Greetings to all for 2026!
I've had my HDR-FOX T2 for years, its sat under 3 generations of T.V and had 3 hard drive swaps with no issues. For a few months now I've noticed at about 22.00 hrs each evening I can no longer select MHEG text. First thought was it had been abandoned by the BBC. I put up with this switch off at about the same time until my partner said text services worked on another T.V. Here's my story:
I powered the Humax box off and on and text services were restored. I started thinking software glitch, need firmware update etc until it also ocurred to me these boxes have a cooling fan. I removed the box and the case was quite warm with no sign of the fan running? I'm on to something now. The 22.00 Hrs nightly loss of text service ocurred after the box had been running 4-5 hours for evening T.V viewing.
The fan is 12V on a 3 pin connector and I suspect they are using PWM speed control? I have no schematics and there's a risk I could kill the box by poking about. I tested the fan on a bench supply and it ran silently at reduced voltage. Since the box electronics seem to have survived without a fan for months, I considered a fan running continuously at reduced voltage was better than nothing. After testing voltages on SMD electrolytic caps I found one near the fan connector that provided 5 volts during power on and zero in standby. My fan is now wired to that cap and runs silently at 5 volts. For an intake room temperature of 19.5 deg.C, the fan exhaust temperature is 38 deg.C. and the cover lid is cool.
I don't like taking chances with circuit hacks working in the dark when I don't know the circuit configuration. If anybody has a circuit schematic or link for the fan control, I would revisit the fault. In the past people have complained the FOX-T2 fan was noisy. These are small 12V fans and running mine at 5V continuously for power on is a simple solution if it provides sufficient airflow. The fan is cheap and easily replaced if its life is reduced. I couldn't find a thermistor on the board, unless they are using their CPU core temperatures to control it?
I've had my HDR-FOX T2 for years, its sat under 3 generations of T.V and had 3 hard drive swaps with no issues. For a few months now I've noticed at about 22.00 hrs each evening I can no longer select MHEG text. First thought was it had been abandoned by the BBC. I put up with this switch off at about the same time until my partner said text services worked on another T.V. Here's my story:
I powered the Humax box off and on and text services were restored. I started thinking software glitch, need firmware update etc until it also ocurred to me these boxes have a cooling fan. I removed the box and the case was quite warm with no sign of the fan running? I'm on to something now. The 22.00 Hrs nightly loss of text service ocurred after the box had been running 4-5 hours for evening T.V viewing.
The fan is 12V on a 3 pin connector and I suspect they are using PWM speed control? I have no schematics and there's a risk I could kill the box by poking about. I tested the fan on a bench supply and it ran silently at reduced voltage. Since the box electronics seem to have survived without a fan for months, I considered a fan running continuously at reduced voltage was better than nothing. After testing voltages on SMD electrolytic caps I found one near the fan connector that provided 5 volts during power on and zero in standby. My fan is now wired to that cap and runs silently at 5 volts. For an intake room temperature of 19.5 deg.C, the fan exhaust temperature is 38 deg.C. and the cover lid is cool.
I don't like taking chances with circuit hacks working in the dark when I don't know the circuit configuration. If anybody has a circuit schematic or link for the fan control, I would revisit the fault. In the past people have complained the FOX-T2 fan was noisy. These are small 12V fans and running mine at 5V continuously for power on is a simple solution if it provides sufficient airflow. The fan is cheap and easily replaced if its life is reduced. I couldn't find a thermistor on the board, unless they are using their CPU core temperatures to control it?
