Average 622/722 Temperature thread, Is your's Hot?

Not Bios / heatsink... look for "northbridge cooling" on newer (pretty for plexiglass) motherboards they contain heatsinks on the northbridge to assist overclockers. For the *uber* tweakers some of those mobos have northbridge heatsinks with fans on them (similar to VGA card cooling). That's what I was thinking of I don't know why I wrote BIOS!
 
I'm with you, abricko! I want to put forced cooling right on that Broadcom BCM chip, in addition to ventillating the whole case better. I have the latter part figured-out (at least what I plan to try next) but I'm still looking for that chip cooler. Any links, guys? (Feeling a bit lazy at the end of a looong week...!) It needs to be a small one, about 1" square. Failing that I'll just place a sink on it and mount a fan nearby...

BRgds all...
 
Tks, RA - I'll check those links out but running out of time today. 40mm is probably too large, but if there's nothing in the way surrounding the BC chip, I might try one anyway.

BTW - I haven't done much since my experiment last week (no time for TV lately) but everytime I walk by I check the temp on the chip in standby - hanging in there around 98-102F. The lid is still off with those 3 fans blowing down into the unit...
 
I wish it were that simple. E* won't replace a unit for "overheating". I'm betting a number of the intermittent quirks and perhaps even some of the hard failures (like lost HDMI) are due to this particular chip overheating, and the temp. varies over quite a range. Certainly that can't be good in the long run, maybe not even in the shorter run either. I, and others posting in this thread, are just trying to be proactive about it. If we find a "solution" then maybe the whole community of 622 owners will benefit.

As a reminder, the temps. indicated in the 622's counters are based on the HDD internal temp., which is only very indirectly related to the temps. I'm concerned about...
 
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Mine finally updated the temps.

Installed around 5-30.

Before installing fan: High 118, Low 82, Avg 104
Just after installing fan on 6-21: High 118, Low 82, Avg 102
6-25: High 118, Low 82, Avg 100
7-4: High 114, Low 86, Avg 93
7-16: High 98, Low 86, Avg 89

That's a drop of 11 degrees average in just over a month (15 in 1.5 months). That plus the fact that I can touch the tops of the major chips without burning my fingers, I will live with it for now (but keep watching these threads to see if somebody comes up with a more efficient design that might allow the top cover to be put back in place).
 
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I use active cooling on my northbridge and have an extra unit, but I'm not sure D would appreciate me opening up a leased unit and attaching it. Not only that, but the main heat problem is with the HD. The temps can hover around the max for the drive, but even if it doesn't hit that point, the drive recalibrates often to compensate for expansion of its components and this usually stops reads and writes. Before I got some serious cooling for my machine, my drives used to do it during video rendering. This made for dropouts in the finished video or audio sync.

I'm currently using a small clip-on fan that is attached to the rack and pointed at the unit. This makes the unit pretty cool to the touch compared to what it is without (average temp is 136 w/out fan and 101 with fan).
 
In response to "pabisc" post
"Glad I am leasing, if the unit overheats I'll just order me up a new one"

"jmd102354" posted
"Once the warranty runs out it's on you. Leasing does not matter."

I thought that I had read on one web page or another while deciding what packages (programming and leased equipment) I wanted, that the customer is responsible for having the equipment repaired when the warranty expires. However, I couldn't find the info when I was going to make a comment/post awhile back. All I could find was that the customer must return the equipment in same condition minus normal use (or something to that effect).

I couldn't see paying a non-refundable deposit and/or upgrade fee, plus being resposible for repair costs for the life of their equipment, so I went ahead and purchased my 622. I figured if I had to pay to get theirs repaired, I would have paid the same to own it.

Guess there have been and are too many promotions, with too many "terms and conditions" and outdated information to ever get the correct info; and we know each CSR went to a different training class.
 
