Can cold weather affect controllers or LED's?

[Redbirdruss]

It is cold here in MO. 7 degrees this morning, yesterday evening it was in the low teens. We also have a little snow on the ground.
Last night when my animation started around 4:30 PM I noticed that several channels were not lighting up and/or blinking on and off. I checked for GFI but didn't find any problems. I ran through the hardware configurator late last night and was able to turn on all the channels manually.
I still need to test the wireless set-up to make sure nothing has changed but was wondering if low temperatures could affect the controllers or the LED lights?

[dstevens]

Low temperatures shouldn't affect the controllers at all. I also wouldn't think that they would affect the LED's.

[Guest wbottomley]

Redbirdruss wrote:

It is cold here in MO. 7 degrees this morning, yesterday evening it was in the low teens. We also have a little snow on the ground.
Last night when my animation started around 4:30 PM I noticed that several channels were not lighting up and/or blinking on and off. I checked for GFI but didn't find any problems. I ran through the hardware configurator late last night and was able to turn on all the channels manually.
I still need to test the wireless set-up to make sure nothing has changed but was wondering if low temperatures could affect the controllers or the LED lights?

It affects them occasionally.

Mine was knocking on the door at 5am wanting me to let them in. I said no and they went on their merry way.

[Redbirdruss]

Thanks. I am going to troubleshoot the wireless connections later today. I may be getting interference from somewhere.

[JBullard]

Redbirdruss wrote:

Thanks. I am going to troubleshoot the wireless connections later today. I may be getting interference from somewhere.

Interference could be a possibility. The ELLs operate in the 902-928 Mhz range, as do many cordless phones and other electronic devices.

You might want to consider using the HW utility to change the frequency the ELLs operate on.

[George Simmons]

dstevens wrote:

Low temperatures shouldn't affect the controllers at all.

It shouldn't, however it sometimes does. Unlike Bill's, mine learned long ago that knocking on the door to be let in will have no effect. But when it got below zero last year one of the controllers I purchased from someone privately (an older 16PC model) would drop or ignore commands. I had that one repaired (actually they broke it trying to repair it and replaced it for free) but this year I saw just last night that the second one I got from the same guy is having those same problems. Dan diagnosed it last year as a bad voltage regulator. Those are the only two I've had cold issues with.

[Redbirdruss]

Interesting.I just went out and "hard booted" one contrller that seemed to have the most issues and now it seems to be functioning properly.

I guess I will watch and wait.

[Max-Paul]

A controller or channel(s) that work just find in hot or mild temperatures might not work in the cold or extreme cold due to a cold solder joint that is making and breaking contract as parts expand or contract with the change in temperature. This is more common on kits than the boards made on a machine. But even so, shite happens and even a machine made board can have this problem.

[Redbirdruss]

So I am still experiencing some odd behaviors such as channels not shutting off during a chase but the failures are minimal at this point.

These are the actions I have taken so far:
1. Hard Booted all controllers
2. Placed ELL outside to eliminate any signal weakness
3. Restarted Computer

Any ideas how I might keep the controllers "warm" during cold snaps?
Wrap each contrller in insulation? Provide a heat source? Move to a warmer climate?

[lightzilla]

Redbirdruss wrote:

So I am still experiencing some odd behaviors such as channels not shutting off during a chase but the failures are minimal at this point.

These are the actions I have taken so far:
1. Hard Booted all controllers
2. Placed ELL outside to eliminate any signal weakness
3. Restarted Computer

Any ideas how I might keep the controllers "warm" during cold snaps?
Wrap each contrller in insulation? Provide a heat source? Move to a warmer climate?

I can truly & honestly say my controllers last year worked very well in very cold weather.......I mean cold. We dropped to -46.2 Celsius (-51F) last December two weeks before Christmas and it stayed around -40c (-40F) for 1 week then got a bit warmer to (-32F) for a couple of weeks.

However I believe I have a faulty controller channel or I plugged the wrong cords in the wrong channel because of strange behavior. Like you this is a very minor issue.

I also think my SD cards are beginning to go buggy boo too, but I plan to make another new show on a new SD card so that will help.


Click the link below and you can see are weather for the next 5 days.

[Guest guest]

Mountainwxman wrote:

Redbirdruss wrote:

It is cold here in MO. 7 degrees this morning, yesterday evening it was in the low teens. We also have a little snow on the ground.
Last night when my animation started around 4:30 PM I noticed that several channels were not lighting up and/or blinking on and off. I checked for GFI but didn't find any problems. I ran through the hardware configurator late last night and was able to turn on all the channels manually.
I still need to test the wireless set-up to make sure nothing has changed but was wondering if low temperatures could affect the controllers or the LED lights?

It affects them occasionally.

Mine was knocking on the door at 5am wanting me to let them in. I said no and they went on their merry way.

My wife said my 4 floridian controllers were at the door wanting to trade their flip flops and hawaiian shirts for parkas and boots. She's still pi**ed about the fact they left their drink umbrellas all over the yard after their last pina colada party, so told them the same thing..."suffer..deal with it..."

Controllers with imagined personalities...we may have hit a new low...:shock:

[George Simmons]

DonFL wrote:

...we may have hit a new low...:shock:

Yes, I think you have. But I'm guessing it will be surpassed in an astonishingly pitiful short period of time.

PS - I hate your controllers and hope they get baked in the sun.

[Redbirdruss]

I suspect that my controllers may be pissed at me for leaving them alone and out in the rain, sleet and cold last weekend and are screening my calls...

[PaulXmas]

I live in Alberta close to lightzilla and mine worked fine all last year.

If cars are not plugged in that is another story!

The controllers knocking at the door made me laugh!

[Guest wbottomley]

PaulXmas wrote:

The controllers knocking at the door made me laugh!

You're welcomed.

[kmb1967]

Redbirdruss...where are you located in St. Louis? I am new to this LOR world this year with only 32 channels and live in St. Peters but I would like to bring the family by to check out other displays that utilize LOR. Been quite the experience so far. I couldn't believe how much longer it takes to set things up now compared to a static display. Merry Christmas and enjoy the relatively warm weather planned for the weekend!

[Redbirdruss]

Update...
I was again experiencing problems with controllers 1 and 2 last night. The weather was a warm 27 degrees so I have pretty much eliminated the cold as a contributing factor. I am pretty convinced that the issue has to do with a communication error with the ELL's.
When I realised I was having an issue I began shutting down all my non-essential wireless devices in my office, moved my wireless phone base station, and turned off my rocketfish wireless speakers. The controllers started working properly again shortly after I finished these tasks. I am still confused as to why I am only having issues with the controllers connected to 1 remote ELL and not the other. I may be having a hardware issue on one of the remote ELL's.

Today I am going to try and replicate the issue so I understand what is causing the problem.

My Display is located on the 4700 Block of Prague Avenue 63109 between Nottingham and Murdoch. You should check out the entire St. Louis Hills Neighborhood as there are several complete Blocks that have Christmas displays. Candy Cane Lane at Murdoch and Nottingham is pretty impressive as well as the Neosho between Donovan and Jamieson.