@bkoster - The safe operating temperature for Tablo is like most electronics - between 10-45 C or 50-113 F.
That doesn’t surprise me. I’ll have to find another more controlled location for it. Thank you!
I’m going to use my insanely hot running quad tuner (55+C) as an electric heater for my living room, maybe save some heating cost ;-)
@alexbunk my dual tuner gets warm, but nothing to be alarmed by. Though your 4 tuner seems excessively warm/hot!
When I was first testing it I had set it on a carpeted floor in our bedroom. When I picked it up, it was uncomfortably hot. I set it on a metal trivet and it cooled down considerably… however reception on nearly channel dropped dramatically… some wouldn’t even register anymore. I thought this was odd as I wasn’t changing anything with the antenna. I removed the trivet and propped the Tablo up on two small blocks of wood. Reception is back and the air circulating underneath helps keep it cool.
Enjoying the product.
I had to relocate my unit and before doing that decided to do a quick test. Using the IR thermometer I measured the temperature of the bottom and the hottest spot was running at a measured 44 deg C (box was idling). Put it on its side and the temperature dropped to 39 deg C within minutes.
@4WheelSpyder - do you think that placing the Tablo upside down will have the same beneficial effect?
I have a Tablo 4-tuner device and measure ~55C when all 4 tuners are fired up. Everything is working perfectly fine but the device is still very hot, in fact too hot to touch the base plate for more than a second.I'm wondering how you got approval from the appropriate US governmental agencies for something that could be considered a health hazard. I'm sure you guys did everything right but would you mind pointing us users to the regulatory approval document you got? This would be a more satisfactory answer than what I've seen from @TabloSupport so far.
While they may (or may not) function normally, there must be a QC control issue with the 4 tuner Tablo as too many people report their units generating excessive heat. Despite provided response, a normal 4 tuner Tablo is warm to touch and not scorching. If I received a unit that was anything other than what I have now, it would be returned as defective.
i’m not perfectly certain, but my experience with another OTV device tells me that the (excessive) heat source is not the cpu, but the HDTV tuner module. with this other device, the the coaxial connection point is too hot to touch but for a couple of seconds. beyond that, it would actually burn your fingers.
if the heat plate is at the bottom of the unit, you may get better heat dissipation placing it upside down. there are no moving parts, so this should be ok.
@rem736 The hottest point should be the heat shield - which is located directly under the blue LED on the front of the unit. The coaxial input can get pretty warm too, though.
Some folks have proposed that placing the unit sideways or upside has resulted in more stability. While it’s certainly possible, we haven’t been able to see that kind of behaviour in our testing here.
I know I was one saying sideways made a huge difference in issues. But I am also afraid to go back to laying down to see if it is still an issue 
The wonderful friendly Canadians decided to send us - to share with us - some of their cool air so it’s hard to judge right now, but if that wasn’t part of the equation I’ve noted that our quad doesn’t really run all that hot. I watched some live TV using Tablo last night, the temp in the house was 67-68 degrees F and the Tablo wasn’t all that hot. Warm, yeah like other electronics, but all-in-all, cooler than SOME of my electronics. It was no warmer than my notebook which has active cooling. I figure if it does seen to get warmer than I am comfortable with I will try making an aluminum stand, powder coating it for looks and setting it up on edge but slightly elevated as convection would allow air to enter the lower end or side, pass over the heat sink and up and out the end that would be the top. I can see it running a few degrees cooler if on end but only if the lower end wasn’t resting directly on something which would partially block the vents if I recall correctly when looking at mine. So far no complaints of heat but then so far I’ve only run 1 tuner or when 2 tuners were active it was for just a few minutes while recordings overlapped a bit.
I run SageTV with Hauppauge 1750 OTA PVR. These are extremely sensitive to heat. My first 4 tuner Tablo (to move away from SageTV) came to the door as a hot brick. It was replaced with no issues. My point is though that I place both the Hauppauges and the Tablo on laptop cooling fans and I have no heat related issues with either device.
@tablotv, can the second usb port be used to power a small fan, such as laptop cooling fans suggested by @midnightjim?
can’t believe i didn’t even think about testing it out. but i want to get assurance about not disrupting power to the attached 2.5" drive, powered solely by the usb port.
I have used the 2nd port to charge my phone before, so it should work fine for a small fan.
Yep - 2nd port is there and available so feel free to use it how you see fit.
I have to add my two cents. My 4 tuner was running a bit hot and then I set it up on its side and last time I checked it was barely warm. It does seem to vent better setting on its side!
I have to add my two cents. My 4 tuner was running a bit hot and then I set it up on its side and last time I checked it was barely warm. It does seem to vent better setting on its side!
The heat sink is on the bottom, so if you position it as it is designed, there is a lot of heat build up between the heat sink and the surface it is sitting on. On it’s side, that heat sink surface is fully exposed to airflow and seems to remain a bit cooler.
Another option if sideways doesn’t work for you is to flip it over, so it is sitting on its top, with the bottom up. I find both work well, and better than leaving it sitting in its normal position. The hottest point on mine is the bottom left corner at the front of the unit - 110F - with the rest of the bottom at 95F - 100F - or just warm to the touch.
I ended up sitting mine on one of these and it has made a world of difference on stability of the Tablo.
I have a Tablo 4-tuner device and measure ~55C when all 4 tuners are fired up. Everything is working perfectly fine but the device is still very hot, in fact too hot to touch the base plate for more than a second.I'm wondering how you got approval from the appropriate US governmental agencies for something that could be considered a health hazard. I'm sure you guys did everything right but would you mind pointing us users to the regulatory approval document you got? This would be a more satisfactory answer than what I've seen from @TabloSupport so far.
If you think 55C is hot, you should feel the heat sinks off the back of some of my amplifiers. They are in the 65-70 range when pushing hard.
55C can cause 2nd degree burns if held for approx 20 seconds. Granted, why you would just grip your Tablo while it is recording 4 tuners, seems a little ridiculous and I would hope you would be smart enough to unplug it if it is that hot.
Insanely seems a bit of an exaggeration to me though…