Greg Johnson from Beaver Creek has had several TAG-Heuer HL2-31 failures due to the interior of the lenses clouding and obscuring the transmit and receive diodes. This problem occurs in all types of cells where the angle of the sun is low and enters the cell elements. Imagine the action of a magnifying glass and an ant. The TAG cells have sealed elements that do not allow the smoke to dissipate. Regretable TAG cells cannot be repaired here and must be sent back to Switzerland. You should try to arrange the use of your cells so that sun does not enter them directly. Try rerouting your cables so the tx/rx unit is facing east and not west. You might want to construct a sun shield out of plastic or an old Coors can. Experience on the World Cup led TAG engineers to supply the timing teams with snap on plastic shields to circumvent this and the snow buildup problem.

As an aside. All ALGE cells have easily repairable components and are fixed right here in our shop. All ALGE cells made after 1991 have a built in extendable sun shield.

Originally posted 2 Nov 2000 by Fred Patton

Someone suggested taping a Hot Shot to the cell. It will keep it a couple of degrees warmer than the envoronment and reduce fogging.
I plan to test this at my next foggy race.
You will need to shake up the Hot Shot occasionally to keep it warm.

I dont think that the temperature is an issue. It is more that the sunlight through the lens is cooking the materials inside and the smoke residue is deposited on the inside of the lens. Much like the windows of a smokey bar get the stuff left on it even after the smoke hase cleared. I have TAG cells that have had this problem also. Three of mine have been in Switzerland since November!

DBH Racing has developed a new sun shield designed specifically for TAG photocells. A photo of the prototype will be available soon! This is currently being tested with both NEW and USED TAG cells and results will be published after the 30 day test period is over.

DBH Racing

One week into the test and the new cells are showing no sign of clouding
Digi pics coming soon.

Ah. America, I love it. Thanks for taking the time to create a product that the manufacturer should have made 10 years ago. I am sure it will be much nicer that the bent cardboard that we usually see.