Unoffical empeg BBS

Quick Links: Empeg FAQ | RioCar.Org | Hijack | BigDisk Builder | jEmplode | emphatic
Repairs: Repairs

Page 1 of 2 1 2 >
Topic Options
#62781 - 24/01/2002 18:10 Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time?
snotrag
new poster

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 2
I'm wondering if it's ok to leave an empeg in the car most of the time rather than taking it out. Especially during 90+ degree F days in the summer and below 30 deg F nights in the winter. To me, it kind of defeats the purpose of having "all my music in one place" if I have to drag the whole unit around w/ me instead of a binder full of a few CD-Rs.

Top
#62782 - 24/01/2002 18:27 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: snotrag]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
This is covered in the FAQ here and here.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#62783 - 24/01/2002 18:31 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: tfabris]
snotrag
new poster

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 2
I'm aware of that, but I'm curious as to what people are actually doing with theirs. I'm also not sure how hot it would really get inside a car on a summer day... although I assume it's probably a lot less than 140 F, even w/ a black car.

Top
#62784 - 24/01/2002 19:12 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: snotrag]
AlphaWolf
stranger

Registered: 01/01/2002
Posts: 46
Actually, from what I hear, the temps inside a car in the summer can get well over 140. And in the winter, with temps below 30, the Empeg display is really really slow to update. I wouldn't keep it in the car 24/7 just becuase of the stress on the HDD durring cold boots. It'll drastically shorten the life of the HDD
_________________________
~Max

Top
#62785 - 24/01/2002 20:11 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: snotrag]
Terminator
old hand

Registered: 12/01/2000
Posts: 1079
Loc: Dallas, TX
I take mine out and carry it with me.

Top
#62786 - 24/01/2002 20:14 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Terminator]
skamp
journeyman

Registered: 03/01/2002
Posts: 69
I live in Houston Texas and I am also concerned about heat. It gets stupid hot here in the summer. What is the hottest someone has had their car with the EMPEG left in?

Steve

Top
#62787 - 24/01/2002 20:17 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: skamp]
Terminator
old hand

Registered: 12/01/2000
Posts: 1079
Loc: Dallas, TX
I live in Dallas, Texas, and unless I had the unit permanently mounted in my truck, I wouldn't leave it in there. It gets too hot! Don't you guys want to use it at work?

Top
#62788 - 24/01/2002 20:50 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: snotrag]
Rezolution
enthusiast

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 260
The first six or seven months I had mine, I took it out of my truck every night. Then I noticed that I was damaging my bay and my EMPEG. I started leaving it in all the time. When its really hot out the player wont turn on, or it shuts off a few minutes after its on. If its really cold out, when it powers up the display is very dim. Sometimes, if its really cold, I will get some type of strange ticking noise when the drive spins up.

Top
#62789 - 24/01/2002 20:53 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Rezolution]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
When its really hot out the player wont turn on, or it shuts off a few minutes after its on. If its really cold out, when it powers up the display is very dim. Sometimes, if its really cold, I will get some type of strange ticking noise when the drive spins up.

These are Bad Things. Do you have your MP3s backed up somewhere? 'Cause you might be shopping for a new disk drive soon.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#62790 - 24/01/2002 20:54 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Rezolution]
Terminator
old hand

Registered: 12/01/2000
Posts: 1079
Loc: Dallas, TX
What kind of damage occurred? The only thing I notice is the surface scratches where the dock rubs against the steel surface of the player. I would think that would be normal.

Top
#62791 - 24/01/2002 21:12 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: tfabris]
Rezolution
enthusiast

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 260
All my mp3s are on my hard drive on my pc. It takes me about 8 hours or so to send them all to the EMPEG through the USB cable. When I use the player in normal temp ranges it works fine. The only thing is, I have a Dakota and if I put the heat on top and bottom output, the heat vents are right above where the player sits. If I leave the heat on too long, that too will turn my player off. I have had if for a WHILE now and it been pretty decent. I just got a 60 gig model yesterday cause I was gonna upgrade my hard drive ( I have an old model with a 12 gigs of space). It was cheaper to buy the 60 gig player then it was to buy two decent 30 gig laptop drives. Now I am having a hell of a time getting all my songs to the new 60 gig player. My USB connection keeps crashing in windows XP. If my player is off when I load emplode up, I have to hit refresh about 6 times to get to see it pop up. Then it works normally. If my EMPEG is on when I start emplode, it sees my player immediatly, but hangs when I click synchorize. This is pretty stressful.

