I've been using a Dreambox for around 8 years now and it's very nice once you replace the built in software with third party images. (aka firmware)
The hardware is another matter though...
The first box I bought; A Dreambox 7000S has worked very well.
All I've had to mod in it is add some capacitors to fix a YUV problem with the YPbPr video output (Pink line in the picture)
My parents and also a friend of mine own a Dreambox 500S though, I wont give it as high points.
I have had to replace both their external power bricks when they where only 2 or 3 years old: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3917
In my parents box I have also replaced some tantalum caps around the network controller because Dream Multimedia who builds these things used the wrong capacitance on the original caps through several models of Dreamboxes!
I have had to fix several others Dreamboxes aswell.
Circa two years ago a friend to me who owns a Dreambox 5620S told me he had changed everything, DiSEqC switch, cables and the dish however the box would still not show channels with Vertical polarization.
Horizontal worked fine though!
I had a look through the chassis grille and saw a bulged capacitor...
I brought it home and there where two bulging Wendell 2200uF 10v capacitors.
One on the rightmost side of the mainboard next to the PSU, the other on the opposite side right next to the tuner.
After replacing both these the box worked great again!
A few months later another friends Dreambox failed, same model and same problem. I replaced his Wendell caps with brand new Samxon caps aswell and it too worked fine after this...
Then a few months later his box would no longer power up, the diode on the front just blinked and it made a kind of electrical switching noise when trying to start.
This problem I know very well; I opened it up and replaced the small "startup cap" next to the input bulk cap on the PSU and then it worked great again
And as history has a way of repeating the first friend came to me with exactly the same problem with his box, so I replaced that same cap in his 5620's PSU aswell and then it worked fine too!
But one thing all these Dreamboxes share in common is that if you read online a specific brand of DiSEqC switch is recommended (and for good reason)
It is called Spaun SAR 212 WSG (Or 411 if you need 4 satellite positions)
For all Dreamboxes I have ever seen in the end the original DiSEqC switch has "failed" and replacing it with this Spaun switch has made things work again.
However very recently both my parents and my friends Dreambox DB500 boxes have developed a fault very similar to what I described above for the DB5620.
That is they don't want to show channels with Vertical polarization & they also get "stuck" on one LNB head and don't like switching...
And they always manage to cold boot fine into one LNB, and then you can also switch to the other LNB without issue.
However when you try to switch back to the previous LNB it does not switch...
I even measured it with a multimeter and the DiSEqC switch really does not switch it's outputs....
So I swapped his DiSEqC with my own (Also a Spaun) that I know works but the problem remained.
So I did what I have done with the 5620 Dreambox; I replaced 2x capacitors that power the tuner and BAM both of these stupid little Dreambox 500S now work great!
C721 & C728 are the cap positions, 47uF 25v & 100uF 25v respectively.
You can see them on the rightmost side on my attached picture (Sorry that they are a bit out of focus, you can also see the network fix on the opposite side of the picture above the ASIX network controller)
I replaced them with a Sanyo WX 47uF 50v and a Rubycon ZL 100uF 25v.
Even though the original caps are OST RLG & some other crap cap named S.I. which are general purpose and not even low ESR...
The hardware is another matter though...
The first box I bought; A Dreambox 7000S has worked very well.
All I've had to mod in it is add some capacitors to fix a YUV problem with the YPbPr video output (Pink line in the picture)
My parents and also a friend of mine own a Dreambox 500S though, I wont give it as high points.
I have had to replace both their external power bricks when they where only 2 or 3 years old: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=3917
In my parents box I have also replaced some tantalum caps around the network controller because Dream Multimedia who builds these things used the wrong capacitance on the original caps through several models of Dreamboxes!
I have had to fix several others Dreamboxes aswell.
Circa two years ago a friend to me who owns a Dreambox 5620S told me he had changed everything, DiSEqC switch, cables and the dish however the box would still not show channels with Vertical polarization.
Horizontal worked fine though!
I had a look through the chassis grille and saw a bulged capacitor...
I brought it home and there where two bulging Wendell 2200uF 10v capacitors.
One on the rightmost side of the mainboard next to the PSU, the other on the opposite side right next to the tuner.
After replacing both these the box worked great again!
A few months later another friends Dreambox failed, same model and same problem. I replaced his Wendell caps with brand new Samxon caps aswell and it too worked fine after this...
Then a few months later his box would no longer power up, the diode on the front just blinked and it made a kind of electrical switching noise when trying to start.
This problem I know very well; I opened it up and replaced the small "startup cap" next to the input bulk cap on the PSU and then it worked great again
And as history has a way of repeating the first friend came to me with exactly the same problem with his box, so I replaced that same cap in his 5620's PSU aswell and then it worked fine too!
But one thing all these Dreamboxes share in common is that if you read online a specific brand of DiSEqC switch is recommended (and for good reason)
It is called Spaun SAR 212 WSG (Or 411 if you need 4 satellite positions)
For all Dreamboxes I have ever seen in the end the original DiSEqC switch has "failed" and replacing it with this Spaun switch has made things work again.
However very recently both my parents and my friends Dreambox DB500 boxes have developed a fault very similar to what I described above for the DB5620.
That is they don't want to show channels with Vertical polarization & they also get "stuck" on one LNB head and don't like switching...
And they always manage to cold boot fine into one LNB, and then you can also switch to the other LNB without issue.
However when you try to switch back to the previous LNB it does not switch...
I even measured it with a multimeter and the DiSEqC switch really does not switch it's outputs....
So I swapped his DiSEqC with my own (Also a Spaun) that I know works but the problem remained.
So I did what I have done with the 5620 Dreambox; I replaced 2x capacitors that power the tuner and BAM both of these stupid little Dreambox 500S now work great!
C721 & C728 are the cap positions, 47uF 25v & 100uF 25v respectively.
You can see them on the rightmost side on my attached picture (Sorry that they are a bit out of focus, you can also see the network fix on the opposite side of the picture above the ASIX network controller)
I replaced them with a Sanyo WX 47uF 50v and a Rubycon ZL 100uF 25v.
Even though the original caps are OST RLG & some other crap cap named S.I. which are general purpose and not even low ESR...
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