HD100 Just died

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by nick_l

Ok, one trip to Radio Shack and five dollars later all is well again. IR Sensativity is even back to normal, woohoo.

That's good. I find it very odd that the power supply issue could impact IR sensitivity. I wonder what would cause that.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by reggie14

That's good. I find it very odd that the power supply issue could impact IR sensitivity. I wonder what would cause that.

Reduction in output voltage or current.

[mtyme]

Originally Posted by nick_l

I did learn one thing today, While my soldering skills are perfectly adequate my de-soldering skills are absolutely AWFUL.

Nick

Solder pumps or solder suckers as i like to call them are your friend. It can be done without them, but they make it so easy to remove solder, it's hard to imagine doing anything without them. And as cheap as they are, they are a good investment for sure.

[nick_l]

Originally Posted by mtyme

Solder pumps or solder suckers as i like to call them are your friend.

Oh, I have one. I just lack the skill/coordination to use it correctly.

Nick

[nick_l]

I have an off topic question for the EEs in the group, if no one minds. I was looking at the failed caps this evening and noticed that they both failed on the score marks on the top. Are they designed with these weak/failure points on purpose for just the reasons that we have experienced or is it just a concidence?

Nick

P.s. just to come to my own defence a little bit, I took another look at my soldering iron and the tip was very loose so the heat conduction was very bad. Leason learned: Check the tip BEFORE soldering.

[fac13]

Originally Posted by nick_l

I was looking at the failed caps this evening and noticed that they both failed on the score marks on the top. Are they designed with these weak/failure points on purpose for just the reasons that we have experienced or is it just a concidence?

Yes, they are designed to fail in exactly that way - rather than explode.

[mtyme]

Originally Posted by nick_l

P.s. just to come to my own defence a little bit, I took another look at my soldering iron and the tip was very loose so the heat conduction was very bad. Leason learned: Check the tip BEFORE soldering.

Yeah that will cause you some headaches!

[thomaszoo]

Add one more failure to the list. Last night I was going to watch a DVD and heard a strange sound in the media closet. I turned off the power switch to the HD-100 and the sound disappeared. Bought 6 capacitors at Radio Shack (3 for the failed unit and 3 for my second HD-100). Total time to repair including the trip to Radio Shack was probably less than 1 hour. And I didn't have to deal with sending the unit back and waiting for it to be repaired and returned.

Wayne

[pjwerdna]

And another!

Bought early may 2008 so just out of warranty.

Flashing red power light, puffed capacitors.

Ive put a support request in, but as Im in the UK Im not keen to send it back. I'll see what support say I think, but Ill also pick up some new caps and dig out my solder sucker

[davenlr]

Add me to the list of folks with a flashing red power light. I am glad, reading here, to find they are offering a $39 repair. I think mine is still under warrantee, but Im trying to find the paperwork. In any event, I sure am missing it already. I hate having to get up and use a mouse to watch programs on the server Will wait and see what Sage wants me to do. Was just posting this as it seemed you all were keeping tabs on the number of failed units. I havent opened mine up to see if its capacitors, but dont recall hearing anything out of the ordinary before the failure.

Edit: If it matters, the unit is on a UPS, so power line issues are not a factor in the failure.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by davenlr

In any event, I sure am missing it already. I hate having to get up and use a mouse to watch programs on the server Will wait and see what Sage wants me to do.

Yeah, I'll put you in my list. Of course, based on Jeff's comment, I think we'd need quite a few more reports before things start getting suspicious again. I'm sure Sage can look up when you bought the unit for warranty purposes.

Sage themselves has pretty fast turnaround on the repair, so you're basically at the mercy of UPS now. If you're on the west coast you should get it repaired and back to you pretty quickly.

[jerryb33]

Has anyone encountered "green screen" early on in the issues with the caps?

About every 24 to 48 hours I get a green screen when I switch to watch Sage (HDMI port) of my TV. I put it in standby the night before.
(I've always suspected my HDMI cable - reinserting it) Now I hit HOME to get to the main menu. Other times I have to power down and reboot. Once it is on, it plays somewhat Ok.
I do get a "chirp" every now and then when I'm watching a recording.
My caps look OK - flat tops -.
Could it be the start of something bad?
I am running the latest non-beta on my server and a beta (april I believe) on my extender.

[reggie14]

jerryb33-

Is the chirp coming from the HD100 or the speakers on the TV?

Is it possible your HDMI cable is going bad? Can you try using component cables for a few days to see if it happens with those?

