GPS left on dashboard

[Daffy D]

GPS was placed in its bracket in the windshield and left in the sun.

The battery overheated and exploded !

This also applies to Cell phones, tablets, digital cameras, and other devices that use lithium batteries.

You think this may be a reason why the US Postal Service will not ship electronic devices that contain lithium batteries any longer?

[WarpSpeed]

Geeeez!! Nice info! I've left mine up but the screen becomes inoperable due to the heat so I cool it in front of the a/c vent but now I take it down. Having seen this I feel lucky, bad news..

[giddyup]

Not just US post, Australia post won't send items with lithium batteries either.

[Woodsie888]

I'd heard those GPS things were hot stuff, now I see why.

[T_Dog]

High energy density batteries (such as LiPo technology) are popular with radio controlled (RC) helicopter and fixed wing pilots, and the RC forums are filled with shops, homes, and vehicles burned from these batteries deciding to short out. It may have had nothing to do with the temperature as the dielectric distances and the conductor thicknesses are so small. That said, I could see how getting hot in the sun would flex the battery and cause a short to occur. I have had two short out, but luckily they were both sitting on a cement floor.

[tifino]

another factor compounded by the leaving a gps attached to the window, is the suction cup.

the cups deteriorate rather quickly when constanlty exposed to the UV.

who's to know that a gps/battery could have exploded, not just by being hot, but by the impact on the floor or console, because the suctioncup either failed opr the heat negated the vacuum in the suction cup?.

wouldn't really be any hard evidence I suppose?, after everything has gone plastic-melt-soft in the fire...

[noahvail]

uhhmmmm...you might want to take a look at this article in the Snopes.com hoax buster/urnan legend site http://www.snopes.com/horrors/techno/gpsfire.asp

[tifino]

thanks for the Snopes link there - @ noahvail

that saved me from checking the pics' origins out with Tineye.com

[OZEMADE]

another factor compounded by the leaving a gps attached to the window, is the suction cup.

the cups deteriorate rather quickly when constanlty exposed to the UV.

who's to know that a gps/battery could have exploded, not just by being hot, but by the impact on the floor or console, because the suctioncup either failed opr the heat negated the vacuum in the suction cup?.

wouldn't really be any hard evidence I suppose?, after everything has gone plastic-melt-soft in the fire...

I am sure that what ever GPS you purchase that has to be fitted to the windscreen by suction cap or other means, tells you what temperatures the device can handle when attached. I know hundreds of people that use all types of GPS devices and they live in real hot climates, never heard of them having a problem.

If there was a problem with the devices mentioned, it was probably with the wiring as they seem to be a fitted GPS in the console/dash.

[tifino]

@aussiemade...the problem of the suction cup dropping off the windscreen due to the higher temps, can be averted somewhat by installing the suction cup when the glass is already hot.

Likewise viceversa, if the gps suction cup is placed, say at night (cooler), or in the aircon garage, the temp difference between that static environment, and that of the subsequent middle of the day heat, lead to things falling...

For the Device itself I fashioned a little 'shade umbrella' shield, for my Nuvi.

I used a supermarket black plastic meat tray. Cut, trimmed, and silastic'd it to the Nuvi's Bracket.

Black might sound 'backwards' but that choice meant less reflections of the assembly interfering with the view out the windscreen driving. The 'shade' is situated to allow a 5mm minimum air-gap to allow airflow around the gps.

The colour black vs lighter made no temp' difference between them. Lighter colour was not chosen as there was excessive reflections of the 'shield' in the windscreen:

In regards to longer life, I still have my old clear after-market sourced suction cups, which over time went quite brown, almost like the shade of my avatar.

Un-used: after UV exposure: