My first experience with Tablo and I love it, but the unit runs very hot; we’re talking singe-your-fingers hot. I tried an SSD hoping it would cool things off but I just pulled it and it can give you 3rd degree burn. That’s too hot, isn’t it? I see there’s a hollow space in the case for a mini fan. Are there any good ones out there that you can recommend, or do you have any other suggestions?
Is your Tablo in a well ventilated area? Or do you have it in an entertainment unit tucked away?
Where exactly does this heat build-up? I have my Tablo Quad installed in my structured media enclosure, but every time I check to see the heat is an issue, in feels merely warm at best. I did install some additional rubber feet on the bottom to give some better airflow underneath.
Is there a ‘hot’ spot, or is it just the whole top or bottom of the unit?
Just for reference, I just went down and checked mine. It’s mildly warm. Sitting on a shelf in the basement where all of my cat5 and cable runs come together. Ambient air is about 67 degrees.
Remember folks, it’s going to run significantly hotter if on WiFi (for those claiming “cool” hard wired Tablos).
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The whole top is very warm to the touch when not in use, but when used it really gets hot.
When I removed the internal drive I to try an SSD, the drive was much too hot to hold. I’ve never seen a drive that hot. It must have been in heavy use nonstop - and this is after many hours of inactivity. Same with the SSD, it’s scorching hot and I can’t believe this is a good thing.
I’d like to try a netbook or laptop cooler, but those things look big and garish with ugly LED lights and multiple giant fans. I see the hollow area under the quad where Tablo was obviously thinking of using a small fan. I wish they would have, or could perhaps offer an aftermarket kit of some sort.
It’s on a wooden shelf with nothing above or below but no ventilation.
This is the fan I use for my four tunner tablo they run hot too
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Awesome, thank you, I’m ordering it right now.
My Quad is currently idle, using a laser temp sensor the highest temperature I recorded was 100F. I scanned the warm spot on the top and also the HD through the bottom grille.
Edit:. Ran 4 recordings for about 25 mins. Top of unit was 112-113F. HD (internal WD SSD) was 104-105F.
Are you using an internal HDD with the Tablo? Just curious how you’re going to power the fan? The OG Tablo has 2 USB ports. New QUAD only has 1 USB port.
Hi, yep, I’m using the internal sata space in the Quad. Even when idle for a few hours that drive is red hot to the touch, an SSD as much as a spinning drive, if not more. The cable connector is also literally burning to the touch. I would power a fan through the USB port or via a power adapter.
Though mine wasn’t nearly as warm as it sounds like yours is, I used the same fan to bring the temperature down. After initially setting the fan on top of the Tablo (blowing upwards), I ended up having even better results with the fan beneath, blowing downwards.
Thanks for that! I don’t have a sensor so I’m just going by touch. If I remove my Samsung SSD it’s so hot you can’t hold it. Really it feels like it’s burning up. The cable connector in the back is also very hot to the touch.
I would have thought blowing upward would be better as the Tablo is designed to vent its heat upward.
It looks like the Quad is vented differently than mine was. Actually, I don’t remember any vents on mine.
The OG Tablo 4 tuner had no vents, it is passively cooled by the heat sink on the bottom of the unit. Hence why blow air away from it made most sense.
Yep, that makes sense.
I have my Quad hidden under the tv in the cabinet, but it sits on top of a usb powered laptop fan tray. I have an old cell phone charger powering the fan, and both the Tablo and Amazon Fire (before cube) sit on it. The fan tray is silent and blows air up thru the devices.
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My 4 year old 2 tuner is wired about 55 (cable) feet away from the router on the opposite end of the house in the cool basement. Used to be in the living room right next to the router but I got sick of listening to the “quiet” cooling fan. I was just watching some Bob’s Burgers recordings when I read this thread. Went down with my laser temp sensor and the hottest Tablo temperature I could find was 84 degrees. The hard drive enclosure was 76 degrees. I’m very happy I moved it to the basement.