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Detectives Wanted: Bizarre problem - WattBox? TiVo? HC-800? All 3?


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I thought I had a problem with digital streaming cutting out intermittently (which I did), but it seems to have nothing to do with DNS or any of the streaming services.

I think I have figured out what was happening but would like some help explaining why.  Note all of the following gear has been working in the system for years, nothing new.

 

Main controller is EA5.  One audio stream to audio matrix (RCA)  Original HC800 now secondary with 2 audio streams to audio matrix (RCA)

Noticed that any internet streaming (SirusXM, Pandora, TuneIn) service or My Music from a NAS would only play for a few minutes.  Nothing would re-establish a session until some time had passed, but couldn’t figure out a pattern.

Any non-steaming source through the audio matrix worked fine.

 

Then I noticed a TiVo box would reboot every 3-10 minutes.  Typically that means a hard drive or power issue.

When TiVo rebooted, a contact connected to the HC-800 would open (and active digital stream stopped, I think though a non-streaming source continued to play).  The contact acted the same way as when the 800 is rebooted.  I waited through 4 reboot cycles of the TiVo and the contact controlled by the 800 opened every time I noticed the loss of the TiVo signal.

The 800 and TiVo were plugged into adjacent outlets of a WB700, (the 800 in outlet 2 and TiVo in outlet 4).

I unplugged the TiVo (and have left it unplugged) and moved the 800 to a WB600 (top right).  The 800 came back online.  All streaming services have been fine since as far as I can tell.

Although I don’t know how to tell, I presume the initial digital stream was processed through the 800 based on the symptoms.

 

Now trying to figure out why and what to do next.

 

Is it a coincidence that the TiVo and 800 were on the same WattBox?  This is very suspicious to me.  All other devices on the Wb appear to be fine.

if there was some sort of TiVo power issue could it impact the 800?  (Unable to see if the 800 actually reboots when the TiVo does; just acts like that’s what happens).   

Was either the TiVo or 800 causing a power spike/problem with the other?

Is the WattBox defective?

Over the weekend I’m going to try powering the TiVo from a separate outlet to see if it keeps rebooting.  If it does, I will try another TiVo or swap the hard drive

Any other thoughts/suggestions on how to determine root cause or narrow it down?

 

Thanks.

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WattBox policies are whatever the defaults are.  I will have to look.  Whatever they are, I haven’t changed anything for years (Including, until this afternoon, the outlets used for the TiVo/800) and I only saw the strange behavior today.  


The WB, TiVo and 800 all have fixed IPs and there are/have been no IP conflicts.  IP assignments haven’t changed since December.  No changes to router config.
 

without the TiVo constantly rebooting every 7-10 minutes or so (because it’s unplugged), streaming (presumably through the 800) has been issue free.

 

It seems like each Tivo reboot caused the 800 to burp.  If so, what else could cause that?  AFAIK, rebooting the TiVo has never caused any issue with the 800 before but it’s probably been rebooted once every 3-4 months, not multiple times an hour.

 

 

 

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I found this from last year on another forum :

“ I just had a 12 outlet Wattbox crap the bed late last week. Other then the bad run a few years ago this is the first wattbox failure I have experienced.

The bottom bank of outlets would power off, stay off for about 4-5 minutes then power back up for 5-10 minutes, over and over again. It didn't turn on/off in sequence, just all powered off at the same time.”

 

The two outlets I was having problems with (2&4) are on the bottom.  The other devices plugged into the bottom outlets are infrequently used or I would have to look specifically for failures.  I’m leaning toward saying there is a strong likelihood this is a WattBox going bad.

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From the event log.  Don’t know what it means, but doesn’t look good.

User admin Login
801 2020/03/20 22:33:15 Notification Voltage return to normal. 123.0V (88V ~ 138V)
800 2020/03/20 22:33:04 Notification Voltage out of range. 14.0V (88V ~ 138V)
799 2020/03/20 14:20:18 Notification Voltage return to normal. 120.0V (88V ~ 138V)
798 2020/03/20 14:20:07 Notification Voltage out of range. 14.0V (88V ~ 138V)
797 2020/03/20 11:09:30 Notification Voltage return to normal. 123.0V (88V ~ 138V)
796 2020/03/20 11:09:19 Notification Voltage out of range. 13.0V (88V ~ 138V)
795 2020/03/20 07:40:59 Notification Voltage return to normal. 120.0V (88V ~ 138V)
794 2020/03/20 07:40:48 Notification Voltage out of range. 18.0V (88V ~ 138V)
793 2020/03/20 06:58:07 Notification Voltage return to normal. 120.0V (88V ~ 138V)
792 2020/03/20 06:57:56 Notification Voltage out of range. 14.0V (88V ~ 138V)
791 2020/03/14 02:04:36 Notification Current return to normal. 1.1A (0A ~ 14A)
790 2020/03/14 02:04:25 Notification Current out of range. 20.6A (0A ~ 14A)

 

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Turns out the WB700 is defective and was randomly resetting devices plugged into the lower bank.  This is apparently a known problem with some units and a precursor to the entire unit failing.  A warranty replacement.is in progress.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Having a similar issue with 1 of my WB-700 units.  Just started last night where all the outlets turn off in order and then turn back on.  Happening every 20 mins.  Firmware up to date.  Re-applied firmware with the same results.  Removed from rack and still happening with nothing plugged in.  

Already contacted my dealer but I didn't purchase it from them.  How is the RMA process if you don't have proof of purchase?  

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4 minutes ago, mstafford388 said:

They should be able to track warranty by MAC address.  Snap actually alerted us of every 700 we had in the field that would fall under their replacement program.

If there was a recall, the notice didn’t filter down to me but the replacement was approved without any issue.

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