Freeview STBs and TiVo

My trusty old Sony VTX-D800U has just gone on the blink and I think unless I
can bring it back from the dead, I'm looking for a new one to mate with my
TiVo.

It's just saying "no signal" but the signal is fine (things daisy-chained
downstream are working well). I've tried unplugging it/replugging it etc.
but that hasn't worked.

I'm always a little wary of buying STBs for the TiVo as not all boxes are
supported. Any reccommendations before I ring TiVo?

Tim

Tim Downie wrote:
My trusty old Sony VTX-D800U has just gone on the blink and I think
unless I can bring it back from the dead, I'm looking for a new one
to mate with my TiVo.

It's just saying "no signal" but the signal is fine (things
daisy-chained downstream are working well). I've tried unplugging
it/replugging it etc. but that hasn't worked.

With a view to bringing it back for the dead I thought I'd have a look
inside the case for anything obvious. Well, I found this.

http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...wcapacitor.jpg

I know these things aren't normally worth attempting to repair but because
TiVo have just about giving up supporting new Freeview boxes for the TiVo,
I'd like to repair it if possible. I'm no expert in this field but would I
be right in assuming that capacitor in the centre of the picture isn't
right?

If it is U/S, would it be a likely cause of the symptoms? It has 2200
microF, 10V, HD(M), 105C and HD243 printed on it.

Would a replacement be easy to source and where would be the best place to
source just one capacitor like this?

TIA

Tim

On 15/09/09 20:39, Tim Downie wrote:

With a view to bringing it back for the dead I thought I'd have a look
inside the case for anything obvious. Well, I found this.

http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...wcapacitor.jpg

I know these things aren't normally worth attempting to repair but
because TiVo have just about giving up supporting new Freeview boxes for
the TiVo, I'd like to repair it if possible. I'm no expert in this field
but would I be right in assuming that capacitor in the centre of the
picture isn't right?

Yep, capacitors (especially within PSUs are a common failure)

If it is U/S, would it be a likely cause of the symptoms? It has 2200
microF, 10V, HD(M), 105C and HD243 printed on it.

Would a replacement be easy to source and where would be the best place
to source just one capacitor like this?

Maplin, if you can't get same voltage, higher will be OK.

Actually they don't seem to do much of a range of single electrolytics
now, this one has tags rather than plain wire leads

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=12040

Maybe someone can offer you one from their odds and sods bin?

On Sep 15, 8:39 pm, "Tim Downie"
wrote:
Tim Downie wrote:
My trusty old Sony VTX-D800U has just gone on the blink and I think
unless I can bring it back from the dead, I'm looking for a new one
to mate with my TiVo.

It's just saying "no signal" but the signal is fine (things
daisy-chained downstream are working well). I've tried unplugging
it/replugging it etc. but that hasn't worked.

With a view to bringing it back for the dead I thought I'd have a look
inside the case for anything obvious. Well, I found this.

http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...wcapacitor.jpg

I know these things aren't normally worth attempting to repair but because
TiVo have just about giving up supporting new Freeview boxes for the TiVo,
I'd like to repair it if possible. I'm no expert in this field but would I
be right in assuming that capacitor in the centre of the picture isn't
right?

If it is U/S, would it be a likely cause of the symptoms? It has 2200
microF, 10V, HD(M), 105C and HD243 printed on it.

Would a replacement be easy to source and where would be the best place to
source just one capacitor like this?

TIA

Tim

Maplin order code DT72P should do the job if you have a convenient
store, otherwise I find eBay can be cost effective for small
quantities of parts when including P&P.

On 15/09/09 20:53, airsmoothed wrote:

Maplin order code DT72P should do the job

Heh, their own search page failed to turn that up ...

With a view to bringing it back for the dead I thought I'd have a look
inside the case for anything obvious. Well, I found this.
http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...wcapacitor.jpg
I know these things aren't normally worth attempting to repair but because
TiVo have just about giving up supporting new Freeview boxes for the TiVo,
I'd like to repair it if possible. I'm no expert in this field but would I
be right in assuming that capacitor in the centre of the picture isn't
right?

Yup

If it is U/S, would it be a likely cause of the symptoms?

