Thread: Frozen (as in ice?) keypads???

I have a problem...and it looks like it's up to me to find the solution!! This week has seen temperatures between 17 to 24 every morning....until this week all 3 gates & keypads worked properly. Monday morning...the keypad on the 3rd gate was inoperable...was getting power but was not beeping when you entered the numbers, or opening the gate. My 1st and 2nd keypads are between buildings & sandwiched/buffeted if you will from the icy wind. The 3rd keypad sits at the edge of the property....has anyone had this problem??......disconnecting power & cold starting does not help.

By late afternoon, the temperatures rise and the keypad does work at about 2-3 pm! ..................
I have been told to leave the 3rd gate open as we have a business that has a unit on the corner by the gate and they come & go several times during the day, everyday. But it being the 8th of the month now, I don't feel totally comfortable allowing access to everyone via that gate. I was wondering if maybe someone else had tried an insulating wrap of some type??? If so...did it work???

Personally, being a new facility, I would want to just get on the phone & tell whoever installed it that they needed to find a way of making the keypad work in cold weather as the 1st day of winter isn't even here yet!!
We opened 3/19/10 surely these things are warrantied to work in the outside temps!!!

Appreciate ANY feedback!!

Pat, I would be looking at my gates and gate controller as the problem. Not sure what brand keypads your using. We have used Sentinel and PTI with no problems in temperatures as low as -20 deg.

I would be calling the keypad and gate manufacturer and the installer. I hope someone has a better suggestion.

Sorry for your problem and best of luck

Pat: I'd agree that your first step on equipment less than a year old would be to at least contact the installer and ask for possible solutions. They may fix it for free, they may say that the warranty period for install was shorter and that you need to pay for the fix, at which you at least know how you want to proceed.

One thing I thought of is that some of my camera enclosures have a thermal sensor in them that activates a fan above xx degrees and a small heat block below yy degrees. If you have someone mechanically inclined, you might be able to use one of those type of circuits in your keypad enclosure, assuming there is room to mount it and 12VDC or 24VAC that you could tap into to power it.

Originally Posted by JamestownStorage#8

I have a problem...and it looks like it's up to me to find the solution!! This week has seen temperatures between 17 to 24 every morning....until this week all 3 gates & keypads worked properly. Monday morning...the keypad on the 3rd gate was inoperable...was getting power but was not beeping when you entered the numbers, or opening the gate. My 1st and 2nd keypads are between buildings & sandwiched/buffeted if you will from the icy wind. The 3rd keypad sits at the edge of the property....has anyone had this problem??......disconnecting power & cold starting does not help.

By late afternoon, the temperatures rise and the keypad does work at about 2-3 pm! ..................
I have been told to leave the 3rd gate open as we have a business that has a unit on the corner by the gate and they come & go several times during the day, everyday. But it being the 8th of the month now, I don't feel totally comfortable allowing access to everyone via that gate. I was wondering if maybe someone else had tried an insulating wrap of some type??? If so...did it work???

Personally, being a new facility, I would want to just get on the phone & tell whoever installed it that they needed to find a way of making the keypad work in cold weather as the 1st day of winter isn't even here yet!!
We opened 3/19/10 surely these things are warrantied to work in the outside temps!!!

Appreciate ANY feedback!!

Something doesn't sound right with that. Your keypad should be able to handle that cold. What make is your system and how far away is the keypad from it's power source? Is your keypad also experiencing frozen rain or any type of snow or precip as well in these temps? My gut is saying install and if you having problems now they are only going to get worse and will not go away if not addressed. Since your new, I'd also get your installer and the manufacturer on it.

I'm speaking from similar experience.

Originally Posted by Madman

Something doesn't sound right with that. Your keypad should be able to handle that cold. What make is your system and how far away is the keypad from it's power source? Is your keypad also experiencing frozen rain or any type of snow or precip as well in these temps? My gut is saying install and if you having problems now they are only going to get worse and will not go away if not addressed. Since your new, I'd also get your installer and the manufacturer on it.

I'm speaking from similar experience.

No precipitation yet...just extremely cold in the a.m. It's a digigate system.
keypad is same distance from power source for gate 3 as gate 2 is .... I've left a message on the installer's voicemail...haven't heard anything yet.

At my old facility we had 2 gates & no problem like this for the 2+ years I was there.

Oddly enough, this was the same keypad that we had problems with when we opened and had the installers come back out.

Thanks for all the responses!

Originally Posted by JamestownStorage#8

No precipitation yet...just extremely cold in the a.m. It's a digigate system.
keypad is same distance from power source for gate 3 as gate 2 is .... I've left a message on the installer's voicemail...haven't heard anything yet.

At my old facility we had 2 gates & no problem like this for the 2+ years I was there.

Oddly enough, this was the same keypad that we had problems with when we opened and had the installers come back out.

Thanks for all the responses!

It should definetly be able to operate in those conditions. Chamberlain may have some solutions. Sometimes the power can be weak and then with a cold snap it makes things work harder.

Other than making some calls. You could temporarily troubleshoot it with one of those insulated lunchbags and foam cases. You can even cut out the keypad and speaker portion so it'll look decently appealing and won't hinder keypad function. This may assist in determining what the problem is at a low cost to troubleshoot.