David Clark headsets

[67 m20F chump]

I haven’t been flying much but I went up with a friend yesterday to shoot a couple of approaches.  The noise canceling stopped working on my 10-13X.  I have had them for over 20 years and have flown with them for 4-5000 hours.  They have been great and never given me any trouble.

 

This morning I called DC to ask about fixing them.  They said to send them in!  How many companies can you think of that offer that kind of service?  I wish I had anything that holds up as well as my DC’s.    I’m so impressed that my electronic gadget lasted so long and is still supported.  This is one of the great American companies in aviation.

[orionflt]

talked to them about my X10 headset, they do not have many parts for it but told me to send it in and if they have the parts they will fix it if not they will give me trade in value for it.

Brian

[Bob_Belville]

Love the DC company. Their products are real world rugged and their customer service is the best I've ever encountered.

 

[MIm20c]

4-5k hours would have been at least 30 trips back to the manufacture for my lightspeed or telex headsets. Nice work DC!

[ChrisV]

1 hour ago, MIm20c said:

4-5k hours would have been at least 30 trips back to the manufacture for my lightspeed or telex headsets.

Or bose.

[ZuluZulu]

2 hours ago, MIm20c said:

4-5k hours would have been at least 30 trips back to the manufacture for my lightspeed or telex headsets. Nice work DC!

I haven’t been flying long enough to know if that’s true for mine, but for what it’s worth, Lightspeed customer service has always been excellent to me.

[tigers2007]

I installed a HeadsetsInc ANR kit in my 24yo H10-13.4’s and a H10-76 military set I got off eBay for $15. They work great!

http://www.headsetsinc.com/ANR_kits.html

If anyone goes with this, I’d get the cable upgrade and a fresh set of gel earseals. Maybe a new sheepskin headpad to replace the thick foam pad.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[DonMuncy]

I have old David Clarks with the headsets.inc ANR units and with Oregon Aero foam earpads. My hangar elf hardwired a plug for the ANR units adjacent to the headset plugs so I don't have to fool with batteries. I "unsprung" the DC headset tension band a bit and with the foam earpads, they are much more comfortable than the clamping of the original DCs. I admit Bose (and perhaps a few others) are superior, but not by much. I am quite happy with my set up. Almost perfect for a CB.

[0TreeLemur]

Back in 2018 when we were new to Mooney, the noise of speed was a bit too much for long trips.  So, like @tigers2007, I upgraded our DC H10-13.4s to ANR.  Huge improvement.  Highly recommended. 

During recent radio troubleshooting, I discovered that compared to my headset, the co-pilot's headset is weak, both the speaker volume and microphone power.  I took it apart to inspect, cleaned up wire placements, inspected connections, put them back together and it seems that I killed them.  Annoying.  Neither the headset or the microphone work, at all.

An older H10-13.4 headset that I've had laying around needed a new cable, so I replaced it.  No ANR in this one, so the cable replacement went easily.   Tested it in a/c today and discovered that It has a weak microphone too.  Tested in 3 of four jacks it required almost shouting to break squelch, when my headset does that with normal voice.

Anybody else have problems with microphone levels in DC headsets?   Do they go bad?

The rear seat pax headset I have is an ASA, and it comes through loud and clear albeit with no ANR.

[Hank]

0, if two different headsets have quiet mics, I'd check:

1. Intercom, to see if it's set correct or turned down
2. Plug in the copilot side, for good wiring connectiins and good contact to the headset plug.

In the meantime, send the non-working headset back to DC for repair.

[carusoam]

+1 for testing the DC customer service button...

Bob loved his DCs... DC loved fixing and sending back.... (low cost, possibly even free...)

Best regards,

-a-

[Igor_U]

Did you check if mic and phono jacks are clean with no corrosion?
i had that issue with my 13.4 due to jacks being cooper and would not have a good contact.

cleaning with Scotch brite would restore shine and electrical contact... 

[David Lloyd]

Just don't send your DC back for repair if it has the Headsets ANR kit.  They will remove it for you and return your headset in like new condition.

[0TreeLemur]

9 hours ago, Igor_U said:

Did you check if mic and phono jacks are clean with no corrosion?
i had that issue with my 13.4 due to jacks being cooper and would not have a good contact.

cleaning with Scotch brite would restore shine and electrical contact... 

The old cable had bronze contacts so I replaced it with one with gold plated contacts- so that's not it.   I tested it in 3 of the 4 jacks, same performance in each, I also tested my headset in those jacks, and it is great in each.   Its not the jacks, nor the intercom settings.  It's the microphone in that headset.

I enjoy fixing things myself, especially when A&P oversight isn't required.  I can do this.  I think I'll look into ordering a new mic and see if that fixes the problem.  Or, maybe somebody who got a really cool new set of Bose or some such headset for Christmas will sell their H10.13X headset.   I want 9V ANR because my plane has jacks for 9V power in the panel.  I'll modify to eliminate battery as per @DonMuncy

[Raptor05121]

This is why I opted to buy the One-X versus the Bose or Lightspeeds