# Hopper - Please Post Your Temperatures



## Blowgun

This is a consolidation of an earlier discussion regarding, whether by design and/or because of the firmware, the potential for the Hopper to run dangerously hot. First, this is what the inside of your Hopper looks like:

















Depending on the size of your browser window, the above images will either appear side-by-side or one on top of the other. In either case, the first image is the front view.

In the recent discussion, James reported his Hopper hard drive temperatures:


James Long said:


> HDD High Temp, HDD Low Temp and HDD Average Temp. Mine is currently showing 136/75/116 (degrees).


The DISH hard drive temperature reporting system uses Fahrenheit and apparently can not be changed to Celsius. Celsius is more commonly used when discussing component temperatures. The hard drive temperatures that James reported, 136/75/116 Fahrenheit, converts approximately to 58/24/46 Celsius, respectively.

As for the hard drive in the pictures, it is a Seagate. Over at the Seagate website the 2 TB Barracuda hard drive has a maximum operating temperature limit of 60° C. A temperature of 60° C converts to 140° F. You never want to see the hard drive temperature exceed 140° F.

However, that doesn't mean that just because a hard drive doesn't exceed 140° F that it's safe. Heat is the enemy of a hard drive and will cause the hard drive to fail prematurely. Lower is better. On a home computer you could typically see 86° F (30° C) to 95° F (35° C) or lower. I would get concerned if my hard drives exceed 104° F (40° C) under load.

The Hopper James uses reached a high of 136° F (58° C) and averaged 116° F (46° C). And, that is with the internal hard drive heat sensor located close to the airflow of the fan. I wonder what the temperatures are like on the opposite side.

Ambient room temperature, placement of the Hopper and other factors, such as the Hopper using 2 TB hard drives that have a questionable reliability factor; all these things will contribute to the overall health and lifespan of the Hopper. Adding to this, if the above images are correct, is what appears to be a inadequate design.

If the fan isn't wired backwards, the fan blows the air into the case. In the second image you can see the scoop that attaches to the hard drive tray. The scoop is suppose to direct the airflow under the hard drive. However, the tray doesn't appear to be notched or elevated enough to allow the air to flow smoothly.

Instead it looks like the airflow is pushed back towards the fan. This can create conflicting airflow patterns. Not only could this starve the hard drive of air, but has the potential of causing other components inside the Hopper to get a mixed current of air and potentially run unnecessarily hotter themselves. Which in turn creates a cascading effect. In addition, most likely the fans are intentionally stepped down to reduce noise through the firmware.

Obviously it's too soon to know anything definite and I freely admit that there is a lot of speculation on my part. Yet, I think the concern is a valid one and it's something that should be monitored. This is where you can help.

After running the Hopper for a couple of hours, could you please post all three Hopper temperatures. James mentioned where to find the temperatures in his post:


James Long said:


> Try Menu - Settings - Network Setup - Tests - View Counters
> Page down (above the guide button on the right hand side of the remote) to HDD High Temp, HDD Low Temp and HDD Average Temp.


I think if there was a wider sample taken it would be beneficial to all Hopper users. If you want to include both Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures, this can easily be done through the Google calculator. Just go to Google and type in the search field the following:

*[number] f to c*​
Google will immediately return the converted temperature value. Please don't forget to round up as necessary.

If it turns out that the hard drive in the Hopper is running unusually hot, this could be "fixed" with an upcoming firmware update. All DISH would have to do is change the percentages in the fan control table. Or, perhaps this information would lead to improved design changes in the rev2 Hopper.

Lastly, it could be that the Hopper that James has is an isolated situation. If his Hopper is running unusually hot, it gives him information that he can use, should he choose to act upon it, to replace it with one that runs cooler. If it was me, I'd do it now than later.

Thanks.


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## Blowgun

*Current Opinion*
Hopper operating temperatures are high due to inadequate cooling. Firmware needs changes to the fan control table and design changes should be made to next revision Hopper.

