My dads just dropped on a hdr from spaital sound and vision now he wants to put the box where his old sky box was but the hole for the wire to go through wont be big enough for the plug to go through like with his sky box you could plug it in and out of the box,Would it hurt to cut the plug of then thread the wire through the hole and put on a new plug?.

If you are competent at wiring a plug and are willing to invalidate the warranty, no problem. However, the fact that you find it neccesary to ask the question suggests that it may not be a good idea.

Can't imagine that this would invalidate the warranty. Perhaps Bob_Cat would care to comment

Quite simply, the box would have been modified by the user. It may not be a modification that's likely to cause a problem, but it's still a modification. Probably lots of legal issues here, and the reality is that the retailer or Humax probably wouldn't be bothered or even notice.

More to the point, I was trying to give the OP an out as far as their Dad is concerned if they felt uncomfortable about doing it.

You could of course feed through the hole a small mains extension lead (often these come with removable plugs) and then not cut the HDR lead, but clearly you'd have a bundle of cable to deal with behind the HDR box.

As already mentioned, cutting the moulded plug off is an unauthorised modification, and voids the warranty.

The plug/lead assembly is also a certified safety part, and cutting the moulded plug off means it no longer meets the required safety standards.

The solution is to buy a trailing socket, and make a small extension lead with the socket on the box side of the small hole - or just make the hole larger.

We had an idiot come in the other week with a Grundig SD Freesat box, demanding we replace it instantly for him as it was dead - there were a number of problems:

1) The box wasn't even his, it was a neighbours.

2) He didn't have any proof of purchase.

3) Thinking it may be the lead that was at fault he had cut the plug off and voided the warranty.

4) He had removed the warranty seal on the box and taken the top off, voiding the warranty.

5) He hadn't even put the top back on correctly, and the screws were all chewed up as well.

So he'd done a really big favour for the neighbour he was supposedly 'helping'.

OMG, I can't believe that fitting a new plug is going to void a warranty......manfacturers are just being plain silly now!

Not at all, it's a critical safety component - chopping the plug off means it no longer meets the required safety standards.

Oh, good grief.

All the plugs in my house are marked BS1363. So what standard would that be then ?. My Denon amp has a standard connector as does many of my AV equipment. If I used a different lead would it invalidate the warranty, I think not. I agree if changing the plug could be proved contributory to any failure then there might be a case. It's hard to imagine how this could be. Often equipment comes with the warning in case of danage to the moulded plug fit a standard BS1363 plug. Frankly to argue changing the plug means that the stb no longer meets some unspecified safety standard is frankly ludicrous.

We test, validate a product and sell it, if you choose to change the product we can't support it because there is a probability of it being unsafe. We supplied the product using a particular plug and we wired it correctly, it is quite possible for a consumer to incorrectly rewire the plug and break a perfectly working product or even kill someone. The only way we can be sure that we know what we are supporting is to say that the product must be in the condition it was sold in.

If the product is returned without it's factory plug it must be assumed to be unsafe (for the safety of the service staff), thus our engineers have to take that to be the first fault and then, only after repairing this 'fault', can they safely test the product for any other reported issue. That work effort would be charged to us by the servicing company, no matter how trivial it may seem. Even if all the repair requires is a factory reset or re-flash of firmware then we will likely be charged for a complete lid off repair.

Note: a large number of product returns have *no* actual fault!

Bob

Just a small voice in the crowd from the consumer side: whilst I understand the points that have been made, this whole thread perfectly sums up why I tend to put up with problems with kit rather than going back to a supplier / manufacturer. The bureaucratic nonsense that everyone is wrapped in far outweighs any desire there may be to actually offer any help. As far as I'm concerned it's just not worth the stress.

It's also another reason where as far as possible I try and use the local shop down the road rather than the big chains, they tend to me more concerned with the customers than the red tape.

OMG! I'm glad I made the effort to un-screw all my shelving so I could keep the plug on. I probably wouldn't have bothered if it wasn't such a new machine which I fully expected to have some teething problems, but touch wood, nothing major so far (other than the odd hang).

May I ask why Humax went for hard-wired mains flex rather than plug-in mains flex like so many other consumer electronics devices?

Message Deleted.

Fitting IEC or 'figure 8' mains leads obviously increases the cost of the product, and as Freesat products are 'cut down to the bone' it makes sense to keep costs down with a fixed mains lead.

It's the same with TV's, the higher end ones use plug-in leads, but the lower end ones often use fixed leads.

Personally though, I far prefer a plug-in lead.

The more I think about this the more I think it's an unreasonable warranty restriction. Going to talk to the Consumer Association and Trading Standards to get their views. Not that I have cut off the plug anyway but as you say this arrangement makes it impossible to install the Foxsat in a HiFi rack with neat cable routing provided.

