Sky+ fan problem

philipb

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The fan on my V2 Sky+ box is permanently on.

Tried disconnecting, then reconnecting but after about 30 seconds it starts up again. It even stays on all day while the box is in standby.

I upgraded the hard drive and I thought maybe it was running hot, but tonight I took the top off the box and the HD was barely warm to the touch.

The HD is a bit noisy (WD Caviar) so i may swap it for another.

Any ideas why the fan runs permanently, and any recommendations for a really quiet hard drive?
 
The drive in the V2 Sky+ box is a Maxtor Fireball 3 (2F040L0).

This is the smallest drive that Maxtor make for consumer electronics products. The L0 at the end of the product code is important because that shows that it uses a specially quiet motor.

Just to make life confusing the remaining three drives in the range are all Diamond Max 16 drives, but the good news is that they go up to 160GB!

I have a 120GB drive in mine (4R120L0 - note the L0 again). The drive is slightly taller (26.1mm instead of 17.5mm) but it is as quiet as the original and I've yet to see the fan running.

Maxtor data sheet

Installation instructions

Have fun!
 
There are modifications you can do to reduce the fan noise using a zalman fanmate, a Y-power splitter(molex), and a 3 to 4 pin adapter.

When these are fitted(its easy) you can reduce the fan speed by half until its silent,but it keeps the box cool.
 
I upgraded mine with a 120 gig Samsung (Model escapes me-I've previously posted it) - 7200rpm spindle speed, abou 1 month ago, I'd recommend it, silent & cool. I don't think my fan's ever had to come on. Original Maxtor drive I could have cooked on!
 
Put a Samsung drive in last night, so that source of noise now gone. But the ***** fan is still on all the time!

Thanks for the advice guys.
 
There may be a fault with your fan, or it may be particularly warm where your box is.

Does the fan still run if you unplug the box from the mains and leave it several hours to cool to room temp? My fan doesn't run, but the box is nowhere near any radiators or other warm electronics.

If the fan still fans the you could try taking the lid off and cooling the board with a COLD hair dryer. If that fails to turn it off then the fan's temperature sensor has probably packed up and the failsafe is to have the fan on all the time.
 
I'm pretty certain it is the temperature sensor that's faulty. The box is very cool, and even after being unplugged for a long time and with the cover off, the fan starts up 30 seconds after powering on again.
 
The fan tends to stay on all the time with the 120g upgraded disk its quite normal,mine is the same which is why i have modified it with the addition of a fanmate.
I am now able to cut the fanspeed which brings near silent operation of the fan still with adequate cooling.
 
Mine has started doing this again and it's definately nothing to do with temp. You can turn the box off for hours and as soon as you connect the power, the fan fires up after 30 secs.

Very annoying and I believe mine is a hard drive problem as I have also lost the ability to record. I'm going to try housekeeping this morning.
 
I have just put a 250 gb drive in my Sky+ 2 box, and fan is on all the time. I am tempted to put a switch in the mains lead and switch box off at night as it keeps me awake!
 
Apparently the permanent fan is also a result of the latest software ( with its built in system health check) and an upgraded hard disk.
 
As xyznicko quoted. Once you upgrade the HD the fans stays permanently on.
Upgraded mine some time ago and the fan has been on ever since.
There is a new firmware update apparently about to be rolled out across all boxes, so it might fix the issue.
 
As xyznicko quoted. Once you upgrade the HD the fans stays permanently on.
Upgraded mine some time ago and the fan has been on ever since.
There is a new firmware update apparently about to be rolled out across all boxes, so it might fix the issue.

Is this only happening to 250gb drives or are smaller ones affected too? I put a 250GB in my box last week and the noise is unbearable! I have a 120GB here that I could swap over for the meantime if that would make any difference.
 
There are modifications you can do to reduce the fan noise using a zalman fanmate, a Y-power splitter(molex), and a 3 to 4 pin adapter.

When these are fitted(its easy) you can reduce the fan speed by half until its silent,but it keeps the box cool.

any links where I can read up on this mod?

cheers
 

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