Weirdest 1070 bug yet

So about 3 months ago my 1070 died... or so I thought. About 2 months after my 2 year warranty expired too... of course. I turned on my HT like I always do and I got the little green light on the 1070, but no VFD (front display), and no audio. I tried to do everything I could to get it working again. I unplugged it over night, still the next day it was the same symptoms. I did a master reset, didn't help. I unplugged it for a week, still the same symptoms. So thinking it was a gonner I unplugged everything and put it in the closet, and listed it on Craig's List for best offer. I got zero inquiries about it.

Well, I was going through my closet last week, decided to plug it in one last time, and guess what? It worked! Damn you Outlaw for making such a buggy product and then pushing it to the side without working the bugs out. It also sucks because their resale value is crappy too, everyone knows how terribly buggy they are. Although, I must admit, about a month before my experience started I did a firmware update and a lot of the little annoying bugs have disappeared.

Interesting tale. The same thing happened with my older Sony 51 inch HDTV. I had a blinking error light and placed it on Graig's list for best offer (no inquiries). Several years pass and I moved into my new house and plug the thing in for grins...AND IT WORKED! Now the kids have a nice big screen dedicated to gaming. Glad I didn't drop the hundreds of dollars asked for the repairs.

I've found the resale value of the 1070 to be not-so-bad. Considering it lacks HDMI and onboard decoding of the latest dolby and dts formats, I was getting offers for $500 ballpark when I was considering parting with it. I decided to keep it though.

Strange "fix" you had there. I had similar behaviour with I did a firmware update and it failed. But I had to send mine to Mass. for the fix. I do wish Outlaw pursued more fixes with the firmware because there are still some small issues with mine:
1.) No audio still (very intermittent, easily solved)
2.) Powering up often results in a [click] and it shuts back off. Next time it works, every time.

oh well...still using mine and pretty happy with it.

I have the same problem with my 1070 now. Initially, probably 6 months ago or so, it started making crackling noises when I first turned it on, then slowly, say after about 5-10 minutes the noises would disappear and everything would work fine. It's continued to do that and depending on the weather I think, it sometimes worked OK right away, or took a few minutes to 'settle down'.

But now, all of a sudden when I go to turn it on the little yellow light turns green and then nothing. Nothing on the display and the unit doesn't seem to even get hot. Initially I just turned it off, and unplugged it then plugged it back in after a minute or two, and then it worked. However, after about 15 minutes or so, the sound cut out for a second or two and then it started clicking like it was cycling the power or switching sources. This started last week, but now it seems to be totally dead. The yellow light goes on and turns green when I try to power it up. but then nothing. Nothing on the display, no sound, seemingly no power. I'm going to let it sit for a day or so and see if anything changes.

I hate to have to send it back to Mass. because I live in Hawaii and the shipping is a small fortune!

Any ideas on maybe a 'simple' fix? Maybe if I can get it powered on again I can reload the firmware, but I have a feeling that won't actually do anything. Maybe re-seat some boards or connections inside? Is it possible a fuse could have blown or something? Are there any lithium batteries inside that might have died?

- Brian

Have any of you contacted Tech Support?

Two things come to mind as potential causes of such weirdness: dust and oxidation. We don't think of HD receivers in the same way we think of computers, but they are. Instead of having lots of wired components and circuit boards rigidly fixed together, as in the old days, they are made up of circuit boards plugged into various types of connecting blocks.

A 1070 isn't a computer and doesn't have a cooling fan to fill the case with dust. But heat from components causes convection, which pulls dust in along with cool air. Dust can short things out and cause all kinds of mischief. It is easily removed with a can of compressed air or an appropriately grounded vacuum.

A long time ago I learned that when a computer didn't quite work right there were two things to do before calling the repair guy. Reboot it, and if that didn't work, reseat things like the sound card, video card, modem, etc. You've all mentioned rebooting. But no one has said anything about reseating the circuit boards. They get oxidation in the connectors. Circuit boards can be loosened due to vibration or heat-induced expansion and contraction. I'm sure the Outlaws would prefer that you not mess with the circuit boards if your 1070 is still in warranty, but if it's not, have you tried reseating them?

Bob, I think you are probably correct because I live near the ocean and we do get quite a bit of oxidation and gunk on electronic equipment. Unfortunately it's out of warranty. I had already taken the cover off and tried to clean the spots that I could get at and it actually worked for a day after I did that, but then it died again. So this time I will try again and do a more thorough job. - Brian

Try pulling the boards and putting them back several times. This action will clean the contacts. Another method is to fold a sheet of paper until it is the same thickness of the board and insert it and remove it several times. Paper is a very weak abrasive and it will clean the female contacts. Try using a pencil with an eraser to clean the male contacts.

Mine just started doing the same thing. Crackly audio for 10 mins then fine, degrading to nothing but crackly, low audio. I've hated the 1070 since the day I got it with buggy firmware. It was my first purchase from Outlaw, and sadly I WANTED to like the company, but have never had any good luck with the 1070 being my only experience.

Unfortunately, you echo my sentiments exactly.... I so WANTED to like my 1070. Actually, the sound is GREAT when you eventually get it on, it's all the bugs that drives me crazy. Most times I attempt to power it on twice before it actually powers up; I occasionally get the crackling audio whereas I have to power on and off, and the occasional dropped audio when watching TV.... Based on this post, I guess eventually it's going to crook.... But I LUV the sound...I guess I'm glutton for punishment, I'm going back to separates and I want the Outlaw 998 to pair with a Rotel amp...hopefully they will get the 998 right...

Interesting. Mine has just started with the cracking audio upon firing it up. I am sending it in to MA this week.