What Causes Numerous Splitters to Fail ???

[Bob Wingard]

Been a DTV subscriber for 17 months ... in that time, I've had them out here 5 times due to 775 issues ... first time out, they installed new SWiM box, new splitter and put new connectors on all of my cables ... 2nd time out, they adjusted the dish, replaced splitter ... next two times, they replaced the splitter and checked for signal strength of entire system ... last time, the guy just went right to the splitter and replaced it. He gave me a spare and said I will probably need it. Monday evening, sure enough I got the dreaded 775 error ... put in the new splitter, and all was well ... yesterday, out of a clear blue sky, 775 again. Called DTV and they wanted to send out a technician for $50 ... I objected to the charge since this is a recurring problem with their equipment ... she offered to split the charges ... I told her to come & get their stuff as I was going back to cable ... then, she says it will be no charge. Anyway. tech is coming Saturday morning ... WHAT can be done to stop these splitters from going bad ??? Is it the fault of the SWiM box or one of the receivers ??? Is there a better, more robust splitter that I can buy and put in the system to stop this nonsense. The current splitter is #MSPLIT4R1-03.

SWiM box is currently connected to 120V through a wall-mount dedicated surge protector, although it doesn't seem to have any effect on the problem. Main DTV box is hooked up through a good surge protector. Everything is properly grounded ... all connectors are tight.

 

[cinsu]

What model of receivers do you have?

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[mdram]

water getting in them?
bad power inserter?

 

[Bob Wingard]

What model of receivers do you have?

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I have one HR-44 and 3 slave units.

 

[Bob Wingard]

water getting in them?
bad power inserter?

No chance of water in them ... everything but the dish is in the attic. They replaced the SWiM box once, and found nothing really different or bad with the one that was removed from service.

 

[Jimbo]

Make sure that the PI line is going to the Red Power location on thew splitter.
A would imagine that the Power Bypass is not recommended to go to the rest of the Splitter.

 

[csloan1981]

How many splitters do u have? Is the line going to the pi rg6?


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[Bob Wingard]

How many splitters do u have? Is the line going to the pi rg6?


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I have one splitter ... #MSPLIT4R1-03 ... the SWiM box lead is connected to the red terminal on the splitter, and the entire house is wired with Belden RG-6 co-ax.

 

[csloan1981]

I usually bypass all surge protectors with the pi. I had the same problem and had rg6 Directv wire and I ended up replacing my wire and that fixed my problems. When I pulled out the old wire I didn't see and problems with it, it was weird!


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[csloan1981]

Also I relocated my pi.


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[Drucifer]

Most of my 775 have been with the PI. It should not be plug into a power strip.

 

[Zashel]

have they replaced the LNB yet? i wouldnt think it would be the issue, but at this point you've really got nothing to lose.

 

[mr_tv]

As an installer I usually replace the LNB and the pigtail jumper off it and then tell the customer to call if the problem persists. Most often they don't call back.

 

[Satftafan]

I used to be a tech. I had a tough case one time where the cx was getting a lot of 775 issues. What fixed it was a new Lnb plus a new wire going from the lnb to that splitter. Most times techs don't want to change the wire from the lnb to the splitter

 

[dishcomm]

Been a DTV subscriber for 17 months ... in that time, I've had them out here 5 times due to 775 issues ... first time out, they installed new SWiM box, new splitter and put new connectors on all of my cables ... 2nd time out, they adjusted the dish, replaced splitter ... next two times, they replaced the splitter and checked for signal strength of entire system ... last time, the guy just went right to the splitter and replaced it. He gave me a spare and said I will probably need it. Monday evening, sure enough I got the dreaded 775 error ... put in the new splitter, and all was well ... yesterday, out of a clear blue sky, 775 again. Called DTV and they wanted to send out a technician for $50 ... I objected to the charge since this is a recurring problem with their equipment ... she offered to split the charges ... I told her to come & get their stuff as I was going back to cable ... then, she says it will be no charge. Anyway. tech is coming Saturday morning ... WHAT can be done to stop these splitters from going bad ??? Is it the fault of the SWiM box or one of the receivers ??? Is there a better, more robust splitter that I can buy and put in the system to stop this nonsense. The current splitter is #MSPLIT4R1-03.

SWiM box is currently connected to 120V through a wall-mount dedicated surge protector, although it doesn't seem to have any effect on the problem. Main DTV box is hooked up through a good surge protector. Everything is properly grounded ... all connectors are tight.

Have the tech put a multimeter on the coax. Have him check volts and amps.
It appears to m based on your issue, there may be excessive voltage/current on the coax. Possibly caused by a bad ground or back feed voltage. I have been shocked by touching the coax conductor before A few times I had 110v on the coax.
I have pulled apart splitters before and found scorch marks inside.

 

[Zashel]

was helping a friend with their D* once, and i forgot what i was doing but after i had a connecter taken off, i could feel a slight tingle in my arm that was still touching the splitter. was kinda funny and scary. told him he should probably get that looked at properly.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Put the power inserter before the splitter, also consider changing all the coax and fittings.

Many installers are too lazy to change out the wiring and will put a bandaid on the problem instead of fixing it.

 

[Zashel]

Put the power inserter before the splitter, also consider changing all the coax and fittings.

this is my preferred method of installation anyway. if you have to use an AIM reading on the power passing port of a splitter, your disconnecting power, then the meter re-applies power to run the test. that's equivalent to unplugging the power inserter and plugging it back in. in some cases that actually (temp) fixes the problem so you get a false positive. when the power inserter is between the splitter and ground block you can check all ports on the splitter without having to worry about that.

although some installations require the power inserter after the splitter unfortunately. usually poor planning (finished basement).

 

[twizt3dsist3r]

I'm with claude.. have them replace the coax. A splitter is not going to repeatedly fail on its own. Something is causing it to. Changing fittings over and over is no help either. It's your wiring.

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[cypherstream]

I had a hairline crack causing water to get in and wick up the drip loop destroying fittings and ground blocks. Basically had to beg for them to replace the cable because all they ever want to do is put new ends on and replace ground block. I had been doing that my self for a long time so I really had to convince them it just buys a few months time. I had aluminum siding at the time so maybe it cut the cable in the corner bead it was tucked into. Now I have Vinyl siding so the corner bead isn't as sharp so hopefully it doesn't happen again.

I think you have a similar issue. You'd be surprised how water can wick through a cable.