Top
#62792 - 24/01/2002 21:15 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Terminator]
Rezolution
enthusiast

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 260
Thats what I mean. I guess its not really damaged, its just gouges from taking it in and out. I also notice that the connector in the back of the docking bay kind of flops around a bit more then when it was new. I also noticed that the sticker that says warranty void if seal is broken is sliced because of the constant removal and insertion of my player. It would not be good if I ever had something happen to it and couldn't get it fixed because that sticker was broken...

Top
#62793 - 24/01/2002 21:20 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Rezolution]
Terminator
old hand

Registered: 12/01/2000
Posts: 1079
Loc: Dallas, TX
The steel is pretty thick, so I'm not concerned about it wearing out. In fact, I have never heard of someone wearing all the way through the steel. Don't worry about the sticker, David has ways of knowing if you took the cover off or not. So you are covered. The connector flops around because it is designed to have a certain amount of play in it.

Sean

Top
#62794 - 24/01/2002 21:25 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Rezolution]
Terminator
old hand

Registered: 12/01/2000
Posts: 1079
Loc: Dallas, TX
Spend 10 or 15 dollars and get yourself an ethernet card. Usb is much slower. I have never had the heat turn my player off - except for when I first received my player - it turned out my board had some bad ram on it.

Sean

Top
#62795 - 24/01/2002 21:36 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Rezolution]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
I guess its not really damaged, its just gouges from taking it in and out.

They should be faint scratches, not gouges. Mine is over a year old, and they are still just gentle little scratches. And my player gets inserted and removed from the sled about 4-6 times a day on average. Perhaps the sled is gripping it too tightly? Does it slide easily in and out? When you installed it, did the sled get bent oddly or did you have to cram or force it in there?

The "guide-bumps" on the sled that cause the scratches should be on bendable tabs that you can loosen. At least on the sides and top. On my old Mark1, I had to bang on the bumps with a hammer to loosen them (the Mark1 did actually get gouges and they did become a problem).

I also notice that the connector in the back of the docking bay kind of flops around a bit more then when it was new.

This is normal, this is covered in the FAQ.

I also noticed that the sticker that says warranty void if seal is broken is sliced because of the constant removal and insertion of my player. It would not be good if I ever had something happen to it and couldn't get it fixed because that sticker was broken.

This is also normal and is nothing to worry about.

Wow, I just noticed that the three FAQ entries I just linked are right in a row, one after the other, in the FAQ. What a coincidence.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#62796 - 24/01/2002 21:39 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Terminator]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
I have never had the heat turn my player off - except for when I first received my player - it turned out my board had some bad ram on it.

Good point. I had forgotten about that old problem.

Your player shouldn't be rebooting or shutting down, even when it's hot. It should keep right on going like a champ, right up to the moment the hard disks fail completely. If it's shutting down due to temperature extremes, there might be some kind of a hardware problem with it (like the bad RAM terminator just described, or perhaps something else).
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#62797 - 25/01/2002 00:45 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: tfabris]
Rezolution
enthusiast

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 260
I really hope I don't have bad ram. It's actually really well behaved most of the time. I only remember it shutting off for absolutely no reason one time. I appreciate the fact that you guys all seem genuinly interested in the things people post here. This is my first night on your site. It is set up very well. I printed out all of the faqs you have on the site and I am going to read them all this weekend. I had to put my printer into landscape mode to get it to print right and it totaled well over 100 pages. That will take a while to cover this weekend. I'm really glad to have so much useful information though. Thanks for the responses to my posts and I look forward to asking questions and perhaps helping others here in the future.

Top
#62798 - 25/01/2002 06:16 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Terminator]
altman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
It should be noted we've never had any reports of bad ram on the mk2a, only the mk2. I'm suspicious of the batch of Siemens DRAM we were supplied for the mk2...

Hugo

Top
#62799 - 25/01/2002 07:25 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: altman]
Anonymous
Unregistered


When I clicked on one of those faq links, my computer just started freaking out. Internet Explorer kept continuously opening new windows. And it didn't stop when I logged off the net; I had to restart it.

Top
#62800 - 25/01/2002 09:14 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: snotrag]
Tim
veteran

Registered: 25/04/2000
Posts: 1529
Loc: Arizona
I tend to keep my player in the car all the time, unless I'm squirting new tunes or a kernel into it. The parking lot here at work is reminiscent of the Sahara Desert. I'm in Phoenix, AZ (well, Mesa actually, but close enough for government work)..

