Effect of Cold Weather on Controllers?

[Tim Fischer]

crazytrain83 wrote:

Funny how when there's a thread about "cold", all the Minnesota members show up.

My ears are ringing-- did someone need me?

[iresq]

lightzilla wrote:

Well if you want to add wind chill into the equation as will, then it dipped to (-55c) and that is like (-60F) and the controllers worked.

All fine and dandy except electronics are not subject to windchill. :cool:

[PaulXmas]

Just took another look at the weather network and it is going to be -40 (same F and C) this Tue

[lightzilla]

iresq wrote:

lightzilla wrote:

Well if you want to add wind chill into the equation as will, then it dipped to (-55c) and that is like (-60F) and the controllers worked.

All fine and dandy except electronics are not subject to windchill. :cool:

Perhaps not ,but I am. Nonetheless this is the long term forecast for Edmonton. Are you wishing you could move here and enjoy winter, or would you rather stay in the cold weather of Minnesota? I think I would rather move to Minnesota and see it warm up quicker and maybe get spring in March rather than May like here.

Bottom line our controllers are still working. Nice here now even with snow. 7F is nice compared to -40F
7 °F
[align=center] OvercastFeels like :N/A°CRelative humidity :78%Wind :9 km/h SBarometric pressure :101.2 kPa Dewpoint :1 °FLast Updated: Thursday, Dec 10 2009 01:00PM [/align][align=right] [/align]

//if (adMassif()){ // document.write(" Switch to °CShort Term Forecast [align=center] This Evening [/align]
9 °F
Isolated flurries
[align=center] Friday Morning [/align]
1 °F
Isolated flurries
[align=center] P.O.P.: 40%
Wind: 10 km/h
SW
P.O.P.: 40%
Wind: 10 km/h
NW
P.O.P.: 40%
Wind: 10 km/h
N
P.O.P.: 40%
Wind: 10 km/h
E
[/align] Switch to °CLong Term Forecast [align=center]
[align=center]Friday
Max. 1 °F
Min. -11 °F

Variable cloudiness[/align]
[align=center]Saturday
Max. -2 °F
Min. -20 °F

Isolated flurries[/align]
[align=center]Sunday
Max. -20 °F
Min. -36 °F

Sunny with cloudy periods[/align]
[align=center]Monday
Max. -22 °F
Min. -38 °F

Mainly sunny[/align]
[align=center]Tuesday
Max. -9 °F
Min. -40 °F

Variable cloudiness[/align]
P.O.P.: 30%
P.O.P.: 40%
P.O.P.: 20%
P.O.P.: 10%
P.O.P.: 20%[/align]

[Gary Levelius]

I'm thinking that these are using military spec parts and if that's so, they should be good to 40 below zero before they act up I gleaned that info from Light-O-Rama last year when I was worrying the same thing



-Gary-

[lightzilla]

Gary Levelius wrote:

I'm thinking that these are using military spec parts and if that's so, they should be good to 40 below zero before they act up I gleaned that info from Light-O-Rama last year when I was worrying the same thing



-Gary-

Well after 3 straight weeks of this same type of cold (that we are having now ) but last year my AL controllers began to act up and really screwed up my show just 3 days before Christmas eve.

I had no show and I had cars outside honking horns.......that was embarrassing (not having a show)....but nonetheless I got part of the show working and ran what shows I had.

So as you can see from my post above here we are very,very cold again with only 12 more nights before Christmas eve. So you can see why I am just a bit nervous.

The controller can handle up to -40F but there is no guarantee that these controllers wont stop working at -30F.....and -30F is where we will be tonight.....it was -24F at 2:00pm.

Oh well I guess we shall see over the next 5 nights how the Lor controllers will hold up. Actually the cat5 cable may be a bigger issue.

[PaulXmas]

lightzilla wrote:

Gary Levelius wrote:

I'm thinking that these are using military spec parts and if that's so, they should be good to 40 below zero before they act up I gleaned that info from Light-O-Rama last year when I was worrying the same thing



-Gary-

Well after 3 straight weeks of this same type of cold (that we are having now ) but last year my AL controllers began to act up and really screwed up my show just 3 days before Christmas eve.

I had no show and I had cars outside honking horns.......that was embarrassing (not having a show)....but nonetheless I got part of the show working and ran what shows I had.

So as you can see from my post above here we are very,very cold again with only 12 more nights before Christmas eve. So you can see why I am just a bit nervous.

The controller can handle up to -40F but there is no guarantee that these controllers wont stop working at -30F.....and -30F is where we will be tonight.....it was -24F at 2:00pm.

