Intermittent no system light on HT1100 modem

[duke_mabank]

My ht 1100 has been doing the same thing, usually around 1-2 pm. I thought it may be outside heat temp. My modem doesn't feel hot but I turn it off for 30-60 minutes and system light and Internet comes back. I think yesterday it took longer.

This seems to have started after the modem did some kind of an upgrade on 7/13/17. The strange thing about this, the menu item in the Advanced Menu where I saw the upgrade is not available now that everything is working.

I'll pay more attention today, it has only been mildly irritating so far.

[Aedan]

Hello duke_mabank,

Thanks for posting. I pulled up your account to troubleshoot, but we are unable to communicate with your system. Please ensure that your modem is turned on and that all cables are securely connected. Thanks, and please let us know if this issue continues. 

-Aedan

[duke_mabank]

Aedan, the system light may have been out when you tried to communicate with my system. At 3:13 central time, I clicked on a link and nothing happened, went and looked at the modem and the system light was out but it came back on a few minutes later.

We won't worry about it now, I still think it could be heat related. Maybe my modem is getting hot since my living room is 85 degrees and even though my modem is on a table with nothing around it, my a/c is working hard to cool.

[C0RR0SIVE]

@duke_mabank

It's more likely the modem, or ODU are going bad actually...  I have an HT1100 sitting inside a server closet where the temperature easily reaches 90F and the terminal hasn't gone down yet.  They do build these units to handle a fair bit of heat before they will have issues, and if it's an overheat issue for the modem, then the modem will power down and the power light or system light will go solid bright red.

If it was an ODU overheating, we would have many more complaints about the system light going out due to the extreme heatwave that has hit the country.

[Aedan]

Thanks.

[Amanda]

Hi duke_mabank,

I've moved your post so we can work on your issue in a separate thread. I was able to run diagnostics on your equipment but before I accept the diagnosis, I want to check in a few things first. I know something like this has happened with your modem in the past and we had it replaced, so I find it troubling that it has come back. I can see the modem is not overheating, you are running at an average of 123 degrees farenheit and the modem's threshold is 175 (your highest reached is 127). If the modem does overheat, the power light will turn red on the front of the modem.

So before we do anything further, it would help to know a bit more about your power situation there - I am not sure if we had that discussion before. Do you have the modem plugged into a power strip, surge protector or utilize some type of unconventional power source like a generator? Also, please carefully check that the coaxial cable from your modem to the wall and the outside wall to your dish are secure and not corroded or frayed. 

Thank you,

Amanda

[duke_mabank]

Hello Amanda,
Last Friday I was about to hit send with the answers to your questions when I got a text from AllPro Satellites wanting me to confirm a Saturday Morning appointment. I called them and talked to Jonathan, the install manager.

I described the problem I was having and told him I needed a few days to check some things on my end and if he would, put the appointment on hold which he did.

The questions you asked about the power and if I was on a surge protector made me think that very well could be the problem. Because it has been on a 2160 joules Philips surge protector for 17 months, I thought I would try it direct to a power outlet.

So, Saturday it went out briefly at 1:30 pm while I was streaming an internet radio station and by checking the diagnostics I saw that it went out for a few minutes early Sunday morning. Those outages are not a big deal to me and I though it was pretty much normal, so I thought my problem was in fact a faulty surge protector.

Sunday, at almost the same time, about 1:30 pm it was going on and off for about 45 minutes. It has always been around that time of day. Friday It was out at 11:00 am but it seems to always be between 11 am and 2 pm which makes me think that it is on my end.

And did I say that I put the modem direct to power? Well, it is on a 50 foot 16 gauge extension cord that is plugged into a laundry room outlet. That outlet is on a double breaker to make it 240.

When I lost power in the 2 living room outlets back in May and moved the surge protector to the extension cord to the laundry room, that could have been the beginning of my problems.

What do you think? Are extension cords bad for a Hughesnet modems?

