As I'm sure most of those in the lower 48 states of the US are aware - it has been cold!! With the onset of the cooler temperatures, I have noticed the dimmer problem on my empeg on cold mornings and afternoons - where the display changes brightness from dim to bright to dim to bright - until it is warm.

So, I read through the faq, and I also searched the forum and found a lengthy thread from earlier this year about the issue. From the info I gathered there - I think I'm going to attempt the capacitor fix.

I'm just curious if anyone else is seeing this issue now that its getting colder. And for those who have done the capacitor fix - how difficult is it?

I don't have the problem with a warm empeg - I have an mk2a. I didn't have this problem last year. This afternoon, I'm going to meddle with the headlights and the settings, I'm not sure if my installer hooked up tha headlight lead or not. I've never had a problem with setting the dimmer though, as described in that thread. I'm hoping that the capacitor will resovle this problem.

Thanks!

i can't speak to the difficulty of the job, as i had david fix my display when i sent the player in for service. however, i must say the 6-second video of him soldering the capacitor in place doesn't exactly look intimidating.

i had the dimmer problem at all temperatures, not just in cold weather. i also had the problem where changing dimmer settings via the menu resulted in somewhat random behavior -- sometimes brightness would go up, sometimes down, but eventually you'd get to where you wanted to be.

the capacitor fix has worked flawlessly. i definitely recommend the fix, it's nice to not have to fiddle with the settings all the time.

--dan.

Yep, my primary empeg started doing this again recently, about the same tile I pulled the ice scraper out of the trunk and moved it inside the car. I plan on getting the button LED kit someday soon, and will just get the problem fixed then.

I do need to check my backup for the problem before the warranty is up, as it's the one I want to keep unmodified and as close to new as possible.

i must say the 6-second video of him soldering the capacitor in place doesn't exactly look intimidating.

Keep in mind he makes it look easy. That's some SMALL stuff he's working with, there.

Gawd, sometimes I wish I lived in a place where it actually gets "cold". Cold here is like 50ºF. Not exactly chilling to the bone.

Typical Colorado Halloween:

Ya beat me Drakino:
Temperature: 35 º Dewpoint: 17 º
Barometer: 30.27 in and steady Wind: calm
Humidity: 48% Sunrise: 6:59 am
Visibility: Unlimited Sunset: 4:51 pm

New Orleans :
65°F
Mostly Cloudy
UV Index: 0 Minimal
Dew Point: 53°F
Humidity: 65%
Visibility: Unlimited miles
Pressure: 30.16 inches and falling
Wind: From the Northeast at 13 mph

Bah Humbug!

Edinburgh
9°C
Usually Cloudy
Dew Point: 8°C
Feels Like: 9°C
Humidity: 93%
Visibility: 4.2km
Wind: From the Northeast at 2 knots
Chance of rain: 60%

ie Blah weather

Hehehe, and my s/o was complaining about it being "too cold out here". sheesh

Yeah, I had the same problem. It's not that its a hard modifaction to do, you just have to be careful. It's really easy to break things and drop hot solder. If you are confident that you can solder two wires onto an IC, you could try to do it yourself. I would have to recommend sending it in for service as there may be other problems with your player that you aren't aware of (like the wrong value resistors being populated onto your board and the like). If you would send it in for repair, they would do there "check up" and see what else your player may need done to it... One thing I noticed after I installed the capacitor fix is that my Volume up and down lags when I hold the remote button in. Also, the cue forward and cue back take about 10 seconds of holding the buttons in until they actually start cueing through the song. I am not sure if that is because of the beta software of the cap mod I put in, but I am not taking it out again "just to check".

My advice to you would be send it in for repair, they are the experts and Im 99.9% sure they aren't going to cause harm to your player.... As for myself, I ALWAYS worry about dropping hot solder or brushing a component with the iron, or busting something like the display

Good luck and let me know what you wind up doing with your player...