SkyHD hard drive makes an awfull noise

DaddyDee

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I got HD installed yesterday. My SkyHD hard drive is making an awfull noise when recording, watching and pausing HD programmes. It's a very loud sort of ticking noise. If I turn up the volume on the TV it can't be heard, but if I watch at night when the wife and daughter are in bed I need to have the volume low and the noise is very annoying. I have spoke to Sky and they say they have never heard of the problem before and are sending out an engineer. Do you think I should insist on a new box? Would the engineer do this ? Has this problem been heard of before on these forums ?
 
I got HD installed yesterday. My SkyHD hard drive is making an awfull noise when recording, watching and pausing HD programmes. It's a very loud sort of ticking noise. If I turn up the volume on the TV it can't be heard, but if I watch at night when the wife and daughter are in bed I need to have the volume low and the noise is very annoying. I have spoke to Sky and they say they have never heard of the problem before and are sending out an engineer. Do you think I should insist on a new box? Would the engineer do this ? Has this problem been heard of before on these forums ?

yeah mate.. do a search, lots have had the same... me included... turning off the instant rewind stops it... but you shouldn't have to resort to losing one of the features..
I got the same response from Sky.... I demanded a new box over the phone and they agreed and came and swapped it over.
 
Ok, thanks for the reply. I'll see about getting a new box when the engineer comes on Thursday.

I'll do a better search next time. :oops:
 
yeah mate.. do a search, lots have had the same... me included... turning off the instant rewind stops it... but you shouldn't have to resort to losing one of the features..
I got the same response from Sky.... I demanded a new box over the phone and they agreed and came and swapped it over.

But is it any better since they swaped the box???

we had sky HD installed last monday one box in the living room and one sky HD box in the bedroom , both make the ticking noise ,but like you said it sthe rewind feture and 99% of people have it, surley switching to another box is just going to have the same noise is it not??
please correct me if im wrong but that is going to happen in what ever box you get i would think.:confused:
 
I'm really surprised that 99% of people have the same problem with there boxes. It’s not something I can live with at all. Maybe some boxes have a much louder ticking noise than others.

I’ll let you know here what happens once the engineer has been.
 
Nosyd - I'm in the same situation, kids go to sleep and the TV volume is turned down and I keep getting distracted by the noise. My wife notices it more than I do. I didn't have a problem with the old Sky+ box.

PhilNUK - Is the new box any better?
 
SkyHD boxes should be silent. If yours isnt you are entitled for replacements until you have one that is. The only time a box should be anywhere near noticeable is during two recordings and even then it should be only a faint tick every three to five seconds when you have the TV sound off.

The thing is, you will always get Sky to replace the box because a loud hard disk is an indication that the disk may be faulty. They are in no position to deny you a replacement SkyHD STB, its not in their interest.
 
SkyHD boxes should be silent. If yours isnt you are entitled for replacements until you have one that is. The only time a box should be anywhere near noticeable is during two recordings and even then it should be only a faint tick every three to five seconds when you have the TV sound off.

The thing is, you will always get Sky to replace the box because a loud hard disk is an indication that the disk may be faulty. They are in no position to deny you a replacement SkyHD STB, its not in their interest.


No they should not be silent, All hard disk recorders make some noise, some are quieter than other such as the pace pvr3 is very quiet, it is perfectly normal for the HD box to make some noise, it’s the nature of the beast,

any device with a hard drive as large as the HD box has will make some noise, sky could have added more sound proofing around the drive but then you get heat problems and have to add more fans and they make just as much noise.
 
I'm gonna have to listen carefully. I have instant rewind enabled. I can't say I have noticed any noise at all from the HD box. It is even quieter than my previous Sky+ box which would make random noise even when it wasn't being used.
 
hi guys

yeah my 2nd box is much better... can't hear the ticking unless I am recording and my TV is turned off... and even then its dead quiet..

Its luck of the draw to be honest guys.. I have read some have gotten replacement ones that have been worse! :eek:
 
i have had sky hd for about 2 weeks now, and i have the instant rewind on. my box is no more noisey than my old pace sky plus box, no noticable noise even at low volumes.
 
The Engineer replaced my noisy box for a new one and it is lot quieter. No hard drive noise at all now. :thumbsup:
 
The Engineer replaced my noisy box for a new one and it is lot quieter. No hard drive noise at all now. :thumbsup:

I may have been a little hasty in posting that last comment. I'm still getting a little noise when viewing HD channels. Its very quiet and nothing at all like the last box I had. I get a quiet ticking noise about every 3 seconds now. You can't really notice it at all, the wife hasn't noticed it yet anyway. I just seem to be tuned into it now and I'm always looking out for it. Maybe I'll forget about it in time, if not I guess I'll have to ring sky again.
 
Its the hard disk being accessed, when on a HD channel the amount of data needed to be recorded by the rewind function is much greater than an SD channel hence the drive heads have to move about more.
 
Yep I was going to say.... if you dont need it turn instant rewind off.


I had one that was awful, turned it off, but then thats what you are paying for ?

Anyway, hard drive was creamed and failed had a replacement box, now no noise at all!
 
I just got mine installed last Friday and noted the loud fan noise. The clicking noise is also irritating and I have turned off instant rewind but as I record most of what I watch its always noticable on playback. I did not upgrade from SKY+ so cant compare other than a friends is certainly loud but as its in a different room setting hard to tell.

I cant understand why they have the vents at the side of the box only. Seem every time I buy a new toy its got issues.

I have read elswhere that a reboot can help with fan noise. If so can someone explain the proper procedure with HD box as i can only find process for SKY+.

Above aside the PQ is amazing,the DolbyDigital sound is the biggest suprise.
 
I have bought a Sky hd bx from e-bay with 500 gb hard drive. I was getting a ticking noise but switching off anytime has cured it; but I cannot hear any fan noise either which makes me wonder if they are working! Update - I can just hear the fans when unit is on so I think all is well.
 
Just had mine installed on Thursday its Thomson 607120Q are there others? Can I ask Sky to replace with a different make of box, apologies in advance for the complete HD newbie question.

Fan noise is quite evident as is the constant disc whirr and clicking, from some of the posts above, it seems that its a worthwhile call to sky to get them to come at at least try another box.

I have disabled sky anytime AND instant rewind, sure that stops the noise when the fans have stopped whirring. However on reboot it comes back for me. I think a call is required.
 
There is only one make of SkyHD box, so sky cannot supply another. What others have found, is that some boxes are better than others. The later boxes with WD hard drives seem quieter than the earlier ones. Mines practically silent, no drive noise or anything noticable from normal viewing distance and volume low.
 

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