# ViP722 is bad!



## mercator1 (Sep 11, 2008)

Dish Network will tell you that the Vip722 is the most advanced receiver on the market. Just because they say it don't make it true. I had DirecTV for 15 years with no receiver problems - EVER. I got my 722 in May, and after a few months it started locking up with a black screen, and you had to reboot. Also, when playing back a recorded program, it would popup a message that said "part of program lost due to signal loss". It did this a lot. Sometimes you could fast forward past that point from the beginning and it would play ok. They had me check the diagnostics page and sent out a new receiver.

The new receiver lasted all of one day. It started rebooting a couple of times a day, and now it reboots every hour. The unit is overhearting and forcing a power cycle. So, now I'm waiting on unit #3 to show up. If this one is crap too, they can take their 2 year contract and shove it, and I'll be headed back to DirecTV.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

Have had my 722 since June -- it has performed flawlessly.

No complaints here. :shrug:


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## HobbyTalk (Jul 14, 2007)

Is it placed where there is low air circulation? They will overheat if air flow is restricted, the same as many pieces of A/V equipment.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

So, you're butchering the DVRs, one by one. I mean keep them in a hot area.


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## koji68 (Jun 21, 2004)

I know how frustrating your problem is to you I had the same happen with their original DVR, the 501. but this doesn't mean that the 722 is junk. Even the best electronic makers have a failure rate of 3% or more.

The 622/722 are simply the best and most people agree.

I would request that they send a new device instead of a refurbished one. They should accommodate you since you had multiple failures in a row.


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## dodadish (Jan 9, 2008)

I've been going for a year with no problems so far.:hb: :bowdown: I hug my 722 every morning....:lol: I need to get a life:kickbutt:


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## rocket69 (Oct 27, 2008)

Well since you had direct I’m sure the tech just rushed in and rushed out... When I was at DNS and customer would tell me problems like this they would show me a stack of service calls. 

10% of the time it was bad signal / LOS problems. 90% was incorrect gear left on the lines.Diplexers must be Holland Blue 2 amp . Check all wall plates and connectors for blue couplers / barrels also tech might have not changed ground block also should have blue barrels. Ground block could be in the call junctions out side or in the master closet also could be under the house and in the attic. Another thing I’ve seen is faulty ground as there is voltage on the ground so disconnecting it was required. 

Best of luck never had any problems other than a dead HD in one 722 after a year of service but is expected as its constantly being used unlike your PC's HD. On my Direct HR recevers is a whole nother story as ive gone through 4 in the same time line. All my sig are 89-98% all solid coper home runs to recevers and ground blocks.

Good luck


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Definitely I would start with the possibility of heat build up. We need more information on the issue to provide suggestions on how you might solve it. It is possible that you got a bad referb on the swap, but even if you did I suspect there is more issues at work here. The two that pop into my mind is overheating and poor signal. 

Can you provide details as to how your box is installed. Is it about your receiver? Is it in a enclosed cabinet? Do you have only one receiver? If not, does the others exhibit similar behavior. The more details of your situations the better.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Can we see pictures of your cabinet ? Would you post those temp levels ? Menu-6-3-Counters-PgDn (7 times).


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## mercator1 (Sep 11, 2008)

I didn't know temp level was displayed from the menu. I'll check that. The 722 is in a cabinet with glass doors (no holes) with just cut-outs in the back. When the guy brings the new one, I'll install a cool mat or a usb fan that I've already got. Never had a problem with DirecTV, but that old cabinet was a different design.

This is the cabinet, but with the glass door inserts instead of wood.

http://www.audio-video-furniture.com/Common/Product/ImageGallery.aspx?ID=9917


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

What I do with mine is a bought a two point temp gauge from Radio Shack to monitor my temperature and see if there is heat build up over time. I have an enclosed cabinet where I force air into it and draw air out. I have noticed that mine does still build up heat over time and that is mainly caused by my 722 and my Receiver. I find the temp gauge valuable in getting a feeling of what type of heat you are getting with the cabinet closed.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

In a closed cabinet with no forced air flow, it's a matter of when, not if, the 722 will overheat and fail. They will run hot even on an open shelf. Close it up in something and you have a heater. You really need to install a fan or two to push/pull the air through the receiver and out of the cabinet.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

mercator1 said:


> I didn't know temp level was displayed from the menu. I'll check that. The 722 is in a cabinet with glass doors (no holes) with just cut-outs in the back. When the guy brings the new one, I'll install a cool mat or a usb fan that I've already got. Never had a problem with DirecTV, but that old cabinet was a different design.
> 
> This is the cabinet, but with the glass door inserts instead of wood.
> 
> http://www.audio-video-furniture.com/Common/Product/ImageGallery.aspx?ID=9917


I had all my components in a glass door cabinet adjacent to my wall hung plasma, except the A/V reciever which runs toasty hot was on the top. I carved openings in the back and added fans. It cooled the 722. But when I got my 612, I put the two Dish receivers on the top of a cabinet under the plasma with plenty of space between them, no fans, and open sides. My 722 runs 12 degrees cooler than inside with fans.

