# Dish 622VIP DVR Noise?



## ctula (Feb 11, 2007)

I just got HD DVR for Dish Network. The damn thing makes this whining noise when I turn it on and it just keeps on whining when I use it. I spoke to DISH and they argue that all their DVRs make noise. Its irratating and they refuse to replace it. I just had their service for one day and it's SO much louder than my TIVO that i had with DirectTV. 

Can anyone confirm that this noise exists on it? Thanks!!!!


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

ctula said:


> I just got HD DVR for Dish Network. The damn thing makes this whining noise when I turn it on and it just keeps on whining when I use it. I spoke to DISH and they argue that all their DVRs make noise. Its irratating and they refuse to replace it. I just had their service for one day and it's SO much louder than my TIVO that i had with DirectTV.
> 
> Can anyone confirm that this noise exists on it? Thanks!!!!


Is this a 622? No, my 622 does not make a "whining noise" and it shouldn't. I don't hear anything from it except if I'm awake during the nightly guide update which makes some noise from the hard drive I believe.


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## ctula (Feb 11, 2007)

lujan said:


> Is this a 622? No, my 622 does not make a "whining noise" and it shouldn't. I don't hear anything from it except if I'm awake during the nightly guide update which makes some noise from the hard drive I believe.


Yes the new 622VIP

Well I can understand an update, but it makes the whining noise the moment you plug it in. I had the TV and the DVR on for 18 hours and the sound did not go away. The installer said it would, but my faith in him lacked when he had to call and ask how to put it into single mode and could not answer how to get to my recordings.

The dispatch office said if they could not hear it through the phone there was nothing wrong with it. I told him that I was going to cancel and he was fine with it. But the customer service rep did not agree. So they are SUPPOSEDLY sending a tech out tomorrow to replace it. However, they insist that it will make noise and that is why people put it into the living room and not the bedroom. Of course, if I did that then there would be no TRUE HD.

I thank you for answering the question that it should be quiet. By means of quiet, that when there is no noise in a room (and not during updates) you should not hear it when the DVR is on or in standby mode (off)...


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## joebird (Sep 15, 2003)

The only time mine make any noise is when it makes a TREMENDOUS amount of noise (like it cranks the fan full speed) when booting or when it locks up and re-boots itself.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

The ViP622 does have the HDD running all the time and therefore makes some noise. I would typically say mine does not make any noise, but it is in the living room and not in the bed room. When everything else is turned off in my living room there is a small hum from the 622, but if that was in the bed room while trying to sleep I think it would seem much louder.

When the unit is off it is really in standby mode with the HDD spinning (always). You will never get zero noise from it without unplugging it from the wall.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Yep. The "hurricane fan" noise should only be heard during the nightly reboots (which you can reschedule to a time during the day if the noise wakes you) or if you reset the receiver.

If it is constantly making a loud rushing fan noise there is a problem. A whine shouldn't be heard either unless you are really close to the unit.


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## ctula (Feb 11, 2007)

James Long said:


> Yep. The "hurricane fan" noise should only be heard during the nightly reboots (which you can reschedule to a time during the day if the noise wakes you) or if you reset the receiver.
> 
> If it is constantly making a loud rushing fan noise there is a problem. A whine shouldn't be heard either unless you are really close to the unit.


No it's a high pitched whining noise that is made constantly throughout it's operation. Not a hard drive sound, which I DEFINATELY can understand.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

This does not sound like normal 622 operation. Call dish and have them replace the unit.

The only "moving" parts in the unit are the hard drive and the fan, either one or the other is defective.


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## halvard (Feb 7, 2006)

I've had my 622 for a month and it has had a loud hum 24/7. I complained to Dish and was told it was the hard drive spinning and was normal. It doesn't sound normal to me! Otherwise it works just fine.


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## Rob Glasser (Feb 22, 2005)

halvard said:


> I've had my 622 for a month and it has had a loud hum 24/7. I complained to Dish and was told it was the hard drive spinning and was normal. It doesn't sound normal to me! Otherwise it works just fine.


Give this a try, hold down the power button until the unit reboots. At that point listen to the fan for a few moments, is it louder at this point, or is it the same volume level as it always is? If it is the same then you may have a defective unit that is running the fan at full speed all the time. If it gets louder right after the reboot then it's probably not the fan running at an excessive speed all the time. Basically right after a reboot the fan runs a full speed for a second, probably some boot up test.

The hard drive is running all the time and if I'm standing close to the 622 I can always hear it however it does not bother me when watching TV because it's pretty quiet. If you have this in your bed room or somewhere and it's completely quiet in the room I wouldn't be surprised if you could hear it a bit, however if it's as loud as that first power on of the unit and fan then it's most likely an issue.


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## ctula (Feb 11, 2007)

Jim5506 said:


> This does not sound like normal 622 operation. Call dish and have them replace the unit.
> 
> The only "moving" parts in the unit are the hard drive and the fan, either one or the other is defective.


This is what I seem to be getting all across the boards. I have called DISH and they refute the idea that there is anything wrong with it and it's normal. Some people accept it and other do not. They also say that most people do not keep a DVR in their bedroom. I tried to explain to them that a computer hard drive does not even make a whining noise when you work on it unless something starts to go wrong with it. When I threatened to cancel if they did not replace it, they did not care and forwarded me to the customer service for cancellation.

