# R15 - Keeps Powering Off Due To Overheating?



## balthus (Sep 30, 2007)

Our Tivo R10 died a few weeks ago & DirecTV sent us a refurbished R15 which we had installed a few days ago. Our A/V guy installed in in same spot in our media cabinet as where the R10 was. Last night I tried to record shows and noticed it had turned off and got some message that unit was too hot & would power off, etc. I reset the receiver this morning because it also had some funky defaults like language set to Chinese & time was not correct on Guide. 

Tonight we set it to record a few shows and we watched a DVD. I noticed at some point while we were watching DVD that R15 looked like it turned off.

When movie was over, I hit "list". It appears shows were recorded and hit "play". Show started playing but then got same "unt too hot" message & it shut down.

We have nowhere else to put it. Our media cabinet has doors with glass. The side the R15 is on has 2 shelves. Bottom shelf is B&K AVR505 receiver. Then another wood shelf that the R15 is sitting on - where the R10 has sat for 3 years.

What is up with this? Am I doomed to the insanity I am reading about with the R15's? 

Should I bother even trying to deal with DTV about this or just ship R10 to weaknees & get new hard drive?

Thanks.


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

You might want to try a USB-powered cooling fan. The Targus Chillpad is a nice flat fan that sits under (or on top of) your DVR to augment its internal cooling fan. No extra power is required, just a USB connection.

By the way, check under the "System Information" display ... what temperature are you getting?


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

I'd get on the horn to DTV, sounds like they left the fan unplugged. They are much more heat tolerant than that.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

Regardless of why it is overheating (fan unplugged or not), you should call and insist on a working DVR. What you are seeing is not normal for an R15.

Carl


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## balthus (Sep 30, 2007)

Thanks - we have to be somewhere this morning but I will call them this afternoon & see what happened. Also I believe the box it was sent in says R15-100.

Are there "newer" models? 

Are we only going to get another refurb model because they sent us this one for free? 

I was told when I originally spoke with them & asked for a replacement TIVO this would not extend our contract. This replaced a 3+ year old R10 that was owned.

Thanks.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

balthus said:


> Our Tivo R10 died a few weeks ago & DirecTV sent us a refurbished R15 which we had installed a few days ago. Our A/V guy installed in in same spot in our media cabinet as where the R10 was. Last night I tried to record shows and noticed it had turned off and got some message that unit was too hot & would power off, etc. I reset the receiver this morning because it also had some funky defaults like language set to Chinese & time was not correct on Guide.
> 
> Thanks.


Before you send it back, and before it shuts itself down again you can check and see if the unit is really overheating or if there is something else causing the problem. This DVR actually "takes it's own temperature" and can display it for you on command!! While watching live TV, press MENU/SETTINGS/SETUP/INFO AND TEST and then press the DOWN key on your remote. Near the top of the listing will be a TEMPERATURE line with the result in either Celcius or Farenheit depending on the software version in your unit. Check this out & post the results here.

My R15's even on warm summer days rarely exceeded 110 degrees F (43.3 degrees C)-and one is in a closed space beneath my TV that has glass doors on it. How hot is your unit running?

PS: If you obtained a reconditioned R15 to replace an owned DVR, you have committed to a 2 year programming extension. The new unit is also a LEASE. Paperwork to this effect should have either come with the unit or will arrive in an envelope in your mailbox in a few days. The only way I've ever seen anyone in these forums get a new (or reconditioned) piece of equipment from DirecTV without a programming commitment is for a failed unit when the customer has the DirecTV PROTECTION PLAN. Do you have this plan?


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## balthus (Sep 30, 2007)

This morning the temperature was of the receiver was 52 degrees. I started watching a movie I had recorded yesterday at 9AM. Just now (approx 10:30AM), the message came on "recorder is too hot & will power off to cool. It will turn back on shortly. Clear any obstructed air vents". I did mange to check the temperature again before it went to blue screen & it had gone up to 65 degrees.


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## gowilk (Jul 3, 2002)

I'm pretty sure you don't want to hear this but i think you're set to centigrade and 52 degrees is 125 degrees f (a little above normal) but 65 degrees is 149 degrees f and i do believe the auto shutoff is somewhere around 150 degrees f so it should be shutting off ... the million dollar question is "have you restricted the airflow so completely in it's placement or is it a defective refurbished unit?" .... make sure that you don't have anything blocked, otherwise you're spending time and potentially money for nothing ... Not sure what you think is so bad about the r-15 but only complaints i have is about the interface and the software behind it .... everybody (dish, direct, cable, tivo, etc) knows how to build a box to withstand heat from a stereo cabinet, your r-10 was NOTHING special in that regard.


