I was wondering if any other V1 owners/users have ever experienced an over temp condition to where the unit just sits there and gives a beep every 2 seconds? Once the unit cooled off it was and is fine.
Yesterday here in Orlando there was rain in the forecast. As such I left my car cover off and had the V1 suction cup mounted to the windshield. After about 5 hours in the Florida sun I got in the car to go home. When I started the car the V1 went through the test patten and continued to beep once every 2 seconds. When I went to manually turn it off it was too hot to touch for more than a second. I grabbed a towel and turned it off and back on manually. The same thing happned again. Again using the towel I took the unit off the windshield and away from the sun. About half way home I tried it again and it was fine. This leads me to believe the unit had gotten to hot? This is probably just a Florida phenomenon, but has this ever happened to anyone else?

 

Wow... that's wierd. I've never experienced anything like this myself... and during work hours, the car sits in the sun.... strange...

 

NOPE, but mine is mounted up near the top of the windshield and is mostly in the shade.
I always use the front sun shade and the V1 has been in 95+ degree sun in my other car many times.

Shawn S

 

I've had mine for years but never experienced that. It has gotten hot but not too hot to touch. Of course now, with an all black car things might be different. Living in Philly I make it a practice never to leave it in a parked car (lost an original Escort that way) on the windshield. That probably helps extend its life too.

 

It's that FL sun dude! Take it off your windshield, & into the console during the day. My 8500(yes it's no V1) would overheat when in the hot car in my parking lot during the day. Having it in the console solved that problem.

 

That's a new on me ! Must be that deadly humidity in Florida........I don't miss it one bit !
Keep us posted with the out come........

V1 R U L E S ! :P :P :P :P

 

Seems like overheating causes temporary falsing on some radar detectors. We get a lot of sun in Colorado, and my old Whistler and new Passport 8500 will both begin to false on the Ka band if they've been in direct sunlight too long. The unit of course is very hot to the touch at that time.
If I think I'm going to have my car parked in the sun for a long time, then I take the RD off the windshield mount and stow it away. It is a bit troublesome, but this is a sensitive piece of equipment and that brutal sun beating down on it can't be good for its longevity.

 

The sun rays in FL are much stronger than in the Northeast. Wind chill isn't going to affect an electronic device but I think the more direct rays from the sunlight will cause an electronic device to exceed the air temp more quickly and higher. Perhaps?

 

I figured it was a Florida thing combined with a black on black car! As I mentioned above normally the car cover is on and I have not had my V1 or my 8500 over heat. However, this one day when rain was forecast I left the car cover off and in the June Florida sun I really think the V1 got too hot. When it got to the point to where I could touch it without getting burned it was fine. Next time when I don't have the car cover on I'll dismount it from the windshield.

 

You would think so, but... this tells a different story...


Max solar radiation in June over the US

SURPRISE – check out the NE vs. Florida!

http://rredc.nrel.gov/solar/old_data...tlas/serve.cgi



http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives...1057.Ph.r.html (for mad scientists)

And why it is mostly visible light getting in the car (ever wonder why UV sensitive sunglasses don’t get darker when inside a car???)

http://www.ucolick.org/~bolte/AY4/notes2/node9.html


BTW, if you look at the average over the entire year (winter storms and blocked sunlight etc, it's a bit different...)

http://www.4yoursolar.com/usa-map.htm

 

Ok, then how about Florida is closer to the equator and there by physically closer to the sun? There is more to the heat than just the radiation. Interesting statistics though! I'm glad I'm not in those red areas! Yikes!

 

Post this question on the V1 home page. Most dash boards with solar radiation get to about 95 c. This is worst case and only for a 30 min max time frame. These are mil specs which are always the worst possible. Ask Mike what his the operating specs are, usually 100 to 150 c is possible. I would say you have a component failure at hot temps only. I'll check Mike's web page to see if I can find anything.



Just pulled the spec sheet operating hot is 70c (158f) and storage is 85c (185f) your over heating your unit

Antenna type:
High-efficiency double-ridged horn
Operating frequencies:
10.525 GHz (X-band)
24.150 GHz (K-band)
33.4 GHz - 36.0 GHz (Ka-band)
13.45 GHz (Ku-band): not used in U.S. - to activate see How
to Reprogram V1
820 - 950 nanometers (Laser)
Power Requirements:
11.0-16.0 Volts DC negative ground
225 mA typical standby
425 mA maximum alarm condition
Dimensions:
4.5 in. L x 3.6 in. W x 1.0 in. H.
Weight:
6.4 ounces
Temperature Range:
Operating: -20°C to +70°C (-4°F to +158°F)
Storage: -30°C to +85°C (-22°F to +185°F)

 

Yes, as my sister in Florida will attest to...

