Tivo Temperature

[bkavs]

I have a DSR704 with an upgraded 120gig Maxtor drive. The unit seems to run
from 43C-47C consistently, with no problems to report. I am wondering what others are seeing after upgrading.....

[captain_video]

That seems to be about what I would expect to see. I have a DSR704 and a HDVR2 sitting in a shelf unit that are running at 47 and 48 degrees C, respectively. Both have been upgraded with a 2nd 120GB drive in addition to the original 40GB unit. I have a 2nd DSR704 with the same upgrades that's sitting in the open that registers at 40 degrees C. My DSR6000 is in the same shelf unit as the other two units but has the top cover removed and is at 43 degrees C. The DSR6K has dual 120GB drives.

[bkavs]

I guess I should have prefaced this by saying this is a 3 month range, from February until now.. I am in northern Ohio and the ambient temperature has risen just a little bit... The unit is below one piece of equipment in a shelf type environment.

[jasch]

S2 are way cooler than S1. My S1 DTIVO runs about 10-15 degrees hotter than the S2 DTIVO.

The power supply (and general layout) on S1's is so poorly designed... there is NO FAN intake like S2, there's just a fan INSIDE the TiVo that moves hot air from one place to another.

I noticed something about my new S2... It's cool to the touch. My S1 DTIVO was allways really hot when you touched the surface.

Guess that why many people have it with the cover off all the time.

(With 2 S1 DTivos on the room, they were the culprit that my room was allways a couple degrees hotter than other rooms in the house).

[captain_video]

I guess I should have prefaced this by saying this is a 3 month range, from February until now.. I am in northern Ohio and the ambient temperature has risen just a little bit... The unit is below one piece of equipment in a shelf type environment.

Judging by the way you have your Tivo set up it appears to be consistent with the S2 temps for the units sitting in my shelf unit. If you had it sitting in the open to allow better ventilation it would probably run quite a bit cooler.

[PlainBill]

S2 are way cooler than S1. My S1 DTIVO runs about 10-15 degrees hotter than the S2 DTIVO.

The power supply (and general layout) on S1's is so poorly designed... there is NO FAN intake like S2, there's just a fan INSIDE the TiVo that moves hot air from one place to another.

<SNIP>

Actually, you're wrong. Take a look at the design of the Series 1 DirecTiVos. The fan is located at the plate between the power supply and the main board. It pulls air through the holes in the bottom of one end of the case, across the main board, through the plate, across the power supply, and out the holes at the other end of the case. The reason the Series 1 runs so much hotter is the greater power consumption.

PlainBill

[jasch]

Actually, you're wrong. Take a look at the design of the Series 1 DirecTiVos. The fan is located at the plate between the power supply and the main board. It pulls air through the holes in the bottom of one end of the case, across the main board, through the plate, across the power supply, and out the holes at the other end of the case. The reason the Series 1 runs so much hotter is the greater power consumption.

I still believe it has poor design (compared to S2's). In 'theory' what you are saying might work. In practice it does not... the main problem is that 'heat' tends to rise naturally (cool air stays at the bottom), so it's practically impossible for this heat to escape through the holes on the bottom of the TiVo. (now if the TiVo had holes on top of the case that would be another thing)

It makes much more sense have the air escape through the back with some assistance from a FAN... Like I said, D1 TiVos just move hot air from one side of the case to the other, where the Power Supply is. Since hot air cannot escape through the bottom of the case, it tends to overheat the right side of the case.

You may be right about power consumption also... It would be great if an external power supply could be hooked to the TiVo (those big bricks that old computers used to have).

The problem gets worse if you have your TIVO with other A/V components . I've read of people that use styrofoam to separate TiVo from other components, just so air intake is greater... <grin>

[PlainBill]

I still believe it has poor design (compared to S2's). In 'theory' what you are saying might work. In practice it does not... the main problem is that 'heat' tends to rise naturally (cool air stays at the bottom), so it's practically impossible for this heat to escape through the holes on the bottom of the TiVo. (now if the TiVo had holes on top of the case that would be another thing)

It makes much more sense have the air escape through the back with some assistance from a FAN... Like I said, D1 TiVos just move hot air from one side of the case to the other, where the Power Supply is. Since hot air cannot escape through the bottom of the case, it tends to overheat the right side of the case.

You may be right about power consumption also... It would be great if an external power supply could be hooked to the TiVo (those big bricks that old computers used to have).

The problem gets worse if you have your TIVO with other A/V components . I've read of people that use styrofoam to separate TiVo from other components, just so air intake is greater... <grin>

Certainly the design could have been better. But think about what must happen to the air in a Series 1 when it gets to the right end of the case. It has only one place to go - down through the vents. It left alone, hot air will rise (see many of the threads on this forum for examples ), but the case is relatively low , so there is little chance for stratification.

Crowding other components around the TiVo certainly won't help; I would suggest putting spacers UNDER a Series 1 rather than styrofoam between it and other components.

PlainBill.

[malfunct]

Certainly the design could have been better. But think about what must happen to the air in a Series 1 when it gets to the right end of the case. It has only one place to go - down through the vents. It left alone, hot air will rise (see many of the threads on this forum for examples ), but the case is relatively low , so there is little chance for stratification.

Crowding other components around the TiVo certainly won't help; I would suggest putting spacers UNDER a Series 1 rather than styrofoam between it and other components.

PlainBill.

Come on now guys, we are hackers are we not? Break out those tools and install those 120mm fans you have laying about in the top of the case and get them fired up to 5000rpm and really move that air out of the case. I guaranteen that the temps will go down

(Yes that was mostly tounge and cheek, I don't want the airplane sound in all of my tv watching either, though my pc is right next to the TV and you wouldn't notice the extra noise over top its 10 fans)

[PlainBill]

Come on now guys, we are hackers are we not? Break out those tools and install those 120mm fans you have laying about in the top of the case and get them fired up to 5000rpm and really move that air out of the case. I guaranteen that the temps will go down

(Yes that was mostly tounge and cheek, I don't want the airplane sound in all of my tv watching either, though my pc is right next to the TV and you wouldn't notice the extra noise over top its 10 fans)

Actually, that's not a bad idea. A 60 mm fan installed in the right place (left side of the case?) should increase the air flow by nearly 50%, even if you ran it a fairly low speed. Or maybe one of those ultra thin fans on the left side, right next to the power supply, blowing out....

Or for the Extreme Tivoer, about 6 120 mm fans - the kind with colored LEDs, mounted in the top of the case, blowing straight up. Nah!!! Too ugly.

PlainBill