Oh well I guess we shall see over the next 5 nights how the Lor controllers will hold up. Actually the cat5 cable may be a bigger issue.

Last night it was -32C and light show is running tonight (-29 right now).
My CAT 5 comes from the basement right next to the controllers and has very little exposed to the outside.
But over the next 5 nights will be the test.
I am not worried about my controllers.

BUT sigh..lost 1/2 the lights on 2 of my deers and the motor in one of them (moment of silence please).

[Tim Fischer]

lightzilla wrote:

I had no show and I had cars outside honking horns.......

That really pisses me off. :(:(

We do these shows as a gift to the community. If we choose not to run one evening (or cannot run one evening), how dare people sit out there and honk? If that ever happens to me there will be a confrontation outside my house, and I will be part of it...

Maybe I should follow them home and sit outside their house and honk. Oh wait, they don't DO a light show? Guess they better hurry and set one up, I'll be there honking until they do... :(:(

[lightzilla]

by Tim:
That really pisses me off. :(:(

We do these shows as a gift to the community. If we choose not to run one evening (or cannot run one evening), how dare people sit out there and honk? If that ever happens to me there will be a confrontation outside my house, and I will be part of it...

Maybe I should follow them home and sit outside their house and honk. Oh wait, they don't DO a light show? Guess they better hurry and set one up, I'll be there honking until they do... :(:(

I was really angry and very ticked off but not at the honkers out side, I was to angry with AL at that time.

1st one out of the 3 Al controllers went bonkers, next the AL monster brain stop playing both AL stocked sequence SD cards, then I looked on my computer and 21 shows (that I had reworked and (worked hard) from Ken goods web site) we gone, my main show was all gone.

Anyhow the jack where you plug in Cat5 cables into controller, well they are know to blow on AL controllers and well it did. It somehow began to snowball and just screwed up every thing else.

Anyhow I replaced all the cat5 cables, managed to rescue some sequences and ran the show the best I could with 2 good controllers and the bad controller just acted like controller one.

So on Christmas eve and Christmas day I did have a show but with hiccups.

I contacted AL but l..........

So I am a Lor user this year and I am a very satisfied customer because of very good service.

Oh and what a difference between the Lor 2 software and the AD software, like night and day.

Still that incident from last year still haunts me and that is why this very cold snap worries me.

By the way it is so cold where I live (outside of the city in a country Village) that the dogs will not go out side to pee. Two out of 3 (all dressed) finally did go out.

I tried to communicate with my son outside and are words froze and fell to the ground, so we picked them up brought them into the house to thaw , so we could hear what we said to each other.

All went well with the show last night.

It is -45C in Devon, Alberta which is -47F. Edmonton is -35C which is -30F I believe.

[Randy]

Okay, I don't live in the cold weather, so maybe my idea here won't work for some reason.

But what if you were to take a couple of incandescent 5 or 7 watt C7 or C9 bulbs and power them up all the time in the box that holds your controller? Wouldn't that provide enough heat inside the box to get the temperature up into the comfortable zone for the controller? Maybe it would take more than two bulbs, not sure....

[Guest wbottomley]

Tim Fischer wrote:

lightzilla wrote:

I had no show and I had cars outside honking horns.......

That really pisses me off. :(:(

We do these shows as a gift to the community. If we choose not to run one evening (or cannot run one evening), how dare people sit out there and honk? If that ever happens to me there will be a confrontation outside my house, and I will be part of it...

Maybe I should follow them home and sit outside their house and honk. Oh wait, they don't DO a light show? Guess they better hurry and set one up, I'll be there honking until they do... :(:(

You got that right Tim!

Their Christmas might be so merry when I finish having a talk with them.

[lightzilla]

Randy wrote:

Okay, I don't live in the cold weather, so maybe my idea here won't work for some reason.

But what if you were to take a couple of incandescent 5 or 7 watt C7 or C9 bulbs and power them up all the time in the box that holds your controller? Wouldn't that provide enough heat inside the box to get the temperature up into the comfortable zone for the controller? Maybe it would take more than two bulbs, not sure....

Actually I heard about people who do that and I was thinking about doing that in September, but it completely slipped my mine and your post just refreshed my mind.

Right now it is so cold that I hate to go outside. What's funny is Whitehorse up in the Yukon is 14C (57F) while we were the coldest place in Canada (maybe North America) at (-45F) this morning...... not in the city but out here in the country.

So the light idea will be next year. Just as long as the cat5 cables hold on we should be o. k.

So yea it is a good idea.

