Cold resistant double din head unit?

[boomboxrox]

Installed a touchscreen head unit in my vehicle, that the salespeople assured me was temperature resistant to the cold (-25 degrees Fahrenheit) ND winters. Sad to say, but it is not and the display will not turn on until it gets to a certain temperature is reached, which would be fine, but the radio still comes on, drains the battery, turns the amp on, etc without doing anything. Basically my point is that I need to find a temperature resistant double din radio, not necessarily touchscreen but preferred. I’ve been looking for weeks with no luck. Any ideas?

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[DarkKnightSM]

What about reinstalling the headunit with a "wrap" like those used for batteries. And plugging it in before you head out. Or buy one of those fancy plugs or outlets that can turn on at a set time. It may require some more wiring but might be a worthy investment

 

[tymoto21 10+ year member]

I have had pioneer double dins for years with no issue with cold

The screen is a little white washed out for a few minutes until it does warm up some but still works good

What kind of radio do you have?

 

[jigsizzle 10+ year member]

My pioneer x2800bs worked fine when it was 6 degrees, last Monday..

Sent from my SamsungLife using Tapatalk

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

You say your stereo is draining the battery without doing anything..

that means someone wired something wrong if you have a parasitic draw while car is off.

That has nothing to do with temperature.

After you fix that, install a remote starter on your car. Run it for a few minutes with the heat on, Tada!

 

[DarkKnightSM]

I was gonna be a smart *** and edit my post to say that ^^^.

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

What brand is it?

They sold you the double din, that's all that really matters to them. To expect one to not have issues at that low of a temperature is unrealistic. I've owned both the Pioneer 3200dvd and 2800bt and both have been fine down as low as -15 to -20 and somewhat frequently -10 to 0. You'll just have to deal with these sorts of issues with constant cold weather abuse. I can think of worse things.

 

[boomboxrox]

You say your stereo is draining the battery without doing anything..
that means someone wired something wrong if you have a parasitic draw while car is off.

That has nothing to do with temperature.

After you fix that, install a remote starter on your car. Run it for a few minutes with the heat on, Tada!

The reason I didn’t say more about the draw is because I know what the problem is. My radio is of no use to me if it doesn’t turn on until I park it inside for 12 hours. I have an autostart, and in a 45 minutes drive, it still didn’t turn on. FYI: -25 is very cold

 

[boomboxrox]

What brand is it?
They sold you the double din, that's all that really matters to them. To expect one to not have issues at that low of a temperature is unrealistic. I've owned both the Pioneer 3200dvd and 2800bt and both have been fine down as low as -15 to -20 and somewhat frequently -10 to 0. You'll just have to deal with these sorts of issues with constant cold weather abuse. I can think of worse things.

I know it’s unrealistic to think of no issues, but it’s more unbelievable to always have problems.

 

[boomboxrox]

I have had pioneer double dins for years with no issue with coldThe screen is a little white washed out for a few minutes until it does warm up some but still works good

What kind of radio do you have?

I have a Dual XDVD276BT

 

[tymoto21 10+ year member]

its a dual that's your problem

I have similar weather and like I said never had an issue other than belong a little faded when it turns on

Last week was about -10 before windchill every morning radio worked fine

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

I was hoping it was an off brand unit. Time to upgrade. Heck, 6-6.2" Pioneers routinely go for 100-150 used and have plenty of sound processing options.

 

[shizzzon 10+ year member]

Besides adding more insulation to your car to trap heat when the heater is on, then it's time to spend some money and get ingenious.

Since you have a remote start, here we go.

Go online and purchase a Battery warming wrap or blanket. Something small enough so you can pull your headunit out and wrap the chassis with the battery warmer.

If the battery warmer requires anything AC, then purchase a small 12vDC to whatever volt AC (does not require true RMS) that is powerful enough to run the battery warmer.

Purchase 1-2 40A relays depending on the current draw of the converter. Assume 40a relay only does 20a continuous.

Wire relay(s) directly to battery and your Sensing wire will go to the ignition wire (preferred).

Once on, the battery warmer will start to heat the chassis.

IF you have at least 2 batteries in the car, i can suggest connecting the sensing wire to an AUX output trigger on the remote starter brain if yours has one so you can preheat the headunit before the car starts but i wouldnt suggest doing this with just 1 battery.

When you are in the vehicle, there are 2 ways to go about disabling the battery warmer.

You can either ALSO install a thermal relay to shut off at a preprogrammed temp set point once it gets hot enough OR, the more inconvenient method, is to put a switch on the sending wire of the relay so you can manually shut it off but if you do it this way, you will have to flip the switch on after you shut off the car everytime so do not forget.. this is why i do not like this method.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

I just bought a Sony and there was some disclaimer in the manual about the LCD screens not liking super cold temperatures and it just said it'll come on when the car warms up a bit. Haven't tried it in proper cold yet but my gut tells me that any LCD will behave oddly in those extreme cold temperatures.

 

[DarkKnightSM]

Shizzon had the more conplicated answer to my post, yes to everything that has been said so far!