# Death Knell of the 622



## bairdjc (Sep 22, 2005)

I think my FOURTH 622 is dying.... this is getting to be a CHORE.

I bought my first one right when they came out - yes BOUGHT! It lasted about a year or so. Then came the stream of refurbs from Dish - sure they will replace it for free (or $20 or whatever), but that doesn't account for my time to dump out recordings, switch the boxes, activate the new box and send the old one back.

What's wrong with it? Well, and I noticed this with the past two, I'll come home from awhile being away (or while asleep), and the 622's fan will be spinning like no tomorrow (usually only does this on bootup). There will be a single light on the front of the unit (green for TV1), yet there is no audio or video from either TV. It won't respond to front panel or remote commands, so I have to pull the plug, and wait. If I plug it back in too soon it will just go on a reboot spree - as soon as it acquires any satellites it reboots! If I wait long enough and plug it in - it will boot up and operate OK. That is, until it decides to spin the fan again. Eventually the time between cable pulls gets to be more than daily.

This past unit has only lasted a month - and they seem to be dying faster. The first one lasted a year - the second was about 6 months. Now we're down to one month.

I hesitate to call them up just because it's a hassle - the CSR's treat you like you're a moron (Is it plugged in? Did you try a reset? DUH), so I have to fake my way through the BS to get a *refurb* unit shipped to me. What a PITA. Can't I just have a NEW unit that will WORK for extended periods of time? Is that too much to ask?


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## steelhorse (Apr 27, 2004)

I also have had a 622 since the beginning. I now have two of them. Other than the hdmi socket problem and having to have it plugged into the wall socket. I have no problems at all with either of them.


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## RickDee (May 23, 2006)

bairdjc said:


> Well, and I noticed this with the past two, I'll come home from awhile being away (or while asleep), and the 622's fan will be spinning like no tomorrow (usually only does this on bootup). There will be a single light on the front of the unit (green for TV1), yet there is no audio or video from either TV. It won't respond to front panel or remote commands, so I have to pull the plug, and wait. If I plug it back in too soon it will just go on a reboot spree - as soon as it acquires any satellites it reboots! If I wait long enough and plug it in - it will boot up and operate OK. That is, until it decides to spin the fan again. Eventually the time between cable pulls gets to be more than daily.


Where do you have your 622 setting? When I upgraded to a 622 I had one of the cabinet style TV stands where there was very limited air flow and my 622 was doing almost the same as your's; it was hot! I bought a TV stand with open shelves allowing free air flow and it is very rare that the fan ever comes on anymore. I have had this setup for over 1-1/2 years now and no problems with my 622.

So, look at where your 622 is located. Is it able to breath freely?


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

steelhorse said:


> I also have had a 622 since the beginning. I now have two of them. Other than the hdmi socket problem and having to have it plugged into the wall socket. I have no problems at all with either of them.


Why do you have it plugged into a wall socket?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Is this Fan situation common issue with the other 3 receivers you have sent back. If it is, I would highly suspect a heat issue. Can you describe your installation more in detail.


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## bairdjc (Sep 22, 2005)

it's on the top of an armoir - all by its lonesome with nothing on top (OK a slingbox but it doesn't cover the entire top). It has.... maybe 6-8" of headroom and *at leat* that on either side and the same in the back. The front is open to the room which is currently at 60F - all winter long. I don't think it's a heat issue, meaning if heat IS the issue, it's the fault of the crappy design of the enclosure, not where I have it. I had the past 3 on a special cooling rig - essentially a box on which the 622 sat with positive pressure forcing air through the 622. By the counters dialogue it dropped temps a good 10 F at least.

The fan spinning loudly is something I have only EVER heard when it's coupled with a nonresponsive unit - I have NEVER heard the fan spin in "high" mode ANY other time.

At any rate, after I posted this morning, I sent an email to [email protected] mid-morning, say 10AM:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello;

My name is XXXXXXXXX (acct # XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX) and I've been a *loyal* Dish Network customer for 5 years. In that time, I've progressed from 2 301's and a 508 and AT200 programming, to a 622 and AT250 with HD and locals. All told I'm spending about $130 PER MONTH for programming. I'm not writing you to complain about the programming, or even the cost - what I'm perturbed about is your hardware.

