Typically I will constantly forget to remove a CD from the player. In my past the player was located at the bottom of the dash. On the Sienna 06 it is near the top! Any case of a CD melting or damaging the player in the hot south or even north?
j
Chance of CD melting in hot climates?
May 30, 2006
46 Replies
j
The melting point of polycarbonate is about 250 degrees C. Not to worry.
Yes, a slim one.
Attempting to recall my properties of materials classes ... I frequent Palm Springs, CA and 105 deg F is a rule and not the exception. Air temp inside a car can get well over 150deg F and a dark dash SHOULD NOT BE TOUCHED without welding type gloves - I will make a wild guess north of 200degF. So we have a melting point of 250 - 200 = a small spread. Between solid and melting we have a very pliable stage ... Perhaps there is no problem but a check in the real world is generally a sound idea. If all else fails - ask the mechanic who has lived with all the design mistakes .
j
Um, no, the melting point is about 250 degrees C. As in Centigrade. Do the math.
It is theoretically possible that the CD could warp just a bit on a very hot day depending on how it is stored internally in the CD player. CD's spin a very high speeds and even a slight warp could cause a problem.
Hopefully the CD player manufacturer has taken this into account, and the CD is evenly supported so as not warp. I leave mine in all the time and have never had a problem.
Melting point is not the same as bending point.
Travis you are correct C is not F sorry. Mark - I have an "El Chepo" CD player at my desk where I can observe the CD rotating. My guess is - very slowly in that I can almost read the text on the CD as it is rotating. What is the rpm - anybody? j
Some here have said it's a hazard, but I used to live in Arizona, the California desert, as well as my native Florida. I left CDs in the player all the time, and never had a problem. The only time a CD melted was outside the player.
Having said that, you should never use original CDs in your car; not only because of the potential for damage, but also theft, should your car/truck be stolen. A friend of mine's F-150 was stolen, along with about $300 worth of CDs. She was more heartbroken about that. (Even I think the truck was more important...)
Natalie
It hasn't happened to me. I left a CD in the player of my motorhome without any problem at all.
The speed of a CD varies depending on the diameter being read - faster near the center and slower at the outer edge. I'm not sure but I think it goes from 200 to 600 RPM.
---MIKE---
Not positive, but I think 1X for a CD is between 150 and 160 RPM.
It's safe to assume that the INSIDE of the CD player does not get to 250F.
You're more likely to screw things up if you don't know there's a CD in the player already.
mark_
250 C is over 480 F. Even if it could somehow get up to 250 F inside a car CD player (way more than hot enough to boil water, and the parts of the car in direct sunlight would have to be much hotter) it would still be 230 degrees colder than the melting point of polycarbonate. Usually, warping or bending points are relatively close to melting points. I doubt it would ever get up to 250C in the CD player, even in the middle of the Sahara on summer solstice. Heat radiation and convection of the air (even if the air is 130 degrees) would be very significant. But even if it did, the CD is still 230 degrees cooler than melting point, so it probably hasn't even started to soften at that point.
And even if it did, 250F is still 230F cooler than 250C.
The RPM is the same for every part of the CD. If the outer edge of the CD is at 600 RPM, the inner edge is also turning at 600 RPM.
The speed of the outer tracks is quite a it higher, even though they are turning the same number of times per minute, because they have farther to go to make one rev.
Where was that CD when it was melted?
You are confused. Of course at any given time the whole CD is turning at the same speed. My point is that at the beginning of the CD, when the laser is reading the innermost track, the CD is turning much faster than it will be when the laser is reading the last (outer) track. This allows the size of the pips to stay the same over the entire disc.
---MIKE---
Which I said in the part of my post you chose not to quote. And you call ME confused, LOL! :-)
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