Avoid Blu-Ray Player Overheating Issues

If your Blu-ray Player is prone to hanging, crashing, unexpected restarts or just generally poor all-round performance, the problem could well have some connection to an ambient heat issue in the near vicinity of the player.

Heat issues – commonly caused by poor air flow and ventilation – can result in a multitude of problems, yet it is so easy to avoid letting your Blu-ray Player overheat.

The following steps can be taken to avoid future Blu-ray player heat problems and allow you to enjoy trouble-free viewing of all your favourite HD movies.

Usual Symptions of Blu-ray player overheating include:

• Choppy playback
• Device restarting on its own
• Freezing
• Crashing

Depending on the proximity of your Blu-ray player to either your TV or the route your cabling takes to your TV, you may also experience a distorted image.

To confirm that it is a heat issue upsetting your Blu-ray player, switch it on, stick in a disc and press play. When the issues begin to affect playback, with the player still switched on place the palm of your hand slowly and gently against the top of the player, and then against the bottom of the player.

These two areas are where most of the heat should be dispelled – you’ll notice vents all around the player, however. If these surfaces seem excessively hot, then it is time to look at how you have your player situated, and whether there is any way of improving airflow or reducing the temperature.

Heat circulation issues can be intensified by placing your Blu-ray player in an enclosed cabinet or alongside other devices, piles of Blu-ray discs or even ornaments.

Make sure your Blu-ray player has its own space on a dedicated shelf (preferably with an anti-static surface) of your home theatre and aim to keep this clean and dust free.

If you find that this doesn’t help, you can also try raising your Blu-ray player off the shelf. A collection of small copper coins – perhaps 4 in each corner and another 4 in the middle – should act both as heat conductors and elevate the Blu-ray player to allow better airflow. Similarly, pieces from a draughts board could be used.

A dedicated shelf may not be possible, or your Blu-ray player is housed in a dedicated cabinet. If this is the case you should consider removing the back of the cabinet or improving airflow with a series of drilled holes. Of course this may not be practical in many cases.

Finally, try positioning your Blu-ray player away from heat sources and try cooling the device with a fan.

If your device is situated in a relatively open area with plenty of space for airflow and out of direct sunlight and away from heating devices such as fires, radiators and pipes then it is likely you have a faulty device.

In this situation – short of pumping cool air through the case – the only thing you should be doing is contacting either the seller or the manufacturer and claiming a repair under the warranty. Note that some suppliers and manufacturers may attempt to fob you off with standard fixes – be persistent however, and if necessary take the steps that they suggest so that you can rule out anything not covered here and ensure that the company fulfils their obligation to you as the owner of a defective device.