I love the 622 - it's a great unit and provides convenience like no other DVR can - that is, when it works. When the 622 came out in May, 2006, I was one of the first to actually BUY one - yes, I shelled out nearly $600 for the privilege of owning a 622. I shelved my 508 and 2 301's in the meanwhile. For the first year or so, the 622 worked well and consistently from day to day. Eventually it failed 6 months later, and after a call to your CSR's, I had it replaced. It was replaced with another 622, a refurb unit, which also died 6 months later. All told, I am on my FOURTH 622 in just under TWO years. Pretty soon that number will be 5, since the one that was sent to me *just* over a month ago is also failing!

Just like its predecessor, my current 622 is suffering from periodic comas. Just about every day when I come home or awake in the morning, the fan on the unit is blasting away and the TV1 light is on on the front of the unit. Usually the fan is only on like this on boot up (and only lasts for about 30 s), so the first time this happened with my previous unit, I knew something was wrong. It doesn't respond to any front panel or remote commands, which only leaves the option of pulling the power. In order to get it to work, I have to wait, sometimes hours, to plug it back in, otherwise it just gives me the same blank stare, or will repeatedly reboot. I'm sure you know about the 622's issues with heat - at one point I even made a cooling rig to place below the unit to *try* to cool it down, unfortunately I believe the failures of these units are due to their self-cooking feature. Aside from running the unit in a refrigerator, there is little anyone can do.

So why am I frustrated? Well, this because of two reasons -

1) your CSR's. I realize that you must direct customer service in a manner towards your most basic users. I consider myself a relatively advanced user (I've installed my own cabling, installed a second (61.5) dish, new LNB's, new distribution, etc etc), and I'm appalled at how I'm treated when I call in to report a problem. I can understand the first steps from a CSR to resolve a problem would be a receiver reboot, but when I tell them I've done that and explain what I've done, I'm treated like a moron - Is the unit plugged in? Are the cables plugged in properly? How are you sure the HDMI port doesn't work? - Do these people actually know what they are supposed to be supporting? If there is no picture or sound through the HDMI connection, I can be pretty sure it's dead - which is a common problem with the 622 (check dbstalk.com if you're a skeptic). Also, when I tell them there is *clearly* an issue with a receiver, such as having to reboot it more than once a day, their only question is "So it's working then?" - they will then try to blow me off saying that since the receiver is working, I should call back when it doesn't work to try and resolve the problem!

2) the 622 - it's a love/hate relationship. As I said it's great when it works, but when it doesn't, I am spending more than $4 a DAY for a service that I cannot use, simply because I am *continually* sent defective units. Every unit I've had (that is, you've sent me) since my first unit has been refurbished. That is, it was once broken and (presumably) fixed. I guess whoever or however it was fixed, it wasn't good enough. Thus, I am forced to waste my time and effort waiting on the line for a CSR, then trying to explain to them I'm not a moron, then waiting for a UPS delivery of a refurb receiver, then pulling programming off the old DVR (if possible), rewiring the new one, calling up for activation, then boxing up and sending back the defective unit. All told, each time a receiver decides to die on me, I waste at least a week without programming - almost $30!!!!!!!!!

Up to now I've been patient - but I'm becoming extremely frustrated with being treated like I am a moron, and I don't mind wasting money for programming I cannot use, since your CSR's and hardware are faulty. All I ask is for a 722 that works, and has not had a history of letting people down. I would love nothing more than to NOT have to waste time on the phone with one of your CSR's, or writing these emails *just* to get my programming back.

