Sky + H.d Box Failure

[batman1956]

We have had a second sky+ h.d box which has failed. What we want to establish is if this is a common event.

Would anyone who has had problems with their sky+ h.d box please post on this thread.

The purpose of this is to get sky to repair these boxes without charge if their is an inherent fault in them.

Obviously if there is not enough response here then it would seem that we have just been plain unlucky.

[Frosty_The_Snowperson]

Hi batman1956,

 

What is the make of the Sky HD box?

[postggj]

there are rumours (and i mean rumours ) that sky (allegedly ) send a signal to put the box into permanant standby mode just after 12 months or refusing a warrinty option

 

the forums are littered with this

[Surfer01]

Register yourself at AVForums.com Home and ask the question. We had 5 different boxes before we got one that worked for longer than 4 months. Amstrad boxes seem to eb the most reliable. Thomson the worst.

[batman1956]

It was a Samsung, the engineer tried 2 refurbished Pace boxes niether of these worked and has now replaced it with a new Amstrad one.

[IdaInFife]

failed in what respect?

failed recordings?

[IdaInFife]

there are rumours (and i mean rumours ) that sky (allegedly ) send a signal to put the box into permanant standby mode just after 12 months or refusing a warrinty option

 

the forums are littered with this

 

 

not possible and sky do not offer extended warranty so not beneficial

[Surfer01]

Either way as it is classed as "electronic" under EU law it has a two year warranty no matter what the supplier says.

[batman1956]

The box would not recieve any satellite signal. This was also the case with the two refurbished boxes and only a brand new box fixed the problem. As far as extended warranties you can obtain an extended warranty on a sky box and sky do have a record if there is an extended warranty but it is not clear who provides this cover. I believe the "law" regarding a two year warranty is this one.

Directive 1999/44/EC, May 1999 from the European Parliament stipulates that by 1st January 2002 all member states must have altered their legislation to comply with new consumer laws. These new laws will ensure that all new consumer goods, including cars, carry at least a two-year warranty and used consumer goods have a minimum of a one-year warranty.

However my understanding is that this was just a recommendation and never became law.

[Surfer01]

If it is a directive it should be a law or regulation and applicable in the UK.

[Frosty_The_Snowperson]

Hi batman1956,

 

I've had Sky +HD since August 2009 and I'm still on my first box with no problems. It's a Thompson box. Are you keeping the box on an open or closed tv stand? Also, there is the Sky+ Rebuild option you can access via your remote control.

 

Press 'Services' then key in 0101 and then press 'Select'. This will give you a hidden menu. Move to the Sky+ Rebuild option and press 'Select'. This will perform a kind of maintenence check on your box and automatically rix any problems. I do it once a week and have had no problems since receiving the box.

[IdaInFife]

a planner rebuild is just that - its just reformats the box and wonlt help with the no satelite signal message -

 

when you get the no satelite signal message is there a number with it?

 

re extended warranty: just for info = sky only recommend sky protect which is provided by domestic general who book Sky engineers. there are over 100 companies at the moment providing warranty cover

[postggj]

Quick Question Ida

 

Just Google Sky Plus And Standby And You Will Get The Idea

 

I Have A Sky Plus Box And Its Gone Into Permanent Standby

 

I Cant Even Get A Picture

 

I Ended Up In Cash Converters And Got A Normal Box

[IdaInFife]

Quick Question Ida

 

Just Google Sky Plus And Standby And You Will Get The Idea

 

I Have A Sky Plus Box And Its Gone Into Permanent Standby

 

I Cant Even Get A Picture

 

I Ended Up In Cash Converters And Got A Normal Box

 

where's the question ?

 

the problem with the standby issue is totally different from the no sat message

 

its a software issue that causes the standby issue and it has been a known issue since the HD boxes came out and mostly due to compatability probs with the interactive services, i beleive.

