Power Supply Problems - FAQ

[WK-Michael]

As TiVos get older, power supplies begin to have problems. We have replacement TiVo power supplies for many units, and if you don't see your model listed there, email us. We may have one or two hanging around.

How do you know if your power supply is failing? The easiest test is generally just looking for video out. If you get no video out at all - not even the gray "Welcome, Powering Up" screen, then you probably have a failed power supply. Sometimes, drives will still spin up, and fans will spin up, but you get no video out.

Certain model TiVos exhibit specific problems that can mean power supply failure, other than the loss of video:

Philips HDR series and Sony SVR 2000: These units have a problem where they stop outputting audio. Then, when you reboot, the audio works again for a time, and then it turns off again. This is characteristic of a failed power supply, and we've always seen a replacement fix it.

TiVo TCD140060 and AT&T TCD130040 Series2: These two models have a pretty big propensity for power supply failure, and we're constantly having a hard time keeping these in stock.

DirecTV HR10-250: We've seen a bunch of strange problems with these units get fixed with a new power supply, including HDMI issues (although usually those are the HDMI card), overheating problems (again, actually, usually HDMI problems, but sometimes a bad power supply) and the regular no-video issues.

[jlobster]

I have an HR10-250 and am having the following restart issues:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...d.php?t=325978

Do those sound like any of the "strange problems" you have heard about?

Thanks.

[WK-Michael]

So what drive is in the unit now?

[jlobster]

A Quantum one I bought from you guys a short while back (QuickView?).

[WK-Michael]

So Maxtor, probably.

Have you tested that drive in a PC? Has that drive ever worked well?

Our first area of suspicion would be with the drive. Especially if you've made other modifications to the software, somewhere in the mix there may be a hardware or software problem with the drive.

[jlobster]

Oops. Maxtor, yes. Definitely.

How would I test the drive? Plug it in and look for SMART errors? That's what happened with my old drive. Beyond that, I don't know what other tests to run since it is a special filesystem format.

[WK-Michael]

See this info about testing:

http://www.wkforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9

If you want to PM me your order number I can get a little more info too.

[dbustos]

I was reading in your FAQs before i saw this thread.. It said if the Tivo fan spins you get a black screen but all the front lights are on it is a power supply issue.. My tivo fan is spinning, there is a black/blank screen but the front lights aren't on.. Would that still be a power supply issue?

[WK-Jeff]

What model TiVo?

[dbustos]

Model: TCD540040