How do you keep your ultragauge/scangauge from overheating?

[Daox]

I've never had problems with the scangauge and heat. I've even had mine sitting on the dash that got so hot the plastic warped, but it still worked just fine.

I actually talked with Ron Delong, the designer of the ScanGauge. It was quite an interesting discussion and you can tell he has a passion for putting out a quality product and having satisified customers.

[Gealii]

Originally Posted by Daox

I've never had problems with the scangauge and heat. I've even had mine sitting on the dash that got so hot the plastic warped, but it still worked just fine.

I actually talked with Ron Delong, the designer of the ScanGauge. It was quite an interesting discussion and you can tell he has a passion for putting out a quality product and having satisified customers.

I wouldve gone with a scangauge but it was not in my budget to spend that much on a gauge, which is y i went with an UG. When i go to overhaul a vehicle in a couple years for mpgs i plan on making the switch to a scangauge but until then im stickin with the UG.

And to reply to sticking it in your gauge cluster i havae done it and it worked out quite nicely but the grand ams gauge cluster does not allow it to sit in front of the cluster

[nemo]

I've had no problem with UG functioning and the alarm has been triggered many times, (from setting in a closed, stationary car) the temperature alarm default is set at 145F (can be set to 999). As the interior temperature exceeds that point (145F) quite often, I find it prudent to move it to the floor when not in use, also it is out of sight.


Edit from UG manual page 25.

Internal temperature of UG.
Avoid possible malfunction due to high dash temperatures on sunny summer days. By default the high alarm is enabled and set to 145 oF. UG will continue to operate even when extreme high temperature is present. Due to internal heating, it is common for this gauge to report temperatures in the range of 125 -130 oF on a bright day, while mounted on the dash in sunlight, when the cabin temperature is 75-80 oF. If temperatures in excess of 140oF are seen, check that the cooling vents are not blocked. If the temperature rises above 140oF, the Backlighting will automatically dim to 65%. The backlighting is the primary source of internal heat and a temporary reduction to 65% will greatly reduce the temperature. Setting the Max Backlighting to a value of 80% or less is recommended. Generally the amount of additional light produced when set above 80% is difficult to perceive. UG will naturally cool down as the interior of the vehicle is cooled. Setting the vehicle’s vent controls to defrost will direct cool air to the dash area and more quickly cool UG. While UG is designed to operate under elevated temperatures, some customers have painted the back half of UG white to reflect the heat of the sun. This can result in a significant decrease in temperature when UG is dash mounted. This is more for piece of mind and is not necessary.

PS Since moving it to the floor when not n use the alarm has not gone off.

[gone-ot]

Originally Posted by Daox

I've never had problems with the scangauge and heat. I've even had mine sitting on the dash that got so hot the plastic warped, but it still worked just fine.

I actually talked with Ron Delong, the designer of the ScanGauge. It was quite an interesting discussion and you can tell he has a passion for putting out a quality product and having satisified customers.

...I've only had a "heat" problem with my SGII™ one time in my '09 Pontiac Vibe when I accidentally forgot to put the sun-screen up in the windshield with the car parked facing the afternoon sun--that resulted in the SGII™ display going totally black for about 5-10 minutes after startup, but after that brief period everything was back to 100% normal function.

[euromodder]

I keep it in front of the instrument cluster, under the sun hood.
No heat issues, but then it doesn't get really hot here.

[wmjinman]

I built a little "hat" out of thin aluminum I could cut with scissors & mounted it on top my ScanGauge with 4 matched sets of little velcro tabs, one on each corner of the top of the ScanGauge (just like the bottom is mounted to the top of the dash). As I recall, the aluminum piece is about 1 to 1.5 inches bigger in both directions than the ScanGauge top, thus allowing a little "overhang" to deal with different sun angles. I had to paint both sides flat black because the glare was too much, otherwise. I'm pretty pleased with the results - face never "went black" since installing that "hat".

In the summer, I also park in the shade as much as possible and use a reflective shade in the windshield. Sometimes when I get home late at night, I forget the shade, and if I don't go out until later the next day, it still worries me how hot everything gets on top the dash. - but - no trouble with the ScanGauge, still ...