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High all
Great thread! Glad to now be apart of it. Can't believe I read every post.
My 622 Ver. D s/w 359, has been up and running sense June 22, (about 5 hours a
day)

H-138
L-75
A-116

Might try an external fan, (leased) but it's got to be very quiet, got this set up in my bedroom.
BTW 140-F is about the pain threshold for most of us.
Harbor Freight tools has laser therms. on sale til 7-24 for $30 to $40.
 
what part of the country are you located? i'm in Los Angeles area and my temps have risen (even with my fans on high) but it has been in the 90s here and i'm on the 3rd floor, i couldn't imagine how hot my 622 would be if i didn't have that laptop cooler under it... wish i had a non leased unit, then i'd probably put a northbridge cooler on the broadcomm chip.

good luck to whoever tries that, i'd be interested to see photos of the end result!


high def mon said:
High all
Great thread! Glad to now be apart of it. Can't believe I read every post.
My 622 Ver. D s/w 359, has been up and running sense June 22, (about 5 hours a
day)

H-138
L-75
A-116

Might try an external fan, (leased) but it's got to be very quiet, got this set up in my bedroom.
BTW 140-F is about the pain threshold for most of us.
Harbor Freight tools has laser therms. on sale til 7-24 for $30 to $40.
 
Dhpp?

I thought the DHPP covers stuff like that?


SmityWhity said:
In response to "pabisc" post
"Glad I am leasing, if the unit overheats I'll just order me up a new one"

"jmd102354" posted
"Once the warranty runs out it's on you. Leasing does not matter."

I thought that I had read on one web page or another while deciding what packages (programming and leased equipment) I wanted, that the customer is responsible for having the equipment repaired when the warranty expires. However, I couldn't find the info when I was going to make a comment/post awhile back. All I could find was that the customer must return the equipment in same condition minus normal use (or something to that effect).

I couldn't see paying a non-refundable deposit and/or upgrade fee, plus being resposible for repair costs for the life of their equipment, so I went ahead and purchased my 622. I figured if I had to pay to get theirs repaired, I would have paid the same to own it.

Guess there have been and are too many promotions, with too many "terms and conditions" and outdated information to ever get the correct info; and we know each CSR went to a different training class.
 
I found that three 80mm computer fans will perfectly cover the left side exhaust (?) grill. Pulling heat out the exhaust side seems (to me) better than pulling it out the bottom with a laptop cooler. I attached three fans using foam tape which also gives some vibration isolation and powered them with 7.5V instead of 12V. I didn't use particularly quiet fans, but they're not loud at all inside my cabinet. If I had shopped for some quiet fans they'd probably be silent.

Temperatures on 6/26: 76 low / 107 avg / 128 high
Temperatures on 7/10: 80 low / 98 avg / 120 high
 
rrfrey said:
I found that three 80mm computer fans will perfectly cover the left side exhaust (?) grill...
That's exactly what I will do as soon as I get "a round tuit". I have that cheapo laptop cooler with 3 fans from Surplus Computers. I plan to gut that thing and mount those fans in a 1" thick styrofoam block then tape that to those vents on the left side by the power supply. I'll probably power them through the USB port (they've been running that way blowing-down into the open top for about 4 weeks). Then by controlling where the air enters, I can probably direct the cooling airflow where it helps the most. The HDD is only one area of concern!

I am also actively pursuing a means of cooling the BroadCom BCM7038 chip. I have personally measured surface temps on that chip over 160 deg. F when the cover is closed and no air blowing and I contend that is way too hot for long-term reliable operation. That chip is the main engine in the 622. I can't confirm absolutely that it does the MPEG-4 decoding, but it does about everything else except record! Here's a link to the tech sheet for the "generic" version (not necessarily the exact chip the 622 uses):

http://www.broadcom.com/products/Satellite/Digital-TV-Solutions/BCM7038

D/L the "product brief" from that site for the full information. I'm still trying to confirm the safe operating temp. range for that chip...
 
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Smith said:
MPEG-4 decoding done by two BCM7411s.
OK - Tks, P. Smith! If those are the two chips that sit one in front of each sat. tuner, then they're next on my list as those suckers also run quite hot, tho' not as hot as the 7038. I'll need to record some numbers. A small fan placed on the right side in front of the OTA tuner would do nicely here, or perhaps one suspended from the bracket that mounts the HDD blowing down on those chips. But before I do any of that I'll just try the outside-mounted fans like I described earlier...
 

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