Over the weekend it was a little warm here in SoCal, not super hot, but it got into the low 90's. And when I got in my truck to go somewhere I noticed that the numbers on my Gryphon's display were a lot lighter in color than usual, while the green backlight was still bright as ever.

Is this a common problem with the Edge/Gryphon? Is there anything I can do short of taking it out of the truck for the summer? One of the main reasons I bought the thing was for the gauges and it will suck if I can only use it half the year.

Anybody else have this problem? I know there are folks running them in hotter climates than I am, how do they fare in places like Texas and Arizona?

 

It's a common problem with anything liquid crystal. It will get to 103 here(yesterday) and mine turns completey black. As soon as the air conditioner gets going, it clears up.

 

Yeah, down here in Florida, mine has done it a few times. The first time it scared the crap out of me. It stayed that way for a while and I finally took it out of the truck over the weekend. I re-installed it and it was ok. I went and bought one of those windshield sun shades and use it when it is parked.

Like BlueJay said, mine does it still if it gets real hot, but goes away once the ac gets going. I even dedicated the driver air vent pointed up and under the edge pod for better cooling.

I was in the same boat as you wanting to pull it out, but enjoy the guages everyday and not half of the year as you said.

Get a windshield shade and you will be ok.

Later,
Devildog101

 

Yep. Mine does the same. I usually point the vent towards it for a bit and the LCD screen is all good. And from the looks of things, I'm not the only one.

 

yeah, welcome to the party partner, it helps if yer crack ya windows and park in the shade. But the temp will get ya sometime, it happens.

 

I haven't had that issue yet with mine. I have legal window tint, and use windshield shades almost everytime I park the truck. Those shades make a huge difference in temperature. I have black truck with black leather interior, and it just absorbs heat. If I forget to put those shades on, it's horrible.

 

Guess i should get a shade.

 

Just noticed that mine did it last week while I was on holidays. Truck gets a little warm inside and I can't leave the windows down due to a lot of dust in the air.

 

What would be the disadvantage of unhooking it everytime you parked for long 8+ hours a day.

 

Probably no disadvantage at all other than wear and tear on the connector. You'd have to remember to have the ignition ON and engine OFF, before plugging it back in. It seems like a lot of bother to me. I think If I was constantly seeing a wiped out screen, I'd take the unit out of the truck for the hot months, especially if I was just driving around town.

- Jack

 

For the most part my truck sits for a week or two at a time without being driven. I work to far away and must drive a gas friendlier car during the week. If you unhook it do you have to put it back to stock each time and then reprogram it when driving again.

 

No! Repeat - NO! Once a program is loaded into the PCM, the Gryphon/Edge simply becomes a PCM monitor. You can leave it connected, remove it, whatever, and the tune stays in the PCM.

But - BEFORE you hook it back up, you MUST have the ignition ON (engine off) so that the Gryphon/Edge can read data from the PCM to initialize itself. (When you leave it hooked up, there is a small "keep alive" current draw on the battery, about 0.05 amps, that maintains this information). You can think of this as an "instant on" feature.

If you leave your truck parked that long though, I'd recommend getting a "Battery Minder". (I bought mine at Camping World). It is more than a "trickle charger" - it has circuitry that desulfates your battery while it keeps it at a full charge state, without overcharging it.

- Jack

 

Thank you my good man. Very good tips to know before I install mine next week.