Hopefully this email will not fall on deaf ears.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lo and behold I received a call around 5:30 PM (7 hours later) from someone in Echostar Corp saying they were sending me a BRAND NEW (e.g. NOT A DAMNED REFURB) 722 (woohoo upgrade!) overnight! I just hope it works fine -

Which reminds me - the last 622 I received from them (the current flaky one), also a refurb, I pulled out and wired just fine. When it boot up, check switched, etc etc it just sat there and said I didn't have "authorization" to view programming (even though I had already called to activate it....). After an hour I called back and got the dumbest CSR in the whole place. Just like above, I explained to him what I had done and while I was still on the phone I was tooling around and finally got the unit to "upgrade program information". It was taking a LONG time and the CSR said "OK I think we need to reboot the machine" to which I said "umm yea, the screen says SPECIFICALLY to NOT do what you request". I waited a few more minutes and while the bar was moving, it was moving slowly. He then insisted I unplug the unit.... and against my better judgement I did. BIG MISTAKE. After a few reboots (read: cord yanking), I finally got the unit back to a *similar* screen but it was very... ummm.... basic (e.g. only a few colors, big blocky letters with no background). So I realized that this was a failsafe of the unit (e.g. BIOS?) and the "bar" (a series of blocks) was progressing. He wanted me to pull the cord again! What a MORON - I should never have listened to him in the first place! I took everty opportunity to remind him it was a bad call on his part to yank the cable in the first place. When all was said and done, the unit worked fine, but he obviously had no clue what was going on.


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## EVAC41 (Jun 27, 2006)

bairdjc said:


> it's on the top of an armoir - all by its lonesome with nothing on top (OK a slingbox but it doesn't cover the entire top). It has.... maybe 6-8" of headroom and *at leat* that on either side and the same in the back. The front is open to the room which is currently at 60F - all winter long. I don't think it's a heat issue, meaning if heat IS the issue, it's the fault of the crappy design of the enclosure, not where I have it. I had the past 3 on a special cooling rig - essentially a box on which the 622 sat with positive pressure forcing air through the 622. By the counters dialogue it dropped temps a good 10 F at least.
> 
> The fan spinning loudly is something I have only EVER heard when it's coupled with a nonresponsive unit - I have NEVER heard the fan spin in "high" mode ANY other time.
> 
> ...


Did you get a reply back yet? I am just curious to what he said..


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## mwsmith2 (Nov 15, 2004)

I've had to replace my 622 twice. The first one because it had the bad HDMI socket problem. (which I didn't know about until I got a HDMI TV  ) The replacement they sent would spontaneously reboot, which was really annoying. The 3rd was perfectly fine, and I've had no problems with it at all. I think their QA/QC of refurb units isn't that good. I think they check if they power on and can lock on to the birds, they mark them OK and send them back out. My 1st replacement unit had to be powered on for about an hour before it would start freaking out...and it is completely in the open, nothing on top.


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## bairdjc (Sep 22, 2005)

EVAC41 said:


> Did you get a reply back yet? I am just curious to what he said..


Yep, I posted:

Lo and behold I received a call around 5:30 PM (7 hours later) from someone in Echostar Corp saying they were sending me a BRAND NEW (e.g. NOT A DAMNED REFURB) 722 (woohoo upgrade!) overnight!

He did say that it might not get shipped out yesterday, so I might not get it until tomorrow. Either way I'll have to ride to the UPS depot to pick it up.

I will say that the major reason I chose E* over D* 5 years ago was because I had heard from several people that their CS was better.


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## GizmoGadget1040 (Aug 9, 2007)

If your new one shoots craps (and hopefully it doesn't) another thing you might want to check is the power outlet or power strip its plugged into. When I used to work extensively with computer hardware (and the 622 is just a specialized computer) there was more than one occasion where a customer would complain about their machine always crashing while it would never crash when they brought it in to us. We'd suggest they try plugging it in a different room or getting a higher quality power strip and the problem would go away. Glitchy power is one of those things that's really hard to diagnose and can cause a whole host of problems. So, if you still keep running into problems, there's another avenue to take a look at, because if you get to FIVE machines doing the exact same thing it's either environmental or you've got the absolute worst luck I've ever heard of!


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## bkushner (Mar 17, 2006)

bairdjc said:


> I think my FOURTH 622 is dying.... this is getting to be a CHORE.
> 
> I bought my first one right when they came out - yes BOUGHT! It lasted about a year or so. Then came the stream of refurbs from Dish - sure they will replace it for free (or $20 or whatever), but that doesn't account for my time to dump out recordings, switch the boxes, activate the new box and send the old one back.
> 
> ...


Ive been through 3 in the past 2 weeks, two units this week alone!!!


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