522 premature hd falure immenent?

[Barry Erick]

I looked inside my 522 today and was shocked at what I found. I burned my fingers on the HD! It was super hot. I then took the 3 screws out to remove the drive case (warranty tag was not in a place that would keep me from doing this). Under the HD there is a fan that is not operating. If it is supposed to operate on temperature, it is not. Heat is bad for HD's. It can warp the disks, and kill electronics.

While mine has not failed, with this condition it is more of a when it fails than if it fails.

 

[Mark_AR]

I looked inside my 522 today and was shocked at what I found.

Unless you purchased your 522 outright, you are now responsible if anything goes wrong with your 'LEASED' unit. (regardless of warranty tag)

As you state, it is not a matter of IF, but WHEN. Hopefully later than sooner.

 

[Barry Erick]

Unless you purchased your 522 outright, you are now responsible if anything goes wrong with your 'LEASED' unit. (regardless of warranty tag)

As you state, it is not a matter of IF, but WHEN. Hopefully later than sooner.

Prove it. Maybe I was just telling a wild story

 

[Bizzach]

I haven't opened my 522 up, but I only hear the fan running on a soft reboot. Granted, it's not enclosed, and I keep the house pretty cool (always below 70*), but it's odd that I NEVER hear the fan. If it weren't for the reboots, I would think it doesn't work!
Unlike computers, the fan is probably supposed to come on when the drive reaches a certian temp... who knows what that is! Anyone hear their fan running under normal circumstances?

 

[chaddux]

I looked inside my 522 today and was shocked at what I found. I burned my fingers on the HD! It was super hot. I then took the 3 screws out to remove the drive case (warranty tag was not in a place that would keep me from doing this). Under the HD there is a fan that is not operating. If it is supposed to operate on temperature, it is not. Heat is bad for HD's. It can warp the disks, and kill electronics.

While mine has not failed, with this condition it is more of a when it fails than if it fails.

What has the 522 recorded as its HDD High Temp? (Menu > 6 > 3 > Counters > Page Down)

 

[blockisle9]

What is the max it should be?
I'm not to sure how accurate these numbers are, Mine says:
HDD High Temp 114 degrees F
HDD Low Temp 31 degrees F
HDD Average Temp 68 degrees F
There is no way my HDD was ever at 31 degrees F, my house is never that cold and I have never put my 522 in the freezer

 

[chaddux]

What is the max it should be?
I'm not to sure how accurate these numbers are, Mine says:
HDD High Temp 114 degrees F
HDD Low Temp 31 degrees F
HDD Average Temp 68 degrees F
There is no way my HDD was ever at 31 degrees F, my house is never that cold and I have never put my 522 in the freezer

They all say 31 degrees for a week or so after you get the software. Depending on when you got the software, it will eventually update itself. Mine originally said 31 but now says a more believable 80.

 

[korsjs]

i can just see it now. five or six months from now, 522s start to fail from another poor receiver design. let's hope this does not happen.

 

[Barry Erick]

What has the 522 recorded as its HDD High Temp? (Menu > 6 > 3 > Counters > Page Down)

High temp = 122
Low temp - 31
Average temp = 62 ? If so, this is fine, but it must have been 122 yesterday

First I ever looked at counters, interesting. BTW: When does the HD button get highlighted?

 

[Mark_AR]

Prove it. Maybe I was just telling a wild story

It really doesn't matter to me.

If the 522 was not a lease, it would be neat to put a Koolance Liquid Cooler kit in it in place of the fan. But then you need a heat exchanger too.

http://www.koolance.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=29_45&products_id=142

Or at the very least a different fan like the AOC Ultimate.

http://www.xoxide.com/aoculhardriv.html

Not sure what the db noise level of the fan is....

But since this is all hypothetical, it really doesn't matter.

 

[Mark_AR]

Mine also reports 123 as a high and 31 as low.

Wonder if putting the whole 522 in a mini-fridge would be an option.

 

[Mark_AR]

i can just see it now. five or six months from now, 522s start to fail from another poor receiver design. let's hope this does not happen.

The operating temp of the Maxtor CE drives are 5-55'C or 41-131'F.

It's not so much a design flaw of Dish Network as much as it is the placement of the unit and airflow around it.

If you set it where it can't breathe and get airflow with at least a couple of inches on the sides, then it will operate at the upper limits. Does this really mean that the HDD will fail faster. I dunno. But as been stated before, moving parts tend to fail faster.

What are the odds that DirecTivo's have the hard drive failure rate close to the 522. Similar weakest link(HDD), similar failure rates.

It would be interesting to see side-by-side numbers.

 

[Barry Erick]

On any pc's we use at work, we check the temperature and add fans day one if needed. Heat (even within range) is an enemy to electronics.

Even if leased, a removable extra cooling would be desireable. When the unit has to go back, it would come out with no trace.

 

[Stargazer]

When I put a fan in front of my DVR's in the past I noticed that it would cause a lot of dust to go into the receivers so I quit doing that.

Has anybody heard of any reports of hard drive or tuner failures in the 522?

 

[skenney]

My 522 has crapped out - hard drive failure.

When I put a fan in front of my DVR's in the past I noticed that it would cause a lot of dust to go into the receivers so I quit doing that.

Has anybody heard of any reports of hard drive or tuner failures in the 522?

My 522 just failed me this week (brand new 9/28/04), and a new one is on its way to replace it.
It had been working fine (relatively speaking) until this past Tuesday and Wednesday, when during a search function it would start into a 'hard drive diagnostic' and then restart ok. Well, after a few times of that happening, on Thursday it went into a endless 'hard drive diagnostic''. Even after pulling the plug and letting it sit a couple of times (one time for at least an hour) still no luck. So just over 90 days old and kaboom on thee ole hard drive. Just to add, it sat in an open / very well ventilated area.

Steve

 

[johnarose]

I got 'hard drive diagnostic' in the middle of the Sugar Bowl and one a few nights ago around my 3am guide download. My fan is constantly on. I gotta check those temp settings.

 

[stone phillips420]

i knew these darn dvrs would have problem with hd, so before i streamed mine i installed norton ghost and ghosted it then i ordered replacement hd and ghost the original hd to it,
i have hd diagnostics screen on everything i record unless i protect, i guess protect everything you wanna watch on the 522