I have confirmed that the Octagon SF918 Smart Card Reader Chip ST8004C runs the card at 5 volts... this is measured with a DMM at points 'C1' (High = 5v) and 'C5' (Low = GND) on the printed circuit board, see photos below.
The fix is to carefully de-solder and lift the IC Pin 3 leg up from the PCB track and then solder on a small wire to Pin 3 leg and jumper it to C5 GND
(IC Pin 3 leg must NOT touch the original PCB track). This mod will cause the IC ST8004C to run the card voltage at 3volts and whitey will run cool. I have attached the technical data file for this chip for those that are interested.
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service
Do NOT cut the PCB track for IC Pin 3 as you would for a Openbox X-810 or similar STB as this will stop the card reader working completely. You can see in the photos that I did this by mistake and had to solder a jumper wire across the gap in the track.
Also thank you AL for your help with this... you know who you are!!
