How do you keep your detector cool when not using it?

[mdakin]

So, I find myself wondering what long term damage I may be doing by keeping my detector in my car at all times. Is anyone else doing this? My car sits out in the parking lot at work all day long, and on hot days I know it gets burning hot in my car. I have a Prius, so it's not in a trunk, but it is in the back with a privacy visor pulled over it. It technically is in the shade but I know what my car feels like when I get into it. I just had to send my X-1 Probe back to be replaced, one thing that happened in the last 3 week or so is the probe somehow acquired a curve to it, presumably because it was so hot the plastic started to melt.

My house is pretty small, and there is no real place for me to keep it in-between hunts. If I bring it inside it is exposed to a curious 6 year old, and 2 year old. The 6 year old I bring out hunting so is more apt to play around with it.

I can't really leave it in my garage, as it most likely will get just as hot in there as it does in my car.

I think I remember seeing a post somewhere that someone created a storage system with a large cooler, I'm thinking about doing that.

What do you all do if anything to keep your detector in moderate temperatures. In theory, if you beach hunt for 4 hours, you're exposing it to extreme heat as well.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Matt

[del]

hey Matt i think your really asking for trouble if you leave it in the car during those summer days . the heat with no circulating air can't be good for the electronics and i know i've seen a few guys have their lcd screens ruined by to much exposed sunlight not to mention if someone actually spots the machine and decides to break in and take it .

Dan

[jkress]

I agree, the heat reached in a closed car will get pretty intense during the summer.
Although your garage might be hot as well, it will be cooler than your car.
Good luck. thumbsup01

[mdakin]

Well, I just took a digital thermometer and placed it in my car, in the trunk area and the back seat. Temp peaked at 122 degrees F. Ouch, definitely need to find an alternative solution.

[SHIMMER77502]

I was told by a detector shop owner to NEVER leave a machine in a car or garage - not even the pinpointer. I too live in a small house (1400 sq ft). I finally went to Home Depot and bought coat hooks, put them up in my hallway and looped bungee cords on them. The cords support my machines. Fold the coil down and it takes up about 5 inches of space. It works for me anyway.....

[mdakin]

I got you beat by 50 feet, I live in a 1450 sq ft colonial/cape built circa 1860, it has no closets, and really doesn't have a hallway. The basement is a stone foundation and floods when it rains, so I can't even store stuff in there.

[del]

hey Matt you need a man-cave like George and i have , a place for all your detecting needs. ;) George has a nice finished area in his basement and i'm cleaning out an old Bomb-shelter for mine .

[mdakin]

My man cave used to be my garage, now I can't even take out my Harley to go for a ride there's so much kid junk in there. Forget about storing the metal detector! :)

I have nothign but my car and the world I go to with my headphones on, nose to the ground, finding cool items!

[bob_e99]

I was planning to keep mine in the trunk because I like having accessible if I come across a site that looks interesting but I guess that I'll have to re-think that idea.

:(

Thanks.

[coinnut]

Under the bed lol Well that is if the misses allows it ;) Other than that, I would choose the garage over the car. Other things get left in a garage like aerosol cans and they don't explode. But aerosol cans in a car? :thinkingabout: I wouldn't try it :shocked01: So I'm figuring the temperature and air circulation in a garage is way better than a sealed up car.

[Epi-hunter]

To be frank, this is why I don't buy used detectors.

NEVER EVER keep them in a car in the summer, to temperatures exceeding 120 degrees. For any amount of time.

Detecting on a beach might get very warm, but would not exceed the extreme temperatures of a parked car in the heat. There must be some other answer. I don't care how small the house is... hook them in the garage somehow. Much better choice.

[RobW]

Mine is always in the trunk of the car, along with a change of clothes (generally) so that if I canbreak away I can. I've never had a problem in all these years...now I probably just jinxed myself.

oh wait there was that time about 12 yrs ago when I had a hatch back and someone saw the 2 detectors in my car and broke in and stole them both >{

But I never had any heat issues

[mdakin]

Well, to start, I put my detector equipment in the garage before I left for work this morning. I replaced it with med/large sized cooler chest.

Put the thermometer in the car back seat for 15 minutes, 117 degrees F.

Next put it in the cooler in the back trunk/hatch back area for 30 minutes or so, 120 degrees F.

The cooler was too tall for me to pull the security visor over the cooler, but I'm thinking that wouldn't make much of a difference.

So, the whole cooler in the car technique seems to be debunked.


I think I’m going to go to the Minelab website and see if they give any threshold levels for their equipment. I build computers, and the CPU’s North and South bridge processors can take a bit of heat without any damage.

[dave in iowa]

I did just once , , when i got it out the screen wouldnt show , after awhile it did , not a good idea to leave it in the car , thieves and heat .....

[z118]

I've left all my detectors in my trunk all summer for as long as I've had them. I've yet to notice any ill effects. I don't think an enclosed trunk gets to be as hot as inside the car itself.

