D&C mic problem

MachFly

MachFly

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Oct 3, 2011
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MachFly
I had my David & Clark H10-13S for 3 years now (maybe 4), during that time they've been working great. Yesterday I was flying and all of a sudden my voice started coming through the intercom much quieter and not as clear, later the tower also told me that I'm not clear. It was the end of the flight, I was about to land, so I just figured there was something wrong with the airplane and couldn't be bothered to troubleshoot. Today I go up again (in a different plane), same thing. Tried playing with the mic and the cables, no change.

Anyone here had a similar problem or have any idea what this can be?


Thanks in advance
 
First off, it's David Clark (no &, it's named after founder David M. Clark). One thing to check is that the microphone hasn't twisted around such that you are talking into the back end.
 
flyingron said:
First off, it's David Clark (no &, it's named after founder David M. Clark). One thing to check is that the microphone hasn't twisted around such that you are talking into the back end.
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I do not believe it's twisted. Today in the aircraft I tried talking into the back end of it in case if it is twisted and it didn't help. After reading your post I went to inspect the microphone (without the glove) and it does not seem twisted.
 
You can always tell if the microphone is facing the wrong way. There are 2 little screws that clamp down onto the wire leads from the mic to the boom. If the little screw heads are facing your mouth, the microphone is the right way.

Unfortunately after just a short period of time, some microphones - because of the way they are constructed - become unusable because the electret diaphragm inside starts to sag onto the static pickup plate below it. You can try gently blowing out the ports on the front side of the mic by removing the muff cover and blowing through the slits. However, this is risky because you can actually tear the electret material if you're not careful.

You can also check the little lead screws and make sure that they are both tightened down. However, the leads should be making contact with the inner sleeve inside the mic base whether the screws are present or not.

From your short description, it sounds like you may need a replacement microphone. Our microphones are built to avoid that issue and it will be the best microphone you ever had, period.

I hope you are able to get it fixed, but let me know if you have any other questions.
 
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Of course DC has pretty good customer service, you might give them a call.
 
The mic has a tiny preamp inside it, and it has likely failed.

Another thing I've seen: pilots that wrap the cord tightly around the headset to store it. That pulls hard on the cord at the strain relief at the earcup and eventually causes torn or shorted wires in that area.

Dan
 
Archammer said:
You can always tell if the microphone is facing the wrong way. There are 2 little screws that clamp down onto the wire leads from the mic to the boom. If the little screw heads are facing your mouth, the microphone is the right way.

Unfortunately after just a short period of time, some microphones - because of the way they are constructed - become unusable because the electret diaphragm inside starts to sag onto the static pickup plate below it. You can try gently blowing out the ports on the front side of the mic by removing the muff cover and blowing through the slits. However, this is risky because you can actually tear the electret material if you're not careful.

You can also check the little lead screws and make sure that they are both tightened down. However, the leads should be making contact with the inner sleeve inside the mic base whether the screws are present or not.

From your short description, it sounds like you may need a replacement microphone. Our microphones are built to avoid that issue and it will be the best microphone you ever had, period.

I hope you are able to get it fixed, but let me know if you have any other questions.
Click to expand...

Confirmed that the mic is facing the correct way.

I'll try what you said when I head out to the airport...tough to troubleshoot it from home.

Thanks
 
Dan Thomas said:
The mic has a tiny preamp inside it, and it has likely failed.

Another thing I've seen: pilots that wrap the cord tightly around the headset to store it. That pulls hard on the cord at the strain relief at the earcup and eventually causes torn or shorted wires in that area.

Dan
Click to expand...

I don't think that would be the case because the mic still works, and works well enough to be usable. Just a lot worse than before. If the cord would have shorted the mic would not work at all.
 
flyingron said:
Of course DC has pretty good customer service, you might give them a call.
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Yeah...somehow I think they'll just tell me to mail them the headphones and make me wait quite a while to get them back. I'll give them a call tomorrow (I assume they are closed today) and see what they have to say.
 
MachFly said:
I don't think that would be the case because the mic still works, and works well enough to be usable. Just a lot worse than before. If the cord would have shorted the mic would not work at all.
Click to expand...

I have seen a weak mic when the ground wire failed. It tries to ground through the audio hot line. The audio gets weird, too.

Dan
 
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