Is my sky box wrecked(pics included)?

[cheeseslice]

Hi,

We have a sky+ box downstairs and a normal sky box upstairs that was on a multiroom package until a few months ago. The box started going a bit funny a few weeks ago until it finally packed in at the start of the week, we now get a message saying no signal.

I finally got around to looking at it tonight and it seems that the cable has been burnt at the connection to the box. I can't see any way of getting this out as the metal looks like it is fused inside. Has this been an electrical surge?

If it is wrecked would this Humax Hd Recorder be worth buying to replace it?

Digital Satellite TV...

Many thanks

[Analoguesat]

That looks suspiciously like water ingress running down the inside of the cable to me.

You need to replace the entire cable run from dish to house. Pull the plug out of the wall take the top off the receiver and see if its full of water!

[madsod]

looks like its got wet to me . try and get it out and then put new f/plug on , cable , may be a small drill sod all to lose , and then cut cable back put on f/plug and hope .

[Analoguesat]

You may get away with just remaking the connection but that cable looks pretty wrecked to me..

[cheeseslice]

Do you think that the cable could be damaged the whole way along or would this just be where the connection is made?

Will I need a crimping tool to remake this connection or is it possible to buy the screw on connections?

I can't understand how water could get near it, it's in the bedroom.

If I do have to replace the cable then I was thinking I might as well run two and get myself a HD pvr, don't suppose anyone could suggest a decent box.

Sorry for the list of questions and thanks for all the replies.

[Analoguesat]

Chances are it wasnt waterproofed properly at the dish end, or the exterior sheath has rubbed through on a rough bit of brickwork.

Or if the install was very sloppy you may find the cable runs in the rainwater guttering!

Screwon f-conns are available from bigger B&Q's about 50p each.Not the sort of price you want to pay if you want a thousand, but for 4 or 5 it wont break the bank. Beware if you buy "shotgun cable" you sometimes need bigger f-conns.

If you want full epg functionality then get a Freesat PVR

[wod]

Originally Posted by Analoguesat

That looks suspiciously like water ingress running down the inside of the cable to me.

You need to replace the entire cable run from dish to house. Pull the plug out of the wall take the top off the receiver and see if its full of water!

i would have to agree with that, as the cable shouldn't look like that, the installer must have not put any waterproof tape around the lnb connection and water has got in

[cheeseslice]

Originally Posted by wod

i would have to agree with that, as the cable shouldn't look like that, the installer must have not put any waterproof tape around the lnb connection and water has got in

It was a sky install engineer and in my opinion did a poor job in a big rush, he just threw the cable over the roof from the back of the house to the front, it flaps about when there is any wind. Sky told me there was nothing they could do about it, yet the last time I had sky installed it was neatly brought around the house with cable clips into the brick work.

I think that this has actually made up my mind, I'm going to cancel sky, buy two HD freesat pvrs and re-cable. I seem to spend half a saturday every 3 or 4 months on the phone to them about something not working right. The last time the sky+ box broke and they sent someone to come out 4 times before I finally got it fixed, one of them even had the replacement box in his van but couldn't give me it because it wasn't on his worksheet.

Anyway, enough of my bitching. Should I start a new post about which hd freesat pvr to buy or could someone reading this point me in the right direction. I'm looking for something decent enough but not too expensive.

Thanks again.

[Rick]

No doubt about it, water in the cable. To remove the old cable from the back of the box you could try warming it with a soldering iron, if you can get a grip of it to pull it out. Otherwise you could try tacking abit of solder on and use that to pull the cable free once its cooled.

[satelliteman]

Failing that, a new tuner req.