This is a consolidation of an earlier discussion regarding, whether by design and/or because of the firmware, the potential for the Hopper to run dangerously hot. First, this is what the inside of your Hopper looks like:
Depending on the size of your browser window, the above images will either appear side-by-side or one on top of the other. In either case, the first image is the front view.
In the recent discussion, James reported his Hopper hard drive temperatures:
James Long said:
HDD High Temp, HDD Low Temp and HDD Average Temp. Mine is currently showing 136/75/116 (degrees).
The DISH hard drive temperature reporting system uses Fahrenheit and apparently can not be changed to Celsius. Celsius is more commonly used when discussing component temperatures. The hard drive temperatures that James reported, 136/75/116 Fahrenheit, converts approximately to 58/24/46 Celsius, respectively.
As for the hard drive in the pictures, it is a Seagate. Over at the Seagate website the 2 TB Barracuda hard drive has a maximum operating temperature limit of 60° C. A temperature of 60° C converts to 140° F. You never want to see the hard drive temperature exceed 140° F.
However, that doesn't mean that just because a hard drive doesn't exceed 140° F that it's safe. Heat is the enemy of a hard drive and will cause the hard drive to fail prematurely. Lower is better. On a home computer you could typically see 86° F (30° C) to 95° F (35° C) or lower. I would get concerned if my hard drives exceed 104° F (40° C) under load.
The Hopper James uses reached a high of 136° F (58° C) and averaged 116° F (46° C). And, that is with the internal hard drive heat sensor located close to the airflow of the fan. I wonder what the temperatures are like on the opposite side.
Ambient room temperature, placement of the Hopper and other factors, such as the Hopper using 2 TB hard drives that have a questionable reliability factor; all these things will contribute to the overall health and lifespan of the Hopper. Adding to this, if the above images are correct, is what appears to be a inadequate design.
If the fan isn't wired backwards, the fan blows the air into the case. In the second image you can see the scoop that attaches to the hard drive tray. The scoop is suppose to direct the airflow under the hard drive. However, the tray doesn't appear to be notched or elevated enough to allow the air to flow smoothly.
Instead it looks like the airflow is pushed back towards the fan. This can create conflicting airflow patterns. Not only could this starve the hard drive of air, but has the potential of causing other components inside the Hopper to get a mixed current of air and potentially run unnecessarily hotter themselves. Which in turn creates a cascading effect. In addition, most likely the fans are intentionally stepped down to reduce noise through the firmware.
Obviously it's too soon to know anything definite and I freely admit that there is a lot of speculation on my part. Yet, I think the concern is a valid one and it's something that should be monitored. This is where you can help.
After running the Hopper for a couple of hours, could you please post all three Hopper temperatures. James mentioned where to find the temperatures in his post:
James Long said:
Try Menu - Settings - Network Setup - Tests - View Counters
Page down (above the guide button on the right hand side of the remote) to HDD High Temp, HDD Low Temp and HDD Average Temp.
I think if there was a wider sample taken it would be beneficial to all Hopper users. If you want to include both Fahrenheit and Celsius temperatures, this can easily be done through the Google calculator. Just go to Google and type in the search field the following:
[number] f to c
Google will immediately return the converted temperature value. Please don't forget to round up as necessary.
If it turns out that the hard drive in the Hopper is running unusually hot, this could be "fixed" with an upcoming firmware update. All DISH would have to do is change the percentages in the fan control table. Or, perhaps this information would lead to improved design changes in the rev2 Hopper.
Lastly, it could be that the Hopper that James has is an isolated situation. If his Hopper is running unusually hot, it gives him information that he can use, should he choose to act upon it, to replace it with one that runs cooler. If it was me, I'd do it now than later.
Thanks.
