Overheating with Navigation

[starnesc]

Has anyone had problems with their Moto Droid overheating while navigating and charging. I was on a trip for about 2 hours. I noticed that it really was not charging so I went out to my battery app and it showed the temp being 135. I immediately unpluged the phone, shut it off and took the battery out to hold up to the AC vent. I cooled it to below 90 then plugged it back in and it started to charge to completion(100%) without navigation turned on. The problem is if it is not plugged in the screen blanks out without going into the settings to change it. So I removed SETCPU just in case that was the cause and I tried it on my way home from work(20min). When I got home it was at about 118 to 120. So my question is has anyone else experienced this navigating while charging heat thing? Should I be worried about that high of a temperature? Also would you happen to know at what temp your phone fails to charge anymore because of the heat? Thanks in advance for your input.

 

[chrlswltrs]

I recently took a 6 hour trip, my charger was working fine. I knew my phone was getting hot in my dock because it shut itself off and I felt it when I turned it back on. It shut itself off 1 more time during the trip, but I never checked the temperature, and I'm not sure what temperature it shuts itself off at. This happened about 2 months ago and I have not had any problems charging my phone since then. Hopefully this is an issue that gets fixed in the next Droid or it doesn't happen in other android phones. I drove cross country with my iPhone using Navigation and it never over heated.

 

[Inphosys]

I was just having this conversation with a friend over the weekend. He fried his battery in the same scenario you stated above. (Long road trip - 4 hours, Google Maps, Pandora, while being plugged in to the car charger, in the windshield car dock). The Verizon rep told him that the quick charger shouldn't be plugged in for more than 1 hour because there is the possibility that this could happen. I think what we are starting to see here is the fact that the hot summer sun is starting to become more intense and therefore have a stronger affect on our black colored Motorola Droid and black colored car dock. They're just magnets for the intense rays!

I too have driven cross country with my Droid plugged into the car charger the entire way. But it was from Virginia to Washington State and it was January with overcast skies the entire way and rain/snow.

Oh, I think I got side-tracked a little. My friend took his Droid, car charger and battery into tech support. They tested the charger, said it was OK. They gave him a brand new battery and sent him on his merry way. Told him not to leave it plugged into the charger for too long.

Hope this helps!

 

[Chillout]

Ive never had my droid heat up while charging, in the car or otherwise unless it was exposed to the sun in which case I make sure it is not as a rule of thumb.

While using the turn by turn navigation while traveling last month I did notice that it ran noticeably hotter and generally speaking if Im doing a lot of multitasking it will run hotter, but never anywhere near as hot as you mentioned.

 

[sooper_droid12]

Yes, my phone has heated up during charging and navigation. I just let it be. I think this is just the nature of the beast, receiving GPS signal constantly, while pulling data to do maps, charging and having the screen on 100% of the time. I don't see how it WOULDN'T get hot. Batteries are replaceable.

 

[starnesc]

The interesting thing about it was that my battery was almost charged when I started the trip. It charged up to full then the charge icon went away. After that it would discharge down to about 80% and the charge light still did not come on. I unplugged it and plugged it back in to start charging again. However, I guess with it being so hot, it continued to discharge down to about 30%. At that point is where I shut it off and held it in front of the AC for like 5 minutes. After that it was cool and I turned it back on with nothing running and the screen off. It charged back up to full. I used my TomTom GPS for the remainder of the trip.

On a side not I was using an old ROM from the DroidMod folks. Yesterday I loaded Bugless Beast and I navigated home once again and the temps seem to be much better. When I got home it was only at about 105 which I would assume would be a normal working temp while navigating. It will be interesting to try it on a trip now.

 

[JackT]

I recently drove 3 days of 16 hours, 10 hours, and 8 hours and had no problems with my phone. I used Navigation the entire time and made phone calls over BT and it was plugged in using the Motorola car charger the whole time. My phone was hot at the end of each trip, but it never turned off and the charger would let the battery drain some and then recharge it (I believe that is what the charger is supposed to do).

 

[starnesc]

Just an update on a trip I took for about 4 hours. Had the GPS going for the whole trip. Started off up in the middle of the window in the sun. Watched as the temps started to rise and charging started to fail. The charge light was on but the battery continued to dwindle as the temps rose. I finally at 139 degrees to try something different. We were heading somewhat tward the sun so I attached the dock on my side window close to the front corner where I have an AC vent. I pointed it right on the backside of the droid in the dock. Noticed almost immediately that the temps were falling. It got down to about 105 to 109 all according if the sun was on it or whether it was partially shaded by the door jam. Also after having done this the battery slowly climbed to a full charge and pretty much stayed that way for the remainder of the trip. I am not sure at what temp it stops charging yet but there is definately something this heat/charging thing. So I guess if I am going to use it as a GPS on trips that will drain the battery, I will have to try and keep it cool.

