[Wayne]

Yesterday we had a power outage of over one hour in Scarborough. When the power came on one of my cable boxes, an older SA3200, was dead. I tried plugging into other outlets, etc. but no go.

This has happened to me at least one time in the past - has any else seen this? I guess it could have been a power surge - many of my other boxes, although not all, are plugged into UPSes so that should help protect them.

 

[Humbar]

I had this happen to me twice already. Same with the 3200. One I owned and the other was a rental. Needless to say I'm using 1 less box now. They were both plugged into expensive surge protectors too.

 

[Costa]

I would check that the outlets are tested and grounded properly, and I would definitely recommend a UPS system. I've got a Ultra 1000va from tigerdirect, works great and priced well.

I recently had a video card go, died after a surge, through a surge protector..
BFG Tech, happened to go out of business, causeing the lifetime warranty to expire. The manufacture, Phillips, would not do anything without a proof of purchase (specifically, a receipt). Which I never had, since I got the surge protector for free. Yay.

 

[Wayne]

I have 10 boxes in total and a ton of A/V equipment in the house along with about 5 UPS' but this was the only thing that got fried and it seems strange that I have now had two SA STBs go on me like this. I guess I will have to add another UPS but it gets expensive to have UPS' at all TVs in the house. I am pretty sure that everything is good with my system but I will have my electrician check it out when he is here next.

Unfortunately this was a SA3200 that I purchased in 2004 so no warranty - at least I got my money's worth since it cost me $100 less a $10/month programming credit. I guess I will have to take it to The Cable Shoppe which fixed a flaky SA3250HD for me a few months back. If I remember correctly they charge a flat fee of $50 for box repair.

 

[Costa]

just go to home depot, and buy the little outlet tester, its like 7 bucks. It's got 3 lights to identify the status of the outlet.

GRT-3500

 

[Wayne]

@Costa - I can do that to check my outlet but it won't change the fact that the cable box is dead and needs repair or replacing. I took this bad cable box and plugged it into a different power cable in a different outlet and it was still dead.

 

[Costa]

Yeah, just figured that maybe checking it would raise an eyebrow. I've seen outlets that work, but with a hot reverse ground, etc.

What about the internal psu, replaceable?

 

[crazyhawk]

ya the 3200 seem to have weak fuses, that's all it is most likely is a blown fuse. i have had to get a few of these fixed in the past and that's what it turned out to be.

 

[Wayne]

I can fix that myself but where do I get the special type of torx screwdriver to open up the box?

 

[57]

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1182327#post1182327 Posts 621/2

 

[JamesK]

Lots of places. I bought mine at Sayal and they have a store near Victoria Park & Steeles.

 

[Wayne]

I bought the screwdrivers at Sayal and opened up the box but the fuse is still good. Looks like I will have to try taking the box to the Cable Shoppe.

This box is a SA3200 - I wonder what happens to all of the boxes that get returned to Rogers. Can you buy these anywhere as refurbs?

 

[57]

I wonder what happens to all of the boxes that get returned to Rogers.

If they are fixed, they are probably used as rentals. I don't believe there is a source of used Rogers SA STBs other than from Rogers customers who purchased their STBs.

 

[Wayne]

Do they still even give out 3200s as rentals? Its a shame that they don't sell them for a discount as I would certainly buy a couple.

 

[midnite76ca]

I'm in the same boat. I have a SA3200 that shows no power activity. I checked the fuse in mine last night and it's fine. Visual examination of all of the caps and resistors on the power supply and main boards looks ok.

The odd thing in my case is that the SA3200 was unplugged from everything and stored to use as a backup and only tried to use it when the SA3290 rental I had was rebooting randomly all over the place. It was working fine the last time I used it.

Not really sure what to check for next. Does anyone have any suggestions?

To answer some of the other questions, I got my torx T10 security bit from Above All Electronics. It came in a set.

Most of the Rogers Plus locations I've been to are issuing SA3290's as the rental unit for Standard Definition sets. Some are giving out the smaller Scientific Atlanta DTV E940 instead.

 

[midnite76ca]

One question for those that had the units protected with surge protection, was your cable connections surge protected as well?

 

[57]

Not really sure what to check for next. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Whenever a STB is unplugged for several weeks, it often needs to be reauthorized. Call Rogers, or you can try re-authorization from the website or by phone "menu" selection.

 

[midnite76ca]

Thanks 57. I assume that only applies if the cable unit still shows some signs of life like the front LED display is lit or the power button led is on? In my case neither lights are lit yet the fuse tests ok.

 

[57]

Right. Usually you'll see "----" on the front display if it works, but requires authorization.

 

[Wayne]

I have previously taken a dead box to The Cable Shoppe on Birchmount in Scarborough. They repair boxes and I think they charge a flat rate of $50.