Re-Seating the LED, is it possible?

Anything's possible given the right tools and enough patience.

RunnerFL said:

For those of you that have opened up the HR20. Is reseating an LED within the blue ring possible? I've got one that must not be as far in it's hole as it can be and it's starting to drive me nuts...

I'm just wondering if it's possible before I go breaking the seal on the back of the unit and voiding my warranty.

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With a very small jeweler's screwdriver, see if you can move the LED back and forth a bit and it may pop right back into place.

Jeremy W said:

Anything's possible given the right tools and enough patience.

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I'm aware of that. I was just wondering if it's even accessable.

Don't feel like voiding my warranty for nothing.

Well they had to get it in there somehow.

Jeremy W said:

Well they had to get it in there somehow.

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Ok, my point is that I don't want to disassemble the whole thing. Come on, use your head here.

RunnerFL said:

Ok, my point is that I don't want to disassemble the whole thing. Come on, use your head here.

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You try using your head for a second. All you asked in your first post was if it was possible. You said nothing about how far you wanted to go in disassembling the receiver, but you expect me to read your mind and realize that you don't want to take it all apart?

Forget my idea...the LEDs are covered by a plastic ring. If you could pop that ring (it is exterior to the box) and get directly to the led's, you might be able to move the errant LED around. Otherwise, you gotta get inside the box.

Quite frankly, if everything else in the box (functionally) is good to go, I'd ignore the LEDs. (and count myself quite fortunate) In fact, I have mine shut off...they only come on when I get an update (as the box reboots). That's a great little "update" alarm function. Otherwise I have no use for them.

If it really bothers you just call DirecTV and request a replacement.

Do you like roulette as well?

(hence my comment about the LED being the only flaw...if that's it, I bet there are a few people here who would gladly punch out a few LEDs and have the reliability they are looking for.

Jeremy W said:

You try using your head for a second. All you asked in your first post was if it was possible. You said nothing about how far you wanted to go in disassembling the receiver, but you expect me to read your mind and realize that you don't want to take it all apart?

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Not be a mind reader, just use common sense...

litzdog911 said:

If it really bothers you just call DirecTV and request a replacement.

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And run the risk of getting a bad unit? No thanks.

But it does drive me nuts...

Maybe I'll just wait until I get a 2nd one and move this one to the bedroom.

A term comes to mind here...

"If it aint broke, don't fix it!"

g4jedi said:

A term comes to mind here...

"If it aint broke, don't fix it!"

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But to me it is broke since that one LED is dimmer than all the rest.

When all of them are at the same intensity I can ignore the ring, with the one dim it's all I see out of my left eye it seems. lol

I'm mostly worried about "breaking the seal" for what would turn out to be no reason if I couldn't fix it.

If you turn them all off, like I suggested, then they will all have equal brilliance and not annoy you.

hasan said:

If you turn them all off, like I suggested, then they will all have equal brilliance and not annoy you.

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That, in my mind, is not a fix.

Besides, I like them.

You have two choices then:

1. Crack it open and void the warranty.
2. Call for a replacement.

I believe a 12 gauge is the best tool for this fix.

RunnerFL said:

And run the risk of getting a bad unit? No thanks.

But it does drive me nuts...

Maybe I'll just wait until I get a 2nd one and move this one to the bedroom.

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That's a very low risk, especially if it truly drives you nuts. You certainly the risk of making things much worse by opening up the DVR and trying to fix it yourself.

Well, speaking as a former repair tech, I can almost guarantee that the LEDs are soldered to a circuit board in a process called flow soldering, which is a process that involves placing all of the electronic components onto the circuit board and running the assembeled board across a bed of molten solder. It is possible that during that process, one of your LEDs were not seated properly.

Now it may be possible to bend your errant LED around; however you do run the risk of breaking one of the leads. Or if you know how to solder, you could unsolder it and resolder it in place. In any case, you would need to open up the HR20 and it would most certainly void the warranty.

As for me, I think the blue ring is entirely too bright anyway and mine's turned off. Whatever solution you choose, good luck.