Average 622/722 Temperature thread, Is your's Hot?

[Tugboat]

Been reading this thread for some time now. My 622 is running an HD temp just under max. If I aim a small fan at it, it cools down quite well. While not admitting the opening of a leased unit, I can say that the internal layout is the main cause of the heat issue. The way the vents and internal structure are currently, they create thermal blockage in areas of the case. Under negative pressure airflow, this keeps the cooler air from passing over the HD and other components. Only with a positive airflow can they be overcome and cooling happen.

Placing the unit out in the open, raised off the table and all by its lonesome still gives negative cooling results. Now add the forced air of a fan (small or large) and cooling takes place and the results are noticable (IR temp unit or feeling by hand). Also, the removal of the cover alone lowers the temp. Add the fan and it's even more.

The design of the 622 for cooling is poor and is only gonna lead to many HD replacements. With proper spacing and fan, my HD now runs at 37c instead of 49c it was running at.

 

[Jim5506]

Have a case fan (noisy but effective) pulling air out the left side of my 622. Before fan:

H - 131
L - 104
A - 114

After fan:

H - 125
L - 89
A - 105

 

[Mark_AR]

After 4 weeks:

High: 104 - Reset itself sometime last week from initial value of 123
Low : 66 - Can't seem to get any cold nights...
Aver: 82 - I'll live with these values! :up :up

 

[Rajumon]

After 4 weeks:

High: 104 - Reset itself sometime last week from initial value of 123
Low : 66 - Can't seem to get any cold nights...
Aver: 82 - I'll live with these values! :up :up

Mark_ar, you have the "coolest" running 622 in this thread. I live in S. Calif in the valley, last few days we had a high temp of 100 and it will be impossible to match your temp. Most of these threads do not state their room temperature. I like to know what was yours. Also what was the final set up you ended up with?. Earlier you stated that you were trying to install an additional 4" fan next to the HDD in an angle. I am curious to know how you managed the air intake for that fan and how you powered it. Are you also using a lap-top cooler ?

Because of high room temp, I have been completely shutting off (un-plug) my 622 during the day while I am working. But the World-Cup starts June 9th and since I will be working during most of the time games are on, I will have to run 622 non-stop. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[abricko]

I was thinking the same thing, unless I have an AC blowing on it i'll never see those temps, it's been hot here, and i'm sure the heat will continue like that this summer (though it's june gloom today). Still my temps seem ok. so the laptop cooler is at least moving the hot air away from the 622.

 

[bhelms]

...Because of high room temp, I have been completely shutting off (un-plug) my 622 during the day while I am working. But the World-Cup starts June 9th and since I will be working during most of the time games are on, I will have to run 622 non-stop. Any suggestions are appreciated.

Mine is also in what will be a rather hot location during the summer (greenhouse!), so I have contemplated pulling the plug when it's not in actual use. I don't record much (yet) so that's less of an issue for me. The coolest place in my environment will be down at the floor level (hard tile) so I'm thinking of relocating it there, in the shade. The TV1 remote won't work but I use it in single mode most of the time so I'll either use the TV2 remote or get another UHF one. I'm also getting ready to do some fan experiments - more to follow...

 

[Mark_AR]

My room temp runs about 75-80'. A digital thermometer placed on the shelf above my 622 currently reads 75'F @ 10:53PM. (My AC is set to kick on at 80')

The only time it got to 66 was the one moring I had the window open with cool air moving into the LR. (One single morning)

I'm sure someone can skew their numbers even further by cooling their room temp more than I did. (Or packing it into their beermeister or Skybox)

Without regard to who's is the coolest. The point is that the 622 REQUIRES continuous supplimental air flow in order to run in a lower temperature range.

Laptop coolers are about the only choice the masses have unless you run a cooling duct from your AC to your HT rack.

The fan that I have installed runs 24/7 regardless of whether the 622 is on or in STBY.

 

[Mark_AR]

Rajumon:

In my honest opinion, you *MAY* be doing more harm than good by unplugging the unit.

Electronics rule of thumb is that every time you turn on or turn off an electrical device, you create a momentary voltage spike(surge) and a potential for failure.:yikes

This would be the same reason that a light bulb fails at the moment you turn it on.(usually)

Granted, this may be all speculation, but the components are on silicon with a electrical gap of only microns. Why take chances.