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## balthus (Sep 30, 2007)

Yes the readings are C (Centigrade). The R15 is in same place as R10 has been for past 3 years in media cabinet. Nothing in my environment has changed except the units. I have nowhere else to put it.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

A little over a year ago we had a lot of discussions on heat. Some of the things we figured out:
- Temp is taken in/by the hard drive
- Fan is triggered at 54C
- The -500 ran ~ 10C hotter than the -300 (-100 wasn't out at the time)
Some more options for you other than going to D*:
- make space on top of your media center to see if it improves?
- The top comes off quite easily with a Phillips head screw driver, check/vacuum dust build up (unplug first!)
- Buy a molex jumper with fan connector to run the fan all the time - keeps it _much_ cooler


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## Igor (Jan 3, 2005)

This does not seem to be a design or software issue. The unit seem to be shutting off to prevent hardware damage. Instead of debating the design, we could start with basic troubleshooting:


1) Verify if air intake of R15 is receiving warm air from anoher unit in the cabinet or even from R15's venting holes (loop). May be the easy path is to remove the unit from the cabinet and monitor its temperature.

2) Verify if the internal fan is operating when the unit needs it. Once the unit get's work, simply verify if air is moving in/out.

The source of the problem must be one of the two above, probably number 1.


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## balthus (Sep 30, 2007)

litzdog911 said:


> You might want to try a USB-powered cooling fan. The Targus Chillpad is a nice flat fan that sits under (or on top of) your DVR to augment its internal cooling fan. No extra power is required, just a USB connection.
> 
> By the way, check under the "System Information" display ... what temperature are you getting?


USB Connection to the R15? It appears when I searched for one of these that there is an A/C cord. Thanks


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## balthus (Sep 30, 2007)

qwerty said:


> A little over a year ago we had a lot of discussions on heat. Some of the things we figured out:
> - Temp is taken in/by the hard drive
> - Fan is triggered at 54C
> - The -500 ran ~ 10C hotter than the -300 (-100 wasn't out at the time)
> ...


I have no space to make. The media center we have is a low unit that has shelves with glass doors on each side of the cabinet the center speaker.

If you are facing TV, left cabinet has 2 pieces of equipment - B&K receiver on bottom, shelf, R15 (which replaced R10). Not much room to make any more space. If I lowered the shelf the R15 is sitting on (if even possible) I'd have no clearance for B&K receiver.

If you are facing TV, right cabinet, has CD player on bottom, shelf, DVD player with an older DirectTV HD Tivo receiver (not the DTV H20) on top of DVD player.

What is a molex jumper w/fan connector? I am not a techie person in these areas but I assume my A/V guy would know what I was talking about.

As noted, I have never had a problem with overheating with any of the other A/V equipment until now.

Thanks.


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## balthus (Sep 30, 2007)

Vitor said:


> This does not seem to be a design or software issue. The unit seem to be shutting off to prevent hardware damage. Instead of debating the design, we could start with basic troubleshooting:
> 
> 1) Verify if air intake of R15 is receiving warm air from anoher unit in the cabinet or even from R15's venting holes (loop). May be the easy path is to remove the unit from the cabinet and monitor its temperature.
> 
> ...


I would have to pay my A/V guy to come out & do this as all the wiring would need to get pulled & I am not sure how we could do this as our TV pretty much runs the width of the media center that it is sitting on.


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## qwerty (Feb 19, 2006)

balthus said:


> I have no space to make. The media center we have is a low unit that has shelves with glass doors on each side of the cabinet the center speaker.
> 
> If you are facing TV, left cabinet has 2 pieces of equipment - B&K receiver on bottom, shelf, R15 (which replaced R10). Not much room to make any more space. If I lowered the shelf the R15 is sitting on (if even possible) I'd have no clearance for B&K receiver.
> 
> ...


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812119149

It's the power connector for PC hard drives and cd/dvd recorders.
Remove the top, plug in between the existing cable and the hard drive. Unplug the fan connector from the motherboard and plu it into the jumper from the new MOLEX jumper. Of course it would probably void your waranty if you told anyone.


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

balthus said:


> This morning the temperature was of the receiver was 52 degrees. I started watching a movie I had recorded yesterday at 9AM. Just now (approx 10:30AM), the message came on "recorder is too hot & will power off to cool. It will turn back on shortly. Clear any obstructed air vents". I did mange to check the temperature again before it went to blue screen & it had gone up to 65 degrees.


WOW!!! That is HOT. Just out of curiosity, after it gave you the first warning message, did you check to see if the fan is running? Just put your hand over the round opening on the back and see if you can feel any air flow. Sounds to me like the fan is defective or for some reason the unit isn't turning on the fan at the right time.


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

ThomasM said:


> WOW!!! That is HOT. Just out of curiosity, after it gave you the first warning message, did you check to see if the fan is running? Just put your hand over the round opening on the back and see if you can feel any air flow. Sounds to me like the fan is defective or for some reason the unit isn't turning on the fan at the right time.


Agreed!

Something isn't right - I'd call DirecTV and get that puppy replaced .....


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## fancyt5849 (Sep 10, 2007)

check your access card for burn marks around the chip. if they are present that is your problem the receiver doesn't recognize the card and shuts off. you can hear and even see the fan running if it is plugged in


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## fancyt5849 (Sep 10, 2007)

the R15-300 is a slimmer unit than the others you might request it as well


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