The customer service of course did not want me to cancel after one day. They are going to have a tech come out and look at it. However, I think that the only time you should hear a hard drive running is while playing or updating not just idling the entire time or turned off. I agree with hearing a fan whoosh or whatnot when you start up and periodically.

However, this whining noise does not only affect us but the animals too. I hope they replace it.


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## sthor (Oct 1, 2006)

The only detectable noise I get from my 622 is the fan when I first power up the unit from a shutdown. The fan runs at a reduced speed after that and is not noticeable. The hard drive runs continuously but it is not noticeable either. The 622 is quieter than my old DirecTivo Sony SAT-60.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

:welcome_s ctula

Sounds like you might have a bad 622. I have two and both of them don't make a whining noise. Like others.. You can hear a load fan when you reboot the 622 but then it should go relatively quiet. It is not completely silent, but definitely not annoying load. I do have one in the bedroom and it is not an issue. How far are you sitting from the unit itself?


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## ctula (Feb 11, 2007)

Ron Barry said:


> :welcome_s ctula
> 
> Sounds like you might have a bad 622. I have two and both of them don't make a whining noise. Like others.. You can hear a load fan when you reboot the 622 but then it should go relatively quiet. It is not completely silent, but definitely not annoying load. I do have one in the bedroom and it is not an issue. How far are you sitting from the unit itself?


put my ear next to it, go to the other side of the room, go to the hallway - I can hear it. The birds go wacko when it's on. The cats hide and don't come out until I unplug the damn thing.

I agree with you that it's a bad 622, but Dish is arguing that it's not so I am waiting for the tech to come right now so I am hoping that they replace it.


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## ClaytonD (Oct 26, 2006)

Mine actually makes a little noise from time to time... I can tell it's the fan ramping up... I guess to cool it a little. I have it sitting on top of an old VCR/DVD combo that's not powered any more. I also have a very thin DVD player on top of it. I figure it "might" be getting a little warm because it's in a stand... but there's at least 4 inches of clearance behind it and 5 inches above the DVD player plus at least 3 inches on each side of it... with one side having 12" of clearance. I've checked to ensure that none of the ventilation areas are covered or obstructed. But for some reason it randomly runs the fan a little more (for like 15 seconds) about every hour. But I can live with it... only watch TV in there at night before bed and it never is detectable when actually watching TV.


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## ctula (Feb 11, 2007)

OK, the DISH installer just left. He finally replaced the receiver, but not without hesitation. He walked into a quiet bedroom (no electronics were on - not even a clock). I plugged in the receiver and it did it's startup and the whining noise. When the hard drive and fan cooled down, all that was left was the whining noise. He tried to debunk it as say that it was something else in the room. I had to practically put his ear against the receiver to agree that it was coming from the 622ViP. Well, he replaced it and it is quiet. Thank GOD!! So thank you for everyone's help!

Now it's time to find out if I can get KTLA (CW) in HD in Los Angeles area. My entire REASON for switching in the first place.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Well glad to hear it got swapped. I don't think you can get KTLA in HD through Dish... Only over OTA. At least that is how I am getting it in SoCal.


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## owensjro (Mar 4, 2005)

My 622 has the same high pitched whirring sound. I have not called to have it replaced yet, but my father (who is a whiz with electronics) immediately noticed it and told me that the DC power converter was bad and needed to be replaced. He said that is the only thing that would make that high pitched noise.

Interestingly I can only hear it out of one ear. Guess my hearing is starting to go 

Jim


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## PaulS (Mar 2, 2007)

Rob Glasser said:


> The hard drive is running all the time and if I'm standing close to the 622 I can always hear it however it does not bother me when watching TV because it's pretty quiet. If you have this in your bed room or somewhere and it's completely quiet in the room I wouldn't be surprised if you could hear it a bit, however if it's as loud as that first power on of the unit and fan then it's most likely an issue.


I have the unit in my living room and can hear the hard drive from 30 feet away when we're not watching TV. My wife, who tolerates noise much better than I, is also bothered by it. Is there any way to quiet the hard drive?

Rob, I did try the rebooting method you suggested. The very loud fan noise went away after a few second, leaving just the hard drive noise I describe above.


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## Mr.72 (Feb 2, 2007)

the reason a hard drive is loud is because it's mechanically directly-coupled to the chassis. in a PC you can re-mount the hard disk with grommets or hang it with hair bungees and zip ties and eliminate most of the HD noise by isolating the HD from the chassis (done that often with recording studio computers). I haven't cracked open my 622 [yet] to look for a way to quiet the hard drive. it's not that loud frankly, except during bootup when it's like a jet airplane.

BTW the DirecTV HR20 is much louder, but my DirecTV HDVR2 (TiVo) was nearly inaudible for the entire 6 years I used it. So it's not "all" DVRs that make audible noise, but maybe "all" HD DVRs that have to store a lot more data and thus run the hard disks much more often.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Mr.72 said:


> in a PC you can re-mount the hard disk with grommets or hang it with hair bungees and zip ties and eliminate most of the HD noise by isolating the HD from the chassis (done that often with recording studio computers). I haven't cracked open my 622 [yet] to look for a way to quiet the hard drive. it's not that loud frankly, except during bootup when it's like a jet airplane.


You need to be careful about thermally insulating the hard drive from the case in some of these smaller machines. Without a metal-metal connection, the cooling can be much less effective.


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