Lifespan of a digibox?

[Lollie]

Hi

We bought a digibox off ebay around 2 years ago and all has been fine until last week.    The satelitte signal became erratic  we have not had a good reception since, always pixels stopping and starting.   We thought the dish had moved slightly and had it checked, not the case as a friend came around with another digibox and the reception was fine. Do they have a lifespan or is there a problem that can be fixed?

Lollie  Dept 44 

[ChezShells]

I have seen adverts in UK regional newspapers offering repairs but in France........ might be best to replace

I happen to have a couple available [;)] if you havn't got hold of one.

Try and keep the box in a cool place away from sunlight.

[Jackie]

If your friend used the same dish, LNB, co-ax feed and your are sure the connectors are fine then it does look like a box problem. They can overheat so make sure the vents are not blocked by fluff etc. Having said that you could see if it behaves for a time having been disconnected from the mains for several hours which might indicate a component thermal problem. I leave ours on all the time, except when away on holiday, as the heat cycling can shorten the life of the electronic components, so yes they do have a certain life span which would depend on the conditions of operation amongst other things. Have you looked at the satcure site http://www.satcure.co.uk/, it might help...................................John not Jackie

[adrianpmills]

Ours packed in recently after about five years - it was a Pace 2200.  Apparently problems with the tuner are common with this model.  We bought a replacement from ebay for £20, which was way cheaper than having it repaired.  There are loads going as people upgrade to Skyplus.   

[Payrac-man]

Hi,

These boxes overheat and dry out the electroylitic capacitors. A good mod is to fit a small cooling fan inside the case. Any TV engineer should be able to do this and repair "kits" are available cheaply on the net.

Hope this helps.