 

The amount of boxes with the issue have dropped considerably as they have being doing more downloads to try new fixes

 

 

but easy enough to get the box out of standby

[postggj]

Can You Give A Link To Get The Box Out Of Standby

 

Many Thanks

 

Sky Wont Tell Me

 

They Would Send Out An Technician, At A Cost Of 60 Quid

[IdaInFife]

you need to do a software download on the box.

 

with the box all hooked up again

 

switch off the power

 

hold down the back up button on the box itself whilst you switch the power back on

 

keep holding down the back up button until you get a message saying download inprogress this may take ten minutes and all the lights on the box will be on as well

 

you can let go at this point

 

after 10 mins the box should go back onto standby itself and then give it a couple of minutes and it will switch on

[postggj]

Brill

 

Spot On As Usual

[batman1956]

The number with the no satellite signal was 48. What I am a little purterbed about is the fact that sky are aware that there is an issue with the boxes, and are happy to take £65 call out fee, when they know that the box is going to be replaced usually with a refurbished box that they have picked up from another subscriber with a similar issue. They are then going to refurbish this box at minimal cost and pass it on to another subscriber for another £65 call out fee. The new keeper of the box then gets their box taken away and refurbished etc. etc. Sky are on a winner. If in the equasion they have to hand out a new box every once in a while they still get the old box plus all the monthly subscriptions.

[Surfer01]

The new Amstrad boxes with 500 Gb hard drive seem to have overcome his problem as we have had no further issues. It was getting frustrating having to phone Sky every couple weeks because the box had gone on the blink. The one time we had to wait nearly 2 weeks before they could exchange the box.

[IdaInFife]

no sat signal is not a 'known issue' it is a tech fault and not neccessarily the box. whenever there is a failure for your install to pick up a signal that is the message that appears but it could be numerous things that cause it.

 

i do not have a note of 48 but will let you know during the week what 48 reason code would normally suggest.

 

I have ahd hd for 3 years and not 1 single problem. although there is many articles on the net about them, there arenlt many to say their box is ok ... althiugh as in comparison to the amount of hd boxes out thetre it is only a minority that have problems.

 

certainly the no satelittle signal is not an inherent fault as it has nothing to do with the hardware or software of the box

 

 

also this message does become common at this time of year where trees have grown and now leafed...which is common

[pompeyfaith]

No Satellite Signal Being Recieved, Error 48, Input 1 Lock not locked - AVForums.com

[batman1956]

I know that the dish etc. was ok as I have 2 ordinary sky boxes in other rooms which were fine I am sorry pompeyfaith but I dont really understand the technology so the "input 1 lock not locked" is a little above me. However the real story here is the fact that Sky are charging people £65 for a call out to fix something that shouldn't go wrong so early in its life then perpetuating their vast profit by giving the box to another person after what appears to be a cheap and easy fix. Thanks for your input ida, it is interesting to find out how much information is to be found out there.

[Acropolis]

Just because you have 2 other box's which are ok doesnt mean everything is alright with the dish. I would suggest that the allignment is ok, but the LNB could be faulty, it is possible for some of the outputs on the LNB to go down and not others. There could also be problems with the cable or connectors.

 

I believe that problems with no signal been recieved, can be down to problems with the power supply in the box starting to fail, but this is not specific to HD box's.

 

I have 2 HD box's at home, having had the first one since pretty much when HD came out, it finally gave up the ghost the other week and needed replacing.

 

I run a small company and we do Sky repairs on behalf of a company which provide extended warranties. We do not see that many HD calls come through, we have probably done 3 in the last 6 months, out of about 250 call outs in that time, and out of those we have only replaced 1 box, all the other been resolved by rebooting the box/resetting it etc.

[Surfer01]

A`large number of complaints are associated with power supply once the box is 12 to 18 months old and Satcure now sell kits to allow you to repair it yourself if you have the necessary skills. Our LNB was change but made no difference it is rare for LNBs to fail.

[Acropolis]

I would argue that LNB rarely fail, we change quite a few during service calls.