Patio Umbrella LED Lights Only Work in the (heat of) Daytime??
 

We have a brand new Galtech Auto Tilt with Lights Aluminum Market (read
patio) Umbrella 9'.

LED lights run along the spines of the umbrella, are wired through to a
control panel in the upper section of the pole. In the connection between
the upper and lower pole is a male (upper)/female (lower) connection plug
very similar to headphone/listening device connections. The lower section
of the pole houses the AC adapter plug.

When all pieces are fit together and the adapter is plugged in, a red power
light lights on the control panel. I can then set the time, etc. on the
control panel.

When I tried to see the lights last night (58 degrees) outside, nothing
happened when I pushed the button - numerous times, retried plugging in
the AC adapter, changed outlets, etc. Everything I could think of.

When I tried again during the day (75 degrees), the lights came right on -
no problems.

I tried again tonight (60 degrees), no lights. I tried removing and
resetting the upper pole, rotating the pole around in various positions,
opening, closing, tilting the umbrella - no dice.

My guess is that something about the heat of the day expands something in
either the upper or lower electrical connection housing that pushes them
together just enough to power the lights (even though the red power light
is lit just fine with the AC adaptor plugged in).

Are there any suggestions for solving this? A small piece of solder (metal
type?) in the female housing??

I know I said this thing is new, but shipping it back will be a big ole
hassle, particularly if someone has a simple fix to suggest.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

Patio Umbrella LED Lights Only Work in the (heat of) Daytime??
 

capple wrote:
We have a brand new Galtech Auto Tilt with Lights Aluminum Market (read
patio) Umbrella 9'.

LED lights run along the spines of the umbrella, are wired through to a
control panel in the upper section of the pole. In the connection between
the upper and lower pole is a male (upper)/female (lower) connection plug
very similar to headphone/listening device connections. The lower section
of the pole houses the AC adapter plug.

When all pieces are fit together and the adapter is plugged in, a red power
light lights on the control panel. I can then set the time, etc. on the
control panel.

When I tried to see the lights last night (58 degrees) outside, nothing
happened when I pushed the button - numerous times, retried plugging in
the AC adapter, changed outlets, etc. Everything I could think of.

When I tried again during the day (75 degrees), the lights came right on -
no problems.

I tried again tonight (60 degrees), no lights. I tried removing and
resetting the upper pole, rotating the pole around in various positions,
opening, closing, tilting the umbrella - no dice.

My guess is that something about the heat of the day expands something in
either the upper or lower electrical connection housing that pushes them
together just enough to power the lights (even though the red power light
is lit just fine with the AC adaptor plugged in).

Are there any suggestions for solving this? A small piece of solder (metal
type?) in the female housing??

I know I said this thing is new, but shipping it back will be a big ole
hassle, particularly if someone has a simple fix to suggest.

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!
Hi,
There may be a cold solder on the logic board inside control panel or
you know that heat excites electrons making them more active!
Or poor quality components are used(something like QC fall out parts)

Patio Umbrella LED Lights Only Work in the (heat of) Daytime??
 

"capple" wrote in message
When I tried to see the lights last night (58 degrees) outside, nothing
happened when I pushed the button - numerous times, retried plugging in
the AC adapter, changed outlets, etc. Everything I could think of.

When I tried again during the day (75 degrees), the lights came right on -
no problems.

I tried again tonight (60 degrees), no lights.

It has a logic board in it. It is saying logically, it is too cold to sit
out on the patio so why turn the lights on.

Patio Umbrella LED Lights Only Work in the (heat of) Daytime??
 

New =warranty, fix it=waste of time.

Patio Umbrella LED Lights Only Work in the (heat of) Daytime??
 

On Wed, 3 May 2006 06:30:44 -0500, (m Ransley)
wrote:

New =warranty, fix it=waste of time.

Sometimes warranty=waste of time & fixit=quicker.

A couple years ago I had a treadmill that would shutoff unexpecedly.
Company was great- they shipped a new electric panel out on a phone
call. I could have waited another week for a tech to install it, but
I was without the treadmill for a week already, so I installed it.
It didn't cure it. So I spent an hour with a voltmeter & trying
to read the schematic and found a ground wire with a loose screw.

If I had been lucky the tech that I talked to would have said- 'check
the screws at a,b,c, to be sure there is a good ground'.

I'm with the OP-- hey, it's Usenet-- bound to be someone who passed
this way before. Worth trying, anyway.

To the OP-- anyway you can isolate the connections enough to cool one
at a time-- or cool just the circuitboard? Or maybe it would be
easier to warm them up at night?

[It couldn't be a photocell installed screwy, so they only work when
the sun shines, could it?]

I'd probably still give the company a call. If you're lucky they can
give you a phone fix-- or send you a new circuitboard. Then if you
find it is something else you've got a spare board.

Jim

Patio Umbrella LED Lights Only Work in the (heat of) Daytime??
 

Forget the warranty, if it is under 30 days old (90 for some stores) just
take it back to the place of purchase for an exchange or return.

If you do try to fix it, finding the spot is what you need to worry about
now, how to fix should be evident when you know what it is. Cold solder
joints, especially in a simple circuit like this, are usually found by just
poking at every connection you can find.

Temperature sensitivity in electronic components usually goes the other way,
they work better when cool, in general, but the same cannot be said about
interconnects. In a case like this, disassembly followed by reassembly has
a better than 50/50 chance of fixing it without knowing the root cause.

Try leaving it plugged in all day into the night. See if it turns off at a
particular time or flickers ever. Can I assume it does not have a light
detector or other automatic switch and the plug you have it plugged into is
not on a switch or timer itself.


"Jim Elbrecht" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 3 May 2006 06:30:44 -0500, (m Ransley)
wrote:

New =warranty, fix it=waste of time.

Sometimes warranty=waste of time & fixit=quicker.

A couple years ago I had a treadmill that would shutoff unexpecedly.
Company was great- they shipped a new electric panel out on a phone
call. I could have waited another week for a tech to install it, but
I was without the treadmill for a week already, so I installed it.
It didn't cure it. So I spent an hour with a voltmeter & trying
to read the schematic and found a ground wire with a loose screw.

If I had been lucky the tech that I talked to would have said- 'check
the screws at a,b,c, to be sure there is a good ground'.

I'm with the OP-- hey, it's Usenet-- bound to be someone who passed
this way before. Worth trying, anyway.

To the OP-- anyway you can isolate the connections enough to cool one
at a time-- or cool just the circuitboard? Or maybe it would be
easier to warm them up at night?

[It couldn't be a photocell installed screwy, so they only work when
the sun shines, could it?]

I'd probably still give the company a call. If you're lucky they can
give you a phone fix-- or send you a new circuitboard. Then if you
find it is something else you've got a spare board.

Jim