My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » HDR 1800T, 2000T

Have Now Opened 2000T For Close Inspection.

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    Minstrel SE

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    Hi

    Right then I have made the decision to void any warranty and get to the bottom of this myself.

    Firstly the reasons are I got No help from Humax.

    I couldnt face going back to an awful shop that firstly tried to rip me off.

    I spent too long in delusional shock thinking this noise cant be happening as Ive owned Humax products for years.

    Sooooo I know what Im doing and with cotton gloves for the casing and antistatic measures not to touch anything incorrectly inside I set about it

    with the seal removed it was easy to open and I can keep my casing cosmetically as new.

    I take pictures as I go along for reference. It has a basic but generally neat interior housing a SEAGATE ST3500312CS. "Video 3.5 HDD" on the left side. Theres not much in there and its pretty basic bit the board looks well made. The casing and the mounting will only help amplify the noise as it stands

    The mountings look very basic and undamped but luckily the connectors are easy to remove from the main PCB.

    I will be soundproofing the casing and politely contacting Seagate and Western digital for research purposes. The plan is to install a new hard drive after trying damping and soundproofing on this unit.

    I will post more but I will enjoy trying to sort this and I dont care about the guarantee. If it goes wrong I will take great pleasure in chucking it into an enviromentally friendly recycling centre. If I cant sort the noise its going anyway

    I probably wont buy Humax again but Ive spent enough money last year and I can take a hit for £148. If I sort it I will have the pleasure of a quiet unit and probably the best 2000t out there.

    If I dont sort it well I live to fight another day and buy something else

    Best wishes to the forum users

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 3:06:38 #1 |
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    Minstrel SE

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    Ah I seem to be getting results.

    With the top off and watching it tonight its much quieter, Im almost certain the reason for this is there is a red data cable which goes up vertically from the PCB and the hard drive which must have been touching the lid.

    Theres nowhere for it to go as its virtually on the lid within the first cm or so of travel. Im looking at it now and it loops above the unit way higher than the lid and the lid must have been forcing it down

    Its so sturdy that it must have been against the lid as there is no way of routing it without securing it down in some way. Really poor design as it should have been taken horizontally out or on right angle connectors

    I think that was creating an echo reverb against the lid. The lid must just have been amplifying the hard drive functions which would make sense if this stiff cable has been against it. The noise has dropped by over a half to two thirds and thats with the lid off!

    I can still hear it when its recording but it acceptable and more in line with what other people say about their units now.

    I have some pictures if they go on here.

    By the time I add some sticky back soundproof 6mm foam and use some rubber washers in the hard drive mount and dampers under the unit feet I reckon I will reduce it significantly more.

    I had been pricing new hard drives but that can now wait

    As long as I keep this data cable isolated from the casing I reckon that was the main problem. I will be a bit miffed if something so badly thought through has lost my warranty but very glad Ive got a much quieter and acceptable unit.

    I will get some pictures on when Ive got them on photobucket

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 6:36:24 #2 |
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    Minstrel SE

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    Four of my photos showing whats under the hood of a 2000t. Note the red data cable which is clearly a problem. Really badly designed in terms of routing. Picture 1 was when I lifted the lid and all that cable is doing is trapped connecting the hardrive directly to the lid. The lid forced it down onto the drive

    I have proved that removing the lid stops the hard drive echoing through the unit and its way quieter even with the hardrive exposed.

    I will bend the cable down towards the back and get some isolated and secured routing

    All your comments are welcome especially about what hard drive would be a nice replacement. Im thinking more western digital then seagate. There are loads of these seagate pipeline drives on the used market I tend to wonder why? but I wont buy a used hard drive

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 7:26:04 #3 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    I will be very surprised if the cable really is the culprit. I don't think you have demonstrated that it is responsible yet. My guess is that it is the lid resonating that is responsible. Gluing some sound deadening material to the lid should help by changing the frequency and providing some damping.

