Hi there, I've been through the kafka link in another link and my brains fried! I had to unplug my box to move furniture and it was off power for about 20 mins, it now won't power up, it makes a ticking noise and there is a sometimes a more audible nosie and i can feel the vibration of it trying to start up and occasionally a red light comes on for 2 seconds and thats it. I tried re-booting, hitting the on/off switch etc. Yhe last time this happened was last year when i had it up at my caravan it had the same systems but I managed to get it to boot up. I've read that some people hace repalced 1,2 5 and all the caps to get it fixed and I was wondering if my symptons cold tie the soloution down, I'll need to get someone else to do this.

Thanks in advance

Sorry the box is nearly 4 yrs old

Ticking is an unambiguous symptom, it means the switch mode power supply is failing to start and keeps tripping.

I'm not expert on the particular smps's in Thompson boxes, could well be some of the caps, especially the electrolytics which wear out. Somebody else at DS will probabkly know .......

if taking lid off for a look, be aware that a charge at 350v remains on the big caps for a while even after disconnecting from mains, it can give you a nasty jolt and is possibly dangerous. Be careful.

if u replace any of the caps be very careful about voltage rating, and getting them right way round, electrolytic caps are polarised .......

I agree with the above about the 400v rated capacitor. Due to a poor design this capacitor will remain charged at 350V DC for hours after the mains has been removed from the box. Touching the contacts can give a rather nasty electric shock. I usually put a 15W mains pigmy bulb across such capacitors to discharge them. Any capacitor rated above 30V can give an electric shock..Electrolytic capacitors are polarised and can explode if connected the wrong way round!

managed to source a local guy who works from home and he says he will replace the caps for £20 - £25, will find out tomorrow if he can fix it

Guy rang me back and confirmed it was a cap problem he has restored the channel function, its work now as a freeview box but it won''t recognise the hard drive! I wonder if the new upgrade has done something, he said he would try in a spare drive he has kicking about to see if that works, could be the end for this one!

The hard drive is faulty as it worked with spare, £22 for the cap work and now I'll need to source a hard drive 160gb was the one that came with the set and i never filled it, any suggestions on a replacement and where to get it, be would be appreciated.
The guy reckoned that when i tried to re-boot the box with the faulty caps it caused a ripple effect with the power and that probably wrecked it.

Hi there again, can anyone tell me the size, name and type of hard drive in the Thomson DTI 6300 (about 4 yrs old) I now need this info before i can get a local quote or source it on the internet.

Thanks in advance

If you look on Kafka forum there is a TUTV inside the box sub-forum. It lists it as a Seagate DB35.2 Consumer storage drive. Look for the thread entitled inside your topup tv anytime box.

Thanks for the replies so far, so far localy I can only source a Seagate ST3500-500KB @ £33,50p ok, maybe a bit big as I never used the 160GB but I don't know if it will fit in does any one know if it will?

Thanks again

Hi there opted for one of these




http://redirectingat.com/?id=3828X63...ard-drive.html

I wouldn't have assumed a hard-drive problem, the test hard-drive may just have needed less power to start up than the original 160GB.

Unless the OP has more info and the 160GB was tested in a PC and failed to make an appearance?

Well, I've got a new one anyway, interested to know what other problem that might have caused this, the caps were replaced prior to being diagnosed as a hard drive problem.

Hi there, the box again lives, I supplied HD and he fitted it and did the cap work for £25 of course my library is gone but good to have it back.

Still no series link, it still has the latest software upgrade