PowerTrip TiVo Power Saver

The PowerTrip™ fits perfectly in a TiVo equipped with the TwinBreeze™ TiVo Upgrade Bracket and works with other dual drive solutions. If you are looking to add a second drive to a Standalone Series 2 TiVo TiVo models 240040, 24004A, 230040, 240080, 24008A, 240140, 540040, 540080, 540140, 649080, 649180, Humax T800 and Humax T2500, we recommend the TwinBreeze and the PowerTrip.

PowerTrip™ TiVo Power Saver $19.00 - FREE USPS first-class shipping! View more info on our TwinBreeze™ to save over 50% on PowerTrip with a TwinBreeze Bracket.

Installation Instructions:

Installation of the PowerTrip™ is a snap. Install your two drives in your TiVo. Connect one end of the PowerTrip™ into the TiVo's Master hard drive and the other end into one end of the Y-power splitter. Connect the TiVo's main power cable and the TiVo's slave drive to the other ends of the Y-power splitter.

What is the PowerTrip™?

The PowerTrip™ is a device that staggers the startup of two TiVo hard drives. With the PowerTrip™ installed, upon startup, only one hard drive will spin up, followed approximately 7 seconds later by the startup of the second drive.

Why do I need one?

Although the PowerTrip™ will work in any TiVo, we believe that it is only necessary in the TiVo-branded 240040, 24004A, 230040, 240080, 24008A, 240140, 540040, 540080, 540140, 649080, 649180 and Humax T800 and Humax T2500. Each of these TiVos has a power supply that is rated 38W max. By contrast, every other TiVo manufactured has a power supply with a max rating of 61W-78W. The 61W-78W power supplies are certainly sufficient to power up two hard drives; a 38W power supply is questionable. At startup, a hard drive requires between 20W and 30W of power, but after only a few seconds, that power draw drops to about 5W to 7W. Thus, by delaying the startup of one drive, the PowerTrip™ cuts by 40-45% the single-largest draw on the TiVo's power supply.

Will this damage my TiVo?

This device was designed for use in a TiVo, and we have conducted exhaustive tests without any harm to either software or hardware. The short delay has no impact on the operation of the TiVo software.

Haven't many people upgraded these TiVos without any problem?

While others have reported "no problems" running two drives in these TiVos, it is still too early to tell. We refuse to sell upgrade kits for these units without a PowerTrip™, because we believe problems could arise. Starting two drives at once draws more power than the rated maximum capacity of the power supply. Based on our experience and tests, repeated operation of a 38W power supply while starting up two drives will cause heat issues and, eventually, reveal symptoms of stress. In addition, the MTBF (mean time between failure) of a dual-drive unit without a PowerTrip™ is likely to be much lower.

Note: the PowerTrip has been tested with several brands of hard drives, and works with Maxtor, Western Digital, Quantum, Samsung and many others. The one known brand of drive that will NOT work with PowerTrip is IBM.