[bonapart]

My UTV suddenly will not power up at all. No LED lights come on, the fan doesn't spin, the HDD doesn't spin - nothing happens.


This particular UTV was a new sealed unit that I just opened up 7 months ago to swap for another one with one bad tuner.


I tried swapping the power supply boards, this had no effect. So, it has to be something on the main board. Does anyone know of any common component problems on the main board that cause a totally dead unit? Again, by dead, I don't just mean that it won't boot - it doesn't do anything at all.

 

[lgodave]

OK. Easy stuff first.


Power Supply Fuse (which a PS swap should have fixed)?

Power Cord?

Power Outlet/Power Strip? (A good Power Strip has a circuit breaker and might have tripped)

Front Panel Ribbon Cable?

Power Supply to Motherboard Ribbon Cable?


Have you disconnected ALL "extra" items on the UTV before trying to power up?


Disconnect power and data cables to all internal devices (fan/hard drive/access card).

Disconnected all SAT and TV cable connections.


Getting it into a "bare bones" configuration and trying to power up should work. Since you have a "spare" unit for parts you might also "test" the various items mentioned above to make sure that the items do work on the "bad tuner" unit.


It is possible one of the items is causing the unit not to boot up.


Keep us posted and we can try other things when you update us on your progress.

 

[lgodave]

Just an aside.


Do you have any electrical testing equipment? Like a Multi-Meter? Something to confirm you are getting 100-120V (UTV power supply is rated for that). You might have 125V which should be normal and just fine. Personally I'd be suspicious if your Voltage at an outlet gets under 110V.


If other outlets in the house are OK then you might have a bad outlet receptacle and should consider getting it fix. It could be a bad connection on that circuit somewhere. Observe local code if you need to do repairs. There are plenty of DIY books that can help on this front and I might be able to suggest some things too.

 

[rocket]

A good test, with a multi-meter is the 4 pin power cable for the disk drive. As I recall, this should have 12 and 5 volts on it. If you have power there, then the power supply is probably ok.

 

[bonapart]

Have I not ruled out the power supply by replacing it with a known good one?


It regards to the AC power cord, the AC outlet, and the ribbon cable connection, I believe that I have ruled those out by swapping with known good ones that work with my other UTV.


I swapped the fan from the dead UTV and it works in my other UTV with one bad tuner. I did unplug the fan and the HDD to see if the LED would light up on the dead unit, and it doesn't.


When I put the power supply back in my other UTV, it still works in that UTV.


I'm convinced that something is amiss on the main board. I took the HDD from the dead UTV and it will spin up when connected to a pc power supply. So, I'd say there probably is no voltage on the HDD connector in the dead UTV.


One point of note. When I first plug in the dead utv after not being plugged in for a while, the fan will move maybe a half-turn upon plugging in. This applies with either of two power supplies. Also, I tried the original power supply from the dead UTV in my other UTV (with one dead tuner), and it works fine. Something on the main board must be causing a voltage failure somewhere.


Anyway, I'm really sad - because I held this sealed UTV for years and I thought it would last me until I fully switch to HD. Now I have to scout up another used UTV, which probably will have a lot of hours on it.

 

[lgodave]

With most of the bases covered...


I'll agree with the Main board issue. Either the Main Board is messed up in some way or the ribbon cable contacts from the Power Supply to Main Board or from the Front Panel to Main Board is messed up. (I believe the UTV will run with the Front Panel Cable disconnected, so you might try that.)


It's a long shot but you might check the ribbon cable contacts to make sure they are clean not crossed or anything.


Did you disconnect ALL your external cable connections (along with everything else you checked) and pull the access card just to rule out any "external" issues?

 

[dvrexpert]

bonapart check PMs