722k running hotter than 722. Normal?

[Tony S]

On April16, 2011, my VIP722 receiver failed. Dish replaced it with a 722k, which has been working fine. However I have been monitoring the hard drive temperatures (by viewing the counter data on the Dish diagnostic setup screen) and I have found that the 722k is running hotter than my old 722 receiver. Is this normal?

I have a thermotake fan pulling air out of the left rear of the receiver. It has been there for a long time. With the fan running, my old 722 receiver had an average temperature of 107 degrees, but the new 722k receiver is now at 120 degrees and the average temperature seems to still be increasing every day. The new receiver and fan are in the same location as my old one and I have not even plugged in the OTA module yet! Is it normal for the 722k to run that much hotter?

 

[CK SatGuy]

When I was using a 722 I never checked the temp so I'm not sure what would be an average temp for that DVR. However I did check the avg temp on my 722k and I got 123 degrees so I guess between 120-125 is normal for a 722k.

 

[Jhon69]

When I was using a 722 I never checked the temp so I'm not sure what would be an average temp for that DVR. However I did check the avg temp on my 722k and I got 123 degrees so I guess between 120-125 is normal for a 722k.

My average temp changes between 118F-125F,and that's with the 722k/wMT2 sitting on top of the TV out in the open.

 

[jerryez]

My 722k average temp is 107, in a cabinet with a fan blowing on it.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Do you have an OTA tuner cartridge in it?

 

[upsss]

The average temperature is meaningless. You must consider the "High" temperature ONLY!

 

[rdinkel]

And one must ask: How high of a "high" is too high???

 

[Tony S]

Do you have an OTA tuner cartridge in it?

As I said in my original post...No, I have not installed the OTA cartridge. (Dish sent me one, but I have not installed it yet).

The average temperature is meaningless. You must consider the "High" temperature ONLY!

I am not sure that is true. My high temperature is 132 degrees. However, it reached that temperature during the install when the unit was not yet in its final position (in the open cabinet) and the fan was not on. It only was at that temperature for a short time during the install. After that the average temperature stabilized at 120 degrees. I do realize that if the temperature spiked to 150 degrees, even for a short time, that would be bad. However, in this case, I think that the average temperature is a more accurate indication of what the temperature really is inside the box.

And one must ask: How high of a "high" is too high???

Most hard drive specs are 55-60 degrees Celsius (about 130-140 Fahrenheit). Of course, if you can keep it below 50 Celsius you are much better off.

As I said, my 722, placed in the same location, had an average temperature of 107. I was wondering if it was normal for the 722k to run at 120 without the OTA module installed.

 

[upsss]

Anything above 140° cannot be healthy. My 722 shut down completely once @ 138° and after about 20 minutes being off, it recovered and is still working since. I am looking now at different fans to cool it a little.

As an EE, I know that if the HD is running at 140° then some of the internal components like the power supply and the video processor are MUCH hotter and that were the real danger is. Based on my experience and some of the reports here it, looks like these receivers design is very marginal.

Temperature issue of these receivers is just one of my problems. See http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...ip722-power-consumption-power-off-button.html. BTW, if power consumptions would have been a serious consideration when these receivers were designed, none of these problems would have been an issue!

 

[Tony S]

upsss, I have been using this fan and have had very good luck with it. It has a speed control that you can use to set the fan for lowest noise. It does not need to run at full speed to cool the receiver effectively.

Amazon.com: Thermaltake Mobile Fan II External USB Cooling Fan - Us: Electronics

Newegg.com - Thermaltake Mobilefan II 80mm External USB Case Fan

 

[upsss]

Thanks Tony, yes I think it is a good choice. What kind of "High" temperature differences did you see with this fan?

 

[upsss]

I am considering something like this NEW USB Power Cooling Pad Fan for 13 14 15.4 Laptop BR | eBay. Unfortunately, they don't publish any specifications for it. Since it is 8" diameter, blowing air from the bottom of the receiver may be a little better, not sure. Anyone have tried something like this?

 

[upsss]

Does anyone have a picture of the "guts" inside a 722 receiver? Are the 722 and 722k much different mechanically inside?

 

[upsss]

OK, I found here some picture of the 722 guts. It looks like it has a large single board covering the entire bottom of the receiver. Therefore, this Laptop type fan would NOT be effective.

 

[Tony S]

One thing to watch out for with the laptop cooling pads...Some of them blow air up, and some of them suck air down! The ones that suck air down do not work well because they direct air the opposite way that the Dish receiver airflow is designed to work. The air flows in the bottom and the right sides of the receiver, and it flows out the vents on the left rear. Some here will tell you to just turn the cooler upside down, but I have found that does not work nearly as well as the fan I suggested.

I installed the thermaltake fan sucking air out the left rear of the receiver. With my 722, the average temperature went from 130 degrees without the fan, to 107 degrees with the fan running at a very low speed. A big difference! As I have already said, with the fan set exactly as it was with the 722, the 722k's temperature is 120 degrees. I am sure if I increase the fan speed a little that I can reduce the temperature further, but I wanted to see how the 722k acted before I made any changes.

Also, the 'high' temperatures are difficult to monitor because once you hit a high temperature it does not change again for a very long time (unless it goes higher) so it is impossible to tell what the new 'high' temperature really is. The average temperatures change gradually, but I have found that it can take a couple of weeks (or longer) to stabilize to a new value.

 

[upsss]

After looking at some of the pictures of the internal mechanical structure of the 722, I can see why the laptop type fan would not work and it should not make any difference whether it sucks or blow air.

As far as the "High" temperature readings, if you are right about the updating algorithm of this value then it is another design flaw of this receiver. Now I think your observation is correct. As I was playing with different fans I had around, I recall that with in 24 hours of monitoring the "High" temperature, I did not see any change either, which at the time did not make much sense to me.

I hope that some Engineers from Dish are monitoring this forum and learn something from it for future receivers design!

 

[CK SatGuy]

Could you posts those pics so the rest of us could see it please?

 

[upsss]

The internal forum search could not find them, Google did. They are old picture but really nice. Does anyone know if the 722k is much different (mechanically)?

http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-ne...ssions/104682-new-722-internals-pictures.html