Thomson Sky-HD (and Sky+) PSU failure

admin · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 9:13 am Post subject:

STOCK SITUATION July 4, 2008

PSUs continue to trickle in so availability is still around 7 days F.R.O.

joffonon · Newbie Joined: 04 Jul 2008 Posts: 3

Hi,

Thought I'd post this here, in case Nicola's e-mails aren't being looked at while she's on holiday.

Received one of your rebuilt PSUs on Monday, but alas it failed to cure my Sky HD box being stuck on standby so I haven't yet sent back the old one. I'm going to send the box to Michael at Digifix early next week to have a look at, but in case it turns out to be beyond repair I'll need to swap the old PSU back in before getting a refurb box from Sky.

So, just to let you know, I'll either return the old PSU after the box is hopefully repaired, or I'll send you the one from a refurb box if I have to go down that route.

Regards,

Jonathan Kaye

admin · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 2:12 pm Post subject:

Yes, no problem. Michael is very helpful and knowledgeable.

(Sue and Sophie are handling all emails sent to Sales via the web site form.)

admin · Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 11:28 am Post subject:

STOCK SITUATION July 5, 2008
I'm collecting 10 more rebuilt PSUs today, for despatch on Monday. (I don't know how many people are waiting but this will be good news for anyone who's waited a week or more!)

GrahamMG · Newbie Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 7

Hi.
Having fitted your kit before and had excellent results, I was presented with a SKYHD box that was stuck in standby by a friend who needed to use it the next day.
The 100uF 400V cap had exploded and as a result the heat sink had got very warm before the lot shut down.
I only had a 100uF 350V ED Panny cap to hand so chucked that in and it worked (and still does a few days later), whilst I add up how many more kits I will need.
I have a question, is the 400V critical or is 350V just as good (assume the 230V mains gives a good margin of safety), I must admit that a bit of rolled up silver foil is probably better than the CapXon that was fitted but am curious if any further info on the cap can be given?
Thanks in advance.

admin · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 4:08 pm Post subject:

The 400v capacitor that we supply is correct. The half-wave rectified mains peaks at typically 350 volts so a 350v capacitor has no margin. In addition, the one you've fitted may not be rated for the ripple current.

GrahamMG · Newbie Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 7

Hi.
yes I understand the 400V cap rating is correct, I was just curious why 350V seemed to be in everyones standard toolbox.
The cap I had was low ripple and ESR Panasonic 105Deg specifically rated for SwitchMode PSU use but I was concerned about the actual voltage rating (mind you are not most caps plus or minus quite a large figure anyway? i.e. 20% or more), which might explian the 400V rating of the standard and mod kit item?

Anyway, I am most definitely a fan of your mod kit, works well.

I have noticed that the new Thompson SKYHD boxes (those without the component outputs) seem to have stolen your mod in that all the caps are 105Deg and are sourced from Panasonic, time will tell if they are any more reliable. I did check some MTBF figures for caps adn most say 6/8 thousands hours, as the box could pull most of the required PSU oiutput for almost 24/7 that means just a year before they might need changing, a worrying thought...
Keep up the good work.
_________________
Best regards
Graham

admin · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:25 pm Post subject:

GrahamMG · Newbie Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 7

I prefer raspberry ripple Laughing

but yes high stability, low ESR was what I meant.
It is curious that 400V 105deg high quality caps seem to be quite hard to find......
Judging from the state of the original CapXon item (400V 105deg) the cap may need to be rather more robust than this in all areas, I note an 85deg cap is in the mod kit and it isn't under that much stress but I have seen a few now that have really let go in the original design.... maybe something to look into.

All I can say is that with the SKYHD box it appears that SKY's repair service is very poor and replacement boxes are just as bad, your kit is a bit of a bargain for those of us that can solder Very Happy

_________________
Best regards
Graham

northantsandy · Newbie Joined: 13 Jul 2008 Posts: 3

Hi all..

Just installed the PSU and it's all okay...one thing to note though...

I took the opportunity o upgrade my HDD to get additional capacity.

I held left and right for 6 minutes - yes six minutes!!!!!!! before the play LED's came on....

Howeverm working finally! As soon as the cramp left my fingers I was away....

Laughing

GrahamMG · Newbie Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 7

Most people use xcopy and copy over all the content from the original disk (saves losing the lot), also saves any cramp in the fingers! Note as far as I was aware this is the only way to get more than 500GB disks to be read by the SKYHD box (i.e. you must copy some data from the old disk onto it otherwise you lose capacity).
Not sure what holding the L/R buttons for six minutes does?
_________________
Best regards
Graham

admin · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:38 am Post subject:

STOCK SITUATION July 17, 2008
We shipped another 40 yesterday (Wednesday 16th).
We will not have any more to send before next Wednesday at the earliest as our repairman is on holiday.

admin · Posted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 8:00 pm Post subject:

Someone just emailed me to point out that some people are ordering the capacitor kit even when the internal fuse has blown and wondering why it doesn't fix the problem!

Note: if the internal fuse has blown, this indicates major damage which our capacitor upgrade kit will not fix. If your fuse has melted, DON'T order the kit. Order the complete exchange PSU instead.

Better still, don't wait for the PSU to go bang - replace the capacitors before this happens; you'll save money!

(Because it's so much more expensive to repair a damaged PSU, I'm considering adding a surcharge if the fuse has melted. Tracing and replacing all the parts which fail, and cause the fuse to melt, is very time-consuming and we have to pay the engineer an hourly rate.)

joffonon · Newbie Joined: 04 Jul 2008 Posts: 3

admin · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:08 am Post subject:

Sorry to hear that. The PSU really ought to be replaced before it goes bang but, if I suggest that to everyone, I'll get accused of "marketing" or "scaremongering". Also, we wouldn't be able to cope with the demand! Sad