Saving the TiVo
A couple of weeks ago, I started hearing some funny noises from our Series3 HD TiVo. Sort of like an engine periodically revving up then stopping. I said to my husband, “The cooling fan is going bad.” But we ignored it and eventually the noise went away. Until, a few days ago, the TiVo got stuck at the “Welcome” screen.
The TiVo was extremely hot to the touch. Rather than let it continue to cook, I unplugged it, took it out of the cabinet, and let it cool off. The next morning it was able to boot successfully. But that evening it stopped again and got very hot.
We rely on this appliance a great deal. Nobody in our family watches live TV anymore — we use the TiVo to collect our favorite shows and watch them when we want, without ads. More to the point, we no longer have a stand-alone cable box. The kids particularly used this one, as it is located in the family room (Mommy and Daddy still had access to the one in the bedroom). The Series3 was discontinued in September 2008 and while I don’t remember when we bought it, I am sure it is out of warranty. Replacing it would be at least $400. Since fans are cheap and usually a quick repair, this was an easy call to make.
The first challenge was opening up the box.
Back of the TiVo.
Turns out those screws on the back are a little odd. My Allen keys could sort of turn the screws connected to the fan, but did nothing for the small ones keeping the black top on the box itself. No problem, I figured I would just take the box out to Bruce’s lab, where he has every type of Allen key, then go to Radio Shack and pick up a fan. At the lab, we tried each key, but no luck. We narrowed it down to two keys 1/64″ apart in size; the screws were larger than one and smaller than the other. After belatedly checking online, I discovered that TiVos require you to use a Torx screwdriver. This is a somewhat specialized tool, but I was able to find exactly one set at Home Depot after some hunting by me and a sales associate.
In case you’re curious, this is what the inside of a TiVo looks like. The power supply is on the left, and those large cylindrical capacitors are what you need to avoid when messing around inside. On the upper right is the hard drive. Many people open up their TiVos in order to put in a larger drive.
The inside of the Tivo.
Now to get a new fan. There are a few standard sizes for computer fans, which is really what the TiVo is. But once again, TiVo used a size that was slightly off — 10mm difference, enough to prevent a drop-in replacement. (There was an odd power connector required too, but I could have spliced it in from the old one.) At this point I knew I was looking at a special order no matter what. Looking up the part number, I found the same (discontinued) fan for $12 at an electronics surplus store. And then paid $20 for expedited shipping.
The fan arrived today, the TiVo is happy, and we are able to watch the Olympics in large-screen HD once again. Life is good.