Failing DP34 switch

[JohnGShaw]

I have a SuperDish 811 installation (only one receiver) with a DP34 switch. In the past month, a single port on the switch has failed twice. I get a "check switch" message (which fails in various ways) and the cable running to the switch warms up (a short in the switch's port?). After disconnecting that port for about an hour, it works again. However, I find that I can always move the RG6 cable to another port and resume normal operations. I have not had a failure on any other port than the first.

On each failure, I have callled E*. The first time the guy said to wait to see if it happened again. The second time, the worman wanted me to swap cables (I have a dual cable run to the switch) and "prove" that its not a cable problem. The switch still has about 2 months warrenty on it.

1. Given that the DP34 has four output ports, is this worth worrying about? Is it likely that only the one port is "bad" and the rest of the switch is sufficently independent, that the failure will not spread?

2. If the switch is not replace, is there a chance other components (LNBFs or the receiver) could be damaged?

I have emailed this question to E* about a week ago, but not recieved a response. Any insite would be most helpfull. tnx .... jgs

 

[jlhugh]

I'd get them to send you another switch. You do not want one that is partially bad. I am kinda worried about your receiver. It might be sending to much voltage thru the switch to the lnb. I have never heard of this problem with the cable being warm. I do hope they everything is grounded properly so the static electricity can be disapated.

I had a port on a DP34 go bad on me too, but the cable was never warm at all. This is very intersting.

 

[Dish Dude]

it actually could be a handful of problems, check your outlet with a tester to make sure the ground and hot are not hooked together, I have seen this personally. If that is fine, have them try a different receiver or test the receivers output. If you are under warranty swap the entire system and see what happens, if it still does,than you have a problem

 

[twillers]

it actually could be a handful of problems, check your outlet with a tester to make sure the ground and hot are not hooked together, I have seen this personally. If that is fine, have them try a different receiver or test the receivers output. If you are under warranty swap the entire system and see what happens, if it still does,than you have a problem

If the ground an hot lead where hooked together wouldn't that cause a dead short to the circuit?

 

[Dish Dude]

it should but it depends on how old the wiring is, one of my guys was working on the Indian reservation and the receiver kept frying he plugged in the tester and it showed the ground and hot were hooked together. He went back to his ground( meter) and the ground from his ground block was welded. It could be a loose ground, it could be something wired incorrectly on the circuit board, but somehow too much voltage is getting in the line making it warm to the touch. Just throwing out the suggestion it could actually be caused by the electrical. another tidbit, one of my guys did a 322 yesterday, and it wouldn't see all the sat's(121,119,110) checked everything out tried a different receiver etc. He checked the outlet and there was an open ground. He went to the next available outlet and checked it (good) hooked it up and everything worked fine. Placed it back on the other outlet and it seized up again. Just some food for thought

 

[SimpleSimon]

Dish Dude: If you're talking about the electrical outlet, I think you mean a hot/neutral reversal? Any other variation you're talking about is either normal (ground & neutral) or would trip a breaker (hot & ground/neutral).

 

[Dish Dude]

yep sorry about that, just read the service agreement again. But with the 322 it was an open ground that was causing the issue

 

[boba]

If you are leasing the 811 don't worry about it you are covered as long as you are leasing the equipment belongs to DISH Notwerk so if it fails it is theirs.

 

[JohnGShaw]

Thanks to everyone for the thoughts. I'm a long-time customer so I can't lease equipment from E*, hence the equipment is mine (via an upgrade). The house wiring is not an issue, and everything is plugged into a decent quality GF/Surge protector. So far I have run off of a different output port for about 2 weeks (which was the MTF on the first port). I don't know how to get/force E* to swap the DP34 switch. As long as I can get a signal, they say its OK. If they won't change the switch, they certainly won't change the receiver.

 

[Stargazer]

Worry about it if its the DP-34 switch as that is not covered under warranty unless your under DHA or DHPP. I highly recommend you replacing the DP-34. I had a customer that got a bad DP-34 switch on port 1 in that it would only get 105 and maybe 110. I put it on port 2 and it worked fine for a couple of hours and that failed too except off of 105 and 110 as it did on port 1. I had 105 on the satellite 1 in, 110 on the satellite 2 in, and 119 on satellite 3 in. I replaced the switch and no problems since. She was using a 311.

I had another one that had a similar problem that had two 311's. I swapped the ports that the 311's were connected into (cable in port 1 to port 2 and the cable in port 2 i put in port 1). I did a check switch and no problems since.