My Microtech FW Card Reader Heats MD's (OT)

I'm curious if others have noted this:

I have a Microtech Firewire Card Reader, which I use to transfer files from 1 GB IBM MicroDrives. Works beautifully and fast.

If I remove the MD right after completing a file transfer, the MD is not particularly warm.

If I forget about it, and leave it in while doing other things, and then remember to remove it - it is quite warm, much moreso than if I removed it right after a transfer (the exact opposite of what I would have expected).

This is an XP Home system.

I wrote to Microtech's Tech Support via web/email, and received this reply:

"Don't leave the drive inserted when it is not in use."

I was pretty disgusted with this useless response and wrote back, but after several weeks, they haven't bothered to respond.

Anyway, I was curious if others had noted this in their systems. I can't imagine cooking a MD would be good for it, so I try to remember to remove it right after completing a transfer.

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

Don,

While the response from Microtech came across in a somewhat "AUDI 5000, don't forget to put your foot on the brake before putting the car in gear" type response, the resonse, is, in fact, right on. The drive when inserted into a camera only spins up when it is being written to or accessed. In the card reader, however, the drive spins up and stays spinning until it is unmounted at which point it spins down again. Remember that it is mounted as a full "drive" on your system, exactly like your other drives which don't spin down either...
Hope this helps.
Best,
Phil

DonCohen said:

I'm curious if others have noted this:

I have a Microtech Firewire Card Reader, which I use to transfer
files from 1 GB IBM MicroDrives. Works beautifully and fast.

If I remove the MD right after completing a file transfer, the MD
is not particularly warm.

If I forget about it, and leave it in while doing other things, and
then remember to remove it - it is quite warm, much moreso than if
I removed it right after a transfer (the exact opposite of what I
would have expected).

This is an XP Home system.

I wrote to Microtech's Tech Support via web/email, and received
this reply:

"Don't leave the drive inserted when it is not in use."

I was pretty disgusted with this useless response and wrote back,
but after several weeks, they haven't bothered to respond.

Anyway, I was curious if others had noted this in their systems. I
can't imagine cooking a MD would be good for it, so I try to
remember to remove it right after completing a transfer.

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

Click to expand...

--
Phil Williams
http://www.photosolve.com

I had the same experience with the heat. The unit finally went tits up after about 4 months. Haven't bothered to get any warranty replacement yet. I'm currently using the USB version with no heat build up. This unit has been in service for over a year with no problems. The heat build-up is a common problem with all firewire readers - even other brands. I think I'll wait for the USB 2 version, as the USB 1 is reliable but slow.

Don. I have the Microtech reader as well but I only use 512mb CF cards. I notice they can be a little warm when removing them but not hot or anything that would be alarming. The difference may be that the CF unlike the MD does not have a moving disk and I am not sure if there is continued movement of the drive which could explain the observed differences. I personally do not see why anyone uses MDs. The CF cards are relatively cheap and changing them during an outing is easier than changing film. The risk of a MD crash is worrisome for me at least. This is not to say CF cards cannot have problems. I had one that had to be reformatted because of some error that developed and I lost a few shots--nothing important. Happened once and that was it. I have 4 - 512 cards, two ridata and two simpletech all purchased from ebay price range 125 to 250 each. Mark

DonCohen said:

I'm curious if others have noted this:

I have a Microtech Firewire Card Reader, which I use to transfer
files from 1 GB IBM MicroDrives. Works beautifully and fast.

If I remove the MD right after completing a file transfer, the MD
is not particularly warm.

If I forget about it, and leave it in while doing other things, and
then remember to remove it - it is quite warm, much moreso than if
I removed it right after a transfer (the exact opposite of what I
would have expected).

This is an XP Home system.

I wrote to Microtech's Tech Support via web/email, and received
this reply:

"Don't leave the drive inserted when it is not in use."

I was pretty disgusted with this useless response and wrote back,
but after several weeks, they haven't bothered to respond.

Anyway, I was curious if others had noted this in their systems. I
can't imagine cooking a MD would be good for it, so I try to
remember to remove it right after completing a transfer.

