I-Pad overheated in flight

[Skybrd]

Today while practicing IFR procedures my I-pad overheated and shut down. I think I'm going to buy an I-pad cooler. I think Sportys sell them. Have any of you had problems like this. I had this happen once before in a Beech Debonair, it has lots of glass. Today I was flyng a Piper Twin Comanche. So far I haven't had a heat shutdown in the Mooney. I think the  Mooney has lower seatings and less direct sunlight hitting the I-Pad. -- Darrell  BTW, I wasn't in an actual IFR conditions or doing an IFR approach, just practicing procedures in VFR conditions. 

[glafaille]

Not unusual.  My Ipad has shut down in flight several times and several more on the ground.  Very important to keep it out of the sun as much as possible, I throw a white rag over mine anytime it's in the sun and not in use.

[FlyWalt]

It has happened once when I left it on the glareshield. If it is overheating without being in the sun then your cockpit is too hot for humans too.

[LANCECASPER]

Ipads are amazing devices and I use one every day of my life including when I fly, as a backup, but I use a Garmin 796 which is designed for the harsh environment of an airplane. It's never let me down no matter what the temp. The used prices keep coming down and now with Garmin's new nav data prices it's comparable to the Ipad. 

(That being said though, the only times I've ever had the iPad overheat on me were my fault since i left it in direct sunlight, in a case. Now I make sure and take it out of any case so the metal case can dissipate heat. The iPad is a multipurpose tool that happens to do aviation apps. The 796 is designed solely for that purpose.)

[gsxrpilot]

ditto for the white hand towel... useful for wiping the brow and throw it over the iPad anytime I'm not actually looking at it. Using that I've never had it overheat. 

Also, it helps if you don't plug it in during the flight. Connecting it to ship's power generates more heat, so have it charged up before leaving the house.

[Raptor05121]

iPad's (or any Apple products) are notorious for overheating. The components are so tightly packed inside for the slim profile that they don't have any airflow properties compared to other tablets. They were designed for use by soccer moms in the living room, not in hot airplanes. This thread probably makes the 100th time I've seen mention of iPads failing in flight (most others on Facebook). By comparison, I have a 9.7" Samsung Galaxy Tab A and on my last flight to Jacksonville to ride with Hector, I inadvertently left my tablet on the glareshield of the Cherokee while it was on. After we came back, it was burning hot to the touch, but was still on and working perfectly.

tl;dr- if I were to fly IFR, I'd for sure have a backup.

[klystron]

I had a passenger set mine on the dash of the airplane while we were stopped for fuel on a cross country. The thing instantly overheated and we had to go in the FBO and wait for it to cool down.

[DXB]

I had it happen the one time I left it mounted on yoke in direct sunlight and ran into the FBO very briefly on a hot day.  It overheated on my takeoff roll.   I now always put it in my bag when exiting the plane for any reason on a hot day.  

On hot days I now also direct the left eyeball vent directly at it when on the ground, and this seems to help a lot.  I've never had it happen again.  

I guess it would make sense to get the white-faced ipad, not the black - this never occurred to me before.   

[gsxrpilot]

400+ flight hour with my iPad Mini and wouldn't fly without it. It's over heated just twice and both were my fault. But a couple of minutes by the vent and it's back on and working just fine. ForeFlight and the iPad Mini makes long cross countries, IFR, and most all flying just that much more enjoyable.  Nothing's perfect, but I couldn't be happier with it.

And it sits in the yoke without any need for a mount.  It's like it was made for the Mooney.

[ryoder]

My ipads overheat all the time.  That's why you need an android phone backup.

[flight2000]

I guess I'm lucky that my old 67E had an eyeball vent near my left leg that allowed me to point it right at the back of the iPad (yoke mounted) for cooling.  Never had it overheat in roughly 140 hours of use.  We'll see if that stays true when I change over to the new aircraft.... 

Brian

 

[Piloto]

I have a Samsung S7 phone with Garmin Pilot and never had shutdown event. And the battery charge last for three days without diming the display. In flight I only use it for METARs and WX on the internet and as a navigation backup, occasionally I use it for Internet functions such as text, email and browsing. Good product.

José 

[Mcoyne34]

My 2nd generation iPad would always over heat. Sucks when you're using that for nav and not expecting it to go out. My 4th generation has yet to overheat, even under the same condition. Just my experience. 

