Morning all

I've had my box since early summer and bar one recording that was corrupted, it's been an excellent PVR, a really useful purchase.

Recently I've noticed I can hear the hum of it more than I used to. You could always hear it very faintly even when in 'off' mode as the fan still spins like it is set to in the engineer's menu – it came like this and I have left it like so. Now I would say the hum is a little too much though, and wonder if it is worth doing anything about?

My guess is that some dust/fluff has gathered around the fan and it could do with a clean and oil?

Would anyone reckon this is worth the hassle? I can't think what else could be done really.

Has anyone else noticed theirs has become noisier over time?

I know there was 'noise issues' with this box, and some complained about the fan noise with brand new machines, but my noise was totally acceptable when new, now it's the sort of level that would have a guest ask what that hum was.

Any thoughts appreciated!

In order to clean out the fan you will need to open up the box and remove the hard disk caddy - just as much work as replacing the hard disk. The fan is screwed into the underside of the hard disk caddy so is not accessible without removing the whole contraption. If you're aiming to replace the hard disk with a larger one at some point then it might be worth either accelerating that plan or delaying the clean up until then! Fairly comprehensive instructions for what you need to do are contained in the thread about replacing the hard disk.

Mine did accumulate some dust on the fan blades but I suspect it equally likely that it is the hard disk that's making the noise - bearings start to make more noise fairly quickly. BTW, the fan is not the sort that fits in a PC, it's more like the sort that's in a hairdryer only considerably smaller.

OK Trevor, thanks for the response.

It sounds as if it's a bit of a pain to get to the fan, and as I'm not planning on upgrading the HD, I think I'll live with the noise a little while longer and see how it goes. If it gets worse I'll get the screwdrivers out!

Waiting until the 1 year warranty expires might also be a good plan!

I did mine 6 weeks ago...

The Tompson seemed to be running a little bit 'warm' & with the odd freeze, I thought it might be heat related. Knowing how dusty PC interiors get I thought I'd spring clean the insides...

I eventually got to the hard drive fan - It was DISGUSTING gave it a good old clean out with a brush (whilst my asthmatic son nearly choked to death ) - but I did notice that the hard drive & fan sit the opposite end to where I notice the box gets really hot - so I guess that won't really help

Only problem during the operation was the bloomin' mini-IDE cable connector pulled apart trying to disconnect it from the motherboard I carefully poked the terminals back though all the holes and re-assembled it and praise God it still works.

I'm not sure whether it's actually any quieter though...

Mick

you could try the idea in this thread...
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/s...d.php?t=432752

Nice one, thanks for the info guys, and glad to hear from you Arvinlad as someone who has actually tried to clean out the fan. I've actually just bought a 2nd Thomson from Argos which will be an Xmas present to my parents but will try this unit for a week or two to make sure it works perfectly... will be interesting to note how loud this brand new one is compared to mine...

Hi,

I noticed a friend's DHD4000 'unit temperature' always seemed to be stuck at 40 degrees Celsius, so I thought I would have a look inside.

The drive caddy has a space beneath it, of about 1cm. This points in the general direction of the power supply.

Blocking this gap was a piece of captive tape (used for pulling the connector out), that is attached to the IDE-style drive cable plug. This tape was acting like an 'up & over garage door', in the closed position.

I lifted it up, and balanced it upon the 2 or 3 electrolytic capacitors and a timing crystal in the immediate vicinity.

As far as I can tell, the temperature of the unit has now stabilised at 38 degrees.

And another thing: I noticed that the shielding for the SCART socket was only attached on one side, so it got fixed too.
Don't you just love the way they THROW things together these days!

Swapped the new Thomson with my old to ensure it's working perfectly, and if anything I would say this new box is a little noisier than my old one! Bit of a mechanical sound that winds down a few seconds after I switch it off, so I'm assuming it's the fan... maybe it'll quieten down a little after a few days use?

Will compare heat settings soon too, mine seems to live at 38 degrees, let's see what the new box stays at.