*Current Averages*
High Temp: 128 F / 54 C
Avg Temp: 112 F /45 C
Low Temp: 73 F / 23 C

*Individual Results*
James Long:
High 136 F / 58 C
Avg 116 F / 46 C
Low 75 F / 24 C​mdavej:
High 125 F / 52 C
Avg 112 F / 44 C
Low ?? / ??​gtal98:
High 127 F / 52.7 C
Avg 111 F / 43.9 C
Low 80 F / 26.7 C​oldengineer:
High 122 F / 50 C
Avg 107 F / 42 C
Low 64 F / 18 C​


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## P Smith

Is there any VOID label outside of the box, what would prevent to open a cover and install thermocouples near CPU's heat-sink and HDD ?


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## mdavej

High 125
Avg 112

I have a laptop USB fan under it and 2 other components stacked on top. Ambient temp 70-75.


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## gtal98

High 127 F / 52.7 C 
Avg 111 F / 43.9 C
Low 80 F / 26.7 C

Hopper is sitting on top of my entertainment center, with about 2" of space on each side, nothing on top except Sling Adapter.


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## oldengineer

hi 122
lo 64
avg 107 

This hopper not enclosed.


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## barken

mdavej said:


> High 125
> Avg 112
> 
> I have a laptop USB fan under it and 2 other components stacked on top. Ambient temp 70-75.


Is the laptop USB fan pulling air through the system or just cooling the bottom of the case?


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## mdavej

barken said:


> Is the laptop USB fan pulling air through the system or just cooling the bottom of the case?


It's not in a cabinet, so it's not pulling air through the whole system, just blowing on the bottom of the case. There are some holes in the bottom and on the sides, so I thought blowing onto the metal case and a little through the holes would cool it a little more than the built-in fan. It's apparently not doing much of anything judging from the other temps posted so far. It had more of an affect on my old 722k. I may turn it off and see if it makes any difference.

EDIT: I took my USB fan out. No temp difference so far. I noticed the fan in the DVR runs most of the time now. It rarely ran before. So I guess my external fan kept it cool enough that the internal fan wasn't needed.


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## Blowgun

Thank you for providing your Hopper temperatures.


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## Snydley

High 143 F / 61.7 C
Low 87 F / 30.6 C
Avg 122F / 50 C

The Hopper is on the "outside" of the middle shelf of my entertainment system, the vent is clear of any obstructions on the fan side, on the other side of the Hopper there is 2.5 inches between it and my home theater receiver. I think I'll move it down 1 shelf where it will still be open to the air on the fan side of the Hopper and will be 3" from my PS3 system. I'll compare the temps later.
Snyde


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## rpotts

8 days of running:

high: 122
low: 75
Avg: 111


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## hondagrl

Installed yesterday. Hopper is in a cabinet with about 1.5 inches on either side, open front and closed back with hole for cables. Noticed it was extremely hot today. 

Temps:

High: 134
Low: 87
Avg: 107

I will check and see if I have my laptop fan and see if it makes a difference.

I definitely think there needs to be some adjustment for this. These temps seem way too high.


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## 356B

Mine averages 114.


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## Wire Nut

High Temp: 125 F / 52 C
Avg Temp: 114 F /46 C
Low Temp: 69 F / 21 C
Wow first time I've seen this thread, interesting to see the Hopper... Naked... I don't see how the heat sink on the CPU is getting any airflow at all, no temp gauge on that... 
I've been running S209 software for a few days, my temps were 10 F higher with the previous version. 
Joeys also I've noticed run awful hot, maybe they've improved too?


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## Marlin Guy

S209
127/118/120


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## deerewright

S209
High/129
Low/118
Avg/120

On shelf, on top of unpowered DVD/VCR, open front and back, and about 3" open space above.


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## broeddog

S209
High 123
Low 73
Average 111

These temps are in an enclosed wood and glass entertainment center with openings in the rear of each component. I will check the other Hopper and post those temps later.


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## clotter

S209
High 129
Low 66
Average 111

Also in an enclosed cabinet with vents in the back.


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## 3HaloODST

I have 2 Hoppers. Both on S209.

One one I'm getting:

Hi: 125
Lo: 78
Avg: 114

I'll post the temps of the other Hopper next chance I get


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## sregener

High/Low/Avg: 123/57/109.