I have gotten green screens on my HD100 before, requiring hard resets to get things working again. In my cases, they seemed to be semi-random crashes, and they were quite rare. If you still have the problem with component cables then I'd start wondering if it's a problem with the unit (though, perhaps a different problem than those in this thread).

I'd contact Sage support if I were you to get their thoughts.

[jerryb33]

Originally Posted by reggie14

jerryb33-

Is the chirp coming from the HD100 or the speakers on the TV?
The chirp is only when I have Sage on, not any other inputs. It is more a short burst of a high pitched squeal

Is it possible your HDMI cable is going bad? Can you try using component cables for a few days to see if it happens with those?
I'll give this a try. Have to maneuver others.

I have gotten green screens on my HD100 before, requiring hard resets to get things working again. In my cases, they seemed to be semi-random crashes, and they were quite rare.
Are they still occuring or did you get it repaired?
I do suspect a heat problem as it is in a cabinet with other units.
If you still have the problem with component cables then I'd start wondering if it's a problem with the unit (though, perhaps a different problem than those in this thread).

I'd contact Sage support if I were you to get their thoughts.

I will do that if it comes up again.

[reggie14]

So, you're saying the short high-pitched squeal was coming from the extender itself? I'm asking because sometimes I'll hear weird noises when I'm watching TV that are just glitches in the recorded audio.

My experiences with screen screens have been extremely limited. It's happened to be maybe 3 or 4 times in the 18 months since I've had the HD100. I think they almost always happened when I was playing back imported videos. It's been a long time since I got them. My HD100 did occasionally lock up in the weeks leading up to it's eventual death, but I never got a green screen.

[HKme]

In case someone is keeping track, you can add two more to the list. Bought six in May 2008. The two that have been used almost daily have both failed with the red blinking light issue in the last few days. Took a look inside - both have the "puffed" capacitor issue described (C205/C206 bulging on top with black residue).

I'm in Hong Kong so will probably test my desoldering skills rather than trying to send back. Wish me luck...

[reggie14]

I'm still keeping track. Good luck! I think the DIY repair success rate has been perfect thus far, so don't screw things up!

[HKme]

Happy to report I've maintained that average - both units are working fine. Interestingly both capacitors sit across the +5V rail and ground, so you could conceivably just replace with a single larger cap, although not sure if it'd fit.

I'll get around to checking the state of the caps in my other four at some point, guessing it's only a matter of time before they find the same fate.

[akenis]

...and another one bites the dust. Did have some hissing/popping in the audio just prior to failure.

2/3 caps bulging. $5 fix with awesome documentation here.

Can't remember when I bought it...but it did take me about 3 months to hook it up, so probably a short time failure.

A

[waynedunham]

I hadn't been on the forums in several weeks so I hadn't seen the stories here about the bad caps in the power supplies of the HD100's.

However I did see an article over at Geektonic about it with a link to a thread over at cocoontech along with a link to the instructions for what to look for, what part # to get at Radio Schlock, and how to replace them.

2 days after seeing that article my HD100 in the bedroom (from the first batch) died right in the middle of playing a Sage recording. I had been hearing a high pitched noise when over near the stack of equipment (DVD, ReplayTV's, HD100, etc) but just figured one of the fans in the ReplayTV was going bad.

Luckily I had a pretty good idea what it was as soon as the HD100 died. I had the blinking power light and could hear a hiss when I turned the power on.
I removed the cover and 2 of the 3 caps were bulging. One was obviously leaking pretty bad and the other had a smaller leak.

A trip to Radio Schlock to get the caps and some solder braid (couldn't recall if I had any). I was hoping to get 6 of the caps since I have another HD100 (from the 2nd or 3rd batch) in the living room but the RS I went to only had 3 of them.
About 15 minutes of work and my HD100 was up and running again!

Today I went to another RS and picked up the other 3 caps I had originally wanted. This store also only had 3, is that the quantity they keep in stock or something?

Maybe tomorrow I'll pull the 2nd HD100 to check the caps and if they are bulging at all I'll replace them before the fail.

Thanks to Geektonic, cocoontech for the info on what it was and how to fix it. Also thanks to Sage for putting forth the effort to give a reasonable solution to those who either may not have the skills to fix it themselves or just don't want to do it themselves.
Once Sage dropped the price to $39 I seriously considered sending mine in, but once I pulled the cover off (both my units are out of warranty) and saw how easy it would be I decided to save a few $$ and do it myself.

It had been a while since I had soldered and more importantly de-soldered anything, but the skills came back in a reasonable time. I'm an old hand at soldering. I got into computers when printer and modem cables were "ohmygod!" expensive so I ended up building most of mine myself. Try soldering 25 wires into a Dsub connector sometime!