Virgin Media V+ box not holding power

[JamieH]

When I switch the box on, it doesn't stay on : the power switch illuminates briefly before going off again.
Despite this, the Virgin Media engineer tried to 'remedy' this by using a different power lead, wondering if the fuse in the plug had gone - yes, really.
Because I have a whole host of recordings stored on the box's drive, I suggested swapping it into a second unit of theirs but that's supposedly something they can't do.
Basically, does anyone know if the box can be repaired from within?

 

[Echo the husky]

It probably can be repaired. When you say illuminates briefly, do you mean when the mains supply is connected or when you press the on button on the box?

When did this fault start?

 

[JamieH]

That's a good point.
It illuminates briefly only when the power switch at the back of the box is clicked to the On position.
Pressing the button on the front (the one which illuminates briefly) does nothing.
The fault started last week. When I switched channels, the screen went blank and the box switched off before eventually coming back on. The following day, it went off completely.

 

[Echo the husky]

I'd be looking at faulty electrolytic capacitors on the PSU board, particularly any small value 35-50 Volt capacitors on the primary side of the PSU. It won't hurt to check the larger caps at the various outputs of the PSU either.

 

[Spark123]

Start by looking for electrolytics which have bulged a little bit at the top.

 

[chivers67]

Could just be the contacts on the rear switch or the switch itself. Is it a Samsung or another make?

 

[Taylortwocities]

@JamieH
May be worth asking the mods to transfer this to the AV forum. They may have more in depth knowledge about this over there.

 

[JamieH]

Could just be the contacts on the rear switch or the switch itself. Is it a Samsung or another make?

It's a Samsung.
With two main boards inside, I'm wondering whether what looks like the Power Board could be sourced from elsewhere and swapped into my unit.

 

[Taylortwocities]

May be worth asking the mods to transfer this to the AV forum. They may have more in depth knowledge about this over there.

 

[JamieH]

May be worth asking the mods to transfer this to the AV forum. They may have more in depth knowledge about this over there.

It's over there on the AV forum but so far the only reply has been "Just get VM out"

 

[Steve]

May be worth asking the mods to transfer this to the AV forum. They may have more in depth knowledge about this over there.

It's over there on the AV forum but so far the only reply has been "Just get VM out"

then why the hell dont you? So what if you loose your recordings? What if the hard drive failed? You should have backed them up if tyey were so important. Have you tried pulling the hard drive and connecting it to a pc? I strongly suspect the recordings are in mpeg format, though may be encoded - you could try putting them back onto the hdd in the new box? I also strongly suspect that opening or altering vm's kit is forbidden in their ts and cs.

 

[JohnD]

Virgin are unlikely to do anything other than swap the box for a new one.

Why would they bother employing trained menders?

If they take away the box, you will never again see what was on it.

If it has a hard drive inside, that's they thing you want to get your hands on. If you can't copy it yourself (it may have standard connectors) consider taking it to a local PC mender and asking them to copy it to a new drive; or even onto DVDs (which is worth doing with your treasured photos and recordings) or a memory stick

 

[Iggifer]

I suspect the VM hard drive is a) in a proprietary format b) the recordings will be encoded and potentially c) encoded to the specific motherboard of the recorder, so may not be as simple as just sticking the hard drive in another device.

Worth a try if you can locate one cheap enough (eBay?)

 

[winston1]

VM boxes are normally sealed, so they will know if you have tampered with THEIR equipment. They will not be happy.

 

[EFLImpudence]

Is it THEIR equipment?

Sky's isn't.