Reliable Power Supply for HDPVR

[ewelin]

Add me to the list of people now running this modification! Thanks for sharing! I started getting error messages last week as these power supplies were about a year old. I've found I had to replace that at about that rate. Instead of ordering new ones, I smashed open the power brick, figured out which wire was positive and negative and wired it into a power plug. Not 48 hours after doing that, my 2nd PVR power supply started acting up. Now my system is stable again.

[sdsean]

I'm gonna do this as well. . .I'm pretty darn technical / handy and have done wiring for things like my ceiling fan or switch boxes and what not. . . although I have never soldered anything in my life.

I was hoping to find a molex to 1.3 barrel plug connector on the web some where that I could just buy. . but i have not really found much. . .

[ewelin]

Woke up extremely disappointed today. I had the error message back. :-( I know it's related to power as that's always been the issue, but now I'm scratching my head. I thought for sure this would have solved it.

[sdsean]

Hmmm I assume your pc has a UPS as well right? That's the only thing I can think of would be a surge. Otherwise getting the power from the PC is about as safe as it could be. . .

Did you buy a barrel from some online source or did you just use the one that came with the power supply and re-wire it?

[Skirge01]

One other thought... you do have a quality PSU, right?

[ewelin]

Originally Posted by sdsean

Hmmm I assume your pc has a UPS as well right? That's the only thing I can think of would be a surge. Otherwise getting the power from the PC is about as safe as it could be. . .

Did you buy a barrel from some online source or did you just use the one that came with the power supply and re-wire it?

So I don't have the original ones that came with the HDPVR as I've replaced them 3 times already. It happens every year or so that they burn out for me. Typically I buy a new set from Hauppauge and replace them and they work great again. About a month ago one of my devices started showing the recording errors and lost connection, so I went and purchased a new set. Unfortunately they changed the power supply as it's different than the one I had before. I tried them and they didn't work. So I took the old power supplies, cut the wire and wired it to a connect and plugged it into my PSU. Worked great for 3 days, then same issue. I also tried with the new cords to see if that worked, same result.

PC is on a UPS. It is my media server and hasn't change anything on it except routine updates to software after SageTV was acquired by google.

Originally Posted by Skirge01

One other thought... you do have a quality PSU, right?

Yeah.. the PSU, though about 2-3 years old is a Thermaltake TR2 700W and still runs smoothly.

Here is the PSU and the connectors I wired up. I used wire nuts as that's what I had on hand and is the quickest way to wire it up.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by ewelin

So I don't have the original ones that came with the HDPVR as I've replaced them 3 times already. It happens every year or so that they burn out for me. Typically I buy a new set from Hauppauge and replace them and they work great again. About a month ago one of my devices started showing the recording errors and lost connection, so I went and purchased a new set. Unfortunately they changed the power supply as it's different than the one I had before. I tried them and they didn't work. So I took the old power supplies, cut the wire and wired it to a connect and plugged it into my PSU. Worked great for 3 days, then same issue. I also tried with the new cords to see if that worked, same result.

PC is on a UPS. It is my media server and hasn't change anything on it except routine updates to software after SageTV was acquired by google.

Yeah.. the PSU, though about 2-3 years old is a Thermaltake TR2 700W and still runs smoothly.

Here is the PSU and the connectors I wired up. I used wire nuts as that's what I had on hand and is the quickest way to wire it up.

Well, assuming the connections you made are good, if the PC is running OK, the power supply is probably OK. That would indicate that your problem is something else. Could be that something is damaged inside the HDPVR itself (maybe a bad capacitor or voltage regulator?), or could be a problem with your PC (software driver issue?).

[wayner]

The most recent power supplies from Hauppauge must be the worst ever as I bought two in April of 2015 and they are now both not working properly. When you plug them in the blue LED on the device is very faint and the device shows up in Windows as not being recognized. As soon as I switch over to a home-made supply running off the PC then everything is fine.

[bialio]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTRON-CHD04...QAAOSwHQ9WXwa9

Looks like a $5 molex to 5V connector

[Savage1701]

I just had this happen to me as well. My HD-PVR PS wall wart read 5V but could not put out the current. Fortunately had an old, unused 5V 2.5A one from something else that worked fine, but this molex to 5V is such a better idea. I already have a Molex and Fan Out PCI bracket on the back of my Sage server for powering some fans and a custom drive cage, so this is definitely the way to go when this next supply gives up the ghost.

Can't really complain, though. First Hauppauge one lasted since I got an HD PVR when they first came out, so maybe about 7+ years? That's not bad.

Thanks for the link.

[wayner]

That eBay product looks good except that the cord may be a bit short for some people.

[jbbtex]

I'm using an old ATX power supply to run all three of my HD PVRs. Just search the web for ATX PS as bench supply for HOWTO.

You'll also get 12v if you need it.

[KryptoNyte]

Did this mod tonight, got the cable all soldered up and shrink wrapped beautiful, plugged it in, and burned up my HDPVR. After having (2) other HDPVR's burn up on stock power supplies, I'm getting to know the smell fairly well.

So, the molex is pushing 12 volts it seems - more than the 5 volts I was remembering from this thread.

[wayner]

The molex pushes both 5V and 12V. The two black middle wires are ground, the yellow wire is 12V and the red wire is 5V.

[KryptoNyte]

So, let's say for a moment that you aren't much of an electrician, and you have a stray/spare molex like the one on the left in the attached photo - if your dyslexic self decides to go ahead an use that spare plug on the left instead of the spare plug on the right, you will let all the smoke out of your HDPVR.

Definitely should have done more research on this - my bad.

[KryptoNyte]

On a sidenote, all of the original cables on my HDPVR's had a long dashed line on the positive wire. You can check for continuity via DC voltage on a digital multimeter - if the voltage shows positive on the check, your red DMM wire is on the positive wire. And if you're smart, you'll make one last check on the voltage before plugging your new solution into your HDPVR.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

So, let's say for a moment that you aren't much of an electrician, and you have a stray/spare molex like the one on the left in the attached photo - if your dyslexic self decides to go ahead an use that spare plug on the left instead of the spare plug on the right, you will let all the smoke out of your HDPVR.

Definitely should have done more research on this - my bad.

From what I can tell both those are wired the same to the 12v line.

[KryptoNyte]

If a person started the job with the molex on the left and didn't have the one on the right, and didn't know about the 12v molex inclusion, one might assume that "red/black" were the correct solution. Regardless, it's my own fault for not researching beyond the information in this thread.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by KryptoNyte

If a person started the job with the molex on the left and didn't have the one on the right, and didn't know about the 12v molex inclusion, one might assume that "red/black" were the correct solution. Regardless, it's my own fault for not researching beyond the information in this thread.

Yeah, that's a mistake I might have made.

[Fuzzy]

It's not JUST the color of the wire, but the shape of the plug as well.