However, the "greenhouse" effect of the glass in a car is so important, that you can have an ambient temperature of only 70-degrees outside and have the inside of a dark car (without sunshades) climb by 70+ degrees within an hour. So, that 70-degrees F, becomes 140-degrees F (and so on). The “how fast” and how hot it gets above “ambient” is largely determined by the “radiation!”

There is also the large water body surrounding Florida, and water is a great heat sink and weather moderator (well, to a point). Around Los Angeles, the beach areas (from being close to the water) have small swings in temperature. In the Valleys, where they are “cut-off” from the influence of the ocean, the temps can get down to low 30s at night and hit 120+ in the day time. The graph that I displayed is a “peak” reading not average for an area, so if you look at the RED zones, they typically have zero clouds and very little moisture in the air (among other factors).

You are quite correct about the general ambient temperature being a "factor"... However, here is something that I've noticed in all of my air-conditioned cars:

On hot days (90-degrees+) with heavy clouds, or in areas with the canyons blocking the light, I can get the car to cool on the lowest setting and I need to reset the thermostat (target temp) higher (it gets too cool)!.

AND

On warm days (80-degress) with a clear sky and no haze, I've had to bump the air conditioner up to 2 or 3 to keep cool and it takes MUCH longer to get the car cooled down.


The glass in a car works just like the glass they use on commercial solar collectors (as used for pool and water heating), it (the glass) lets visible light in, and keeps the "long wave" IR from "getting out". A car with the black dash and glass looks very similar to one of the solar pool heater assemblies (in basic design) (Well, the passengers, animals, and V1s get the heating, not some water… OUCH!)


It is interesting that most of the studies on kids in cars will mention the climb in temp relative to ambient temp AND we won't be visiting Florida in July or August (so, yes, point taken!)


“Hot Car Warning” (and in Canada – not exactly at the equator…)

http://www.safety-council.org/news/m...12-hotcar.html


Those reflective sunscreens work great for keeping the temp of the car down. Too bad mine are such a hassle to put up…

 

I don't know about that being worst case...

Check this out:

http://www.dashdesigns.com/shade.html


If the dash is getting to 210F without a shade in 95F heat, there are some possibilities for even more temp with a black case and heat does rise. There comes a point where equilibrium is reached, but unless the sun goes down, you can boil water on a dash. (We were working on one of those little window/fan/solar array coolers -- forget about that one...)

I was looking at the specs (you provided) and with a max-operating temp of 158-degrees F (not Celsius); it's NOT going to not be too happy with temps getting over 200-degrees F. And then it needs to get rid of its own heat…

RE: the operating temps for mil-spec parts – Hey, they are not cheap and even the military is turning to commercial items to cut costs.

"We're afraid a plane will fall on a playground," said Hartman. "It's getting to the point where we've got to protect ourselves."
The problem that Hartman and others call "parts abuse" has many in the $1 billion military-IC industry worried about potential liability if a plane crashes or a multibillion-dollar satellite fails. The concern is the latest twist in the Pentagon effort to promote the use of cheaper, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) ICs in weapons, satellites and other applications where lives are on the line.
"Using components in applications or environments [where] they were not intended can lead to component or system failure," National Semiconductor vice president Richard Cassidy warned. "National does not authorize the use of its products beyond the published data sheet limits." Cassidy added that National "will not be responsible for any component or system failure [deemed] inappropriate use of its product."
http://www.eetimes.com/news/97/972news/ic.html
(God help us…I just had to share…)


IMO, I just don't think a V1 or other detector sitting on or above a dash without a sunshade (or cover) is going to be too happy. Unless someone wants the unit to operate on Venus, why not just get a sunshade?

For anyone wanting to drive on Venus (j/k), here is a link for high temp semiconductor stuff:

The High Temperature Electronics Network

 

I dont have the V1 but i have had the problem recently with mine, now whenever i park in the sun, i just unclip it and put it on the floor board, seems to work fine now.