[aloldstuff]

I also have always kept my detector(whites prizmIV) in the trunk. Never had an issue. Now I have a V3i and that is always brought into the house after each use. So the way my life goes, the V3i is now at the electronic hosptial(white's) getting fixed. Go figure........

[steve in so az]

Mount the detector on the wall where kids cannot reach. steve in so az

[RobW]

I also have always kept my detector(whites prizmIV) in the trunk. Never had an issue. Now I have a V3i and that is always brought into the house after each use. So the way my life goes, the V3i is now at the electronic hosptial(white's) getting fixed. Go figure........


That's because you babied it too much...it's high maitenence...like my daughter...feel sorry for whatever guy tries dating muchless marrying her lol

[aloldstuff]

Rob, I firmly believe that your future son-in-law will be living off of you anyway

[hunter1]

Whats the cooler gona do for you, Unless you ice it down like beer. You are beating a dead horse. proper care for the detector is not to store it in a car, period. Pick a nice place in your garage hang it from hooks or hangers out of the way. it will last you a lot longer by doing this. good hunting >:tongue:

[yazoo]

Keep it in cooler or those big freezer bags used for shopping with dry ice packs. Yazoo

[russellt]

break that thing down AND keep it in your sock drawer.. crimany

[CyberSage]

Actually an oversize cooler, or cooler that would hold the coil(s) and the electronics/display of the detector would be a better alternative to just putting the detector in the trunk or seat. Open the lid at night, and close it during the day. The thermal cooling properties of a cooler work at any temperature, even if you use the reverse logic. It will keep the contents warmer when its cold. The key is the starting temperature and the average duration of exposure. I would not recommend icing it down, but a small blue ice enclosed in a zip lock bag would help on really hot days. Without the blue ice try this... Put a kitchen thermometer in the proposed cooler and check it just after the hottest part of the day. See what the temp is. If it is less than say 90 degrees then you have your answer.

[n3umw]

I works for an electronics company, some facts;

Recommended maximum *operating* temperature for most consumer electronics including digital cameras is about 105F and recommended storage is a maximum of 120F.

Cars in the sun on a 100F day, reach 160F with the windows closed. Car trunks are slightly cooler (140F).

Car radios last longer than the cars they are installed within.

LCD displays may not work properly when heated over 50C (122F) until they cool down.

All batteries lose their charge faster when hot, even when not in use.

Extreme heat may soften the potting compound in the detector coil and let the wires in the coil shift affecting the coil's performance.

Plastic can melt at what temperatures? At the low end, PVC (polyvinyl chloride), melts at 212 °C (about 414 °F). Teflon®, which we use to coat cookware, is polytetrafluoroethene - PTFE, and it melts at 327 °C (about 621 °F). Teflon wire does not melt at soldering temperatures.

Also;
An empty plastic cooler (Blue Coleman, 9-qt, $10) in the trunk. After a day in the sun, temperature inside the ice chest (no ice) in the trunk was about 15 degrees cooler.

A padded cooler (6-can, $8) inside the plastic ice chest is 25-30 F lower than that inside the passenger compartment. Even on days when the outside temperature was 105, the inner compartment remained below 105 F as long as it cooled down at night into the 70's.

For alkaline batteries (the most common kind of household battery), putting them in the freezer will extend their shelf life by less than 5%. And cold batteries can't be used immediately -- you have to wait until they've warmed up to room temperature first. If you need those batteries for a flashlight in an emergency, this could prove problematic. When stored at room temperature, alkaline batteries retain 90% of their power, and the average shelf life of alkaline batteries is five to seven years.

For NiMH and Nicad batteries (often used for electronics), storing them in the freezer might be more practical. These kinds of batteries lose their charge after a few weeks when kept at room temperature. But they'll retain a 90% charge for months if you store them in the freezer. Just like alkaline batteries, you'll need to wait until they've warmed up before using them.

But;
Printed circuit (PC) boards and components are heated to 500F to melt the solder used to attach the components.

After the components are attached, epoxy may be added to the completed PC board assembly and is cured at 260F for one hour.

The finished units containing the PC boards are cycled with power applied at 130F for 24 hours. This helps to weed out components that are likely to fail (infant mortality).

Some tips;
Heat OR light degrades plastics. Also direct sunlight can increase the temperature seen by your device. Always keep your detector out of direct sunlight. Keep it in the trunk, in a case, or throw a towel over it.

Heat will shorten the lifespan of your electronics but it will not be significant (less than 5% at 140F).

LSD (low self discharge) rechargable batteries (like Eneloop) retain their charge for extended periods. Unlike regular rechargables, they can retain most of their charge for 3 years at room temperature. Keep a set of these in your pack for backups!

Hope this helps!

[coinnut]

Very nice writeup. Thanks for that. thumbsup01 The first part says it all. lol It gets really, really hot inside a car. Too hot for most electronics.