[kruegs]

Howdy...

Quick question. I need someone to put my mind at ease. I installed a SWM-8 today by the book... hooked everything up and it works like a champ on all of my receivers. No issues there.

My concern: I went outside after booting up my three receivers and literally after the SWM being power up for maybe 40 minutes tops, it is HOT. I mean, put your hand on it and hold it for about 10 seconds and it is cooking. Is this normal? I expected a touch of heat, but nothing like this!!! Thoughts?

Thanks much
Mike

 

[curt8403]

Howdy...

Quick question. I need someone to put my mind at ease. I installed a SWM-8 today by the book... hooked everything up and it works like a champ on all of my receivers. No issues there.

My concern: I went outside after booting up my three receivers and literally after the SWM being power up for maybe 40 minutes tops, it is HOT. I mean, put your hand on it and hold it for about 10 seconds and it is cooking. Is this normal? I expected a touch of heat, but nothing like this!!! Thoughts?

Thanks much
Mike

no personal experience with a SWM but I don't think they are supposed to be that hot

 

[krock918316]

I've had a SWM-5 and SWM-8, and both ran very hot to the touch.

 

[kruegs]

This would be pretty much equivalent to grabbing a light bulb with your bare hands after it has been on for a while... that kind of heat, or pretty damn close to it.

 

[d0ug]

I also have no personal experience with a SWM yet, but i just purchased one on ebay yesterday, so ill let you know if mine does the same when installed. Just by looking at the casing design, it looks like a heat sink, so that would indicate to me that it being warm/hot is normal.

Now my question, if it being hot is normal, have they improved the heat dissipating on the SWMLine LNB? seems like it wouldn’t be able to cool as well covered in that plastic housing. Might we see failures of the SWMLine due to overheating?

Sorry I haven't been following SWMLine much, are these out in testing yet? Does anyone here have one? Does it get hot?

 

[flipptyfloppity]

They run hot. But on a metal device, if you are all but forced to release your hand from it in a few seconds, that means it's running 140F/60C. And it's not supposed to run that hot. A SWM should run more like 100-120F/40-50C.

Is this in the sun or what?

 

[veryoldschool]

My SWM8 ran "Warm", but not HOT. Was yours in the sun too? [mine was always in shade being under my house]

 

[Michael D'Angelo]

Mine is in my storage room and the room is about 68 to 70 degrees. It is warm but I can leave my hand on it without a problem.

 

[kruegs]

Ok, it has maybe cooled down a touch. Yes, it was in a box on the South side of my house and in the sun initially. Temp was about 83 degrees outside. The sun has since started to go down/over my house and it is not as "hot" but still a touch alarming to me. With the box in the attached pic closed, I can feel a little bit of the warmth through the box without even opening it. I can definitely touch the SWM, but to put any pressure on it with my hand... it is too hot to do for very long. My main concern is if it is so hot that it would cause fire, but I may be a tad paranoid.

So... the pics of my install: http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6810/swm002sd6.jpg

Any other thoughts? Doug, I am also very interested in your experiences.

Mike

 

[d0ug]

Ok, it has maybe cooled down a touch. Yes, it was in a box on the South side of my house and in the sun initially. Temp was about 83 degrees outside. The sun has since started to go down/over my house and it is not as "hot" but still a touch alarming to me. With the box in the attached pic closed, I can feel a little bit of the warmth through the box without even opening it. I can definitely touch the SWM, but to put any pressure on it with my hand... it is too hot to do for very long. My main concern is if it is so hot that it would cause fire, but I may be a tad paranoid.

So... the pics of my install: http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6810/swm002sd6.jpg

Any other thoughts? Doug, I am also very interested in your experiences.

Mike

I wonder if that box is causing your problem? Since the casing of the SWM is a passive heatsink, it needs airflow around it to cool the SWM. How hot does the SWM get if you leave the door open on that box?

 

[kruegs]

Haven't tried to leave the box door open. That is a thought I suppose. I really want to keep it in there to protect from the elements and keep the wife happy (out of sight). I could mount it to my house directly below or around the box, but honestly would be more worried about it touching my siding directly.

