311 receivers frequently failing

[Enrique_]

I have inherited a commercial installation to maintain, installed by another company.
The system is comprised of 15- 311 receivers, 4- DP34 switches, and one 18" dual LNB(119/110) dish. On a hilltop, no trees around.

My BIG problem is, the receivers frequently intermittently fail. We find them with black screens, on channel 9600/9800, Dish500 screens, you name it. Sometimes we get a multi-dish switch failure message, where changing switch ports gets everything working. Normally resetting power restores operation, today operation returned after running a Check Switch, but it may have been because it was on channel 9XXX instead of 418. Usually 1-2 fail per week, sometimes more. Failure occurs in clear, rainy, & stormy weather.

This rack of 3 per shelf produces much heat in an already hot room, so we installed 5 fans to help cool each group of 3 stacked receivers. We also added taller rubber feet for greater spacing. We installed UPSs to power the receivers to rule-out power problems.

The signal levels are under 75% and that will be improved this week hopefully.

Could heat be causing this?
Are these receivers junk?
Is it from low signal levels?

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

[TheKrell]

Yes, heat could well be a problem. Are you saying you have the 311's fail and you swap them out for new/refurb receivers? Or they recover after cycling power, cooling off, and doing the check switch? You might also stand them on edge so that heat can flow through better.

Note that the DP34's can handle much higher temperatures than the receivers. I have one that has survived for years in my attic which regularly goes well above 130 deg in the summertime.

 

[Enrique_]

Sorry

To clarify, when the receivers fail, we always manage to get them going again. We have never swapped-out or replaced one. They have all failed at one time or another, and were returned to normal operation. Early on, the tech-support person walked us through different checks, and they ended up working -- we've never reached the point where they suggested replacement.

 

[r10fret]

Set a daily 24 hour timer to retune them back and lock them on a specific channel. Also might work to retune in case of power fail.

 

[dishinitup09]

You can only have 3 dp34 hooked together