# Is there any way to stack Roamio Basic units on top of each other?



## TazExprez (May 31, 2014)

I am wondering if anyone has managed to stack multiple Roamio Basic units on top of each other without using a stand with multiple spaces? I am considering getting 2 Roamio Basic units and plan on placing them side by side. I might need 3 and in this case I may need to stack them.

Thanks a lot for any help.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

What about using something like this...

http://www.amazon.com/Seville-Classics-Expandable-Kitchen-Counter/dp/B002ZNJHZE


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Faced w/ a similar situation in the past (that is, stacking devices w/ non-flat surfaces), I've just used rubber pads as spacers --- sometimes stacking a couple if I want/need a bit more separation.


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## TazExprez (May 31, 2014)

What do you think of this one in the image below?









Each grid measures 15-7/8 in x 9-7/8 in, so they are little larger than a Roamio Basic. The height is not mentioned.


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## RoyK (Oct 22, 2004)

It may be possible that the wire rack would interfere with the RF remote.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

I would buy some rubber footers. I know you can buy these for stereo equipment.


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## Dusty Roads (Dec 24, 2003)

I had the TA on top of my Roamio but realized the Roamio was way too hot so I moved it to the side. I would give it plenty of room and good air flow. You don't even want to have it enclosed if you can avoid it. I removed the glass door when I realized how hot it got along with the rest of the AV equipment. Would think it would shorten the lifespan of any of them.


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

When looking at the LED on the front, the airflow path for the Basics/OTA is from right to left Left to Right.

The curve on the case is slight enough that they would stack with just slightly taller feet. They almost fit together as is.. No clue if this is sufficient thermally.


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## buddhawood (Oct 9, 2000)

Used a cheap laptop cooler and just plugged it into the Tivo's usb port.
http://smile.amazon.com/Sabrent-pow...qid=1432239931&sr=8-39&keywords=laptop+cooler


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## Dusty Roads (Dec 24, 2003)

buddhawood said:


> Used a cheap laptop cooler and just plugged it into the Tivo's usb port.
> http://smile.amazon.com/Sabrent-pow...qid=1432239931&sr=8-39&keywords=laptop+cooler


Clever, might have one of those laying around somewhere.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

And of course you can monitor the temperature under system information.


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## CCourtney (Mar 28, 2006)

You could build one stacking shelf to the dimensions you want if you have the equipment.

When I moved from my DLP to my Plasma I didn't have a place for my center speaker (it was on top of my DLP which had a small shelf up top) I built this out of 3/4" hardwood plywood (I think it was white oak.) It blends in nicely with the POS Ikea table (the only reason I keep that table is because of the wheels and the need to roll it in and out on occasion to get to the back side of my AV equipment.


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

I use clear plastic casters sold at any hardware place like Lowes. They usually come FOUR in a pack. Also, they come in different colors, but clear is the most aesthetic. Then what you want to do is to Superglue at least 2 of the caster one on top of the other to give more height for proper air flow clearance. You are free to superglue a third caster for more height, however, I've found TWO to be sufficient. The caster are indented at the top to accommodate chair legs, etc., so the rubber pad feet of many CE devices just fall into them for a flat and secure fit. So, for one device, you will need eight casters (or TWO 4 packs) to provide "double" caster height for good air flow. While the Roamio does air intake from the side, the heat from the unit still rises and the top of the Roamio radiates heat to the device on top of it. Two casters high allows the heat rising from the TiVo to sufficiently disparate with very little heat affecting the device on top of it. 

This is how I stack all of my CE devices on one shelf to prevent overheating due to stacking flat one on the other. It is incredibly CHEAP and is very small and beats the ugly wire basket things hands down, and can be used in your current cabinets. 

As for the laptop cooler/fan, I do use that with my Hopper because it is in a confined cabinet. Without the laptop fan, the Hopper gets mighty hot and the Hopper fan goes into high spinning causing distracting noise in the room. The laptop fan isn't really necessary unless your unit is in a confined cabinet with restrictive air flow. Also, the TiVo fans are better and do a much better job of keeping the unit cool compared to ANY of the Dish ViP and subsequent generations boxes. After all these years, Dish still won't make a fan cooling system as robust as TiVo's, but Dish has a legacy of huge numbers of complaints from subscribers if the fan is on even at very low speed (I know those light sleepers and just whine about it while I don't find the slight noise at all bothersome, buy I do hear the TiVo fan quite clearly at almost all times), so their concern it to keep the fan at minimum to avoid calls into the CSR's. But Dish STILL does not provide enough clearance at the BOTTOM to allow critical airflow that keeps the box cool. That is one of those Dish PITA things. Anyway, Best of luck.


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

nooneuknow said:


> Roamios pull air in from the left side vent, pull it around the hard drive, then it goes through a single fan on an internal "partition", is pushed over the rest inside (mainboard side), and is pushed out the right side vent, when looking at the unit from the front.