 

[drowe]

Just an update on a trip I took for about 4 hours. Had the GPS going for the whole trip. Started off up in the middle of the window in the sun. Watched as the temps started to rise and charging started to fail. The charge light was on but the battery continued to dwindle as the temps rose. I finally at 139 degrees to try something different. We were heading somewhat tward the sun so I attached the dock on my side window close to the front corner where I have an AC vent. I pointed it right on the backside of the droid in the dock. Noticed almost immediately that the temps were falling. It got down to about 105 to 109 all according if the sun was on it or whether it was partially shaded by the door jam. Also after having done this the battery slowly climbed to a full charge and pretty much stayed that way for the remainder of the trip. I am not sure at what temp it stops charging yet but there is definately something this heat/charging thing. So I guess if I am going to use it as a GPS on trips that will drain the battery, I will have to try and keep it cool.

I did the same thing last week on a trip to the beach. On the way home I got a $4 vent mount from Walmart, mounted it in that and it was nice and cool all the way home.

 

[jackburnt]

Could you link the vent mount? I'm 99% that's my issue from this thread: http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/80162-1000-ma-not-enough-gps.html

I'm going to a conference Tuesday (Educause in Atlanta if anyone's going!) and want to use it to navigate.

 

[growler13]

Just the other day I was just going across town and it got super hot just sitting in my lap, I couldn't have been using it for more than fifteen. I took setcpu down to 500 and that helped a little but it was still hotter than I feel comfortable a device being

 

[inssane]

I have SetCPU at 800 on charger (I keep it on charger in car dock too), instead of the normal ondemand 1200. My failsafe profile is 550 over 136.
I keep temp monitor running every 60 seconds in my top bar so I can watch it in the car.
In the sun and using navigation the other day I got up to 154F!
I think it's the Bekit kernel running hotter than the P3, but I get better battery life.
It's not uncommon to get to 138-142 in the car with Navi or Pandora on a regular basis.

I don't trust the vent mount since the phone is heavy, although I do have one in case it gets too too hot and I run the AC.
Nick

 

[drowe]

Could you link the vent mount? I'm 99% that's my issue from this thread: http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/80162-1000-ma-not-enough-gps.html

I'm going to a conference Tuesday (Educause in Atlanta if anyone's going!) and want to use it to navigate.

You can get a generic cell phone vent mount at Walmart, K-mart, a lot of car washes, etc. Any one that will hold it. Amazon also has some Garmin vent mounts with the ball that will hold the car dock. I don't have a link, but they run about $5.

 

[jackburnt]

I may still have one from my old phone. I dunno if my vents are set up to fit it though.

 

[skunkpbguy]

Simplest cure? REMOVE the battery and just use the 12V of your car. Ta-da! That should cure any battery issues on long road trips.

 

[inssane]

I misunderstood - my CPU was 154F - battery probably wasn't far off.

 

[UBRocked]

Could you link the vent mount? I'm 99% that's my issue from this thread: http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/80162-1000-ma-not-enough-gps.html

I'm going to a conference Tuesday (Educause in Atlanta if anyone's going!) and want to use it to navigate.

I actually just posted these in another thread discussing the monitoring of process temps that diverged into the topic of keeping your Droid cool in the car.

I use a universal car mount with AC Vent clips and I have modified it with a magnet and spacer (to keep the phone from being lopsided due to the magnet protrusion). I have a clear case I keep on my phone so this is my (better) answer to the OEM Car Dock.

Plenty of room for the charger as the bottom just has adjustable legs to hold the Droid in place

I've been running this for about 5 months and I think it took about $20 for the mount, $5 for the magnets, and about 10-15 minutes to rig it up. Been working great and in the warm weather...my phone stays COLD...usually around 50 deg F during navigation

 

[Diver88]

thats a really nice set up you have going there. i need to get something like that set up instead of my droid sitting on my center console. thanks for the ideas.

 

[UBRocked]

thats a really nice set up you have going there. i need to get something like that set up instead of my droid sitting on my center console. thanks for the ideas.

No Problem. You can make use of about any universal car mount that mounts on the AC vents. Make good use of the magnets in the Droid (after all...they are there to use right?). When I set my phone in my modified car dock, it instantly switches to "car mode". I just scored the back padding of the car mount and glued the magnet on in place with gorilla glue (double check the polarity and location of the magnet as one polarity will put you in the car dock...the other will put you in media dock mode). I just never liked the idea that you couldn't use the OEM Car Dock without taking the phone out of it's case.