622 Gets No Signal, Tries to Restart Continually--3rd Unit Doing This

ultimato

Member
Original poster
Apr 12, 2008
8
0
I've just about had it with Dish unless someone can help me figure out what the problem is. I am now on my third 622 and this one is having the same problem that the last two had. For no apparent reason, after a random amount of time--with one unit it was a day, with this one it's been three weeks--the 622 suddenly stops receiving a signal and continually tries to reboot itself. My screen will just say no signal on it and you can hear what must be either the hard drive or the fan continually whirring. At some points I have no lights on the box, at others just the green TV light, and at others all of the lights will go on for a split second. Occasionally it will actually acquire the satellite and the TV will come back on but then it might last a few minutes or an hour before it suddenly goes back to no signal.

I have been on the phone with Dish tech support for hours and they have been unable to diagnose or fix the problem. After sending me two refurb units they finally sent a technician to the house who gave me a new 622 and told me it would be fine. He was right--for three weeks this one was fine and then it happened again last night. It's still out this morning.

I got on the phone with Dish again last night and was told they would send another technician this week with yet another 622. I insisted that they send the technician with a 722 instead, hoping that will solve the problem, and they tried to charge me the full$100, which I find outrageous since I've had three bad pieces of equipment from them in a row. Why should I have to pay for equipment that actually works?! After arguing and threatening to cancel my service they finally agreed to give me half off, so I'm paying $50 for the 722 even though I have no idea if I will have the same problem with that one too.

I've been trying to think of what else can be the cause besides faulty equipment. Could there be a problem with my electrical power? I've tried plugging into both the wall and a surge protector but it doesn't make a difference. I've tried unplugging it for long periods and leaving it plugged in. I've tried extention cords to another outlet and no difference. I thought it might be the rain, which we had last night, but the problem remains when it's dry. I thought it might be either the phone line or the dish itself but the last techinician said no. I even considered that it might be the paint fumes in the house because we just painted but that makes no sense and doesn't explain why the last two units died.

Is it possible to have three units in a row with the same bizarre problem? If this 722 doesn't stay on I'm thinking of going back to DirecTV, which I used to have before Dish and HD, but who's to say I won't have the same problem there if it's NOT the receivers causing the problem but something external? And then there's always cable (unfortunately FIOS isn't in my area yet).

Does ANYBODY have a clue what's going on here and how I might be able to fix it? Or am I just having an incredible streak of bad luck with these receivers? Does anyone know if DirecTV receivers are as flaky as the DIsh ones? I love Dish when it works but this is getting silly.
 
It could be an electrical problem. A $5 AC tester just plugs into any socket and lights tell you immediately if there is a problem with wiring.

It is possible to get three bad ones, it happens in rare cases. (Sorry you're one of the rarities!)

Is your dish properly grounded?

Try to stick with it. Dish HD units way outperform Directs in my opinion.
 
Thanks for your reply. The technician that installed this last one said it was grounded OK. I just picked up a new Belkin UPS battery backup with a power line tester included. Supposedly it will detect any problems with the site wiring as soon as it's plugged in and it didn't. So as of now it seems I'm just one of the "lucky ones." We'll see what happens when I get my 722 this week. I would love to stick with Dish but it doesn't do me any good if I can't watch it!
 
I've just about had it with Dish unless someone can help me figure out what the problem is. I am now on my third 622 and this one is having the same problem that the last two had. For no apparent reason, after a random amount of time--with one unit it was a day, with this one it's been three weeks--the 622 suddenly stops receiving a signal and continually tries to reboot itself. My screen will just say no signal on it and you can hear what must be either the hard drive or the fan continually whirring. At some points I have no lights on the box, at others just the green TV light, and at others all of the lights will go on for a split second. Occasionally it will actually acquire the satellite and the TV will come back on but then it might last a few minutes or an hour before it suddenly goes back to no signal.

I have been on the phone with Dish tech support for hours and they have been unable to diagnose or fix the problem. After sending me two refurb units they finally sent a technician to the house who gave me a new 622 and told me it would be fine. He was right--for three weeks this one was fine and then it happened again last night. It's still out this morning.

I got on the phone with Dish again last night and was told they would send another technician this week with yet another 622. I insisted that they send the technician with a 722 instead, hoping that will solve the problem, and they tried to charge me the full$100, which I find outrageous since I've had three bad pieces of equipment from them in a row. Why should I have to pay for equipment that actually works?! After arguing and threatening to cancel my service they finally agreed to give me half off, so I'm paying $50 for the 722 even though I have no idea if I will have the same problem with that one too.

I've been trying to think of what else can be the cause besides faulty equipment. Could there be a problem with my electrical power? I've tried plugging into both the wall and a surge protector but it doesn't make a difference. I've tried unplugging it for long periods and leaving it plugged in. I've tried extention cords to another outlet and no difference. I thought it might be the rain, which we had last night, but the problem remains when it's dry. I thought it might be either the phone line or the dish itself but the last techinician said no. I even considered that it might be the paint fumes in the house because we just painted but that makes no sense and doesn't explain why the last two units died.

Is it possible to have three units in a row with the same bizarre problem? If this 722 doesn't stay on I'm thinking of going back to DirecTV, which I used to have before Dish and HD, but who's to say I won't have the same problem there if it's NOT the receivers causing the problem but something external? And then there's always cable (unfortunately FIOS isn't in my area yet).

