Beautiful; this fan fits perfectly on the bottom where all the venting is located, the four rubber legs just reach from front to back, it’s sturdy and the lowest speed is more than enough to cool it. Almost silent. I’m blowing air up into the unit. Bravo!
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I don’t think I saw it posted as a possibility, but with something that crazy hot, isn’t it likely that this is just a faulty unit (and perhaps Tablo could confirm and replace?) – any electronics that are too hot to hold are certainly outside of their recommended operating temperature ranges aren’t they?
Was Tablo Support able to weigh in on whether this is expected?
Didn’t contact support as I only unboxed my quad on Friday morning. To be clear, the plastic case was not too hot to hold, just very warm on the top. It was the internal drive that I pulled out that was crazy hot, both an HDD and SSD that I tried for a few hours at a time. Never seen a drive that hot.
This fan keeps the unit barely warm and the internal drive just mildly warm. I would certainly like Tablo support to weigh in; I’m thinking they will say that all is well and they’re probably right - but I feel good running cooler and protecting my SSD as well.
This article on Hard Drive Geek talks about SSDs and heat.
Most SSDs are rated for running within a temperature range of 0ºC up to a max temp of 70ºC (32ºF to 158ºF).
We’d be happy to take a look just to make sure everything is running smoothly now - and to make sure that your unit is operating as expected. Don’t hesitate tosend our team a ticket.
Thanks, yes, and the article seems to suggest that cooler is better and that drives heating up to the maximum range run the risk of shorter lifespans.
Thanks so much, not sure I need to bother you with opening a ticket as everything is working.
I’d just like you to weigh in on my experience with the internal sata drive getting hot, almost too hot to hold after living in the Quad for a few hours. The Quad itself also gets very warm, and the cable connection is hot. The fan I bought keeps everything cool, but if you tell me this level of heat is within normal operating parameters I may just stop worrying and let the Quad run hot.
It’d be easier for us to get a quick look at the Tablo and measure its heat (since personal heat tolerances are relative) - this way we can let you know if its internal temperature is operating as expected. Feel free to PM me your Tablo’s MAC address and we’ll see what we can do.
I PMd you with my MAC address but don’t see how to find my message in your system. Did you receive it?
Sorry for the wait! Just responded to your PM - you should receive a notification.
Thanks again - just curious, are you guys able to see the temps or get high temp warnings when you ping a unit?
Looking forward to 2.2.26 and really enjoying my Quad!
Still just curious, is there a fan one can shove into the empty space hollowed out under the Quad? I see small fans like this one and am wondering if one of them might fit.
I remain very happy with the quiet and well-constructed fan I’m currently using to keep things cool (pictured above) and I love pretty much everything about the Quad (commercial skip has been working very well for me)!
I had the original Tablo 4 tuner and loved it except it kept shutting off, presumably due to being very hot (which it always was). I returned that unit but I said when they release a new model I’ll jump back in. Sadly, it looks like they did not address the overheating problem 
However, since my MS Media Center PC is again experiencing a problem downloading guide data (happening more frequently and lasting longer since MS no longer directly supports) I am taking the plunge anyway. Just ordered a quad from Amazon and a laptop cooler from ebay.
That’s the way to do it. My 4 tuner has been running fine on a laptop cooler for over 5 years now. Cheers
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Yep the unit runs very hot and if you pop the bottom lid a few hours after slipping a drive in and then remove it for inspection you’ll be amazed at how hot the internal drive gets. The fact that there’s a little hollow space carved out in the bottom suggests that they were contemplating the addition of a fan. Having said that, Tablo believes that the temps are within spec, and I seem to be the only one complaining.
I’ve been using the fan pictured above at the lowest speed, nearly silent, and am very satisfied. It keeps the unit just mildly warm, like all my other equipment. And I cannot say enough good things about the Tablo Quad with the lifetime subscription
I have no extra fan on my Quad and it doesn’t run hot at all. I did put it up on little half inch pillars to let air get under it better, but really… it’s just warm. No warmer than my Roku Ultra or AppleTV.
Well that’s interesting. Although this is a subjective thing, I have to say my Quad is hot to the touch without a fan. Just curious, can you check or have you checked the internal hard drive in the quad? My hard drive was definitely burning to the touch (too hot to hold) before I put that fan underneath.
It seems like many people complain or are at least concerned about their Tablo running hot. Mine previously was hot but now it is merely warm. What changed? Several things, better air flow, an external HDD with it’s own power supply, and the removal of an amplifier (which was incorrectly positioned just before the Tablo). I’m not sure which was the most impactful but I have been suspecting that my amplifier was possibly to blame for some of the heat. You obviously are running with an internal HDD but so are others without the problem. Much has been said about passive/active cooling so my mind starts wondering about amplification. Does anyone know if amplification and possibly overdriving your turners can result in additional heat? @allegator1 - are you using an amplifier? Do you know the signal strength yourTablo receives?
Don’t know the signal strength, but I do use an amplified antenna. The heat I’m talking about though is evident even when the tuners are not in use and the unit is idling. It does get noticeably warmer when the tuners are in use. The internal drive gets very very very hot under all circumstances.
My Quad has always seemed hot when idle also. I have the internal drive which was offered as a package(Quad + internal SATA) through the Tablo site. Since monitoring this thread from the beginning I too order the cooling fan which fixed the issue for me, No amplified antenna being used. So allegator1 you are not alone with this heat issue.
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