Sky+ HD failures – Thomson DSI8215 model

Kulvinder Matharu — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:57:00 +0000

I have one of the original Sky+ HD satellite PVR boxes made by Thompson (model DS18215). It’s been a fairly reliable unit until about two months ago when the box started to increasingly suffer from picture break ups, failed recordings and requiring frequent reboots.

I initially chalked this up to the autumnal weather when we had heavy rain. But the problems kept getting worse over the next few weeks and I was extremely dissatisfied and frustrated with the entire Sky experience.

I checked the dish and the cables…visual inspections did not reveal any problems. I checked online and eventually discovered that these Thomson Sky+ HD boxes have a known issue with poor-quality electrolytic capacitors which can start failing after 15 months of use. A dodgy power supply can cause all kinds of problems and explained all the symptoms experienced. I had found the main suspect.

My initial reaction was to get Sky to replace the Sky+ HD box but this would have cost a bit of money and I was not sure if they’d give me another Thomson box or one of the newer Pace or Samsung models. Another option would be to pay a Third Party to replace the power supply unit (PSU). Instead I opted to replace the capacitors with those supplied from SatCure.

After a bit of soldering and replacing all 15 electrolytic capacitors on the PSU I had the Thomson box up and running…everything worked. Perfectly. It’s been several days now and it looks like that not only were the original PSU capacitors a bit dodgy but also that I’d not done any damage with my de-soldering and soldering…nothing quite beats having done a repair yourself!

I can now look forward to the Christmas season with confidence that I won’t miss out on all those TV programmes!

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Sky+ HD failures – Thomson DSI8215 model