Are HIGH temps causing the DVR issues?

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schneid

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jun 27, 2007
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In the Wind
I am hypothesizing that there may be a relationship between blank, gray, and IKD recordings and internal box temps. After being with D* for ten years I jumped to E* ATT Homezone for four months last year. This box was a nightmare and it was often due to high temps. In the end, I had five auxiliary fans to get the box sort of stable. I remember then that E* support admitted temps around 127 or above would cause errors. I thought even lower temps would.

I came back to D* last October and have had little trouble with my HR20-100. When I first installed it I added some extra cooling a la E*, but finally discovered a modified PCI card slot fan pulling out of the right rear side vent would keep the box under 100. In April I added a 1TB Cavalry eSATA drive and my problems began. With the Cavalry had three issues. One was two drives were just plain bad, two was that the Cavalry connector was a loose fit, and three was the Cavalry ran hot to the touch. While waiting for the Cavalry's to be RMA'ed, I had no issues running with the internal drive. Box temps were generally 98.

After receiving my third Cavalry I found it kind of stable until the box received the slightest bump locking up the HR20-100. The eSATA cable would just not seat snuggly. Taking drastic measures, I removed the drive from the Cavalry case and eSATA to SATA cabled it directly to the box. For power I am using an idle PC 350w power supply I had in my PC graveyard. Yes, the setup is is very ugly. BTW, to get the PC power supply to turn on you must ground/short the green motherboard connector wire to any of the black ones.

Bottom line for right now is taht I am having no errors, The HR20-100 is 92 degrees, I assume because the internal drive is inactive, and the bare Cavalry drive, a 1TB Western Digital Green, is cool to the touch.

So if you are having recording errors and your temps are in the teens or above, you might see if add-on cooling helps. All the boxes cool differently so make sure you are supplementing the OEM airflow. I have added a Radio Shack adjustable output wall brick to the fan. This allows you to control the airflow and also quiet the fan. I thought the PC power supply would be noisy but isn't. I guess that is because it has very little demand placed on it.

Anyway, that's my theory.
 
The HR20-100 run a bit cooler than the -700's do.
Most -700's run from 116* -127 * anything over 127* I would look into.
Mine (-700) has run all night since about 5:30 and it is running at 124* at the moment ... I have not had any problems related to heat, actually I haven't had any problems with this unit in a long time.
I have a cooling fan that I bought a long while back, but NEVER use it anymore.

The -100's run somewhere around 106 *- 115 * I think I heard people say...

If your running your -100 at 106* your issues should not be heat related.

Jimbo
 
I am still problem free since removing the flaky Cavalry from its case. The receiver is in the low 90's and the bare drive has no heat detectable at all.
 
So maybe it's the Calvery HD thats causing your issues ....

Jimbo

Exactly. The last replacement drive they sent me had a taped over serial number. I removed and it was hiding the sticker for another model. Its problem seemed to be mostly due to a loose fitting eSATA socket either made poorly or worn from prior use as the case was obviously used.
 
The HR20-100 run a bit cooler than the -700's do.
Most -700's run from 116* -127 * anything over 127* I would look into.
Mine (-700) has run all night since about 5:30 and it is running at 124* at the moment ... I have not had any problems related to heat, actually I haven't had any problems with this unit in a long time.
I have a cooling fan that I bought a long while back, but NEVER use it anymore.

The -100's run somewhere around 106 *- 115 * I think I heard people say...

If your running your -100 at 106* your issues should not be heat related.

Jimbo
Yea My Hr20 700 runs from 118-124*F Never seen it higher or lower then that.
 
Thermo-controlled outlet. Turns on at 78 degrees. Lots of possibilities for an equipment cabinet.

BUYEXTRAS.COM

Only problem I see with this item would be , when you plug this in, it's into a wall outlet, which has plenty of air flow, the heat issues are mainly in a cabinet, thus,it would not turn on when needed if it was not inside the cabinet.

Jimbo
 
Only problem I see with this item would be , when you plug this in, it's into a wall outlet, which has plenty of air flow, the heat issues are mainly in a cabinet, thus,it would not turn on when needed if it was not inside the cabinet.

Jimbo

I'd put it in the cabinet.
 
So it would be connected to an extension cord ?
Or do you have a power box inside the cabinet ?

Jimbo

My heat issues are under control. I just thought it was a neat product with all kinds of applications. But yes, the ideal place would be inside the cabinet if it was a closed one.
 
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