The fan is so anemic it's hard to tell at times, but you're right.
From Left to Right (HDD to CPU/board) when looking into the front side.
Thanks for the correction.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Dusty Roads said:


> I had the TA on top of my Roamio but realized the Roamio was way too hot so I moved it to the side. I would give it plenty of room and good air flow. You don't even want to have it enclosed if you can avoid it. I removed the glass door when I realized how hot it got along with the rest of the AV equipment. Would think it would shorten the lifespan of any of them.


My Roamio BAsic stays around the same temp as my Roamio PRo. Both seem to fluctuate between 40C and 42C.(This time of year with inside temps around 76F) Although my Roamio Pro has a 5TB drive in it while my ROamio BAsic has a 1TB drive in it. But either way my Roamio Basic has never been hot to the touch. Even with the stock drive it. Although the 1TB drives uses less power than the 500GB drive did.


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## JBDragon (Jan 4, 2004)

TazExprez said:


> What do you think of this one in the image below?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


To me that's pretty ugly. I just ordered up a couple of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AJHCRCI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

They have this one and there's one that's smaller. You can stack them, which is why I got 2 of them. They'll go on top of my dresser. Sure it's more expensive, but it's also not a cheezy wire rack thing. It took me a while to settle on this as I was looking at some other options which were more costly and I thought not as good. This one is 27.5" wide by 9.5", they also have a 22"x9.5" version.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

JBDragon said:


> To me that's pretty ugly. I just ordered up a couple of these:
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AJHCRCI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> 
> They have this one and there's one that's smaller. You can stack them, which is why I got 2 of them. They'll go on top of my dresser. Sure it's more expensive, but it's also not a cheezy wire rack thing. It took me a while to settle on this as I was looking at some other options which were more costly and I thought not as good. This one is 27.5" wide by 9.5", they also have a 22"x9.5" version.


Good choice!


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

JBDragon said:


> To me that's pretty ugly. I just ordered up a couple of these:
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AJHCRCI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> 
> They have this one and there's one that's smaller. You can stack them, which is why I got 2 of them. They'll go on top of my dresser. Sure it's more expensive, but it's also not a cheezy wire rack thing. It took me a while to settle on this as I was looking at some other options which were more costly and I thought not as good. This one is 27.5" wide by 9.5", they also have a 22"x9.5" version.


That same stand is only $21.32 when you buy directly from Monoprice

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=109&cp_id=10910&cs_id=1091002&p_id=9435&seq=1&format=2

The 22" version is $16.88

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=109&cp_id=10910&cs_id=1091002&p_id=9434&seq=1&format=2


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

aaronwt said:


> That same stand is only $21.32 when you buy directly from Monoprice
> 
> http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=109&cp_id=10910&cs_id=1091002&p_id=9435&seq=1&format=2
> 
> ...


Plus shipping = approx. same price.

Otherwise, I agree that buying directly from Monoprice.com is a good idea. And you can often find 10% discount coupons and/or free shipping on some items on their web site.


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## ustavio (Oct 19, 2013)

Series3Sub said:


> I use clear plastic casters sold at any hardware place like Lowes. They usually come FOUR in a pack. .


I feel rather dumb at the moment but the only casters I'm locating have wheels, are made of felt or large "slippery" ones for sliding furniture to and fro. I like your idea a lot but could use either a photo or brand name or anything that I can use to help me comprehend exactly what I need to look for. Gawd, I feel really dense right now. Perhaps it's early onset "parameters".


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ustavio said:


> I feel rather dumb at the moment but the only casters I'm locating have wheels, are made of felt or large "slippery" ones for sliding furniture to and fro. I like your idea a lot but could use either a photo or brand name or anything that I can use to help me comprehend exactly what I need to look for. Gawd, I feel really dense right now. Perhaps it's early onset "parameters".


http://www.lowes.com/Hardware/Furniture-Hardware/Caster-Cups/_/N-1z0ykb4/pl?Ntt=casters#!

Caster cups.


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## ustavio (Oct 19, 2013)

JoeKustra said:


> http://www.lowes.com/Hardware/Furniture-Hardware/Caster-Cups/_/N-1z0ykb4/pl?Ntt=casters#!
> 
> Caster cups.


Thanks! It's off to Lowes I go.


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

JoeKustra said:


> http://www.lowes.com/Hardware/Furniture-Hardware/Caster-Cups/_/N-1z0ykb4/pl?Ntt=casters#!
> 
> Caster cups.


U are kind to provide the link and point him in the right direction. Thank you. The caster cups I use are the Waxman 4 pack _clear smooth cups. They listed on the page linked. They are the most aesthetic and hardly noticeable._


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Series3Sub said:


> U are kind to provide the link and point him in the right direction. Thank you. The caster cups I use are the Waxman 4 pack _clear smooth cups. They listed on the page linked. They are the most aesthetic and hardly noticeable._


_I was living in an older house and the owner had casters on everything. I still have some of the glass ones. I think it's a byproduct of having hardwood or vinyl flooring. Or being very old.

Now I get strips of wood, paint it flat black, and have supports or spacers for everything._


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