Cold protection

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   Ok, here is a fun one...

My intelligent moving fixture has decided that it doesn't want to start up / strike the bulb in the cold after experiencing a dip to 25 deg F the other night.  I have to remove the motion light from its weatherproofing case, bring it in the house to warm up for 15 minutes, then return it to the yard and repower it for it to work.  This is a real nuisance.  

Obviously I can't leave the bulb on 24/7 (those things are $$$) so I need to find a way to keep the enclosure warm just prior to the start of the show.  Here is the catch-- I need to do so without fogging up the enclosure.  Any suggestions?

Michael

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LightsOnLogan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3187	Quote Reply Topic: Cold protection Posted: 02 Dec 2011 at 8:02am
	Ok, here is a fun one... My intelligent moving fixture has decided that it doesn't want to start up / strike the bulb in the cold after experiencing a dip to 25 deg F the other night. I have to remove the motion light from its weatherproofing case, bring it in the house to warm up for 15 minutes, then return it to the yard and repower it for it to work. This is a real nuisance. Obviously I can't leave the bulb on 24/7 (those things are $$$) so I need to find a way to keep the enclosure warm just prior to the start of the show. Here is the catch-- I need to do so without fogging up the enclosure. Any suggestions? Michael


LightsOnLogan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3187	Quote Reply Posted: 02 Dec 2011 at 10:06am
	I just rigged up a 60W bulb to a thermostat and put it inside the weatherproofing enclosure... I'll see if that helps or not. I have the apparatus on a spare channel not used in the show... I can hold that channel on at the end of the show and have it go off at show start. Michael


LightChristmas Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Beta Testers Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Location: Equality, IL Online Status: Offline Posts: 993	Quote Reply Posted: 03 Dec 2011 at 8:46am
	Ran into a similar problem last year when the Intersil comm chips on my controllers started dropping like flies (would scramble the controller ID). Turns out they weren't overly cold tolerant. The $1 solution was to cram a half-string (bulb pulled) of minis in the enclosure to keep things warm until the new chips arrived.


LightsOnLogan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3187	Quote Reply Posted: 03 Dec 2011 at 11:49am
	Been there, done that! The 60 watt bulb wasn't quite enough yesterday. I had to reset the fixture once before it would boot up (it was stuck with a row of blocks on the LCD display). That one reset brought it to life. At least I didn't have tho bring it in the house this time. I've upped the bulb wattage to 100w and set the thermostat higher. I just hope the issue isn't secondary. Do MSD250 lamps require more power to start in the cold versus warm? Could this be a symptom of an aging lamp overtaxing the power supply and locking up the startup sequence? I never had thermal problems with this fixture before, so it makes me wonder.


LightChristmas Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Beta Testers Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Location: Equality, IL Online Status: Offline Posts: 993	Quote Reply Posted: 03 Dec 2011 at 3:46pm
	Is the glass of innermost "bulb" looking black or is it still silvery in color? If its black, you're nearing end of life. And yes, the older the bulb, the more power it takes to get 'em warmed up, and it even takes longer at room temp as well.


LightsOnLogan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3187	Quote Reply Posted: 04 Dec 2011 at 8:42pm
	I haven't taken apart the bulb housing yet (a real pain in the neck). I need a spare on hand anyway (single point of failure to mitigate), so I'm going to order a new bulb. I will check and/or replace it when the new bulb arrives. I should only have about 400 hours on the 2000 hour bulb, but I did buy the Q-Spot as a factory refurb and don't know for certain how many hours were already on the bulb when I got it. Keeping the plexiglass rain enclosure warm is helping (I don't have to take it in the house to warm it up), but only if I can keep the temp above 70F or so in there (which is certainly not normal). Yesterday it successfully started up on its own, but today it got past the row of blocks on the display and locked up with the word "Resetting..." on the display. The head made it to the home position, but the bulb did not ignite. A single power cycle brought it back to life and the bulb ignited that time. It did take about 12 seconds after the ignitor click before I saw the glow flicker on and start warming up. Michael


LightsOnLogan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3187	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Dec 2011 at 12:42pm
	I just replaced the lamp and it ignited right away in 38 degree weather, so hopefully that solves the problem. Inspection of the bulb envelope on the old bulb looks far better than I expected. The inner envelope is mostly clear except for some black near the electrode on the left in the picture (not sure if that one is the cathode or anode). That electrode looks to be in very bad shape though. There are numerous pits and blobs on the electrode... arc wander maybe? Michael Edited by LightsOnLogan - 08 Dec 2011 at 12:43pm


LightChristmas Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Beta Testers Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Location: Equality, IL Online Status: Offline Posts: 993	Quote Reply Posted: 08 Dec 2011 at 1:11pm
	There's no telling how badly abused the unit was before you got it. I'd keep the bulb as a "dire emergency" spare, though. Good thing the power supply wasn't damaged.


LightsOnLogan Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Admin Group Joined: 11 Oct 2007 Online Status: Offline Posts: 3187	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 2011 at 9:31am
	I'm questioning the power supply damage. The unit completely froze up last night... to the point that even after turning it off and unplugging it entirely the text was stuck on the LCD (apparently being powered by an internal capacitor or battery) for 20 minutes. Only then was I able to reset the unit, and it started freezing during startup once again. It took 2 hours before I had it running again. I opened it up and inspected for cold solder joints, etc, but didn't find anything visibly amiss. There was a single dead ladybug on the mobo, but it wasn't contacting anything so I doubt the bug was an issue. Eventually it just started working again. Honestly, it is acting like a malfunctioning microprocessor (maybe damaged in the cold?). I'm going to move the heating lights to the area of the unit closest to the microprocessor and see if that helps. Michael


LightChristmas Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List Beta Testers Joined: 15 Oct 2007 Location: Equality, IL Online Status: Offline Posts: 993	Quote Reply Posted: 09 Dec 2011 at 8:37pm
	Well, now I'm having temperature problems! The Mil-Spec -32F RS485 driver chips I replaced after last years debacle are doing the same thing the cheap Intersil chips were doing - killing the unit ID. Guess I'll have to stuff the enclosures with minis again this year. Of course, it decides to do this while I'm 50mi away at work.