new sstyle sky plus boxes clicking noise from drive

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oilypete

Guest
Just got 2 new Amstrad sky plus boxes, there is a loud cklicking noise coming from one of the boxes sounds like the hard drive , been in touch with sky they say it is normal, but the other box is quiet, both fitted on same day, had some miserable sod from customer care saying this is normal and wont do anything about it, only fitted yesterday, anyone else had same problems would love to hear about it
still awaiting a reply from sky by e-mail need some ammo :lease: :lease:

pete
 
oilypete said:
Just got 2 new Amstrad sky plus boxes, there is a loud cklicking noise coming from one of the boxes sounds like the hard drive , been in touch with sky they say it is normal, but the other box is quiet, both fitted on same day, had some miserable sod from customer care saying this is normal and wont do anything about it, only fitted yesterday, anyone else had same problems would love to hear about it
still awaiting a reply from sky by e-mail need some ammo :lease: :lease:

pete

Contact them and ask them to put you through to cancellations and say you are unhappy with this ticking box, If they do not replace it with a Pace or Thompson box say to them you wish to cancel as you are still within the 28 days.
Be very polite and say you dont want to lose Sky+ but the noise is hindering your enjoyment of the programmes. Also say one of them is silent and the other isnt so there arguement doesnt really hold.
 
Have already done this, being very polite, told them i had 2 new sky + boxes fitted same day one quiet the other noisy and got no help at all very arrogent woman who said all is normall thes new boxes make a noise, when i told her that 2 were fitted same day one quiet the noisy she said that some times happens, im not giving up how can someone on the end of a phone who has not heard this clicking noise say its ok.

thanks for reply
 
If you do a search on this forum you will find you are by no means alone with this problem. Stick to your guns and don't back down. Sky are aware of this problem and have a duty under the agreement of your contract to supply you with goods that are in good working order and that you are satisfied with. Phone up and tell them you would like this matter adressed and if you don't get any joy go through with cancelling it altogether(within 28 days). You'll soon get some joy that way.
 
mikeyinmotion said:
You'll soon get some joy that way.
Is this correct? I've just upgraded to Sky+ (80GB Amstrad) and the clicking is a real pain (especially when my sister gloats that her's doesn't make a sound). The deal i upgraded on was Multi-room plus Sky+ for an extra £10 per month. I can't help wonder whether Sky would bother changing my box just to keep me on a deal generating only an extra tenner a month. If push came to shove I would probably keep the box as I really like the functionality, but it would be so much better if it didn't click away so noisily.

Any input welcome. :confused: :thumbsdow
 
Mr Hope...my post from another thread is below...I've contacted Sky and they have given me the run around...I'll let y'all know how I get on!

Oh dear...I had Sky+ installed yesterday and for once didn't check the forums first. I got an amstrad and it ticks like a grandfather clock Those that have it know just how loud this is, completly audible over quiter scenes or when the volume is low. Its ridiculous.

Spoke to Sky, who said, as they have done to everyone else that this is a 'feature'. After twenty minutes arguing, I told them to cancel the subscription as this is spoiling my viewing and is a real shame. I don't want to cancel if I don't have to, I got Sky because the reception here is awful and sky looks great. I am thinking of going just to regular sky if they won't sort it. They are going to ring me back (yeah right!)

Has anyone tried cancelling within the first 8 days of installation and then re-installing? Might get a pace second time around or at least p1ss them around as much as they have done with me!
 
Thanks Dave - found the other thread - a lot of unhappy Amstrad users about. Sounds like one might have to go the whole hog and threaten cancellation of the whole subscription - losing £52 a month from me might grab their attention. Also sounds like noise probs can occur with other boxes, but much more likely with the Amstrad.
 
Discovered something interesting today. The ticking sound stops when you bring any ogf the menus up or you watch a recording???? Go figure.

confused now over what component is causing this...as if it were the hd or fan, then the ticking would be consistent.

Dave
 
got an amstrad myself about 3 weeks ago and was v p1ssed off with the ticking from the HD - BUT - it has stopped!!! neighbour got one as well - exactly the same - stopped after a fortnight. Seems that they settle down after a period of time. Other than that - everything is rosy. Apart from the £52 a month that is.
 
DaveAnderson said:
Discovered something interesting today. The ticking sound stops when you bring any ogf the menus up or you watch a recording???? Go figure.

confused now over what component is causing this...as if it were the hd or fan, then the ticking would be consistent.

The ticking is the noise made by the hard drive head being moved across the disk surface when reading/writing. When you are watching TV, the drive is constantly writing the data of what you are watching to the drive, so that you can live pause or rewind. When you switch to a menu, or watch a recording, it doesn't have to do that. When I'm recording two programmes at once, my Pace V2 drive thrashes about all over the place, but it appears that Pace V2's have better accoustic mounts on their drives than Amstrads.
 
