Phatbox in the cold

[Mr_Eddy]

Question for all you Phatbox owners out there.

It's starting to get a bit cold here overnight. It got down to about 5 F last night and it will get much colder as we get more into winter.

Question is, has anybody had any problems with the DMS when it's left out in the cold overnight? Not really worried about it at these temps, but we'll get nights in Jan. and Feb. where it can hit -20 F. So I'm wondering if it's worth while to take it inside when it's going to be extremely cold.

And on a somewhat related note, does any one else have to reset their Phatbox about once a month? About once a month I the "No CD Changer" message on the head unit and have reset the box.

Thanks
Ed

[Beetlemania]

I don't know about the cold. We've only gotten down to single digits a few times, and my Bug sleeps in the garage. I'd think it would work, but I could see concern over things freezing inside. It is a hard drive afterall, right? Could the lube on the bearing solidify? I hope not!

As for the resetting, I haven't had a No Changer message since I removed the HU and attached the wiring from the changer better than the minimal contact it had backed out to. But, every once in a while my radio won't come on at all when I start the car, and the only fix I've found is to remove the radio fuse and put it back in. How exactly do you reset the unit?

[Mr_Eddy]

Yea, it's just a laptop hard drive in there. What I'm worried about is if it get's too cold it won't be able to spin up.

Phatnoises official procedure for resetting the unit if it isn't recognized by the head unit is as follows.

1. Turn off the radio and take the key out
2. Disconnect the PhatBox / Kenwood Music Keg cable from the back of the unit
3. Fully insert the cartridge into the PhatBox / Kenwood Music Keg
4. Plug the cable into the back of the PhatBox / Kenwood Music Keg
5. The red and green lights should turn on
6. About 5 seconds later, both lights should be off and stay off
7. Turn on the radio (usually by turning the key to ACC)
8. Switch to CD changer mode
9. Wait for audio to begin

http://www.phatnoise.com/kb/index.ph..._v2&id=109&c=9

In other words, unplug it and plug it back in.

Thanks

[Beetlemania]

But your radio still works when you have to do that, right?

And if it's just a laptop hard drive, I wonder if there would be a way to get a bigger one modified for less than those designed for the system? The new drives cost more than I paid in the first place!

[silverspoiler]

I never even thought about the cold being a problem with my phatbox, and from my experience it hasn't been a factor. I didn't have any problems with it last year, even when I spent a week up in northern Ontario and it was -25 Celsius the entire time.

[Beetlemania]

Now that's cold!!!