HD100 power supply repair

[dadams]

3rd of 4 died last week. I'm glad it's easy to repair.

[sic0048]

My original HD-100 is still working (knock on wood), but I just bought a "broken" unit to add to my system. The seller knew it was the cap issue, but seemed to want to drop SageTV completely. Ordered new caps and received them the same day as the HD-100. Had it up and running in about 10 minutes. I did buy enough caps to fix my original HD-100 just in case.

[jerryb33]

One of my HD100 bit the dust. Was prepared with the Caps. No issue replacing them.
All I can remember it was the second batch of units that came out.

[sic0048]

My parents have a SageTV system as well and they told me it wasn't working. I had a chance to go there yesterday and found that both of their HD-100 had died. Their units are much newer than my original unit. I wish I had know this last week when I bought the caps for my units (I was thinking they had the HD-200 - bad memory on my part).

So three out of the four of the extenders I bought have died. It is still probably just a matter of time before my 4th unit fails too.

[skyeclad]

Hey guys, my December 2007 HD-100 has just developed a high pitch whining sound. I'm assuming that I'm now in a countdown to equipment failure mode.

So I guess I'm thinking one of two options:

1) Send for repair for $39 + shipping.

or

2) Buy a HD-200.

Anyone have a suggestion? While I haven't heard anything, I was considering leapfrogging the HD-200 until a new model came out, although I was hoping something was going to be announced at CES and it wasn't.

[sic0048]

Originally Posted by skyeclad

Hey guys, my December 2007 HD-100 has just developed a high pitch whining sound. I'm assuming that I'm now in a countdown to equipment failure mode.

So I guess I'm thinking one of two options:

1) Send for repair for $39 + shipping.

or

2) Buy a HD-200.

Anyone have a suggestion? While I haven't heard anything, I was considering leapfrogging the HD-200 until a new model came out, although I was hoping something was going to be announced at CES and it wasn't.

There is also option #3. Buy replacement caps and fix the problem yourself. Takes about $5 and 15 minutes per extender. Previous soldering skill is helpful, but not really required (although having to buy a solding iron kills the inexpensive nature of the repair).

Option #4 - if you don't like the idea of soldering, you can replace the stock power supply with another 12 power supply. Somewhere in this thread people talk about using power supplies from old routers, etc.

Also option #5 - sell your broken HD-100 to a fellow SageTV user and use funds for option #2. (I just bought an HD-100 from someone doing this. I got a decent deal and he got some $ to put toward something else).

[skyeclad]

Originally Posted by sic0048

There is also option #3. Buy replacement caps and fix the problem yourself. Takes about $5 and 15 minutes per extender. Previous soldering skill is helpful, but not really required (although having to buy a solding iron kills the inexpensive nature of the repair).

Option #4 - if you don't like the idea of soldering, you can replace the stock power supply with another 12 power supply. Somewhere in this thread people talk about using power supplies from old routers, etc.

Also option #5 - sell your broken HD-100 to a fellow SageTV user and use funds for option #2. (I just bought an HD-100 from someone doing this. I got a decent deal and he got some $ to put toward something else).

True, I could solder the parts myself but as you suggested I don't have an iron and no experience. I'm going to ask a friend if he has one. If so, I might go that route. Thanks for the advice.

[Muchacho]

My first one died yesterday am (the other one is still kicking).

The fix was pretty easy to follow- although I had not sodered in 25 yrs... back up and running.

Thanks all for the great instructions!

[skyeclad]

Ok, I opted to go the fix it yourself route with $5 worth of capacitors. I actually picked up 6 just in case. Also, I borrowed a soldering iron. The whole experience was ....eh...not a lot of fun. Actually, the part that I found extremely difficult was desoldering the old capacitors. I would hold the iron to the old solder and it would take 10 seconds or so before the solder melted and then the braid wouldn't pick it up or the iron would scratch across the pcb. My guess is that my problem may have been a crappy iron and definitely a lack of skill on my part.

Getting the new capacitors soldered in was actually easy. For some reason the soldering iron had no problem melting new solder but the old solder was touch stuff.

In the end, I fired it up and it works! Who knows how long it will last but I gave it a fair chance and I managed to fix it, even if only temporarily.

[shadeblue.com]

Originally Posted by skyeclad

Ok, I opted to go the fix it yourself route with $5 worth of capacitors. I actually picked up 6 just in case. Also, I borrowed a soldering iron. The whole experience was ....eh...not a lot of fun. Actually, the part that I found extremely difficult was desoldering the old capacitors. I would hold the iron to the old solder and it would take 10 seconds or so before the solder melted and then the braid wouldn't pick it up or the iron would scratch across the pcb. My guess is that my problem may have been a crappy iron and definitely a lack of skill on my part.

Getting the new capacitors soldered in was actually easy. For some reason the soldering iron had no problem melting new solder but the old solder was touch stuff.

In the end, I fired it up and it works! Who knows how long it will last but I gave it a fair chance and I managed to fix it, even if only temporarily.

Congrats on the fix! I have been up an running now several months with the fix on two of my HD100s, no repeat problems with the new caps yet. I have found that a solder sucker works much better than the copper braid technique. I actually use both, the solder socket to remove the majority of the solder and the braid to clean up the holes after removing the old caps. A good iron can make a world of difference too. The ten seconds to melt the old solder does seem like a long time. No matter, glad to hear you are back up and running, that is what is important!

-SB

[jerryb33]

Putting a dab of fresh solder on the joint before applying the sucker or braid helps also. Removes the film(paint) and leaves a little flux on it.

[bastafidli]

My HD100 died for the second time. The first time it was repaired by Sage in april 2009 so this time it didn't took even 9 months of course it died in the most inconvenient moment there could have been

[Fluffdaddy]

Same problem...............caps?

[bastafidli]

Yup, just opened it and 2 out of 3 are bulged. Now deciding if to go with the new caps or power brick route. Not worth sending it back to Sage.

[sic0048]

So Sage repaired it 9mo ago and used bad caps? Or did you fix it yourself?

If Sage fixed it, then I would contact them about repairing it again. Seems like they should give you at least 12mo warranty on the parts they replaced. Of course that is just my opinion, I don't know what the actual policy is.

[bastafidli]

Sage repaired it 9 months ago and I guess they put in new power supply which failed the same exact way. Since this time I cannot affort to wait 2 weeks to get it fixed I just fixed it myself. Couldnt find 5V/3A power brick which would be my preferred way so I have soldered on new caps. It worked like a charm

[thomaszoo]

Besides the wait you would still have to pay to ship it back. I would just replace the caps, too.

Wayne

[Skiier__Dude]

My DIY is on this link post #15. I repaired my HD100 with an old 5v power supply that I had sitting in the electronics grave-yard in the basement. The spec suggests a 5v 3amp supply. I had a 5v 2amp supply that I've used and it's been working just fine since I did the repair.

Best thing, no soldering and no finding capacitors required. I bi-passed the on/off switch so it functions like the HD200 now.

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41974

[MrD]

Just repaired my third HD100 -- that's 3 for 3.

[talbot3]

I had an december 2007 unit that just started the high pitch squeal. I followed the instructions and replaced the three faulty caps. Works perfectly now.