 Sky Box Standby - Fire Hazard? I always hear of the fire risk of leaving electrical items on standby instead of turning them off. But yet my Sky Digibox, as with all models, seems to not have an off switch and only has a on/standby button. I know it takes time for the box to warm up when is plugged in, but, to me, this is preferable to the risk of fire. Do the Sky boxes not have an 'off' button due to the warm up time and the updating that the box is supposed to have??? And do they not see this as a risk? It is reasonably safe provided that you don't stack the equipment, don't put it in an enclosed cupboard, don't allow pets near it and don't leave combustibles (e.g. magazines) near to it. However, if a storm approaches, you should not only unplug it from the mains power socket but also unplug all connections to phone sockets, aerial sockets and satellite dish sockets. There are several reasons for leaving a Sky Digibox powered: 1. To keep the LNB temperature stable in order to minimise frequency drift, which could cause the dreaded "No satellite TV signal is being received" message to appear. 2. To allow Sky to send firmware and programme updates. 3. To allow "Sky Anytime" to download programmes. 4. To allow timed recordings. 5. To allow Sky access to your card. (It needs to receive a "keep alive" signal every few days.) Send this page address - CLICK HERE - to a friend ! Return to SatCure index page Copyright ©1997-2011 Martin Pickering Version 1.4 updated on July9, 2011 This file may be downloaded for private and personal use but NO part of it may be published in any form without the prior permission of the author. |