[risdo]

OK, so here's a weird one... my R/T is equipped with the regular Uconnect 130 stereo with the remote USB input.

During the recent cold snap, we had two cold mornings, one was about 6 degrees, and the next one was about 12 degrees. (I'm in North Carolina)

On both mornings, I warmed up the car, hit the USB music, and it would play for about 10 seconds and quit... just freeze up. The radio and CD player still worked. It has worked fine since.

Anybody else have this happen? It's not really a problem - it will be another 20 years before we get cold like that again - but I was just curious...

 

[3boystoys]

Cold bits.:icon_eek: My Ipod connection gets a little flakey sometime too when I first plug it in. I have to disconnect and reconnect and that generally cures it.

 

[risdo]

I tried unplugging it and putting it back in. It never did work in the mornings. My drive to work is about 15 minutes.

Both days, when I drove it at lunch, it worked again. I thought cold was GOOD for electronics...

 

[xsdbs]

Very well may not have been an issue with the radio and Uconnect but with the USB thumb drive instead. There's still plenty of cold days (at least here in MI) this year, I'd have a 2nd thumb drive loaded with music and if it happens again, try the other thumb drive.

OK, so here's a weird one... my R/T is equipped with the regular Uconnect 130 stereo with the remote USB input.

During the recent cold snap, we had two cold mornings, one was about 6 degrees, and the next one was about 12 degrees. (I'm in North Carolina)

On both mornings, I warmed up the car, hit the USB music, and it would play for about 10 seconds and quit... just freeze up. The radio and CD player still worked. It has worked fine since.

Anybody else have this happen? It's not really a problem - it will be another 20 years before we get cold like that again - but I was just curious...

 

[stevewhite]

yes, we have seen it in very cold condition, screen will not come on, sometime doesnt work at all
Luke

 

[ceri]

What's happening is the connections are contracting in the cold weather and no longer making good electrical contact with one another. In the case of a dead screen it's the connection behind the screen (which is about 3"x1" with a bunch of pins). With a USB it could be the actual thumb drive connection, or it could be one further up the cord inside the guts of the car. Anywhere you've got aluminum in contact with copper or some other material they're going to swell and contract at different rates the further away from room temperature you get.

Unfortunately that means there's probably no fixing it unless you find the culprit, cut off the connector, and solder them together. Like you said though, you'll probably never see temps that low again fo the life of the car so it's probably not worth messing with.

 

[risdo]

That sounds very plausible. But, yeah, it'll be a long time before we see temps like that again.

I was really just more curious about it than anything... it has worked perfectly since the temps went back to normal.

 

[xsdbs]

Am I missing something here? risdo mentioned having an "RES" radio and that it would not play the USB audio when in the lower digits of cold weather. But the radio itself & the CD worked fine. I don't see anything about the screen being blacked out are not on at all. But there are comments about 'dead screen". The RES radio does not have a separate screen, it's part of the radio chassis itself. Also the RES has 2 connectors on it, (1) is a 22 pin gray connector approximately 1 3/4" x 3/4" which contains the power, ground, CAN BUS,speakers etc, the other connector is a 10 pin connector which contains the audio out from the Uconnect module to the radio.
I still stand by the issue being more with the thumb drive than the Uconnect module itself. If the cold temp was an issue with Uconnect, then think about how many complaints there would be from people on the East Coast, Alaska, Canada, Germany etc. Not to mention that you'd be able to Google the problem and see a lot of people with the issue.

 

[risdo]

My radio just has an LED readout. But, yes, like I said, the radio and CD player worked normally.

I do keep 2 different thumb drives in the car - one for me when I'm alone (hard rock, etc) and another one with softer music for when my wife is in the car. I tried them both, and they did the same thing- played for about 10 seconds, then locked up.

 

[ceri]

Am I missing something here?

I don't think so. stevewhiteparts mentioned dead screens so I included that when I was offering a description of the situation.

I suspect this is a "manufacturing tolerances" problem due to wild temperature changes causing the metal to swell and contract, therefore opening the electrical connection.

The connector I'm talking about isn't easily accessible. It's behind the "faceplate" if you want to call it that. Here's a picture of my old 130 RES:

That connector may not be firmly seated in the case of a blacked out screen on a cold day. I've seen that problem come up a few times on here.

Somewhat unrelated to the black screen issue is the USB not working issue.

Here's a picture of where the center console USB port's internal wiring connects to the RES 130s wire. It's in front of the shifter in an automatic, toward the drive side, and not easily accessible without removing the center console:

If these pieces have swollen due to rapid temperature changes then they may not be getting a great connection, but that's just one possible culprit. The plug itself (as I believe you were throwing your hat in for) might be the problem or the 22-pin bundle behind the deck. Finally, the thumb drive might have been dropped or stepped on accidentally and the cold weather finished the job. It's hard to say for sure, but if the common variable is abnormally cold temperatures and it works fine on a warmer day, my money was on a poorly machined connector contracting.

 

[xsdbs]

ceri,
thanks for the pictures and explanation of the connectors that you had mentioned previously. I don't know what the temp range that the radio works within, and yes temps can cause havoc with connections. There are 2 issues going on with this system. The led only displayed radio display I don't really think is the cause of the thumb drive not working. The reason for this thought is because the USB audio is picked up thru the USB connector then to the Uconnect module (which has a temp range of -40c - +85c) then the audio is sent from the module to the radio thru the 10 pin connector at the radio. My question would be: did the thumb drive show that it was in use (the lighting on the TD itself) and also was the trim bezel around the USB connector lit up?
I'm still thinking that the TD was outside it's operating temp which on most TD's is about 0c - 45c (32f - 113f).
risdo mentioned having 2 TD's and tested both but also mentioned that they were in the car, so I'd be curious about taking them into the house when not in use. I guess though the temps that he experienced this issue at is not normal in his region.
Out of curiosity, what brand TD was being used? Were the 2 of them the same?