Quiet_Hollow Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Now I know our Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300HDC DVR accounts for about 80% of the waste heat in our home theater (the LCD TV coming in a distant 2nd), but I was futzing around with the unit the other day and darn near burnt my hand when I tried to move it. At that point curiosity got the best of me. So I grabbed the trusty Fluke 179 and duct taped its temp probe to the hottest part of the DVR's chassis. After the probe stabilized I took note of the reading: 117°F [^o)] ..and that's just idling in "off". Get this....with the unit "on" and driving the TV it gets stoked all the way up to 121°F [:|] WTF? Seriously, out in the free air environment this thing is cranking out enough BTU's to double as a crock pot. Kinda got me on edge a little. It's baking pretty much any surface I put it on, even with ample ventilation. What do you guys think? If the chassis is 120 steady state, the circuits must be hovering around sub-nuclear. How hot is too hot? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derrickdj1 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I wonder if the unit is dusty inside. Maybe a can of compressed air will do the trick. If not, time for a new unit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 Tomorrow, I'll power it down and pop the top off...take a look in there and see how it looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappydue Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 My scientific Atlanta from time Warner does the exact same thing. Ain't my box so I don't worry about it. Time Warner will give me a new one if this one melts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 That heat is almost certainly due to the DVR's hard drive. Operational temps for hard drives without heavy cooling will vary between 40-50 degrees celsius. Ciritical temps for most hard drives is around the 60c range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmassey Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 If the outside is reaching 120, I am thinking the inside is darn near close to the 60 celsius (140 faranheit). It doesn't seem like it is operating efficiently. If it melts, I guess it's no biggy, but I would hate to see it burn down your house? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 the case acts as a heat sink - so i think it's operating exactly as intended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max2 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 I would bet my DTV receiver is as hot as that or hotter. I have been through tons of units with them and they all are bad about putting off excessive heat. I dont think your unit is defective.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 My plasma doubles as a space heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1101 Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Almost every evening I go to my daughter's room to be sure she hasn't piled clothes on top of the Dish Network receiver. Same thing. I'm afraid of her burning the house down. She's a slob and piles stuff everytwhere. The thing gets really hot..............but I have 4 of them and they all do the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiet_Hollow Posted June 22, 2012 Author Share Posted June 22, 2012 Thanks for the reassurance guys. [Y][H] We had a break in the recording schedule so I pulled it offline today to take a look at it. Time Warner had a big 'ol tamper proof sticker attached to the case, so in respect of that, I didn't open the unit. Closer inspection through the top vents with a flashlight revealed I wouldn't have had to anyways. No dust in there at all. Pristine.The part that is causing the hot spot on the chassis (that almost melted my fingertips) is the CPU, which does appear to be heat-sinked directly to the bottom of the unit as Thad described. Ah well. Going to pick up some risers for it today and plug 'er back in. [li] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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