[duke_mabank · Accepted solution]

I've got green check marks all the way across top to bottom for 48 hours in the diagnostics. I don't think it is anything I did but appears to be fixed.

[GabeU]

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@duke_mabank wrote:

And did I say that I put the modem direct to power? Well, it is on a 50 foot 16 gauge extension cord that is plugged into a laundry room outlet. That outlet is on a double breaker to make it 240.

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I guess the old adage that "we learn something new every day" is true, at least for me.  I had no idea that the power pack could utilize a 240 volt source.  I looked on the back of mine and, sure enough, it says "100-240."  Very interesting.  

Perhaps someone in here will have an idea about the extension cord, especially with it supplying 240.  I know many cords with the standard 125v plug are only rated for 125 volts, but I don't know if that's just because of the plug being a standard 125v plug, or if there is actually a technical aspect that makes the cord itself only be rated for 125 volts.  

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that with a 240 volt source in a three pronged plug the ground is that much more important.  A standard 125v plug has one hot leg and two grounds, more or less, while 240 volts through a standard 110v plug has two hot legs and only one ground.  Make sure both hot legs are getting the same voltage to ground.  

BTW, I made an assumption about your knowledge of your home's electricity due to your comment about the breaker.  If you aren't quite knowledgeable, please don't mess with anything.  The last thing I want is for anyone to get hurt, and especially get hurt due to my advice.  

[duke_mabank]

Gabe,
Tell you the truth, i don't know anything about electricity and I assume a lot that is not correct. So, having said that, I misspoke about the 240 outlet.

The laundry room has 2 standard outlets. One for a washer and the other for a dryer, at least that is what I assumed. The Hughesnet modem on the extension cord is plugged into the washer outlet. I'm sure of that much. According to Lowes website, a mid-size washer is 120 volts. No mention of amps. That outlet is protected by a 20 amp breaker.

The other outlet I assumed was for a dryer but now I'm not so sure. The breaker labeled Dryer is on a tandem breaker. In other words, two(2) 40 amp breakers tied together by a little plastic thing. That beaker is off since I don't have a dryer or washer for that matter. I just plugged my electric drill into what I thought was the dryer outlet and it worked. So, where is the outlet for the dryer? I have no clue. I bought this place 7 years ago and that is the first time I thought to check it.

I do have a question. When I was on Lowes website and looked at a mid-size dryer, listed in the specs was this     VOLTS: 120/240. What the heck does that mean? Does it mean it will work on both? Guess I can call Lowes and ask them.

[C0RR0SIVE]

Dryers use both 120 and 240v...  Half the outlet is 120v, and it uses that half for some of the electronics, and uses the 240v for the heating element.

[GabeU]

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@duke_mabank wrote:

So, where is the outlet for the dryer? I have no clue. I bought this place 7 years ago and that is the first time I thought to check it.

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The 240V outlet for the dryer will be considerably different looking than a normal outlet, with the "blade slots" usually a little thicker, wider, and turned different ways than those of a standard outlet.  

What you explained in your successive post makes a lot more sense.  I was scratching my head a little with thinking about 240V through a standard outlet, but I've actually seen odder things, so I figured it was entirely possibe.  I shouldn't have made that assumption.  

I hope everything is still working well for you.  

[Amanda]

Well, I am no electrician and I may have trouble tracking someone down in here that would be able to give me an answer but I will tell you a short story of a customer I had in the past...

They had a similar set up as you, except the modem was sharing an outlet with their fridge. When the fridge would turn on to cool, the modem would lose power. Keep in mind that the radio transmitter on your dish is being supported through the modem's power source too. Other setups like power strips or surge protectors may create low power situations that impacts performance (slow speeds, intermittent connection).

[MarkJFine]

Good example of why it's always good to have things like compressors and heaters on their own service to the breaker box. The load when it kicks in probably dropped the line voltage below the threshhold that the modem's power supply required. Kind of like when your lights dim slightly when the air conditioner cycles on a hot day.