Sky HD Fan Controller Kit (Thomson Box ONLY)
I have been contacted by people requesting a controller for the Sky HD boxes. It has took me some time to solve but I am proud to say that it IS NOW AVAILABLE.
This is the new Sky HD fans controller kit. Cost is £35 + £3 P&P. To order click on Buy a Sky+ Fan Controller on the left.
As you can see it is all push fit connectors. This is for easy installation. No soldering is required. It is just plug and play. The controller can be removed as it does not need any alterations to the HD box.
Quick summary of installation:
F1 connects to power supply fan
F2 connects to hard drive fan
Power connector connects to power socket in the HD box. The plug that is already connected to the HD socket then connects to my new plug. Simple.
Read on for more in-depth instructions.
Installation of Sky HD controller
This is the layout of inside the Sky HD box. Notice there are two fans. One under the hard drive, the other near the power supply.
After much testing I was amazed how hot the box was getting. The fan under the hard drive actually blows the heat from the hard drive into the box and the fan at the power supply blows it out of the box. However the power supply fan doesn't seem to run that much meaning all the heat is kept in the box. Temperatures over 60 degrees were recorded. My solution is to have the power supply fan run slowly all the time the receiver is powered on. Some HD boxes that run hot will have this fan run even when it is in standby. However the speed of the fan is slow and it is quiet. This will stop the power supply from overheating which is a problem with these boxes. The fan under the hard drive will be temperature controlled so that the fan only comes on when it is needed. These 2 measures have greatly reduced the heat in the box.
So lets get started. DISCONNECT THE BOX FROM THE MAINS POWER SUPPLY. Now getting into the box. Remove the screw at the back of the box.
Next turn the box over and loosen the six screws as shown. There is no need to remove them. Then gently release the catches at the front, don't break them and slide the case off. It may be tight!!
Slide the outer case off. No need for scredriver!!
Then remove the two screws holding the control panel to the top of the box and lift the board gently up right.
It should now look like this.
Now remove the 3 screws at the side of the box.
Now lift the lid up from the left ( side you took screws out from )
And finally you are into the box!!
Now we can finally install the controller!!
There are only 3 connections that have to be made on the Sky HD mainboard. They are:
Power connector
Power supply fan
Hard drive fan connector which is at the back of the hard drive
First lets deal with the power connection. Remove the power connector from the mainboard.
This is my power connector marked with a 'P'
Put the two connectors together. They will only go on one way. Notice the grooves on the connectors.
And these are the two fully joined together.
Now we connect this to the HD box mainboard. Again align the groves on the connectors. They will only go one one way.
And this is the power connector fully pushed home.
Now lets do the fan connections. First is F1 marked with a '1'. This connects to the power supply fan. Notice the connectors will only come together one way. Red wire to red wire etc.
And fully pushed home it should look like this.
Next is to deal with the hard drive fan. Connect this fan to the connector labelled '2'.
Now all we need to do is position the sensor which looks like this.
Slide this sensor into the gap between the hard drive and the black housing it is in. You will feel a gap where the connections are made to the hard drive. Slide the sensor in this gap until you no longer see the black at the top of the sensor. It should then look like this when it is in the correct position.
Next is to position the controller itself. Underneath yo will find some double sided foam.
Peel away the outer layer.
And position it on top of the card reader at the right of the box. I find it best to align it with the black pegs at the front of the controller and stick it down.
This is the final position.
Thats it fully installed. Just for reference this is a picture taken when installation is complete.
If you wish to test your installation keep the lid off the box and apply power to the box. DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING AS IT COULD GIVE YOU A NASTY SHOCK!!! After a while the hard drive will spin up and the power supply fan will run. Then after a short while the box will go into standby. This is the normal bootup procedure. Now take the box out of standby by pressing the SKY button on the remote. The hard drive will spin up and the the power supply fan will run. This is what should happen. Now place the box in standby. The drive will spin down and soon after the fan will stop. This means the installation has been successful. The hard drive fan will come on by itself when it gets warm. It could be tested by a hairdryer but is really not necessary as I have it setup for you before dispatch.
Faulty Sky HD box
There appears to be a problem developing with these boxes. The main culprit is the power supply. The capacitors are not lasting causing a lot of different symptoms. These include : channels pixelating, clock races ahead giving failed recordings and the box stuck in standby. Stuck in standby could also be a faulty hard drive. If you have any of these problems the solution is on SatCure. They can supply a new upgraded power supply or a kit to fix the original. To claim a £1 discount voucher to use at SatCure
click here