So I just got in tonight and my cable box (TWC) is shot - won't power on, no standby light. My receiver won't output via HDMI now (via bluray or computer to TV), and the HDMI port that was in use on my TV no longer works (another port does)...

I've got the feeling one device blew and it took out all HDMI sources along the line... except my bluray player and computer are fine. Everything was connected to the receiver via HDMI and one HDMI cable went to the TV.

Any advice? TWC is going to come replace the box, I have to ship the receiver off for repairs, and I guess the TV is SOL.

The surge light on my surge protector is now off as well.

[Edited on July 6, 2011 at 9:04 PM. Reason : .]

7/6/2011 9:03:10 PM

That sucks. Holler at your insurance company?

7/6/2011 9:17:08 PM

Quote :

"The surge light on my surge protector is now off as well."

There's your answer. If you purchased a nicer unit they'll have a connected equipment guarantee that will cover repairs (some are more douche baggy than others about "how do we know it was connected?")

To me it's worth it to get those ~$30 APC battery backup units for stuff like that. They handle my entire TV setup with the important bits on the battery and the rest just surge protected. Take some pictures to send to the insurance company file and if you have to reference them they'll be rock solid coming from the insurance company instead of your home computer.

7/6/2011 10:43:22 PM

Possibly related: We've had our power flash on and off during recent storms and our tv won't recognize out twc box (via hdmi) afterwards.

Takes a good amount of time and possibly a hard reset to fix

7/6/2011 11:00:21 PM

surges can come through any kind of wire - RJ6 like twc uses, telephone, power, even across RJ45 in your home network. Every layer has to be shielded.

If you confirm the HDMI port still works it's probably a cooked TWC box. Call 'em and tell them and you can usually get it replaced for free at their dropoff station or wait a few days and a tech will bring one out.

7/6/2011 11:14:31 PM

RG6 you mean

7/6/2011 11:56:40 PM

Quote :

"surges can come through any kind of wire"

Except fiber

Also,

Quote :

"TWC is going to come replace the box"

Bill, was the coax line connected through a surge protector as well? If you do try to have it paid by their guarantee, they might argue that it's not their fault if the cable line was the source of the surge.

7/7/2011 12:17:45 AM

thanks for the responses.

I'll be getting another surge protector now. Any suggestions (I see the APC battery backup suggestion, but a quick look didn't show any for $30, maybe I need to look again).

I'll look into seeing if my current surge protector company offers anything, but I'm doubtful.

Would rather not bring in insurance at this point... but may in the end.

Quote :

"Take some pictures to send to the insurance company file and if you have to reference them they'll be rock solid coming from the insurance company instead of your home computer."

So inform the insurance company and use that leverage against the surge protector company?

Quote :

"Takes a good amount of time and possibly a hard reset to fix"

The TWC box doesn't do anything, so I'm thinking it's fried (no standby light, won't power on).

Quote :

"If you confirm the HDMI port still works it's probably a cooked TWC box. Call 'em and tell them and you can usually get it replaced for free at their dropoff station or wait a few days and a tech will bring one out."

TWC box is fried. HDMI Port #1 on TV is fried. HDMI isn't working on my receiver (thus can't confirm if it's an input and/or output HDMI issue there). TWC is replacing the box on Friday

Quote :

"Bill, was the coax line connected through a surge protector as well? If you do try to have it paid by their guarantee, they might argue that it's not their fault if the cable line was the source of the surge."

Nope, didn't have that option. I will in a few days though


Anyone have issues with signal quality/internet speed after putting coax through one of these? i'd like an APC unit with at least 9 outlets, but the only affordable one I've seen has bad reviews (coax signal degradation due to the filter)

[Edited on July 7, 2011 at 9:26 AM. Reason : ,]

7/7/2011 9:03:49 AM

The model I use is $45 now - but they'll be on sale around every major holiday. you just missed fathers day and July 4th.

Yes, I meant RG6 - thx for correction. WHO RUNS FIBER in their house? Drop that cash.

As for the insurance we go around with a high def video camera and a notebook every January 1st; copy the movie and excel sheet of serial numbers to a DVD or flash drive and drop it into the mail for our insurance company to put on file. If anything happens they have a copy that we haven't touched so they're MUCH more likely to honor a small claim (less than $5K). Of course if the insurance company knows there is another company that may be liable (surge protector people) they'll get the money out of them. They have an army of lawyers for a reason. If nothing else you can have them forward their copy and the surge protection people usually talk a little friendlier.

However I have just paid the premium for APC units. They're american designed and have american call centers. I've never had a failure of one of their units, and the one DOA I had was replaced within a day or two. I just enjoy dealing with them.

7/7/2011 9:48:35 AM

^any coax/ethernet signal issues with yours? which model?

7/7/2011 10:41:10 AM

http://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-shutdown-software-UPS-BE350G/dp/B001985SWW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310055223&sr=8-1

I use that on the TV stand (it has a telephone port for my DSL). Battery powers the TV, modem and Drobo NAS. Just got a second one to power the daily-use PC and alarm clock (they're only good for a few hundred watts).

http://www.amazon.com/APC-Smart-UPS-SMT1500-1500VA-System/dp/B002MZW5JU/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1310055223&sr=8-11

I have the old edition of this (can't find it on amazon). I got 3 of them from some business surplus and paid $60 each for new batteries. One is at the church running 2 desktops, one is under my desk powering the workbench (stupid servers suck down the juice...) and one is at dads house powering his modem and desktop (to make sure our backups continue running during a storm).

Hoping to add in a 500w or so mini generator to make sure we're both online 100% of the time Hunting down a nice big one for the pops to keep him and mom happy during an outage waaaaay the freak out in the country where they are. I'm near the hospital and always get power back first here.



I've never ran anything over coax. TWC has their modem installed at the church and I run the big brother to one of these to keep it isolated:
http://www.amazon.com/APC-PNET1GB-ProtectNet-Standalone-Protector/dp/B000BKUSS8/ref=sr_1_5?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1310055739&sr=1-5

At "work" we run it over an indoor microwave antenna - which means lightning would have to strike like 15 feet into the building to get it directly. At home I'm on DSL.

http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-BE112230-08-12-Outlet-Protector-Protection/dp/B000J2EN4S/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1310055739&sr=1-4

I do have 2 of those though. I assume they'd work reasonably well. If you're experiencing a lot of loss whine to TWC and they'll come out and install an amp for free. Just don't mention it's your surge protector attenuating the signal.

[Edited on July 7, 2011 at 12:25 PM. Reason : .]

7/7/2011 12:20:32 PM