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 10:33:37 #4 |
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    EEPhil

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    I placed a paperweight on the top of my box. It is about 0.75 of the way front to back & in line with ethernet port. Reduces what noise there was significantly. Conclusion: In my case the lid is at fault.

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 11:41:55 #5 |
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    Faust

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    Interesting Minstral - hope your investigations and alterations prove useful.

    As an aside I recently got one of THESE I got mine free as I have subscribed to BT for 12 months - cost £60.

    This box is basically a 2000T albeit in a much smaller case. It also uses a smaller 2.5" HDD and is fanless. Very impressed with it so far. It's quick it's small and totally silent. Perhaps this might have been a better purchase for you?

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 15:34:39 #6 |
  7. MontysEvilTwin

    MontysEvilTwin

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    Interesting to see one of these opened up. The 500GB Seagate drive installed (ST3500312CS) has also been used in the HDR-FOX T2 and the DTR-T1000. I have several and I would not say that it is an unusually noisy drive. However in both of those older units the drive is suspended in a plastic caddy, using large head screws and silicone rubber gromits to isolate the drive from the case.
    As the software is similar to the HDR-FOX, I presume that a disk of up to 2TB could be installed, though I have not confirmed this.
    You want to use a drive specifically for PVR use. Seagate also make the ST1000VM002 (1TB, 3.5 inch) and the ST2000VM003 (2TB, 3.5 inch). Western Digital make the WD10EURX (1TB, 3.5 inch) and the WD20EURX (2TB, 3.5 inch). You could also use the Seagate ST500VT000 (500GB, 2.5 inch) or the Western Digital WD10JUCT (1TB, 2.5 inch). The 2.5 inch drives would run cooler and be quieter. You would need an adapter to fix a smaller drive in place but you can get these for a few pounds. When doing this you could use rubber washers between the adapter and the case to dampen the noise a bit, and you could tie the SATA cable to the adapter frame with a cable tie to keep it clear of the lid.

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 16:18:24 #7 |
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    Faust

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    That's a very good point Monty. I would be minded to put a 2.5" HDD in there as a replacement. As you say it would run cooler quieter and plenty of scope to further dampen any noise.

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 16:32:38 #8 |
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    Luke

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    Minstrel SE - 12 hours ago  » 
    Four of my photos showing whats under the hood of a 2000t.

    Didn't the early production models have a fan?

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 19:39:25 #9 |
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    Minstrel SE

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    Thanks everyone

    I didnt expect that removing the lid would make any difference and I was ready for a long repair investigation. I still have a fair bit of work to do

    I agree with you Martin that Im clutching at straws a bit regarding that cable. Ive reset a few connections and wiggled the hard drive to find it is a quieter hard drive than I thought it would be with the lid off. Its a head scratcher really and Ive had to listen over a long period to make sure Im not deluding myself

    Good pont in maybe the lid is a large resonator on its mountings but I cant feel the hard drive resonating with head noise. Its a much softer sound now. I can not hear it when playing a recorded file and its very quiet when watching one channel. I can still hear it sometimes but its an acceptable functioning noise

    When its recording one or two channels I can hear it because the heads are working overtime. It is much quieter than before though.

    Ive lived with the unit for months and now its suddenly much quieter with the lid off...thats really all I know for now. I must have had a faulty unit as something to do with that lid in place or perhaps a connection I have reset has really helped.

    I have to be careful to give it some air breathing/cooling but I will put some 6mm car foam sheets in there and mount the hard drive on rubber washers between drive and caddy. Its a bit more difficult betwen caddy and case but I will think on. Obviously it cant be too wobbly so its fine balance of stability vs some isolation....it will help

    My unit now corresponds with others saying their unit is quieter. I could now read a book in the room unless two channels were being recorded but I havent finished with it yet. I will route that cable through some adhesive cable ties at the back.

    If I take the sound down a notch or two with proofing I can live with that long term while I decide on my next purchase

    Best wishes to everyone

    | Sat 28 Jan 2017 21:53:36 #10 |

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