Noisy TiVo?

[WK-Max]

The TiVo in your bedroom keeping you up at night? Unfortunately, TiVos will never run completely silent - there is the drive seek noise and the constant whirring of the fan, which there is no escape from. But, if your TiVo is obnoxiously loud or making other strange clicking noises, chances are its time to replace something.

So here's a couple tips on how to determine where the dreadful noise is coming from:

1. If you are experiencing a rattling sound it is most likely the grill or internal bracket fan (if you have dual drive unit with twin breeze from WeaKnees). To find out which fan it is, power down the unit and take Q-Tip, toothpick or some sort of long slender object and stick it in the grill of the TiVo unit so that the blades of the fan hit it when the unit powers on. If the noise stops, its time to replace the grill fan. If the noise continues, time for more troubleshooting.

2. If you are hearing a clicking sound coming from the unit, that is, in most cases, when the drive is parking its heads (and ramping them off the drive surface in the process) after a timeout after the last disk access. In this case, it is best to just replace the drive completely.

3. If you are hearing a faint intermittent hissing sound and your TiVo unit is not outputing any video or stuck on welcome, it is most likely coming the power supply. I unfortunately have no idea what causes the power supply to make that noise or what component in the supply has went bad, but i can definitely assure you a replacement power supply will, in most cases, fix your problem.

[WK-Jason]

Wow...if only you knew as much about making ribs as you do about TiVo noises...

But thanks for the info!

[Newbie]

Thanks for the troubleshooting tips, any more for a noisy hard drive? Max, I tried what you suggested but it sounds like the hard drive itself is the issue. It sounds like it used to, just a whole lot louder...to the point I can hear it from rooms away and while watching a program. Any way to make that go away or is it time for a new one?

[WK-Michael]

Sometimes, it's just an issue of the screws holding the hard drive onto the bracket being tightened unevenly, and causing a vibration. You might try disconnecting the drive from the bracket and then evenly re-tightening it.

[RandyDtg]

My S3 Noise is Disk Seek Sounds. It interferes significantly with watching TV, and can be heard from the bedroom when all else is quiet.

It sits on an open glass shelf under my TV. I figure most of the noise comes out thru the fan opening.

Any suggestions on covering it up accoustically ?

[WK-Michael]

Covering it up really isn't a good idea - that can cause a lot of heat to build up in the unit.

The Series3 units are billed as the quietest DVR on earth, and we've really found that to be the case. If your unit is making that much noise, that's a problem. If you want to email us your order number, we can get you info for swapping that out ASAP. Noise that loud will probably only lead to larger problems.

[bbauman]

Does anyone know if a quieter fan is available that would fit an HR10-250?

I can research this myself but need the electrical and mechanical specs for the fan. Anyone have this info?

[WK-Michael]

It's a 70mm fan. We have a replacement stock TiVo fan (http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-fans.php) that's pretty quiet, but likely no quieter than yours was when it was new.

[pdrph]

I recently upgraded an old TIVO Series 2 with a 40gig hard drive by adding a 200gig Maxtor. The TIVO made so much clicking noise that I still heard it even after I put it in the cabinet under the T.V. with the doors closed. I just purchased a Luxurae Hard Drive Silencer and barely fit it in the case with the hard drive. I have to say that the TIVO is MUCH QUIETER!!! I can actually sleep in my bedroom again.

[WK-Michael]

Never heard of it, but I'll check it out.

[jthomas119]

A long time ago, I upgraded my TCD230040 with a 160g drive and that included (I think) a new internal brushless fan.
That fan is now makeing horrible noises. I have the cover off and touching the fan changes the noise.

I guess I need to order a new fan but until it arrives, is there any way to disconnect the fan so I can use the unit.

John

[WK-Jeff]

You can disconnect the internal fan from the hard drive power and then reconnect the drive power without the fan. I would not recommend that you keep it this way for a long time, but a few days shouldn't hurt.