SKY + box is too loud

methos_de

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Hi,

I've had my SKY+ box for a year now and from day one I could hear a humming sound. I had the box changed once and the new one was exactly the same. I was told its probably the cooler for the hard drive what I can hear.
Is it possible to change the cooler as it is pretty annoying and I don't really want to by a new TV stand with a glass front. If so do I need anything special ?
Cheers,

Methos.
 

rolfw

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I haven't looked inside one of those, but I wouldn't mind betting that its probably a run of the mill 12 volt job and should be replacable with a silent ballbearing type.
 

Channel Hopper

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Unless it has a seal around the screw saying something like 'warranty void if tampered with' you should try to experiment by taking the fan out of service for a few minutes.

That way you can check if it really is the problem and have a check on the dimensions open to you to put something in thats better
 

methos_de

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cheers for the answers. I'll have to try that. I think it is the cooler though as a friend of mine bought a similar box from nokia which made exactly the same noises. he had his cooler changed and it was fine. I'm always weary about changing anything in the SKY boxes though as you never know whats in the buggers !!!!
Will definately try that first just to be on the safe side.
Methos.
 
R

rob

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Hi mate,

I may be able to help you. I have had Sky+ for 2 months and it has also started to make a humming noise. I also noticed that the digibox gets very hot.

I have opened my digibox and peeked into its entrails. The noise definitely comes from the disk drive. I read on another board that this is usual with (all?) sky+ digiboxes. Apparently the disk drive spins continously and generates a lot of heat that is not sufficiently dissipated. According to what I read, the fan starts running at some 50°C, which is too late.

As a first step, I simply fitted a computer fan powered with a converter just behind the air vent to extract the hot air. In less than 15 minutes the box was cool. But the noise was still there.

So I decided to replace the original hard drive with a new one. And since it's something already tried, I went with a bigger drive: 80GB. The one that have been tried and worked are Maxtor drives / 5400 RPM. I ordered one from a German site.

I will also plug the original fan into an internal power source that is continuoisly fed in order to make it spin 24h. People who have already tried that (there are many out there) have also fitted a 'Fan Mate' that allows you to reduce the RPM of the fan in order to make it quiter.

Here it is. All I said here, I read in another board (Digital Spy) and you can take a look at a step-by-step turorial on how to replace your hard drive (and which one to chose) on http://www.hummer.co.uk/inside-skyplus.html

Let me know if you want more details. I will do my hard drive and fan upgrade this weekend. I'll let you know.

Cheers!
 

MartinP

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Originally posted by rob


I will also plug the original fan into an internal power source that is continuoisly fed in order to make it spin 24h. People who have already tried that (there are many out there) have also fitted a 'Fan Mate' that allows you to reduce the RPM of the fan in order to make it quiter.

Or even "quieter" ;)

We supply a simple resistor with our cooling fan kits to slow down the motor. the fan draws only about 70 milliAmps so you don't need anything elaborate to slow it.

Martin
 
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