Does ANYBODY have a clue what's going on here and how I might be able to fix it? Or am I just having an incredible streak of bad luck with these receivers? Does anyone know if DirecTV receivers are as flaky as the DIsh ones? I love Dish when it works but this is getting silly.
I am having the same exact problem with my 622. I should get my 4th receiver tomorrow. I found out if you do not talk to a advanced Tech., they have no idea what you are talking about. I am getting really tired of this. I will go for a 722 if this one goes out.
 
If I had to guess, and I am, I would look at the outside connections for water. If they are shorting out it may look like bad power.



Both dishes are mounted on the roof on top of the chimney. No place for water to gather there.
 
I am having the same exact problem with my 622. I should get my 4th receiver tomorrow. I found out if you do not talk to a advanced Tech., they have no idea what you are talking about. I am getting really tired of this. I will go for a 722 if this one goes out.

They're sending over an advanced tech with a 722 tomorrow. We shall see, we shall see...
 
They're sending over an advanced tech with a 722 tomorrow. We shall see, we shall see...
I just received my third refurb. 622 on Friday. On the first day, I started having the freezing problems, Re-starting on its own,.etc. I talked to Dish and told them about your problem that I had read and they decided to sent out a Tech. on Sunday with a 722. It was also noted that I do not access to the Sat. 105. They are going to correct this too.
 
Update: Installers came yesterday and put in the 722. 24 hours so far with a reboot! My only concern as of now is that the box seems to be running hotter than the 622 and that either the fan or the hard drive is constantly spinning--not loudly the way it does when it's doing the endless reboot, but it's still doing something that is audible if you get close enough. Is this normal? Also the unit smells a little bit like burnt rubber. I'm hoping that's typical because it's a brand new piece of equipment and that it will go away, but if it still smells after a few days it's time to call Dish again.

I'm wondering if I should add a small cooling fan behind the unit. I don't have a lot of space for it but if it will prevent the unit from overheating I'll find space. Can anyone recommend one?

The installers said that I had plenty of ventilation the way it is set up now, and they also ruled out a power issue, but they did say that if this one fries I should get an electrician to check my power.

I guess I'm just being overly paranoid because of my experiences so far, but I keep expecting to go into the TV room and hear that old familiar sound of the receiver going through its death throes.
 
The sound that you describe sounds normal for the unit. There is an audible sound from a normally functioning unit. The burnt rubber smell doesn't sound normal, though.

It appears that many of the 722's have an issue running too hot. A cooling fan would be a great idea. Here's a thread regarding coolers:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-hd...age-622-temperature-thread-your-s-hot-25.html

charlesrshell is up on this one. He could provide insight if the thread doesn't do it.

Glad it's working...how's your picture quality?
 
The sound that you describe sounds normal for the unit. There is an audible sound from a normally functioning unit. The burnt rubber smell doesn't sound normal, though.

It appears that many of the 722's have an issue running too hot. A cooling fan would be a great idea. Here's a thread regarding coolers:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-hd...age-622-temperature-thread-your-s-hot-25.html

charlesrshell is up on this one. He could provide insight if the thread doesn't do it.

Glad it's working...how's your picture quality?


I just ordered a cooling fan from Amazon. I did check the temperatures being generated by the unit and it reported a high of 134, low of 80 and average 96, which seems in line with what others are reporting here. As for the quality, I wish I could say it's exactly where I'd like it to be but my wife immediately noticed it didn't seem as sharp as it was with the 622 and after a few hours of viewing I have to agree with her. I noticed sharper quality coming from the antenna I used while the 622 was lying dead (although that only delivered a few channels that didn't break up constantly). I have a Samsung 40" LCD and generally the quality has been good to great but never exceptional; the blacks in particular have always been horribly fuzzy no matter what I do to the settings. In any case I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If the smell remains by Monday I'll be on the phone again but as of now I'm attributing it to this being a brand new unit working outs its kinks.
 
Wow, just stumbled onto this thread. For those of you speculating a 722 might offer more reliability, I have 722 unit #4 on its way right now. Very similar symptoms on the last two as being described here. I have spontaneous reboots which get more frequent until finally the unit will not boot up period. The first 722 had a different problem, the audio dropped out on all HD channels. Dish tech support is now telling me I've got a bad surge protector and told me to plug this one directly into the wall. Sounds simplistic and a bit of a stretch, but I will give it a try, but I have a feeling they have a quality problem, and yes, you can get unlucky.
 
In case anyone is still keeping up with this thread, since I started it here is an update. I've now had my 722 for two weeks without any problems.I don't know if that means I'm home free (my last 622 lasted three weeks) but so far so good. Just FYI, I combined various bits of advice from this forum and the installers (who admitted that they've seen a lot of units reboot spontaneously and they've also been told it's a software problem). First, although different Dish reps told me to use a surge protector and to plug directly into the wall, I went with the wall. I was also told that I had plenty of ventilation on both sides but I left even more. Thirdly I bought a fan that sits on top of the unit and sucks out the hot air. It's definitely cooler to the touch. I don't know if any of those steps have made a difference (I guess I'll find out if this one dies on me--or doesn't). So far we've had one surge, which turned out to be citywide, and the unite stayed on, and I also had one "Acquiring satellite" during a show, which lasted second and then went back to the show. If I have any further updates I'll report back.
 
Thank you for the update! Without the updates we don't always know when or if it got fixed, or what may help the next person. Thanks again...hope you've got it fixed now!
 
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)