Saturday, February 28, 2009

Tata Sky Power Adaptor Replacement

My around a year Tata Sky (legacy not the Tata Sky +) set top box did not power up today and I debugged the cause to be bad power adaptor. I did some google search and found many people have problems with Tata Sky power adaptors and were looking for replacement options. There are posts which say that Tata Sky's sevice agents charge anywhere from couple of hundred rupees to six hundred rupees for a replacement (that too some times an old used power adaptor) which is too much. Even there are cases when Tata Sky agents have refused to replace the power adaptor which they claim is not covered under warranty.

So in case you are looking for a power adaptor and go to market for a replacement just keep in mind to buy a good adaptor with 12V output and a minimum output current rating equal to the original adaptor's rating which is 1.5A (ampere). So when shopping just look for a compatible plug and rating 12V and minimum 1.5A (or minimum 12V, 18W). 

Voltage x Current = Power (volt x ampere = watt) 
12V x 1.5A = 18W  

I had a 12V 2A adaptor handy at home from another product not in use so I am able to use it without any problem. There is one customer online from Qatar who reported that his replacement adaptor overheated and died within an hour of operation. That most likely happened because of a lower wattage adaptor 12V and less than 1.5A rating. 

So just keep the voltage and current rating in mind when you use a replacement.  

- Neeraj. 

Post any questions that you may have.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Neeraj,
I came across ur blog- http://quality-of-service.blogspot.com/
Visiting B'lore, can u pl. let me know if VTech 5.8 GHz Cordless Phone and caller ID will work in India? Thanks

Neeraj Sharma said...

The cordless phone will work but the caller ID system settings used in india differs and most phones from USA are not capable of decoding the codes sent by fixed/landline telephone exchange. I have tried this with GE phone and also Uniden 5.8GHz cordless phones brought from USA and BSNL landline. Phone and cordless will work fine but don't bet on caller ID working.

- Neeraj

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the response.
Will a converter DTMF->FSK resolve the caller ID issues?
And also pl. let me know if this is readily available @ B'lore.

Neeraj Sharma said...

DTMF-FSK converter should fix the problem. With more and more people going for mobile phones land line and cordless phones are really loosing market share and charm. Anyways many people have mentioned in different forums DTMF FSK converters being available in few shops in SP Road (Bangalore electronics/computer products market).

http://www.fixya.com/support/t1075412-dtmf_fsk_converter