 

[pman_jim]

I've had my SWM5 mounted directly on the siding (south facing) and have not had a problem with it in the year that its been there. It will get warm when in the sun, but once out of the sun its not an issue.


I would think that if you place it under the box you would be good to go.

 

[flipptyfloppity]

I wonder if that box is causing your problem? Since the casing of the SWM is a passive heatsink, it needs airflow around it to cool the SWM. How hot does the SWM get if you leave the door open on that box?

That's probably it. Although radiative cooling (not needing airflow) does exist, it reality virtually all cooling is convective (using air to carry heat away). By putting this in a box, you are blocking the air from carrying heat away from the SWM. Since this other box is noticeably bigger and there are no other significant heat sources in it, and the SWM has no fan or noticeable air vents on it, that means that all you're really doing is bringing the entire box up to almost the temperature of the SWM. There's nothing in that box that will be bothered by that and so I would have to think it isn't a problem.

 

[kruegs]

Doug nailed it. I opened the box wide open and left it that way for about 35 minutes and went back out... only slightly warm to the touch. No longer like touching the sun. Lesson learned. I am either going to create some vent holes in the box... or remove it and get brave with making some new RG-6 runs. I did the install myself with no need to cut / modify or make any changes to the cables. I don't have the tools, so I would have to buy some locally.

Toughts on possible swiss-cheesing the box for ventilation? ;-)

 

[curt8403]

Doug nailed it. I opened the box wide open and left it that way for about 35 minutes and went back out... only slightly warm to the touch. No longer like touching the sun. Lesson learned. I am either going to create some vent holes in the box... or remove it and get brave with making some new RG-6 runs. I did the install myself with no need to cut / modify or make any changes to the cables. I don't have the tools, so I would have to buy some locally.

Toughts on possible swiss-cheesing the box for ventilation? ;-)

holes in the bottom straight up. holes in the side angled up about a 60 degree angle. be careful not to swiss cheese the SWM ( Some idiot with a lap top drilled holes in the bottom because it was too warm, swiss cheesed his motherboard.)

 

[DViper2399]

I hate to sound dumb but what exactly is a SWM?? I googled & got some inf, but still in the dark somewhat

 

[kruegs]

curt, great suggestion... gonna have to sleep on this one. for the time being the box will remain wide open. ;-)

 

[d0ug]

You might want to look around, im sure there are some ventilated enclosures out there. If you do decide to homebrew your ventilation, then make sure whatever holes you make have window screening covering them or you are going to have all kinds of critters making your enclosure their new home.

I hate to sound dumb but what exactly is a SWM?? I googled & got some inf, but still in the dark somewhat

http://www.swm8.com/

 

[curt8403]

You might want to look around, im sure there are some ventilated enclosures out there. If you do decide to homebrew your ventilation, then make sure whatever holes you make have window screening covering them or you are going to have all kinds of critters making your enclosure their new home.

http://www.swm8.com/

+1 on screen. and watch out for leaf cutter bees trying to fill the holes. make them at least 3/8

 

[kruegs]

Just another update... I left the box wide open all night... the same as it was in the picture I took: http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6810/swm002sd6.jpg Checked it this morning and it was barely warm to the touch. The "sealed" enclosure with the door shut obviously does not allow for enough air flow and thus heats up considerably.

So, as mentioned above I now have two options:

1) Create some vent holes in the box on both the bottom and sides to encourage ventilation and airflow. I would basically remove the cover of the box and use a drill to create said holes... and then affix some window screen material to keep the critters out.

2) Re-work my setup, which would include moving the SWM module below the box, out in the open and attach it to the siding... then run my lines from the SWM into the box and re-attach to the lines entering my house. I do not have the compression tools (or knowledge quite yet) required to make the cables required for this option, however I am more than willing to try.

Pro's and/or Con's of each method? #1 would take less time and look "cleaner". I am just not sure based on how hot it was getting that the vents would be enough.

Any other thoughts or ideas that I may be missing?

Thanks
Mike