Kept in an unfinished, unheated/cooled basement equipment rack, plenty of ventilation on all sides.


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## 3HaloODST

Other Hopper temps:

Hi: 125
Lo: 80
Avg: 113

By the way, both Hoppers are out in the open. Plenty of airflow.


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## RasputinAXP

Hi: 118
Low: 111
Avg: 114


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## jgcecg

122 high 
60 low
111 average


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## broeddog

S210
High 120
Low 109
Average 114


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## vidwiz

Anyone know how to reset the temp counters?

Just got installed on Sunday. My Hopper does not have the cooling fan 'flow director'.

My temps are:

131
111
84


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## P Smith

There is no way to reset it - perhaps if you'll find out how to clean NVRAM for the model ?


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## depoteet

I didn't see any reply to the question about voiding the warranty by opening the case or adding additional cooling. I haven't checked the actual temp (I'll do it tonight and post), but I noticed when I picked up a remote that was sitting next to the Hopper that it was really hot. 

The Hopper itself felt hotter than I've ever felt any other computer or consumer electronics. Can't be good for long term operation.


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## P Smith

If you own it - no limit for modifications; if not, well... opening the case and don't damaging internal guts ... 
Only HDD is protected from removing it out of HDD's holder by self-destructing void label (while the holder with the HDD could be removed without touching the label).


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## depoteet

My readings look higher than average:

134
87
122

Mine's in an open cabinet and the ambient temp is always 75. Looks like I need to change something. I guess the next step is to open it up and see what I'm working with.


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## Marlin Guy

Marlin Guy said:


> S209
> 127/118/120


Now 123/116/118
I installed some spacers on the bottom of the Hopper to give it more airlflow underneath. It appears to be working. It is in a "pocket" in my cabinet. Front open, sides and back closed. I may drill holes in the back of the cabinet to improve airflow.


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## Simplylinked

Good idea an the leg ext. Did the same thing with my 522 with Lego blocks.


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## tcatdbs

Hopper:
hi 122
lo 118
avg 118

"Average"?... think I'll add the legs and see if that helps. I do get laggy button operation quite often (worse than my old 722).


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## barken

2.13/2.65

Hopper 1 (in cabinet with 4-6" on either side)
127
116
118

Hopper 2 (on open shelf)
123
113
116

Joey 1 (on open shelf)
143
131
134

Joey 2 (on open shelf)
145
133
134


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## ATARI

Hopper
H: 122
L: 73
AVG: 104

Joey1 (open shelf)
H: 168
L: 87
AVG: 138

Joey2 (closed cabinet)
H: 152
L: 87
AVG: 138

So I'm a bit concerned about the Joeys.


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## P Smith

they soon to be cooked


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## broeddog

S213

H 132
L 32
A 118 
In enclosed entertainment center. I'm not sure how it figures out the average because it appears to be inaccurate.


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## Jhon69

Thought I would give my input for my system which is the VIP922/wMT2 so alot of you can feel better about your temps,mine is on top of my entertainment center because when it's not it runs about 8 degrees warmer:

High:132.

Average:122.

Low:100.


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## ATARI

ATARI said:


> Hopper
> H: 122
> L: 73
> AVG: 104
> 
> Joey1 (open shelf)
> H: 168
> L: 87
> AVG: 138
> 
> Joey2 (closed cabinet)
> H: 152
> L: 87
> AVG: 138
> 
> So I'm a bit concerned about the Joeys.


The HIC was placed ontop of the Joey1, and it was hot. I have moved it to the side, this should help. I have placed the Joey2 into a vertical position in the cabinet which should provide for better venting.


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## Lee Bailey

My Hopper today:

Hi 127 F/53 C
Lo 77 F/25 C
Av 111 F/44 C

Added this inside view of my Hopper. There is no shroud routing the fan to the HDD.


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## Yelobug

My Joey
156f
93f
138f
Open shelf/standing on side with square plate rec'd with unit.


