Metal detector and the heat

[altereddezignz]

what is everyone thoughts on leaving the detector in a vehicle during the summer months. I take mine t work everyday in a soft case. Do you think the heat in my car is an issue? Hard to leave the windows cracked bc of the dumb random rain we get at times.

 

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[atprolen]

Great question hope someone has input

 

[altereddezignz]

Great question hope someone has input

I have thought about this time and time again but i keep going back to all the components that are in the auto that are subject to the heat daily and do not fail but this is not meant for a car lol.

 

[penzfan]

I wrap the coil in a thick beach towel when they have to stay in the Suburban for any length of time.

 

[RobRieman]

Keep it out of the direct sun and it will last just like all the other electronics that are in the billions of vehicles in the world. Direct sun through a window has some wicked power if it's aimed right.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Hello altereddezignz,

If I have to leave the detector in the car during the summer months, I like Penzfan wrap the coil with a "white" towel and go one step further; by also wrapping the control box with a "white" towel. If it's going to be very warm, I remove the RnB-3100 LI-ion battery pack and take it with me. Seems to work for me.

Regards,

Doc

 

[dogteam]

I'm guessing that repeated cooling and heating could eventually crack solder connections.
I'm having a problem with my new Technetics, every once in a while (well, twice now...) it will just go wild and beep like crazy...the only commonality was that I had just retrieved it from a "warm", but not hot, vehicle.

 

[airscapes]

The main component that is effected by heat is the LCD screen. Coil would be second as it is all held together with epoxy and expansion and contraction as well has heat and cold can effect the coil winding' resistance as well as spacing . I have experienced issue with cold temperatures below 50 degrees which will make the coils on my Coinmaster GT both stock and NEL over load at max sensitivity. It is fine during warmer weather. Another issue with cold for the GT is the threshold is non adjustable and when the machine get cold the threshold goes silent. So keep it out of direct sun as been said and cover it if you can. Don't store it in a no condition location in the winter.

If you have never seen the inside of a coil here is what the whites 950 looks like from and XLT

 

[OWK]

The trunk typically runs a lot cooler than the passenger compartment, on most cars.

 

[altereddezignz]

I am going to do some testing to see what are of the car is the coolest and what i could possibly do to keep the detector from reaching high temps when left in a car for long periods of time.

Thanks for all the input so far.

 

[Fletch88]

I leave mine in floorboard in back of extended cab truck in a bag out of direct sunlight with all 4 windows cracked. The trunk of cars can get very, very hot in summer months since there is no ventilation or insulation in metal trunk lid.

 

[altereddezignz]

I drive a cavalier to work every day b/c it gets 33 mpg and i drive a little over 30 miles one way a day so i ahve to deal with a car. The cracking the windows is not a bad idea other than the crazy random Arkansas rains that come out of nowhere without warning.

 

[Terry Soloman]

I think it was the summer of 2003, and it was 115-degrees in the shade outside the Arrowhead bar in Congress, Arizona, west of Rich Hill. A greenhorn pulled into the parking lot with a Garrett Ace 250 on the gun rack in the back window of his truck, turned off the AC and the truck, went inside and drank beer for three-hours. When he came back out, he saw us all bunched up around the back of his truck looking at his melting metal detector coil and plastic housing.

 

[altereddezignz]

I just talked to a friend that has been hung for years and years. He and another also have owned a detecting store for years also. They say not to let the detector reach over a temp of 120 degrees. Doing this will degrade a lot of the circuitry.

 

[luvsdux]

I usually have my detector(s) cased, on the floor out of the direct sun with the windows open a bit and park in shady areas if possible. So far I've never taken one out that felt more than mildly warm this way even though the vehicle's interior is often quite warm.
luvsdux

 

[Jackalope]

The CTX has a storage temperature range up to 150F, according to the manual. I would assume that is not in DIRECT sunlight, which could fry the machine.

Probably a car trunk might be OK. Might want to test it with a thermometer first with the car parked in the sun.

 

[altereddezignz]

Not sure where you live at but here as i have tested over 3 weeks recording the temps outside, temp with actual heat index, interior front seat temp, rear seat floor temp and trunk temp. I am from Arkansas so we get pretty warm in summer with a lot of humidity so we have higher heat index temps. On a 95 degree day in a green car the temp inside the trunk is normally over 150. Now i had a friend that allowed me to use broken AT pro headunit and the reading inside that head was almost 25 degrees higher so well over 150 degrees. Needless to say is unless you have cooler outside temps year round i wouldn't recommend leaving your detector in your care on a normal basis. I dont think occasionally it will hurt it.

 

[adamBomb]

In general, no it is not good. It is not good to leave any electronics in a hot car because it will destroy the lithium batteries, glue, melt/bend plastic, etc. If I had to I would definitely try to park in the shade and use one of those sun shades which can leave your car like 20 degrees cooler. Having said that people put electronics in the heat all the time and they are just fine. Take an iphone for example - if you leave it in your hot car all day the screen with be black/dim until it cools down and you probably just shortened the battery life but the device will be fine. Then again you only use that phone for about 1.5-2 years...if you plan to keep you detectors for a while I would just avoid it. Water destroys electronics a lot more than a hot car Maybe an electrical engineer will chime in here...

 

[RustyGold]

I would wrap it in a white towel then use those freezable bags and wrap those around the towels over the sensitive parts.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

In Texas , I wouldnt do it...Im guilty of leaving my (old) AT PRO in the car in the back, and noticed that the screen started separating and ultimately leaked. I have a CTX now, so that thing will go between me and the wifey every night