ruined their reputation greatly.