I started to notice some ambient heat along the length of the center console (from the armrest to just under the dash) during a 30 minute ride the other day, and it only seemed to emanate along the left/driver's side. Upon further investigation once I got home, I noticed the DVD drive in the armrest was very warm (much warmer than most proper functioning electronics which build up heat should ever feel). I did have a movie in the drive, but was not listening/viewing it... I was listening to XM. The system is stock, meaning no DVD/Nav hack, and the disc had been in the drive for about 2 days at that point.
So, being the fart smeller that I am, I removed the disc to see if that was the cause of the heat. After a chance to cool-down overnight, I took another 30 minute ride and the heat did not return/dvd drive was cool.
Is this a known fact with the drive? It seems like it may be constantly spinning a disc and building up heat, even if you are on a different mode. Has anyone else experienced this?
Excessive heat when DVD left in drive
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Bawkchicken
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paulc
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- Car: 2006 Diamond Graphite M35 sport, 2000 Harley FLHTCUI, 2003 Harley FLSTFI
Re: Excessive heat when DVD left in drive (Bawkchicken)
I leave a disk in my DVD drive all of time and have never seen this problem.
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Bawkchicken
- Posts: 84
- Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2008 9:00 pm
- Car: 2006 M35x
Re: Excessive heat when DVD left in drive (paulc)
Here it is a few days later, and the problem has not returned (the drive has been empty since the original posting).
After thinking about it some more, I realized that prior to the 30-min drive where the heat was noticed, I had been watching a dvd to pass the time in a particularly slow drive-through. When it was time to drive off, I released the parking brake, put the transmission into drive, switched to an XM station (WITHOUT pressing stop on the dvd), and drove home (about 5 min away). Two days later, I had never switched back to the dvd mode, but the radio was always on, and I felt the heat during my 30 min drive home from work.
So I assume the drive had been "playing" the disc during these two days (which consists of a 60 min round-trip commute each day). It probably finished the movie at some point, and ended up on the main menu (which is a very short loop of course). So it was then looping the disc's main menu during that 30 min drive. Of course, this is just a guess as to how the heat buildup occurred, as I've never noticed it when watching a movie.
After thinking about it some more, I realized that prior to the 30-min drive where the heat was noticed, I had been watching a dvd to pass the time in a particularly slow drive-through. When it was time to drive off, I released the parking brake, put the transmission into drive, switched to an XM station (WITHOUT pressing stop on the dvd), and drove home (about 5 min away). Two days later, I had never switched back to the dvd mode, but the radio was always on, and I felt the heat during my 30 min drive home from work.
So I assume the drive had been "playing" the disc during these two days (which consists of a 60 min round-trip commute each day). It probably finished the movie at some point, and ended up on the main menu (which is a very short loop of course). So it was then looping the disc's main menu during that 30 min drive. Of course, this is just a guess as to how the heat buildup occurred, as I've never noticed it when watching a movie.