Alternate Power adaptersfor the HD-PVR

[wayner]

I had an HD-PVR stop working and it looks like the problem is the AC/DC power adapter/wall wart. I will send this back to Hauppauge to get a replacement, assuming that they will replace a three your old adapter. But that may take a while since I am in Canada and I am not sure how they will be shipping this back to me.

They warn not to use a third party adapter as you will void your warranty - but my unit is 3+ years old so do I still have a warranty?

I have a universal power adapter where you can change the plugs and change the voltage. I am thinking of trying this to see if it works. Has anyone tried other adapters with an HD-PVR.

Note that the HD-PVR power adapter is listed at 5V and 2A.

[disco340]

I'm using one I picked up from radio shack. Haven't had a problem for over a year.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=3875410

[wayner]

OK good - I will use my Universal adapter. We no longer have Radio Shacks in the Great White North. They were bought by Circuit City and then sold to one of the cell phone companies.

[GKusnick]

You don't need a universal adapter; you just need one with the same volt & amp rating and a compatible plug. My advice would be to visit the lost & found department at a big downtown hotel and ask to rummage through their bin of left-behind adapters. Chances are good you'll be able to find something that will work.

This is also a great way to replace lost cell phone chargers.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by wayner

I had an HD-PVR stop working and it looks like the problem is the AC/DC power adapter/wall wart. I will send this back to Hauppauge to get a replacement, assuming that they will replace a three your old adapter. But that may take a while since I am in Canada and I am not sure how they will be shipping this back to me.

They warn not to use a third party adapter as you will void your warranty - but my unit is 3+ years old so do I still have a warranty?

I have a universal power adapter where you can change the plugs and change the voltage. I am thinking of trying this to see if it works. Has anyone tried other adapters with an HD-PVR.

Note that the HD-PVR power adapter is listed at 5V and 2A.

I ordered mine from straight from hauppauge (I live just down the road from you). they shipped it usps and I think the total with shipping was around $15. There was no duty on the unit, it just showed up in my regular mailbox, in a bubble wrap envelope.

On a side note... Last year one of my HD-PVRs would crap out during a recording about 1 in 5 times (I'd see halt detected in recording error message). Finally the power adapter went on the same unit, so I ordered a new one. This year, with the new power adapter, I've recorded 100s of shows and not one error. I guess the other power adapter, being faulty, would sometimes not provide enough power to the unit and it would cause a failure. I just thought, at the time, that perhaps it was driver issue, etc (I'm in linux), but turns out to be power related.

[rrhorer]

Mine went out two weeks ago. I too was have occasional recording glitches; then, the recordings became almost unviewable; then, on trying to re-install drivers for my Hauppauge tuners, Windows (Win 7) would not recognize the usb device (HD PVR). Having read the forums here, I rummaged around the house for a replacement power adapter; found one belonging to a Buffalo wireless bridge that was no longer used; and all is fine again.

[wayner]

Originally Posted by GKusnick

You don't need a universal adapter; you just need one with the same volt & amp rating and a compatible plug.

That's true but it isn't always easy to find an adapter with the right plug - hence the universal adapter. I just need one until I get the new one from H which could take a couple of weeks.

Originally Posted by GKusnick

My advice would be to visit the lost & found department at a big downtown hotel and ask to rummage through their bin of left-behind adapters. Chances are good you'll be able to find something that will work.

The WSJ had an article about this a year or so ago and they do get tons of adapters left behind but mainly for phones. I would be in good shape if I needed a charger for a BB or iPhone but I don't think too many phones would have the same plug as an HD-PVR.

[spacecadet]

Originally Posted by disco340

I'm using one I picked up from radio shack. Haven't had a problem for over a year.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=3875410

An article here describes the HDPVR issue in detail:

http://valkyriemt.wordpress.com/2011...-fail-for-all/

The comments in the article suggest this D-Link adapter as a replacement. At $9.98, it's not a bad option:

http://www.amazon.com/AF1805-2-5A-SW.../dp/B0044QMAFY

[wayner]

Thanks - very interesting. I guess Hauppauge has it backwards - they say that you should only use their power adapter. You should probably actually use any 5V/2A adapter except for the Hauppauge one.

I will rummage around for other adapters. Sometimes it pays to be a pack rat and to keep lots of stuff like old adapters.

[stuckless]

Originally Posted by wayner

Thanks - very interesting. I guess Hauppauge has it backwards - they say that you should only use their power adapter. You should probably actually use any 5V/2A adapter except for the Hauppauge one.

I will rummage around for other adapters. Sometimes it pays to be a pack rat and to keep lots of stuff like old adapters.

I thought it was interesting that my replacement power adapter looked nothing like the one it was replacing. Perhaps that "model" was defective and they've moved to another brand. The model that was defective was a thin, narrow, yet high profile adapter it the new one was a little fatter but lower profile.

[wayner]

My new HD-PVR, which was purchased about a month ago, comes with an adapter that is the same shape as the old ones. I had to use my labeller to keep them straight.