It's damn near impossible to damage the hdr by incorrectly fitting a mains plug and in any case you could do the same with a home wired extention.

Consider the possibilities, The Foxsat is double insulated so only has a live and neutral conductor.
There are a limited number of permutations as follows

Foxsat end first

Correct connection Neutral - Neutral, Live to Live

Reversed connection Neutral-Live, Live to Neutral
Foxsat still gets 240V AC will work normally unless internal fault developes. In this event the single pole fuse will blow but leave a live connection in the stb. No one in there right mind would dismantle the box without unplugging it

Live to Earth, Neutral - Neutral. Zero voltage to stb

Live to Live, Neutral - Earth (or the reverse). Foxsat gets normal voltage a RCD of fitted should trip the cct.

The foxsat power supply is rated 90 - 250V AC 50/60Hz so it can be connected to any domestic power supply in the entire world.

This doesn't really seem that obvious to me. Although there is an additional cost in the plug and socket of possibly a few pence this is surely offset by cost savings elsewhere in production, i.e. rather than producing different machines for different areas it would only be the final packaging that is altered.
(Yes, I know the Foxsat HDR is UK only but Humax have fixed mains flex on all their boxes so far as I'm aware.)
Hence my query as to why?

LOL - Bob_Cat I offered to pay your pension in another thread, think you took me up on it! - just need your bank details and you can leave all this behind

*just a joke not to be taken seriously*

OH MY GOODNESS!!!! I thought I was the only person in the world with this attitude! Although I think "we" are wrong in doing what we do, because manufacturers get let off, it is often just not worth the hassle.

Then there is the fact that you send away a cosmetically perfect item and not only does it come back scratched, but even if it is repaired, there is often a new problem. Sometimes (and only sometimes, if I feel confident) I will try and repair stuff myself than go through the stress; HOWEVER, I am not stupid, I would NOT DARE do what the guy did to Nigel and have the gall to try and get it repaired after I had b*ggered with it

I think, on the Sky HD side of the forum, this shows the difference between the people who have, under certain circumstances, fitted their own Satcure PSUs (very little hassle, IMHO) and those that are prepared to deal with Sky. If I b*gger it up, I have to buy a new box.

This is an interesting discussion point. I'd be very interested in what they have to say. I suspect that although cutting off the plug may violate the terms of the manufacturer's warranty (depending on what conditions they've stated) it would not restrict the purchaser's rights under sale of goods legislation. As the warranty probably contains a statement to the effect that nothing in the conditions affects consumer rights, and as this would take precendent over any condition that means you can't take the plug off, you could claim that the warranty would not actually be invalidated.

The difficulty with this way of looking at things is that relying on sale of goods legislation can be a frought business. Many people will just give up.

Edit: When talking to the Consumer Association and Trading Standards, it would be interesting to find out whether the onus would be on the retailer to prove that cutting off the plug induced the fault, or on the purchaser to prove that it didn't.

I'll think you'll find they have no problem with it invalidating the warranty, after all it's government legislation that makes it so. Chopping the plug off means it no longer meets the required safety standards (no matter how perfectly the plug is put on), which means it can't be sold due to unauthorised modification by the customer.

Like I mentioned above, the mains lead and plug assembly is a critical safety component (all such components are listed in the service manuals), and MUST be replaced with the exact manufacturers part.

As a matter of interest, a mains lead and plug for a Sony radio cassette player was £42+VAT about 8-9 years ago

Are you suggesting that equipment has to be returned in a saleable condition for it to be repaired under warranty? I doubt if applying that criterion would meet the manufacturer's obligations under the terms of their own warranty, let alone the retailer's obligations under sale of goods legislation.

TBH it was government safety legislation that resulted in fitted plugs being standard anyway. Another case of the nanny state trying to protect everyone from electrocution (when exactly did you last hear of someone electrocuting themself from fitting a plug?).

Anyway, its also a part of the same legislation that the manufacturers also supply a wiring diagram for the plug so that the consumer can change the plug in the event that the wire becomes damaged.

No if it is a government requirement that the consumer should be supplied with the means to enable them to change the plug if the wire becomes damaged, I question as to whether or not that gives the right to any manufacturer to refuse to honour a warranty on that basis.

Interestingly, the HDR manual does not contain such a wiring diagram. It may have been on an insert in the packaging, but I've just had a look in its box and couldn't find one. It may have gone astray.

The ony reference in the manual I could find to changing the plug is on Page 5. "Do not modify or process the power cord or plug arbitrarily."

I don't think I want to get into what "process" or "arbitrarily" means in this post.

It's sometimes on a piece of card on the plug itself (it has square holes for the pins so sits flat on the 'business' side.

Right under those inexplicable plastic pin covers, a 'safety feature' that must be the product of a deranged mind.