[carusoam]

Newer iPads seem to fair better...

Keeping out of direct sunlight is key...

The next challenge is keeping it low and still receiving GPS signals..

my sky radar is good for that. WAAS /wifi connected.

It is interesting to see how many GPSs on tablets there are with back-up phones For plan B.

Yetti mentioned a tablet is a full time resident in his plane.  (In his leather work)

 

Amazing stuff,

-a-

[RLCarter]

I've used iPads (2 & mini) for the past 200+ hrs with Wing-X and have never had one overheat while in an aircraft. The mini has over heated once, it was laying on the seat of my truck for several hrs in S. Texas during the summer (we're only about 100ft from the sun)

[Bravoman]

I use a sportys folding IPad case and that seems to protect it temp wise pretty well

[ArtVandelay]

I direct the eyeball footwell vent towards my iPad and keep it out of the sun, no problem.

[shorrick mk2]

The key to iPad "heat management" is making sure you are not running several apps at once (double click the home button to see the ones that are open) and not using any type of cover. The back of the iPad is a heatsink and if it is enclosed it doesn't fulfill its function.

[RLCarter]

The one thing that I do to keep it cool is I do not have it plugged in, charging the battery on one while in use builds a lot of heat. 

[yvesg]

40 minutes ago, shorrick mk2 said:

The key to iPad "heat management" is making sure you are not running several apps at once (double click the home button to see the ones that are open) and not using any type of cover. The back of the iPad is a heatsink and if it is enclosed it doesn't fulfill its function.

I bought a new iPAD mini 3 months ago since my other one was sometimes acting up and could not be charged while used. After paying $160 to replace the glass on my first one a year ago I have started using Otterbox cases to protect them.

On my way to Madison / Oshkosh in July I did get my first overheat event and realized that I need to take it out of that box in order to have it properly cool off. I was IFR but in VMC when it happened so When it happened I told the wife to go with our backup procedure which is to turn on the backup unit and fire foreflight on it. I did warn her before the flight that in case of any issue with my new iPAD that the old one shall be fired up by her.

This protocol worked and I was able to cool off the new unit after taking it out of the case.

Yves

[midlifeflyer]

Most any electrinic equipment is subject to overheating. A Moonry I flew ages ago had old style Nav/Comms that overheated. On longer trips, I'd run one at a time.

Personally, none of the three iPads I've owned over the past 5+ years has overheated (for the anti-iOS crowd, my Android phone has).

Don't know if this is the reason, but here's a few things I do and don't.

1. I do my best to keep it out of direct sunlight. 
2. I think far more heat is generated by the backlit screan than cockpit temperatures, so I keep in on the lowest setting consistent with easy viewing.
3. When I used paper charts, I would often fold them up and put them aside when I didn't need to reference something. Similarly, I turn the tablet screen off when not using it. Especially with in-cockpit GPS, that's a lot of the time in cruise. Cuts down on screen-generated temps and saves battery life for when I do need it.
4. When I leave the cockpit, the tablet comes with me.

BTW, I love the white hand towel idea! And I haven't had the problem with cases others report.

[M20F-1968]

I use a device call an IPro Navigator for the Ipad mini.  The ipad has never overheated in flight.  The cover acts as a glareshield for the ipad.

John Breda

John Breda

[Hank]

My iPad has never overheated in flight. Its usually in my bag on the back seat. I navigate using installed equipment, check weather using iPad or phone before departure, and enroute lean on my StormScope when evil is lurking about. If it's bad out, I don't fly. When 2020 rolls around, I'll see how often not flying to Spruce affects me, but so far ATL Approach has yet to clear me into the Bravo but regularly routes me around (through HEFIN to the north or SINCA to the south) even when I specifically request a T-route.

[Yetti]

Android.  Samsung tablet, less that $200 dollars.  No problem in Texas heat.

[Hector]

White iPad mini on the yoke all the time with the knee vent pointed at it. Has never overheated even in direct sunlight. I don't use a case and use the mini RAM which is fairly open on the back and let's the knee vent work efficiently to provide cooling. iPhone is my backup. Has worked really well for me. If I stop somewhere I take the iPad off the yoke and place it in my flight bag until I'm ready to depart

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