THen there is the issue of thermodynamic stress. Each time you heat and cool your unit, you create potential for component failure. As things heat and cool, they move a tiny bit. Way back, when integrated circuits were put into sockets, this movement was called 'chip creep'. Since the 622 has no socketed chips, I can't site a potential for 'chip creep', but use it here as a reference as to what cycling temperatures can do over time. If there is a solder connection that is borderline, then it is *possible* that repeated changes in temp could cause a problem.

At least at a constant temperature,(even if it is elevated), might be better for it than plugging and unplugging.

Lastly, you also have to consider, boot-up time, loading the guide, aquiring sats and checking switch matrix setups every time you cycle the power plug. I hate to wait even when it is in standby, so I don't know how you can do it. (I want it on NOW!) Lets not forget software downloads either... :sleeo

You would be better served going to a discount store or yard sale and picking up a cheap oscillating fan to park near the unit while you are away.

 

[Mark_AR]

My final setup:

Is still not final... I've been battling a pinched nerve in C6 with partial loss of feeling/and shooting pains in my left arm, so I haven't been on much lately or been able to get my plexiglass cover fashioned *yet*.

What I ended up with so far, is cover off, fan stuffed in between the HDD and the UHF antenna PCB at a slight angle like in the pic posted in post #111 (PIC HERE)

It is powered at 12V from pins 1(GND) and 2(+12V) of J1 on the power board. See same pic above(lower right corner. The red & black wires coming off of the first two white wires) My fan only pulls 140ma, so it is virually transparent to the onboard power supply. (The 622 internal fan draws 190ma and mine *never* runs as noted previously)

I wanted to put a HDD power splitter cable in line, and tap off of it, but since the connector has 5 pins instead of 4, a standard HDD 'Y' won't work.

No laptop cooler. Just what is pictured. Stay tuned...

Just to cover my @**. *Disclaimer* Do not attempt to open the case of your 622 unless you own it and are willing to accept the fact that by doing so, you can and may void any warranty. There are shock hazards inside so you should never move or operate the unit with the cover off. Leased units do not belong to you so never mess with them other than adding external cooling. I.E. Laptop cooler.

 

[Big D]

Is there a way to reset the counters in order to start over with fresh readings? Or is there a preset time period when it rolls out old temps and averages in newer ones? I have tried several things to lower my average temp, yet do not really know to what effect because the old high temp is still registering.

Thanks for any info on how these counters work.

 

[RandallA]

I haven't been able to find a way to reset the counters, maybe others have. One thing I noticed is that the High Temp takes a long time to change (about 2 weeks) but it will eventually begin to come down.

 

[Rajumon]

Mark_Ar,

Thank you very much for taking time to answer my questions in a very detailed manner in messeges #147, #148 & #149. I completely agree with your concerns of unplugging the unit every day. (Actually the "counters" screen tells me how many times I did this, which is kind of annoying ) It is only temporary while I am working on a permanent, non-invasive cooling modification. At present I have a small house fan blowing on the unit from the front. I do own my VIP622 with out any contarct or commitment to DISH. ( I only subscribe to the HD-Standalone pkg at the moment).

The only thing I did not like about most laptop coolers is that they intake air from the bottom of 622. I do realize that ABRICKO and others had good success with them. I prefer the fans to blow air to the bottom of 622 so that it exhausts through the left vents. I am also planning to install a fan running continuously running on the right side near the intake port. All these are going to be powered by my own external power supply. There is provision to vary the speed of all fans according to the temperature on the exhaust port. (I know, this may seem like an overkill. but I do not have an AC system except for a window unit which I run only when absolutely necessary.)

One remaining concern is the overheating Broadcom chip for which I may have to open the box. I like to add at least a heatsink on it This I am going to wait for a while to make sure everything else is working on my 622 and I need not return the 622 under warranty.

Mark_Ar, have you done anything to cool the Broadcom chip besides your own fan next to the HDD ?. My project should be completed in a week and the wheather forecast for next week is temp only in the 80 deg range.