Quite possibly, bad capacitors were a major cause of computer failures
from about 2001 onwards due to a stolen recipe for the electrolyte by
chinese companies, which caused just the effect you're seeing.

http://badcaps.net shows the same effect on motherboards

I had a motherboard myself with this problem, and i've diagnosed a few
more over the last couple of years (my "dead" machine failed just over
3 years ago, and by all accounts, it had lasted far longer than most
with this issue). It drove me sodding mad for almost 18 months as it
became increasingly less stable - the "bulged crown" effect was almost
imperceptible on mine unless you compared the others nearby with a
light source to bounce a reflection off the top !

Would a replacement be easy to source and where would be the best place to
source just one capacitor like this?

Any electronics shop, Maplin etc should be able to provide one.

On Sep 15, 8:57 pm, Andy Burns wrote:
On 15/09/09 20:53, airsmoothed wrote:

Maplin order code DT72P should do the job

Heh, their own search page failed to turn that up ...

Yeah, it's probably great if one wants a bangin' car stereo for one's
Corsa 1.0 with blue lights in the washer jets but a pain in the butt
if you want to find a capacitor :-/

On 15/09/09 21:37, airsmoothed wrote:

On Sep 15, 8:57 pm, Andy wrote:
On 15/09/09 20:53, airsmoothed wrote:

Maplin order code DT72P should do the job

Heh, their own search page failed to turn that up ...

Yeah, it's probably great if one wants a bangin' car stereo for one's
Corsa 1.0 with blue lights in the washer jets

Funny you should mention that, it did turn up a 1Farad capacitor for
smoothing power supply to car stereos, $DEITY knows how big it actually
is, but it comes with a 4 digit LED display ...

In message , Tim Downie
writes
Tim Downie wrote:
My trusty old Sony VTX-D800U has just gone on the blink and I think
unless I can bring it back from the dead, I'm looking for a new one
to mate with my TiVo.

It's just saying "no signal" but the signal is fine (things
daisy-chained downstream are working well). I've tried unplugging
it/replugging it etc. but that hasn't worked.

With a view to bringing it back for the dead I thought I'd have a look
inside the case for anything obvious. Well, I found this.

http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...wcapacitor.jpg

I know these things aren't normally worth attempting to repair but
because TiVo have just about giving up supporting new Freeview boxes
for the TiVo, I'd like to repair it if possible. I'm no expert in this
field but would I be right in assuming that capacitor in the centre of
the picture isn't right?


Spray it with WD40 (well, don't)

If it is U/S, would it be a likely cause of the symptoms? It has 2200
microF, 10V, HD(M), 105C and HD243 printed on it.

Would a replacement be easy to source and where would be the best place
to source just one capacitor like this?

Should be easy - Maplin, CPC, RS etc

You're more likely to find one in a 16v range, I probably have some (and
if not will be putting in an RS order in the next few days)


TIA

Tim

--
geoff

In article , Tim Downie
writes
Tim Downie wrote:
My trusty old Sony VTX-D800U has just gone on the blink and I think
unless I can bring it back from the dead, I'm looking for a new one
to mate with my TiVo.

It's just saying "no signal" but the signal is fine (things
daisy-chained downstream are working well). I've tried unplugging
it/replugging it etc. but that hasn't worked.

With a view to bringing it back for the dead I thought I'd have a look
inside the case for anything obvious. Well, I found this.

http://www.zen31010.zen.co.uk/images...wcapacitor.jpg

I know these things aren't normally worth attempting to repair but because
TiVo have just about giving up supporting new Freeview boxes for the TiVo,
I'd like to repair it if possible. I'm no expert in this field but would I
be right in assuming that capacitor in the centre of the picture isn't
right?

If it is U/S, would it be a likely cause of the symptoms? It has 2200
microF, 10V, HD(M), 105C and HD243 printed on it.

Would a replacement be easy to source and where would be the best place to
source just one capacitor like this?

Try these:
http://uk.farnell.com/panasonic/eeuf...10v/dp/9691952


The cap that has gone is in the power supply section so needs to be a
special type designed for switched mode supplies (low ESR/ESL, high
ripple, high frequency) or it wont work as well and will have a short
life.

The one linked to fits the bill and I understand that Farnell do free
post for small web orders so you'll get 5 of these (min order qty) for
just over a quid.

The ones linked to from Maplin don't show a spec so there's no way of
knowing if they are up to the job.

Any stock problems and these will also work and have a slightly better
spec (at a slightly higher cost):
http://uk.farnell.com/panasonic/eeuf...10v/dp/9691979

--
fred
BBC3, ITV2/3/4, channels going to the DOGs