Should the 508 PVR fan always be on?

[AppliedAggression]

The fan on my 508 isn't on and i haven't seen it come on recently. I noticed the box was relatively hot the other day.

Can someone check if their fan on their 508 is on? If so, after about how long? Thanks.

 

[AppliedAggression]

cmon, someone please just check for me. it's not that hard. i'm not sure if i should leave my pvr on for long periods of time like this. i never seen the fan on.

 

[Phil T]

I have a 501 and I don't think I have ever noticed the fan being on in 2 years!

As long as it is working fine I don't think I would worry about it.

 

[AppliedAggression]

thanks for replying, but if you're just trying to hear the fan you probably won't. It's usually very quiet. I saw my fan on once one time when i turned it on one day but it only stayed on a few seconds then went off. I've been checking it lately, and even after the receiver being on for over 12 hours straight, the fan isn't spinning.

 

[Stargazer]

I though I have seen people post in the past about people saying that their fans never came on and that they had issues with the receivers as well something with the bearings being bad. I dont know if it pertained to the DVR's or to something else close to this.

 

[Smith P.]

That's bad sign - many reports was related to overheated sat tuner part; after this your PVR will lost some transponders, then will acqure signal forever.

 

[AppliedAggression]

can you confirm that your fan is on when the receiver is?

 

[Smith P.]

I saw some ppl did add tiny 5VDC fan mounted horizontally just up on sat tuner chip and connected by PC's 5/12VDC coupler to power line of internal disk the PVR501.

 

[AppliedAggression]

ok. i'll definitely look into that.

if you have a 508 though, can you just check if your fan comes on when you turn on the receiver?

 

[AppliedAggression]

I saw some ppl did add tiny 5VDC fan mounted horizontally just up on sat tuner chip and connected by PC's 5/12VDC coupler to power line of internal disk the PVR501.

i tried doing that to the fan in the back and the fan stays on 24/7. even when the receiver is powered off the fan is still on. the fan on the back says 12vDC but when i hooked it up to the 12v wire, it was really loud. i know it was never like that. do you know anyone that has done this or similar and can help me out. i really don't want this receiver to go on me.

i've noticed that if i unplug the receiver from the wall and plug it back in, the fan will come on briefly, for about 3 seconds then turn off and never come on again. i'm thinking that maybe it's the temp sensor that went and now the fan never thinks it's hot enough to turn on. i'd really like some help, so please if you have a 508, just turn it around and see if the fan is on. if you can help me even farther, that'd be great.

 

[bcwmachine]

My 508's fan is not running.

 

[AppliedAggression]

My 508's fan is not running.

thanks for checking. is the receiver pretty warm on top? any idea how long the receiver had been on when you checked the fan?

 

[bcwmachine]

My 508's fan is not running.

thanks for checking. is the receiver pretty warm on top? any idea how long the receiver had been on when you checked the fan?

Been on for 2+ hours, thermometer reads 102 degrees. Fan is still off,
but dust on the leading edges of the blades indicates that it has run in the past.

 

[AppliedAggression]

where do you see the temperture?

 

[David_Levin]

I was having trouble with my 508 not being able to get a lock on a specific transponder. Called E*. They had me test the box at my 2nd location (basement), where it worked, and told me it must be a cabling problem.

I ran a new cable and the problem remained.

Pointed a room fan at the 508 and the problem went away. I hadn't considered a thermal problem since the 508 fan wasn't running (figured it was thermally activated).

I did notice that the fan would run when the box was reset (hold down the power switch), so figured that the fan was functional. That would indicate that the fan is under some kind for software control.

Implemented a 2 prong solution. Punched out the cardboard back of the component rack (the glass doors had all ready been removed), and hot wired the fan directly to 12v (it now runs all the time).

The fan is VERY quiet - I can't hear it if I try. I suppose it may wear out faster, but heck, fans are cheap.

 

[bcwmachine]

where do you see the temperture?

Digital Thermometer set on top of 508's case near the back over the vent slots.

 

[Stargazer]

I know that I can tell when the 721 fan is running because I checked after reading this post. I look at the temperature in the system information screen and whenever the temperature gets around 120 it kicks in and drops to around 100 or slightly above that.

It has been a while since I had a 501 so I do not remember if I had an issue with the fan on it or not. I never really paid much attention to it.

 

[AppliedAggression]

I was having trouble with my 508 not being able to get a lock on a specific transponder. Called E*. They had me test the box at my 2nd location (basement), where it worked, and told me it must be a cabling problem.

I ran a new cable and the problem remained.

Pointed a room fan at the 508 and the problem went away. I hadn't considered a thermal problem since the 508 fan wasn't running (figured it was thermally activated).

I did notice that the fan would run when the box was reset (hold down the power switch), so figured that the fan was functional. That would indicate that the fan is under some kind for software control.

Implemented a 2 prong solution. Punched out the cardboard back of the component rack (the glass doors had all ready been removed), and hot wired the fan directly to 12v (it now runs all the time).

The fan is VERY quiet - I can't hear it if I try. I suppose it may wear out faster, but heck, fans are cheap.

First, thanks for all the input guys. I was a bit disappointed no one was responding to a simple question which could have ruined my pvr, but i really appreciate everyone taking the time to give their input now. Thanks.

I tried doing this also, except i plugged it up inside to the power connector and the fan is on all the time. Is that how yours is? Even when the receiver is off, the fan is on.

My does the same exact thing as yours did, with a reboot the fan comes on but then turns off and never comes on again.

 

[AppliedAggression]

where do you see the temperture?

Digital Thermometer set on top of 508's case near the back over the vent slots.

hmm... are our 508s different, or am i just blind. I don't see any digital temperature readout. Do i have to take the cover off to see it?

 

[David_Levin]

I tried doing this also, except i plugged it up inside to the power connector and the fan is on all the time. Is that how yours is? Even when the receiver is off, the fan is on.

Yep - that's what I ment by "all the time".