 

[abricko]

I still think most of the random problems we are seeing from the 622 is due to heat. I can swear that as it has been getting hotter here in Los Angeles my 622 is beginning to run like crap, the past few days it's been from freezing up, i come to the receiver and either it's the press select to continue screen, a black screen (neither of which respond to the power button or select button on either tv) OR a frozen frame.

What is even more strange is that if the 622 is recording it will continue to record the program if i leave it alone, I can then do a soft reboot and the program is fine.

So my theory is that broadcomm chip is overheating and causing errors and freezes in the picture output. My solution has been to turn up the laptop cooler to HIGH for the summer, we'll see how it goes.

I also think that stupid non functioning fan inside the 622 needs to run constantly (even if only at the lowest speed possible). I'd love to know what temp they have set in order to kick that fan on. I'm sure if you left the 622 sitting in the sun and the outside case temp rose to 130+ that stupid fan still wouldn't kick on.

I'm also thinking that it may be time to put a little USB powered fan stuck to the outside of that intake port on the 622. As important as it is to have the forced exhaust (from the laptop cooler) it's equally important to get forced air into the 622.

I like what mark_ar is doing with his 622, and if i didn't lease this beast I'd do the same thing! (and add a heat sink to the broadcomm chip!)

Good Luck I look forward to what you come up with next!

 

[Allin4greeN]

I haven't been able to find a way to reset the counters, maybe others have. One thing I noticed is that the High Temp takes a long time to change (about 2 weeks) but it will eventually begin to come down.

Yup, I've noticed that it takes awhile for the temp counters to drop... I'm going on 25 days and things are looking much better! BTW, my room temp is typically 75*-80*F.

5/18/06
HT: 136
LT: 111
AT: 122

6/11/06
HT: 125
LT: 104
AT: 113

I'm going to wait one more week to see what the final temps look like before I go to the trouble of adding a second fan.

Thanks for this thread, it's been extrememly helpful!

 

[Voyager6]

I have a 522 that was running hot. Avg temp was at 110, high temp 120, low temp 108. I put two 1" spacers under the 522 and this lowered the low temp to 100. After reading this thread (thanks guys for all the great info), I purchased the Lapcool 3. In four days the low temp has gone to 92. I'll report back when the temp has stabilized. Increasing the air circulation definitely has been a plus. I'm interested in the internal fan solution if we can find a power splitter solution for the fan.

 

[seandudley]

My 622 got very hot last night. I was watching TV and all of a sudden a warning screen popped up that said that my 622 had gotten too hot. It said it was running at 145 degrees! When I went to touch the top of the 622 it would practically burn you. I unplugged it and left it off all night. I plugged it back in this morning, and for the time being it pretty cool. I have the 622 in an equipment rack with a few inches on each side and quite a bit of room above the 622. There is a Denon A/V receiver on the shelf below the 622 and a HD-DVD player on the shelf above it. I am trying to figure out exactly what I should do. I wonder if I should move the 622 to sit on top of the cabinet instead of sitting on one of the shelves?

 

[boy921]

My 622 got very hot last night. I was watching TV and all of a sudden a warning screen popped up that said that my 622 had gotten too hot. It said it was running at 145 degrees! I am trying to figure out exactly what I should do. I wonder if I should move the 622 to sit on top of the cabinet instead of sitting on one of the shelves?

seandudly,

When it got hot and the warning popped up, could you hear the fan running? As far as what to do, I would call E* and have a new one sent. It seems that you may have a fire hazard.

I had one 622 that was running hotter in an enclosed cabinet. I put a cool pan under it. It brought the temp. down only a few degrees as there was no fresh air coming into the cabinet with the door closed. I did some carpentry work and made 1"x12" horizontal slots in the back, one at the top and the another at the bottom of the cabinet. This made for a natural air flow into the cabinet. The pad now sucks the air from the 622, blows the hot air out the bottom slot which is causing air to enter via the top slot. This 622 never exceeds 120F, the same temp as my other open air 622's.

John

 

[Kandiru]

Dish created the 622 with the autobake=autodestruct feature so we get new ones just when they run out of warranty

 

[Dirtydan]

My 622 sits on 3/4" spacers in the area where 27" tv used to sit. No fans
High 129
Avg. 114
Low 107

 

[seandudley]

When it got hot and the warning popped up, could you hear the fan running?

Yes, the fan was definately running.