With that said, when I got my first 722, it lasted less than a week. The replacement worked fine for a year. To help with the audio dropout problem I agreed to send them that 722 with recordings on it after I got a replacement that worked. Sure enough the refurb replacement couldn't even get through the initial boot. The second refurb replacement is working ok after two months.

They do have quality control problems.


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## mercator1 (Sep 11, 2008)

The diagnostics page says average temp is 122 and high is 138. I'll put a cooling mat under the next replacement and see if that helps.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

The motherboard on the 622/722 covers almost the entirity of the interior.

Air flow is right to left not bottom to top.

You need active air flow in or out of the left side of the unit to ensure acceptable temps.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

mercator1 said:


> The diagnostics page says average temp is 122 and high is 138. I'll put a cooling mat under the next replacement and see if that helps.


Time to cook eggs.


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## jclewter79 (Jan 8, 2008)

I have never had a HDD problem, but I just learned that you could display your HDD temp. Mine shows HDD High Temp 127, HDD Low Temp 77, Average HDD Temp 111. Are these numbers ok, or should I expect problems in the future?


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

mercator1 said:


> The diagnostics page says average temp is 122 and high is 138. I'll put a cooling mat under the next replacement and see if that helps.


My temps are similar and my 722 is on top of my console... no air restrictions at all... no functional problems at all.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

With a 111 average you should be fine.


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## GrumpyBear (Feb 1, 2006)

I know I caused my own failure, by having 2 electronic pieces in the same cubby hole, in my cabinet. Never tried a cool mat or anything like that, but I did make a hole in the back and always leave the glass door cracked open. 3yrs and counting.... without a problem. Mine failed right away, but I realized after the fact I cooked in on my own. Didn't tell Dish of Course recieved new 622 no questions, which was nice.


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## mercator1 (Sep 11, 2008)

The new replacement 722 seems to be running cooler. The high has been 120, with the average around 100. I put a USB powered ThermalTake fan in the cubby with it just to make sure. We'll see how it goes.


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## Lincoln6Echo (Jul 11, 2007)

Well, as alluded to in another thread here, my 622 just went bad last week. Had it since July '07. So I got a year and a half out of it. In this case, the thing always ran hot. So I bought a 10" vortex fan which I sat back up in my "cabinet" blowing air on not only it, but my surround sound receiver which sat just below the 622. Kept it cool enough, but it was always blowing out warm air. 

In the meantime, since we didn't have *E's Dish Home Protection Plan, I was out of warranty and couldn't get a free replacement...at least that's what I thought. Well, last Monday, we had techs out to install a 612 for another HDTV and I told the techs that my HDMI port on my 622 went bad about a month ago. Which was probably a sign of things to come. Ironically two days later, my 622 starts to reboot over and over, and sometimes never coming back up. 

Well, so we call Dish and they tell me in order to get a 722 replacement, I would have to pay $500. So last Thursday I call and set up another tech visit for Sunday or Monday. In the meantime, I get on Ebay and search down a 722 auction. Well, ended up nabbing one Saturday night for just under $300...$298 total / shipping included. Brand new one...no refurb. 

Then on Sunday afternoon, the techs show up with a replacement 622 refurb. Hooked it up and surprisingly, it's running a LOT cooler than my older one did. In fact, it's luke warm compared to the old one, of which you could boil and egg on it.

So, what we're going to do is to eventually hook my new purchased 722 to my set-up, and then whenever we upgrade the 3rd and last TV in the house to HD, we'll just hook this 622 up to it.



But for cooling ideas, I see some small business operator on Ebay is selling a set of modified PC cooling fans that attach directly to the left side of the 622/722s to draw the heat OUT of the units. Just do an Ebay search for "722 cooling". Several items should come up.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Lincoln6Echo said:


> But for cooling ideas, I see some small business operator on Ebay is selling a set of modified PC cooling fans that attach directly to the left side of the 622/722s to draw the heat OUT of the units. Just do an Ebay search for "722 cooling". Several items should come up.


 Thanks for the info. This guy's pretty clever as he has various cabinet cooling systems in addition to his 622/722 systems:


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Better if Dish will make HW fix of fun placement and use diff type as I did last summer.



















Two months later:
High -----100°F
Low ------77°F
Average - 91°F.


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

phrelin said:


> Thanks for the info. This guy's pretty clever as he has various cabinet cooling systems in addition to his 622/722 systems:


That is the saddest looking picture I've ever seen. I have no doubt that it helps, but I swear I heard banjos playing when I saw the photo. LOL


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## jerryyyyy (Jul 19, 2002)

I'm an early adopter and it runs fine. Have to check the temp, but it is out in the open.


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## peaked (Dec 21, 2008)

It looks like a means to an end. Blew the warranty for sure,but maybe it will help. I recently pulled one of these from a cabinet with good clearance and it was the hottest reciever I've handled-out of thousands. I know cold weather makes it feel warmer,but dang.


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