Top
#62801 - 25/01/2002 13:19 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: ]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
When I clicked on one of those faq links, my computer just started freaking out. Internet Explorer kept continuously opening new windows. And it didn't stop when I logged off the net; I had to restart it.

No one else has reported this problem. I don't see how anything in any of those links could have caused the problem you describe. Can you point me to one of the links in question?
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#62802 - 25/01/2002 13:24 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Rezolution]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
I had to put my printer into landscape mode to get it to print right and it totaled well over 100 pages.

Interesting, I just checked the Installation Notes section in "print preview", and you're right. the extra-wide illustrations in the section about Subwoofer outputs have broken the printer-friendly-ness of the FAQ. I now see why you had to print it landscape. Hmm, dunno how to fix that, those pictures will be hard to shrink down without some work.

There is also the option that Drakino suggested, making a link to a printer-friendly version. All it would need to do is get rid of the left-hand navigation bar and put all the sections together. Tom?
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#62803 - 25/01/2002 13:28 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: tfabris]
drakino
carpal tunnel

Registered: 08/06/1999
Posts: 7868
I'll look into hacking this up sometime soom (probably on Sunday).

Top
#62804 - 25/01/2002 14:09 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: tfabris]
Rezolution
enthusiast

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 260
I wasn't complaining about it. I think the faq is really good. I'm just saying that the formatting was a little off. I'm sure whatever you guys come up with will be a good solution.

Top
#62805 - 25/01/2002 14:17 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Rezolution]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31600
Loc: Seattle, WA
I'm just saying that the formatting was a little off.

Right. The formatting is, as far as I can tell, only off on that one section, and only because of those particular illustrations.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

Top
#62806 - 25/01/2002 14:19 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: skamp]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
skamp wrote: I live in Houston Texas and I am also concerned about heat. It gets stupid hot here in the summer. What is the hottest someone has had their car with the EMPEG left in?

I also live in Houston. I keep my Mk2 in the car all the time, only taking it out when I want to add more music to it. I had it in the car all summer, and I park outdoors. The only hot weather problem I ever had was that the Mk2 control knob would start "slipping" (you would spin the knob and nothing would happen). They have a fix for the Mk2 (a small rubber washer), and the Mk2a solves the problem completely (by having a keyed knob).

Aside from that, I never had hot weather problems.

P.S. We've probably got enough Texans here now that we could think about a Texas Empeg Get-together. Hmmm....

Top
#62807 - 25/01/2002 14:22 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Rezolution]
ineedcolor
addict

Registered: 10/01/2001
Posts: 630
Loc: Windsor, Ontario Canada
Hello All

As someone who has experienced the great pleasure of having one's car broken into three times over the last few years...I NEVER leave my player in the car overnight and only leave it in the car (hidden) for short periods or in the dash under direct surveillance. I found out the hard way that our wonderful insurance companies assign "depreciation" to car audio products. I never received full compensation for any of my previous losses despite my HUGE premiums for a 12 year old car....
_________________________
01001010 01101111 01101000 01101110

Top
#62808 - 25/01/2002 14:23 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: DWallach]
DWallach
carpal tunnel

Registered: 30/04/2000
Posts: 3810
On a related note about heat: I've noticed that when I leave my Mk2 plugged in all night, for example, while syncing a lot of data, it's quite hot to the touch in the morning. My Mk2a, however, is still cool to the touch.

Is this a known bug in the Mk2? Everything seems to work okay, as the Mk2 spends its days in the car, where it turns itself off, whereas the Mk2a spends its days at home, plugged in to the wall and the home stereo.

Top
#62809 - 25/01/2002 14:53 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: ineedcolor]
Rezolution
enthusiast

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 260
I had that same problem with my control knob slipping too. I added some plumbers thread tape (the white stuff that stretches) and that did the trick...

Top
#62810 - 25/01/2002 15:32 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: AlphaWolf]
redbutt2
member

Registered: 12/01/2002
Posts: 141
Loc: San Diego, CA
Heat inside a car can get well over 140F...that in an understatement. On a nice summer day the heat inside a car can easily get over 200F in a very short time period. That is why leaving animals or children in an unattended car is a major crime in the US.
_________________________
We need a bigger boat.

Top
#62811 - 25/01/2002 15:38 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: redbutt2]
njdboy
member

Registered: 07/01/2002
Posts: 151
Loc: San Jose, CA
We had a guy locally here in the Bay Area get arrested and put away. He went inside his parent's house to watch Japanese Animation and left his baby in the car for a couple hours. I think you know how it ended. Sad. Some people have no common sense. Although a empeg is not a baby (well, to some at least), you still need to care for it.