Hi Nick

Sorry to hijack this thread but would upgrading the HD in the Amstrad v3 cure this annoying ticking noise?

Thanks

Sunil
 
It might, but I suspect that the clicking is more about how the drive is mounted, rather than the drive itself. However, some drives are quieter than others, so you might see some improvement.
 
Nick_UK said:
The ticking is the noise made by the hard drive head being moved across the disk surface when reading/writing. When you are watching TV, the drive is constantly writing the data of what you are watching to the drive, so that you can live pause or rewind. When you switch to a menu, or watch a recording, it doesn't have to do that. When I'm recording two programmes at once, my Pace V2 drive thrashes about all over the place, but it appears that Pace V2's have better accoustic mounts on their drives than Amstrads.

We have found that turning off the rewind feature stops the clicking in normal use, and we haven't missed this feature. The box then isn't writing to the HD at all if you are not recording or live pausing.

If watching a program while another is recording then you can hear it, but it doesn't bother me.

That said, what excatly are the drive mounts, can these be changed/upgraded in some way?
 
The drive mounts are the things that mount the disk drive to the Sky+ box chassis. On the old Pace V2 models, the drive sat in a cradle which was fixed to the box chassis on 4 large rubber mountings. I haven't seen the insides of the new PVR3 boxes yet, but maybe the mountings are not as quiet ?
 
Just rang sky...got a great woman who agreed to swap out my ticking amstrad Friday. I requested a pace box and have everything crossed. Will let you know how I get on

Dave
 
I can't really mention the depot/warehouse, but I was in one today who supply all new PVR3's direct to the engineers before installation.

I was allowed to have a look around and spotted that ALL PVR3's were Pace boxes, not a Amstrad or Thomson in sight. Could be that they are slowly going back to all PACE.

I am quite sure that the engineers supplied by these stores are dedicated SKY engineers and not Subcontractors. They all seem to turn up in the SKY vans anyway.
 
Recent (yesterday) SKY reply:

Thank you for your email concerning the clicking noise from the Sky+ PVR3 box.

I can confirm that we are aware of the clicking noise from the Sky+ PVR3 boxes. Our Engineers are currently working on a solution with the makers of the equipment and this will be issued to all customers with the Sky+ PVR3 boxes.
We have been informed that this noise is a normal hard disk drive operation and has no impact on the reliability or functionality of the Sky+ box and is common on PVR's and PC's.

I trust this information is of assistance. Should you require further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me at the above email address.

Yours sincerely

Robbie Easton

Customer Administration
 
I contacted Sky yesterday about my ticking Amstrad box. Nice lady I spoke to at Customer Care, but played the party line for a long time. She told me the ticking occurred on all PVR3 boxes, not just Amstrad. I said my sister's box is silent, as is my neighbours. She said they must have PVR2 boxes, as these don't tick. She agreed that it seemed ridiculous that an 'upgrade' would have a fault that a predecessor didn't. Three times she told me that they wouldn't change the box, including when I threatened to cancel, as any replacement box would make the same noise (and therefore this would be a waste of an engineers time). I banged on for so long that, eventually, she said they would swap it, and the engineer's coming tomorrow. She said they can't guarantee what type of box, but I intend to tell the engineer not to bother turning up unless he can give me a Pace.
Following on from the reply above, I found a 'Technical Bulletin' from Sky, dated 14 September, left by the engineer who did the original fitting. It states

"Engineers and customers have identified sounds coming from the Amstrad PVR3 DRX 280, this noise has been described as a clicking, and can vary in volume from box to box.

From testing and observation the noise has been identified as normal hard disk drive operation and has no impact on reliability or functionality or the PVR.

Box's exhibiting this noise should NOT be changed. If the customer is concerned about the noise they should be informed that this is normal hard disk drive operation and is common on PVR's and P/C's."


Thing is, if this problem does affect all makes of PVR3 boxes, why would they have a memo just referring to the Amstrad?
 
Sky came and swapped out my box yesterday. No engineer cal in the morning, which I found suspicious, as I would have insisted on a pace. Took me 35 mins sat on the phone to find out what time they were coming (4-7btw) at least I used the freephone #. I could have gone to work! Told them I had to leave at 5:30 and they turned up at 5:25 and they swapped the box in two mins, but spent 15 mins on the phone transferring movies???

Anyway, I got a Thomson, which is quiet & no ticking noise :) The ambient fan noise is a little louder. The guy was a contractor, and he had just had his amstrad replaced for a Thomson. He said he also had a pace that went south and that iho Thomson srethe best make!

Oh well, at least its sorted.
 
DaveAnderson said:
.......... He said he also had a pace that went south and that iho Thomson srethe best make!

As I've said before, the make of box that the installer has on his van is always the best make :)
 

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