Not terribly happy with FF scout

[MIm20c]

Not sure if this is user error or a design defect but my scout adsb unit (only used it a couple of times) is not dealing with the heat very well.  No previous problems with my stratus 2. 

[Yetti]

Take it apart and see if it is a Raspberry PI Zero board.   The form factor seems very similar.

[carusoam]

Holy molecular relaxation, Batman!

Looks like a combo of battery heat and sunshine warmed it up enough to soften and move....

The molding process locks a lot of stress into plastic parts.  The molecules are constantly looking to relax.  A little heat added, molecules start to move....

Contact the seller to see if you can buy just a new piece of plastic, but keep the new one out of the sun...

Higher quality products deal with this challenge by using more expensive polymers...and processes...

Did the FF Scout instructions say, don't leave on the glare shield?

Best regards,

-a-

[jaylw314]

On ‎10‎/‎24‎/‎2017 at 11:50 AM, MIm20c said:

Not sure if this is user error or a design defect but my scout adsb unit (only used it a couple of times) is not dealing with the heat very well.  No previous problems with my stratus 2. 

Does it need to be on the glareshield?  If it needs a vertical antenna, I find sticking it to a side window blocks less of my view...

[Zulee]

That is crazy, I don't think I have ever seen anything melt like that inside a plane.

While it didn't have a meltdown like your scout...my stratus got a little cranky one day and shut down in the middle of a flight.  It was on the glare shield in the plastic holder, mounted in the rubber based that came in the box.  I read the owners manual to learn you shouldn't leave it in the sun for prolonged periods of time...what????

I'm thinking to myself, do you think they realize they've designed a contraption that will sit on a black glare shield, in the sun and get hot?  Maybe it should only be used for flights less than 60 minutes.

[AH-1 Cobra Pilot]

As an entrepreneur/small business owner, I see this kind of thing all the time...It was designed and built by guys with good electronics skills and lousy plastics knowledge.  The Tg was obviously too low, but they were in such a hurry to get it to market, they did not do diligent research.

 

[kpaul]

13 hours ago, Zulee said:

a contraption that will sit on a black glare shield, in the sun and get hot

Mine is mounted on the ceiling with Velcro.  It works upside down as long is it is that way when it powers on and runs its calibration.  Never liked having it on the glare shield as it blocks too much visibility.  

[Zulee]

14 hours ago, Ah-1 Cobra Pilot said:

As an entrepreneur/small business owner, I see this kind of thing all the time...It was designed and built by guys with good electronics skills and lousy plastics knowledge.  The Tg was obviously too low, but they were in such a hurry to get it to market, they did not do diligent research.

 

Sounds logical to me

[N201MKTurbo]

I just set the Stratus on the back seat. It works fine.

[Bolter]

On 10/27/2017 at 6:23 AM, N201MKTurbo said:

I just set the Stratus on the back seat. It works fine.

I used to do this with my Clarity, in order to keep it in the shade.  I noticed that when sitting on the seat, the GPS signal is consistent, but I was getting notably less ADS-B connections, especially in flight.  In Fly-Q this requires going one menu down into the ADS-B status to see.  YMMV with other apps, but I assume all the apps will let you check this to see how many connections you have, how far away, and how long ago.  A positive ADS-B status indicator may mean you are connected to the receiver, but does not necessarily indicate that your receiver is connected to the ground sources.  

I bought a window suction cup mount, and now keep it up high on a rear window with its "shade hat" on and get good ground antennae and GPS visibility, while the unit is in the shade most of the time.  The relatively rigid mounting makes the AHRS useful as well, in case of emergency.

Just my observations... -dan

[MIm20c]

Checked with ForeFlight.  Asked for the plastic replacement parts that I would happily pay for.  Instead they are offering a one time replacement of the unit. Not really happy overall since if I forget the unit in the plane again the next unit will be toast. 

Full disclosure: the unit was left in the plane on the left side of the glare shield (the vertical portion right next to the side window). Spent two days outside in 80 degree weather. 

The unit works good but I can’t recommend this product until the company upgrades the 1oz of plastic used to protect it. 

[jetdriven]

I don't recall having a single overheat shutdown or any issues whatsoever during the 4 years I had my Garmin GDL39. It was always left on the glareshield and it gets hot here in South Texas.