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

Click to expand...

Hi Phil,

Member said:

While the response from Microtech came across in a somewhat "AUDI
5000, don't forget to put your foot on the brake before putting the
car in gear" type response, the resonse, is, in fact, right on. The
drive when inserted into a camera only spins up when it is being
written to or accessed. In the card reader, however, the drive
spins up and stays spinning until it is unmounted at which point it
spins down again. Remember that it is mounted as a full "drive" on
your system, exactly like your other drives which don't spin down
either...

Click to expand...

Appreciate the reply and perspective.

What you say does make sense on one level. On the other, though, you'd think Microtech would realize this potential for heat, and design the reader to spin down when not being accessed. I guess it's possible that it's an OS requirement that's out of their control.

In any case, thanks again. Obviously I have adjusted my habits, and posted in part to warn others of this issue.

All the best,

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

Hi Fred,

Fred Perra said:

I had the same experience with the heat. The unit finally went tits
up after about 4 months. Haven't bothered to get any warranty
replacement yet. I'm currently using the USB version with no heat
build up. This unit has been in service for over a year with no
problems. The heat build-up is a common problem with all firewire
readers - even other brands. I think I'll wait for the USB 2
version, as the USB 1 is reliable but slow.

Click to expand...

Bummer.

I bought this to replace my previous Microtech USB driver (which I gave to my daughter with my prior computer), and never had any problems with it. I didn't notice any heat issue with it, but didn't really look for it either.

Best regards,

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

Hi Mark,

mark kay said:

Don. I have the Microtech reader as well but I only use 512mb CF
cards. I notice they can be a little warm when removing them but
not hot or anything that would be alarming. The difference may be
that the CF unlike the MD does not have a moving disk and I am not
sure if there is continued movement of the drive which could
explain the observed differences.

Click to expand...

Have you ever tried leaving them in for say 20-30 minutes after downloading the files? That's the circumstance when I notice the heat, rather than right after a download.

mark kay said:

I personally do not see why
anyone uses MDs. The CF cards are relatively cheap and changing
them during an outing is easier than changing film. The risk of a
MD crash is worrisome for me at least. This is not to say CF cards
cannot have problems. I had one that had to be reformatted because
of some error that developed and I lost a few shots--nothing
important. Happened once and that was it. I have 4 - 512 cards, two
ridata and two simpletech all purchased from ebay price range 125
to 250 each. Mark

Click to expand...

I appreciate this perspective, and understand the relative virtues of solid state CF-1 vs the moving parts of the MD. Generally the MD has the advantage of cost/megabyte. This was definitely true when I bought my first one (November, 2000) when CF-1 was nowhere near this capacity, and would be much more expensive. As time goes on, this cost/mb difference is narrowing, although it's still there.

I've had the one MD for coming up on 2 years, and the other for 6 months, and have had no problems with either. Certainly there's potential for them to fail, but CF-1 is not immune either. I've never seen any meaningful controlled comparisons of usage/failure, so have no idea which is more reliable. And while I understand there is greater potential for mechanical damage with MD, with reasonable care, I think this is a relative non-issue.

But as you said, to each his/her own. It's good to have so many choices.

Best regards,

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

Mine gets warm, too.

DonCohen said:

I'm curious if others have noted this:

I have a Microtech Firewire Card Reader, which I use to transfer
files from 1 GB IBM MicroDrives. Works beautifully and fast.

If I remove the MD right after completing a file transfer, the MD
is not particularly warm.

If I forget about it, and leave it in while doing other things, and
then remember to remove it - it is quite warm, much moreso than if
I removed it right after a transfer (the exact opposite of what I
would have expected).

This is an XP Home system.

I wrote to Microtech's Tech Support via web/email, and received
this reply:

"Don't leave the drive inserted when it is not in use."

I was pretty disgusted with this useless response and wrote back,
but after several weeks, they haven't bothered to respond.

Anyway, I was curious if others had noted this in their systems. I
can't imagine cooking a MD would be good for it, so I try to
remember to remove it right after completing a transfer.

Don
http://www.dlcphotography.net

Click to expand...

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise