Gen iv G model issue- Continously reboots

[gen4 user 0]

I have a Gen iv G model DVR that when powered the blue Geniv screen appears but flickers and continuously reboots after 5- 10 seconds. Im unable to access the main menu and made many attempts to play around with the menu and mode buttons, hoping to restore it by entering my password without success. I have tried swapping the hard drive and still the same result. Rather than going and purchasing a new DVR i'd rather find out what the probem is and fix the one I already have. The last time I had it up and running was last year and was ony slightly having flickering issues but managed to record for a short time before completely giving out. I was assuming there was an electrical malfunction in the home I was staying in at the time, causing the main board to crash maybe? Either way, I'd like to know what could be the cause of the problem, how to fix it, and how to prevent such errors from occuring in the future. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you!!

[Birdman Adam 0]

Sounds like a power problem to me. Does the DVR plug right into the wall, or does it have a separate power adapter (black box)? First measure voltage if possible to see if its correct. Even if it seems correct, continue with stuff below...

 

I am betting that there are failed capacitors in the power supply, be it internal or external. Since you stated the problem slowly got worse - this makes it very likely that this is the problem. Caps usually slowly dry out (or wear out from too much heat) and fail.

 

If you feel comfortable doing this, open up the DVR (specifically the PSU) and look for capacitors with (even slightly) bulged or popped heads. Mark all you see. If you want to repair this yourself, use a soldering iron and some solder wick to remove them, one at a time, replacing each one as you go with one of exact or near exact values. Voltage can be the same or higher. Capacitance should be the same, or similar (like within 50 units, be it uF or mF). Temperature rating should be the same or anything higher. Higher is better, the problem most likely arose from them using cheap lower-temp caps in the first place.

 

This should fix the problem. I have done this with countless monitors and a few computers too - those darn caps are like the #1 problem... If you want to do this 'right', use an ESR (equivalent series resistance) meter to see if the caps are blown.