Top
#62812 - 25/01/2002 15:44 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: redbutt2]
Anonymous
Unregistered


Over 200? That's hard to believe. Have you ever had a cup of water start boiling in your car?

Top
#62813 - 25/01/2002 16:26 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: ]
sybase
new poster

Registered: 23/01/2002
Posts: 3
Loc: Texas, USA
I think air temp and water temp are different.. =)
_________________________
SyBase ([email protected])

Top
#62814 - 25/01/2002 17:29 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: ]
eternalsun
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 09/09/1999
Posts: 1721
Loc: San Jose, CA
What's the difference between temperature and heat?

Calvin

Top
#62815 - 25/01/2002 18:05 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: eternalsun]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
Temperature is average kinetic energy of medium's molecules divided by Boltzman's constant, heat is total kinetic energy of a system (and is observable only when transfered from system to system) - or something along these lines
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos Q#5196 MkII #080000376, 18GB green MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue

Top
#62816 - 25/01/2002 18:07 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: bonzi]
eternalsun
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 09/09/1999
Posts: 1721
Loc: San Jose, CA
I wonder if this is enough of a clue to figure the difference between 200 degrees of air and 200 degrees of near boiling water sitting on the empeg? ;-)

Calvin

Top
#62817 - 25/01/2002 18:08 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: bonzi]
ninti
old hand

Registered: 28/12/2001
Posts: 868
Loc: Los Angeles
Duh, anybody could have told you that.
_________________________
Ninti - MK IIa 60GB Smoke, 30GB, 10GB

Top
#62818 - 25/01/2002 18:12 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: eternalsun]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
No difference, of course. However, radiative heating from sun will tend to warm up solid, dark surfaces first. Air (and water) will be heated mostly convectively, and will take quite a while to reach anything near the equilibrium. I don't believe anything in the car will reach 200F except perhaps a piece of something matte black in direct sunlight.
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos Q#5196 MkII #080000376, 18GB green MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue

Top
#62819 - 25/01/2002 18:30 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: bonzi]
Valsalva2
new poster

Registered: 15/01/2002
Posts: 10
Temperature - average kinetic energy of molecules in a substance
Heat - is the TRANSFER of energy from one substance to another due to a difference in temperature.
These are strict physics definitions, but who cares?



_________________________
Valsalva ________________ 20GB Rio Car - [blue]Blue[/blue]

Top
#62820 - 25/01/2002 18:41 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Valsalva2]
bonzi
pooh-bah

Registered: 13/09/1999
Posts: 2401
Loc: Croatia
OK, I was close enough...
_________________________
Dragi "Bonzi" Raos Q#5196 MkII #080000376, 18GB green MkIIa #040103247, 60GB blue

Top
#62821 - 25/01/2002 20:31 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: Valsalva2]
elvis
enthusiast

Registered: 18/01/2002
Posts: 270
Loc: Arizona USA
I care very much. My chem teacher was totally unable to explain the difference.
So I guess when you shove someone you are quite litterally giving them some 'heat' || raising their temperature.
_________________________
Elvis

Top
#62822 - 27/01/2002 03:21 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: snotrag]
danthep
enthusiast

Registered: 29/08/1999
Posts: 209
Loc: new zealand
Yeah i leave it in the car all the time, except for a couple of times a year to do a software update and shuffle the tunes around.

Kinda pointless having all my tunes in the car if i have to take them in and out with my all the time, and besides, where would i put it when i'm at the beach or skiing?

Mind you the temperatures here at the bottom of new zealand probably aren't so extreme, -10 to 35 centigradge would be the extremes, Not sure what the is in F.

Top
#62823 - 27/01/2002 05:26 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: danthep]
JaBZ
addict

Registered: 08/08/2001
Posts: 452
Loc: NZ
Im in NZ, however in Auckland, so Im a little scared to leave it in the car.

Top
#62824 - 27/01/2002 05:36 Re: Anyone leave the unit in the car all the time? [Re: JaBZ]
danthep
enthusiast

Registered: 29/08/1999
Posts: 209
Loc: new zealand
Hehe, yeah my bro in auckland has had about 3 car breakins. So i wouldn't leave it in without an alarm if i lived up there.

I have left it in up there during a number of stays though.

Also, the locks on my subaru aren't screwdriveable like most of his cars have been.

Top
Page 1 of 2 1 2 >