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## broeddog

My second hopper temps are as follows

H 125
L 32
A 116


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## mweathers

I'm fairly new to Dish, had my Hopper/Joeys installed July 18.....I decided to look into my temps as well. At first my Hopper was pretty hot: 125 degrees F. I keep mine on a glass shelf in an open case. Last week I decided to raise the Hopper up to help with air flow. Brought it up about 2 inches by using glass candle votives turned upside down. Cost me a total of $4. My new temps are posted below. Also, once I did this I could touch the bottom of the Hopper to see where the highest temp occurs. If you refer to the picture at the beginning of this post, the hottest temp is NOT at the hard drive. In fact, that is really close to room temp. The heat is under the silver panel that runs front to back just to the right of center. So, I'm no longer worried about Hopper Heat. However, I AM concerned about Joey heat. I have all of mine up on their side in an open area. As you see below, they get pretty hot no matter what you do.

Hopper: 118H/111L/114 average
Joey 1: 141H/125L/132 average
Joey 2: 143H/132L/134 average
Joey 3: 142H/130L/128 average

So if you elevate the Hopper a few inches and try to keep in an open area, the temp should be fine.


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## P Smith

Hopper: 114H/113L/113 average

Using 4x1" spacers under feet


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## some guy

mweathers said:


> I'm fairly new to Dish, had my Hopper/Joeys installed July 18.....I decided to look into my temps as well. At first my Hopper was pretty hot: 125 degrees F. I keep mine on a glass shelf in an open case. Last week I decided to raise the Hopper up to help with air flow. Brought it up about 2 inches by using glass candle votives turned upside down. Cost me a total of $4. My new temps are posted below. Also, once I did this I could touch the bottom of the Hopper to see where the highest temp occurs. If you refer to the picture at the beginning of this post, the hottest temp is NOT at the hard drive. In fact, that is really close to room temp. The heat is under the silver panel that runs front to back just to the right of center. So, I'm no longer worried about Hopper Heat. However, I AM concerned about Joey heat. I have all of mine up on their side in an open area. As you see below, they get pretty hot no matter what you do.
> 
> Hopper: 118H/111L/114 average
> Joey 1: 141H/125L/132 average
> Joey 2: 143H/132L/134 average
> Joey 3: 142H/130L/128 average
> 
> So if you elevate the Hopper a few inches and try to keep in an open area, the temp should be fine.


The Joeys run hot and that is normal because there is no internal fan for the Joeys. A way to help with the heat of the Joeys and keep them as cool as possible is to use the Joey stand.


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## P Smith

It was recommended long time ago, also it was discovered unpopulated fan inside of J.


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## barryaz1

Got the Hopper II a week or so ago, coming from the 722k.

With my Arizona location, and my cabinet actually in my garage (where the temps can get to 130F during the day), with the 722 I had 2 USB fans, one to push more air in at the intake fan, one to help pull it out. I'll put those back in place this weekend. Am I correct that the fan in the photo on the left (from the photo of the front) pulls in air? And I'll definitely raise up with blocks or something.


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## P Smith

Nope. It pusing outside air into the box. Nothing will help you to push more air inside. 
Left grill is small, no exhausting flow. 
Raise the gap under DVR for two or three inches. 
You coul put there a fan directing up, but efficiency would be low as its airflow will not go thru bottom side of a case and internal PCB.


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## barryaz1

I knew how to check the temperature on my 722. What's the Hopper procedure?


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## P Smith

barryaz1 said:


> I knew how to check the temperature on my 722. What's the Hopper procedure?


Same.


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## barryaz1

P Smith said:


> Same.


Sorry, the 722 procedure doesn't fit. Please let me know the steps for the hopper. Thanks


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## charlesrshell

See Attached


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## P Smith

barryaz1 said:


> Sorry, the 722 procedure doesn't fit. Please let me know the steps for the hopper. Thanks


Find Network Diags, it's there; actually (James Long ?) gave how-to-find-the-numbers ...perhaps other ppl posted a few times here... I'm using Search before do ask, usually.


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## barryaz1

P Smith said:


> Find Network Diags, it's there; actually (James Long ?) gave how-to-find-the-numbers ...perhaps other ppl posted a few times here... I'm using Search before do ask, usually.


I do search first. That's how I got to this thread in the first place. I'll search Long's posts.


