VU+ Duo Vu Duo finally failed

Bk456

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Well I was waiting for this day, my vu duo which has been pretty reliable this past 3 years has died. I replaced the PSU 6 months ago with a spare I had as it just displayed a red dot on the VFD. Now the replacement is stuck on starting...

Im unsure if I need to replace capacitors on the PSU or the c807 on the mainboard, if the psu is the problem then i fail to see what the mainboard has to do with it...

Anybody offer any advice on this, don't want to bin it if theres life in it....
 
If stuck on starting just try unplugging and start again. Might need reflashing... Iv had my my duo for 6 years I think and only ever had to change cap once.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
Replaced c807 and still the same. One psu is stuck on starting and other psu is just the red dot??
 
Replaced c807 and still the same. One psu is stuck on starting and other psu is just the red dot??

1st thing I would do is disconnect the HDD and see if it boots.
Next, If you have access to a multimeter check the voltages on each of the rails from the PSU to the mainboard (the voltages are marked on the board)

Do you have FTP access to your box when it is stuck @ booting?
If so try deleting the skin you were using (assuming you were using a custom skin and not stock)

Also get a Null Modem cable attached to your box and PC / Laptop, run putty on your PC and look at the boot log, it'll probably tell us what is wrong.

If your pretty sure it's another failed PSU and you're quite handy with a soldering iron, why not consider building one, PM me for info.

both Oily and myself have successfully built PSU's for about 10 to 12 quid.

P.S. Hi Oily..
 
Yeah I'm good with an iron and have a decent soldering kit and tools etc.

I will try new image and bootloader etc but I reckon it's both psu's are done. They are terrible on he duo

Did you build a dc psu, I think that would be great.

i don't even run the duo with an internal hdd as I know it just labours the psu. A 16gb USB drives gives me what I need
 
Yeah I'm good with an iron and have a decent soldering kit and tools etc.

I will try new image and bootloader etc but I reckon it's both psu's are done. They are terrible on he duo

Did you build a dc psu, I think that would be great.

i don't even run the duo with an internal hdd as I know it just labours the psu. A 16gb USB drives gives me what I need


Just sent you a PM
 
This sounds very similar to the problem I've had with mine. It has been sitting here for about 1 -2 years like this.
Sounds like the problem is with my PSU reading this.

Can you still buy the PSU boards for these?
 
Yes, they are available but cost 45.00 GBP last time I looked....

Sent you a PM.
 
Also worth noting, there's no reason to not use an old PC ATX power supply just to test if your duo will boot.
A duo will power up and work fine without the 34V rail but the
front VFD display won't work.
 
Yes, they are available but cost 45.00 GBP last time I looked....

Sent you a PM.

Not cheap then.

After reading this post it give me the incentive to dust the box off and have a mess around with it trying to flash and it was just sitting on starting, then reading USB, then going back to starting and went on like for a while. Tried a few different USB sticks and eventually after about an hour to hour an half it started up to the the image I already had on. Was able to get to FTA channels and watch and it stayed on without any problems.

So I hadn't reflashed it or anything it just eventually started up.

Thinking that it may be down to the box being on for a while and everything heating up.

The test will be later when I try it again. Not confident that it will startup if I'm being honest.

Thanks for the info @davefingers
 
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I'm surprised to say that my box started up first go when I got home. Still expecting it to go belly up at any point but hopefully it will surprise me! @Bk456 did you try another image? If so, did it attempt to read the USB or just stay stuck on starting?
 
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I'm surprised to say that my box started up first go when I got home. Still expecting it to go belly up at any point but hopefully it will surprise me! @Bk456 did you try another image? If so, did it attempt to read the USB or just stay stuck on starting?

Result! from experience, When the PSU begins to fail your box starts acting erratically, sometimes after a few hours you experience a lot of freezes and spinner activity, then only red light on reboot. This is how one of my boxes was behaving but changing the output caps pictured at the end of my PDF sorted that in that instance
 
Thought I would give this an update before the thread is closed or gets to old. My box still fails to startup the majority of the time but what I do is leave it on at "starting..." for about 5 - 10 mins so the caps must get warm and then switch it off and it starts up. If it doesn't work then I just leave it for a bit longer so the caps get warmer but it does eventually come on.....for now.
Obviously the solution seems to be replacing the caps as mentioned above but thought this may potentially help someone in a similar issue.

This box has been sitting there for me for ages while I've had to struggle with a freeview signal at times in the bedroom. This box now working has solved that issue :)
 
Using the receiver in that condition is likely to cause damage to the regulators. Best to leave it off until repaired.
 
Using the receiver in that condition is likely to cause damage to the regulators. Best to leave it off until repaired.

Hi Abu, thanks for the advice mate. The regulators you mention, are they on the main board or the PSU board?
 
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