TV 360 Power Supply Failure

[Felim_Doyle]

The power supply for my Virgin TV 360 box has failed. The box comes on for about 15 minutes then abruptly switches off. The time that it stays on varies with how busy it is so, for example, if I'm watching a programme while it is recording another it will power off after about 10 minutes.

I've checked the DC output from the power supply and it is only 11V rather than 12V and I suspect that it is lower than that under load. The cause is almost certainly a failed electrolytic capacitor but, whatever the reason, a replacement power supply is the most likely and quickest solution.

I called 151 to report the fault and received a text to go through the diagnostics process but eventually ended up on a page with a constantly refreshing VM infinity symbol. [How ironic!]

 

[Paul_DN]

Hi Felim_Doyle,

Thank you for reaching out to us in our community and welcome back, sorry to see you are facing issues with your 360 Box going off, I was able to locate you on our system with the details we have for you and was unlable to see any issues, I can see you have spoken to us, how are things now, are you still facing the same issue?

Regards

Paul.

[Felim_Doyle]

Paul,

Having tried a number of methods, I eventually got a response via WhatsApp although it took until the following day to get a reply from a human being.

They said that they will order a replacement power supply for me but that it would take four to five working days and it is, of course, a public holiday weekend so I have no idea when the clock started on that and I have no way of tracking the progress as there is nothing showing in orders and appointments on my account.

It used to be that something like that would be dispatched by courier the next day, even if that courier was Yodel and there was no telling if, when or in what condition it would arrive.

In the meantime, I am without TV service.

[Zach_R]

Hi @Felim_Doyle,

Thank you for the update on this. I do apologise for the ongoing issues. The delivery window would begin from the conversation that you had where the team confirmed it was being processed.

Has the power supply unit arrived since your post, or are you still waiting on it to be delivered?

Thanks,
 

[Felim_Doyle]

@Zach_R,

The power supply has arrived although disappointingly without a mains cable. Although I am certain that the mains cable isn't at fault, the person who sent the replacement PSU didn't know that and shouldn't have assumed that it wasn't.

Admittedly, I have some doubts now that the PSU will resolve the issue. It was definitely faulty but possibly caused by an issue with the TV 360 box itself.

If the TV 360 box is faulty, my concern is that the solution would be to swap it out and I will lose all of my recorded programming, recording schedules, configuration settings etc.

I won't have a chance to soak test it for a few days but I'll update the thread once I have.

[Paul_DN]

Hi Felim_Doyle,

Thank you for reaching back out, glad to hear you received the PSU however apologise the power cable wasn't with it, please let us know if you do have further issues, if the box does need replacing you would lose all recordings and settings. 

Regards

Paul.

[Felim_Doyle]

Actually @Paul_DN,

I've recently discovered from a YouTube video that the Humax V6 and TV 360 boxes come in two parts with the disk drive in the lower half. This was presumably designed so that the electronics could be swapped out without having to lose the contents of the disk drive where all of the recordings and settings are stored and explains the unusual shape and size of these boxes.

It's a brilliant idea but only if Virgin Media engineers and customer support staff are aware of it. It only requires the removal of four torx security screws to disconnect the disk drive and attach it to a replacement set of electronics.