I guess having an extra HD-PVR on hand is not necessarily a bad thing. Who knows when Hauppauge will be acquired by Google and stop selling their devices immediately!

All joking aside, I am considering buying extra hardware for crucial items, like the HD-PVR, as it is unlikely that Sage will work with new tuning devices in the future and I want my system to continue to work for as long as possible. Sooner or later the HD-PVR will be discontinued and I don't want that to cause me to have to stop using Sage.

[SWKerr]

Originally Posted by spacecadet

An article here describes the HDPVR issue in detail:

The comments in the article suggest this D-Link adapter as a replacement. At $9.98, it's not a bad option:

http://www.amazon.com/AF1805-2-5A-SW.../dp/B0044QMAFY

I actually use the D-Link I had from an old switch. Works great.

I had one go bad early on and they sent me a replacement free. Later retired the HD-PVRs for awhile when I first got the Colossus. After I went back to them I could not find one of the power bricks and tried the D-Link. Never had a problem.

I never throw them away. Have a whole box full. Have even swapped plugs before to get the right power output and connection.

[phelme]

Glad I found this thread. One of my HD-PVR's started going on and off during recordings and I was wondering if it was the power adapter. Had an old D-Link AF1805 3A in the recycled gadget box. Works great so far.
---
Edit: well crap, even with the new adapter it occasionally stops recording for a second or so and starts again. I'll order up another adapter and give it one more chance in case that adapter isn't kosher.

Odd though, I see no errors in any Windows or SageTV log when this happens. And the little blue power light on the HD-PVR stays lit the entire time of the recording interruption (though the red goes out). Are these the normal symptoms of a malfunctioning adapter or is this maybe more heat related?

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by phelme

...
Edit: well crap, even with the new adapter it occasionally stops recording for a second or so and starts again. I'll order up another adapter and give it one more chance in case that adapter isn't kosher. ...

That sounds like what happened to mine. It was overheating, added a fan and hasn't had a problem since.
(at first I just opened the case and placed a room fan near by to keep the air moving. That worked great until the real fan came in.)

[phelme]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

That sounds like what happened to mine. It was overheating, added a fan and hasn't had a problem since.
(at first I just opened the case and placed a room fan near by to keep the air moving. That worked great until the real fan came in.)

Opened up the case and doing a recording now, stable so far. Strange that it works for 18 months with no issues and now this. I guess some components have lost a little life force. Come to think of it though, I have been experimenting more with 1080i lately, which is a higher load than 720P.

Time to look into a cooling mod.

[jorton]

I ordered 6 of the Dlink 2.0A adapters from Ebay awhile back for cheap backups and I've been using one for three months with no problems. I had the recording in bursts issue with one of my HDPVR's and swapping it with a Dlink power adapter fixed right away. I have never modded my HDPVR's just had a cheap table fan blowing across them and they've been fine in my basement.

[MattHelm]

Originally Posted by phelme

... Strange that it works for 18 months with no issues and now this....

Mine worked for years, then needed it. New one crapped out almost right away, and instead of sending it back, added the fan. It's worked perfect since.

Look up the how too. There is even a location on the PCB where a header should have been. It's 5V not 12V, and it even switches on and off when you record. I think someone decided there was a heat problem, but someone else (Marketing?) decided not to ventilate!

The fan I bought works perfect, and even comes with a header/wire that will allow you to disconnect for disassemble! (see my post in the fan thread for part number)

[phelme]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

Mine worked for years, then needed it. New one crapped out almost right away, and instead of sending it back, added the fan. It's worked perfect since.

Look up the how too. There is even a location on the PCB where a header should have been. It's 5V not 12V, and it even switches on and off when you record. I think someone decided there was a heat problem, but someone else (Marketing?) decided not to ventilate!

The fan I bought works perfect, and even comes with a header/wire that will allow you to disconnect for disassemble! (see my post in the fan thread for part number)

I'll see if the fan header is there. Thanks!

In the meantime I'll set the DirecTV receiver back to 720P, I'm positive now this didn't start until I set it to 1080i. (though I set it to 1080i in the first place because some say there is less chance of an audio sync problem at that resolution. that started happening a couple weeks ago.)

[MattHelm]

I'd still recommend a fan. I believe in the 10 degree rule!

[Malfunction]

I recently upgraded the fans in my computer case. After doing this, the HD-PVR stopped working. The blue light would come on when I connected the power.

I was blaming the power brick. After disassembling the brick and removing the power cable, I noticed that I had bumped the USB card loose. I pushed the USB card back in, spliced the power brick cable to an old USB charger cable. My HP Touchpad charger provides 2 amps. This worked fine. A side benefit, the HD-PVR starts faster and doesn't stutter when it starts recording. This worked well enough to last until I could order a AF1805-A adapter from Amazon. While I was at it I also ordered a .5 meter component cable stocked by Monoprice to clean up some cable clutter. Everything's working fine now.

If you have trouble with the HD-PVR, be sure to check your USB cards.