I connected my Shaw direct box directly to 12 volt, the box adapter says 12 volts @ 2amps, this should work OK except when I tried it the box would not accept the signal. It was frustrating trying to make this work because the dish was 100' away through a very thick bush of rose bush and although my Satellite finder was screaming the box indicated no signal after several attempts I gave up. When I went home and connected the box to a connection I know works the box said the same thing no signal. Could hooking the box directly to the battery cause this? Or is it another bad box this has happened in the past.
Connect Shaw direct box direct to 12 volt source
- Thread starter Rick kl
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Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Hard to say, but if you got the polarity backwards on the 12v, it likely blew out a diode that protects the box from just that. Or maybe it doesn't have reverse polarity protection (since the normal adapter presumably is wired right) and something more serious burned out inside. Electronic devices are very fussy about plus and minus. You can't hook them up any old way like you can a light bulb.
After digging around I found the specification sheet for the DSR209, the power input is 12 volts at 15 watts max, I think this where the problem might be, raw power directly from a battery would be much more than 1.25 amps. Just to be on the safe side I will use an inverter although converting 12v to 120 then back to 12 doesn't make much sense. I was wondering if anyone else has tried this?
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
As Ned says, the box will draw only the wattage it needs. That is not the problem. High voltage might be, since the RV system typically operates at around 13.6v when plugged to shore power. But my money is still on reversed hot and ground wires. That would almost surely kill it instantly.
I have tested the plug it is not reversed however on the 100' cable going to the dish there is a flat spot I wonder if this is where it could could be shorting out, the box puts out 12 volts to the LMB. I think I will try a new cable I can't figure out what else it could be
I installed a new cable and a new box we had TV! It was working fine until after about 20 hours over a few weekends of working I tried changing channels and the "lost signal" message came again, I put my signal finder on behind the box it indicated 10 bars. I took the box home hooked it up to where I know I have a signal and it said the same thing "no signal" the box is not working. The only thing I can think of now is just before the box went dead I started my generator to charge the batteries my charger was indicating 14.3 volts when the box went dead. Is it possible the box can't withstand more than 12 volts? The new plan is buy a sine wave inverter and try that, the thought of of converting 12 volts to 120 then back to 12 seems like a waste of power. Does anybody else have any suggestions?
I talked with Shaw the box will run on 12 volts however when the trailer is plugged in and the converter starts to charge the voltage is raised to 14+ volts. This won't harm the DSR209 but when you change channels a signal is sent to the LMB to change to a different satellite. This is where the problem is, the relay can't withstand the voltage then burns out giving the message "no signal" on the screen. This can be really frustrating I spent a lot of time trying to get a signal by adjusting the dish, changing wires etc. I also suggested they post this in their FAQ's so others can learn from my experience. I have installed a pure sine wave inverter and have had no problems since.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Thanks for the report.