[Tim Fischer]

Randy wrote:

Okay, I don't live in the cold weather, so maybe my idea here won't work for some reason.

But what if you were to take a couple of incandescent 5 or 7 watt C7 or C9 bulbs and power them up all the time in the box that holds your controller?  Wouldn't that provide enough heat inside the box to get the temperature up into the comfortable zone for the controller? Maybe it would take more than two bulbs, not sure....

It's not a bad idea, but I don't think it's necessary with LOR controllers.

[lightzilla]

Here is something interesting......... we were the coldest spot in the entire world last night including the north and south poles. Yes we even broke some records too.

Cool eh.

[Guest wbottomley]

lightzilla wrote:

Here is something interesting......... we were the coldest spot in the entire world last night including the north and south poles. Yes we even broke some records too.

Cool eh.

Reported coldest place.

[lightzilla]

Mountainwxman wrote:

lightzilla wrote:

Here is something interesting......... we were the coldest spot in the entire world last night including the north and south poles. Yes we even broke some records too.

Cool eh.

Reported coldest place.

Did you read about that down there?

That is what the paper and the radio said here.

[Guest wbottomley]

lightzilla wrote:

Mountainwxman wrote:

lightzilla wrote:

Here is something interesting......... we were the coldest spot in the entire world last night including the north and south poles. Yes we even broke some records too.

Cool eh.

Reported coldest place.

Did you read about that down there?

That is what the paper and the radio said here.

Some weather stations don't report or could be down. That's why Meteorologists say reported temperature not rip-n-read dj's.

Take a cup of hot water, go outside, toss the water into the air and it will freeze instantly then fall to the ground as ice.

[PaulXmas]

lightzilla wrote:

Randy wrote:

Okay, I don't live in the cold weather, so maybe my idea here won't work for some reason.

But what if you were to take a couple of incandescent 5 or 7 watt C7 or C9 bulbs and power them up all the time in the box that holds your controller? Wouldn't that provide enough heat inside the box to get the temperature up into the comfortable zone for the controller? Maybe it would take more than two bulbs, not sure....

Actually I heard about people who do that and I was thinking about doing that in September, but it completely slipped my mine and your post just refreshed my mind.

Right now it is so cold that I hate to go outside. What's funny is Whitehorse up in the Yukon is 14C (57F) while we were the coldest place in Canada (maybe North America) at (-45F) this morning...... not in the city but out here in the country.

So the light idea will be next year. Just as long as the cat5 cables hold on we should be o. k.

So yea it is a good idea.

My show is running fine still! So I think the controllers are safe from the cold.
Did Thosby get the ice fog this morning ? Man it was cold this morning!

[lightzilla]

I was wrong about the temperature in Fahrenheit scale, actually it was -45c which is -49F.

The Poles last night were coming in at -27c and the same temperatures at the Poles again tonight.

Right now it is -36c right here where we live and that includes Devon, Alberta

We did set a record for Alberta, and as far as reported cold spots go we were tops.

Anyhow the controllers held up in -49F so hows that for good boards? All 10 controllers that are outside are the Lor CTB16PC controllers.

Still about 3 more nights of this intense cold so I better not get to excited.

Yes Paul we had that ice fog and it was bitterly cold.....my Jeep will not start, but it was not plugged in neither. So I plugged it in all day but no start yet.

[PaulXmas]

Ahhhh yes forgetting to plug in your car sucks when it is this cold.

Hey saw this on TheWeatherNetwork

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=bccold_12_12_2008&eccode=WWCAAB0007&warningdisplay=ec&warningtype=aw?ref=activeweather_city
After a weak warm up at the end of last week, Prairie temperatures plummeted again over the weekend reaching an all-time low in Edmonton.
At one point on Saturday night, Edmonton had the dubious distinction of being the coldest place on Earth. The record low temperature of -46 degrees was measured at the Edmonton International Airport. With the Wind Chill, it felt colder than -50. The city itself was a balmy -35 degrees before factoring the Wind Chill.
Edmonton's frigid temperature was exceeded by a station in Siberia where the lowest temperature measured on Saturday night was -48 degrees. Edmonton's -46 degrees was 2 degrees off the coldest temperature ever recorded for the Airport. Set back on January 26, 1972, the coldest temperature recorded is -48.3 degrees. Saturday also saw the coldest low ever recorded at the Airport in December. Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights also saw record low temperatures for Edmonton Airport.
Temperatures will continue to be frigid for the next couple of days before warming up mid-week. On Thursday, Edmonton is currently expected to reach a high of 2 degrees!
Controllers worked Sun night so safe to say cold weather on Earth is no problem for them!