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## P Smith

barryaz1 said:


> I do search first. That's how I got to this thread in the first place. I'll search Long's posts.


I just scratched my head  ... first post has a quota of JL shortcut to the values.

It's always beneficial to any poster to look into first post of TS|OP . 
And read the thread's posts - some of them carry useful info, not just particular temperature readings ...


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## barryaz1

Sorry, I actually had reviewed it and missed that detail.

I've lifted the Hopper up by an inch or so and have one fan helping to blow in on the left (facing) and another helping exhaust on the right.

I'll report on the temps later, and then in July/August when the air on the garage side of the cabinet can reach 130ish.


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## barryaz1

barryaz1 said:


> I'll report on the temps later, and then in July/August when the air on the garage side of the cabinet can reach 130ish.


March 17th - 123/69


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## P Smith

barryaz1 said:


> March 17th - 123/69


should be three numbers: max/min/avg


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## barryaz1

P Smith said:


> should be three numbers: max/min/avg


123/69/107


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## ChE74

I haven't looked at this site for some time and now noticed there is renewed interest in Hopper temps. Has anyone reported or know of Hopper or Joey failure due to high temps?

I've had my Hopper/Joey (1 each) installation since mid July 2012 and have had no problems of any kind.

At the advice of some contributors I installed a Thermaltake fan and tried several configurations. My current Hopper setup is: Hopper is elevated about 1 inch in an eqp. cab with ample space on 3 sides and open front. The fan is flush on the right of front side and draws air from within the hopper. The cabinet top, bottom and sides are barely warm to the touch.

The temps are: Ambient in the area is 75 °F.
Internal reported on: 11/25/12 109/98/100 °F.
" " " 3/16/13 107/96/98 °F. 

My Joey is upright in its stand and runs much warmer but not too hot to touch.

Again has anyone had or heard of Hopper/Joey failures due to temp?


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## P Smith

so far it was freezing and some malfunctioning issued by high temp


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## barryaz1

May 27th readings - 118/107/113 (it's only reached about 102 so far this season here in Phoenix)

But what's weird is that my March 18th numbers were 123/69/107.

Does this only report the last month or sometime?


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## SDWC

Current readings are:

High - 114 F (46 C)
Low - 68 (20 C)
Average - 109 (43 C)

Will check again in a week for any variability.


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## P Smith

barryaz1 said:


> May 27th readings - 118/107/113 (it's only reached about 102 so far this season here in Phoenix)
> 
> But what's weird is that my March 18th numbers were 123/69/107.
> 
> *Does this only report the last month or sometime?*


it's recalculating periodically


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## Jim5506

System been running about a month:
High - 118
Low - 111
Ave - 113
Hopper on the top shelf with unused SlingBox AV sitting on top of it:


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## P Smith

scary pyramid


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## barryaz1

We're finishing a stretch of 110+ here in Phoenix. My garage is where the cabinet with the Hopper backs into and the garage gets morning sun. So you can imagine...

Today's temps are better than I even thought:

123/111/114

Hopper on 1" blocks with fans on both sides blowing in the proper directions.


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## Jim5506

> scary pyramid


No, the projector is hanging from the ceiling and all the rest are on 3 shelves bolted to the wall.

I'm thinking of adding another shelf or widening the three I have.


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## WickedGirl

I am also using a laptop college under both of my Hoppers. It has made a huge difference to the touch feel of the temperatures coming off the top of the Hoppers. That is good enough for me. That, and the fact that I have no freezes, no artifacts or any other Hopper troubles, and have not for the year I have had this set up.


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## P Smith

placebo 

I have the laptop cooler and the hopper and can make tests with measuring temp of components
not the DVR's case: who care if it's warm or hot ? if major parts are cooking inside .... slowly and steady


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## Jim5506

High : 116
Low: 111
Ave: 113

On top shelf of wall stack about 6 inches below my Sony D50 projector.

Pic in post 64, removed the Slingbox on top High temp dropped by 2 degrees.

Second Hopper, a 2000:
High: 102
Low: 95
Ave: 96

Located in the living room with a fan pulling hot air out of the right side of the receiver - fan seems to help.


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