Receiver Reliability

[reverend]

Hello all,

I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on which manufacturer builds the most resilient kit? I have purchased three receivers in my life, the second two from the sponsor of this forum. Both of these have not lasted very long in my view:

I purchased a Vu+ Duo in 06/02/2012 for £319. That lasted just over 2 years and 2 months before some components blew. I was able to extend its life by replacing some capacitors (or similar components, i cant remember exactly what) but this in itself seems surprising given that other hardware I own has lasted much longer. I've used the same laptop since 2008!

I then purchased an Xtrend E9500 which has lasted less than 2 years. It failed yesterday and judging by the symptoms and advice here, some components have failed in a similar way to the Vu+. Sure, I could follow the advice of kind people here to replace those components, but the longevity of this kit is still disappointing and in comparison to other stuff around my home, seems uncommonly fragile.

So for my next purchase, I am not interested so much in the capability of the hardware, but in the quality of the build. My only capability requirements are that I need two tuners and space for an internal hard drive.

Any advice will be received gratefully.

thanks you

rev

[Sicilian]

Sounds like you've just been unlucky. Both the VU+ Duo and ET9500 are quality builds.

[Alankellyeire]

Are you sure their isn't some thing you have thats causing the issues with the receivers?

I had a VU duo and the PSU went a little after a year. A year later i had my router act up. it didn't affect the replacement receiver as i moved the receiver location so a direct connection to the router wasn't possible.

I found out the problem was lighting hit my telephone line and thats why my Vu duo and router went. Thank god my TV is connected over Wifi.

I currently have over 5 Vu receiver mostly solo 2 and have never had an issue with any other than the Duo. I did have an issue with the IR signal with one solo 2 but it seemed to fix it self after a few weeks. As someone suggested here it was probably something to do with interference from an android box i had which i have since stopped using.

[Trial]

Hi,
the Duo was a special case there seems to be a design error. On some boxes a capacitor (??) had wrong specification which caused the illness (not death) of these boxes after a few years. When you search for red light duo and not starting you will find several tips which might be able to cure it.

The XTrend might have trouble with the security board.

I can only write about my experience and in 20 years with almost as many STBs I only had one problem which was the DM7000 also with power supply which could be cured by exchanging some parts for the power supply.

ciao

[adm]

The XTrend might have trouble with the security board.

ciao

See post #5 to #7 in the following thread
https://www.world-of-satellite.com/s...security+board

[adm]

I purchased a Vu+ Duo in 06/02/2012 for £319. That lasted just over 2 years and 2 months before some components blew. I was able to extend its life by replacing some capacitors (or similar components, i cant remember exactly what) but this in itself seems surprising given that other hardware I own has lasted much longer. I've used the same laptop since 2008!

rev

It’s usually the electrolytic capacitors in the switched mode power supplies that go. The length of time these last could be down to how the box is physically situated.

Is your box in a stack with other equipment?

Heat kills these capacitors and the cooler you run the box the greater the life expectancy. Placing the box in an enclosed cabinet or stacking it on top or sandwiched with other equipment generating heat can reduce the lifespan substantially.

With other equipment such as a laptop or TV they may be in an environment with a better free flow of cooler air.

However, sometimes it’s down to poor design (not necessarily electronic design). I’ve recently had to replace some capacitors in my 9 year old 42” Samsung TV. The capacitors that failed were very close to touching a large heat-sink that ran warm – not the ideal place to fit electrolytic capacitors.

If replacing capacitors in a power supply make sure that they are specified at 105C (temperature)[1] and as low ESR or low Z.

[1] The predicted life expectancy of an electrolytic depends on the difference between its maximum operating temperature and the temperature at which its working. Lower specified capacitors are normally rated at 85C maximum operating.

[cactikid]

Yes i also had a duo which failed and repaired and failed again so upgraded,i had my duo on a stack of glass shelves and air had limited cooling in situ,i ended opening up the back to let more air flow around box and at that time of image fan was set to off,so i always check on newer images ran can run.

What about dirty power having issues with boxes?

[reverend]

Thanks all for your advice.
The airflow point is a very good one. The box is on a shelf on a wide TV stand, with about 15cm clearance above it. There are other devices on that shelf (media PC, amplifier); nothing stacked. But yes airflow is limited. I will ensure better air flow for my next box.

[cactikid]

you can cook a steak on my onkyo amp dam hot.

[adm]

you can cook a steak on my onkyo amp dam hot.

+1. I think the instructions for my Onkyo AV amplifier suggsted 8 inches of free air above the top of the unit - for good reason!

[nsw9154]

+2 never put your Receiver on top of a AV Amp my Denon gets very hot as well and not really meant to put anything on top of them, if you need to stack your Receivers if you have more than 1 like i have i found that a Variable speed Lap Top Cooler fitted between your Receivers really makes a Difference i bought a ASUS from Overclockers UK a few years ago for about £20 and my Duo2 & Xtrend ET10000 now run at about 22/25c unfortunately they do not seem to stock them now as i wanted a 2nd one and most of the ones i find on ebay are fixed speed and very noisy