Heat

[fatty]

How well does the bel rx65 take on heat? I'm thinking it will get pretty hot on the windshield driving all day. Will it affect it? Will it melt and break? What are your experiences guys with any detector in the heat?

[compu44]

It's not good for them, but if it's bearable in the car for you, it will be fine for the detector. Good idea just to take it down when you're parked.

[timish]

For what it's worth, I had a BEL 745STI Plus back in the day and its case separated from the heat of being on the dash.

I'm hoping things are better with the two 8500 X50's I bought last week.

[marlinspike]

I'm just going to say one word: magnesium.
Richard

[happya$$]

Magnesium x 2

[timish]

Duct Tape

[cjs180]

Magnesium??? I just got my V1 yesterday, Wed. and if i was a betting man, I'd say the case is plastic???? Not that I really give two s**ts!

Chris

[brick]

Magnesium??? I just got my V1 yesterday, Wed. and if i was a betting man, I'd say the case is plastic???? Not that I really give two s**ts!

Chris

It's magnesium for strength and to shield the electronics from stray interference. I don't think it has anything to do with how it handles heat, though. Its guts are still printed circuit boards with other assorted parts just like any other detector.

[marlinspike]

Well, yeah, but for one thing the V1 is rated to higher temperatures than other detectors, for another thing the case won't melt or split with heat. Also, being metal (and black), the case is basically a heat sink.
Richard

[brick]

Heat sinks are funny things, and in this case I think it actually works backward. A flat black surface tends to absorb IR radiation and heat up much more quickly than a shiny one. In addition, a metal is going to have a much higher thermal conductivity than a plastic. So in direct sunight it might actually transmit more heat to the electronics than the alternative. The additional thermal mass will help it out for a little while but that will go out the window as soon as it hits equilibrium.

That said, you're right that heat will do absolutely no harm to the case. There was also a thread on this board talking about the temperature rating and I think that it has do do with the quality of the electronic components. Maybe they wanted the magnesium case due to it's shielding and high tolerance for abuse, then realized that they needed to compensate for its thermal properties by using higher-grade components? Beats me...I just know I haven't had any heat-related problems and I bought mine last July.