vertically mount HU?

[bigjus 10+ year member]

quick question, will most head units work when mounted near vertical or will that seriously harm the CD players ability to function? i'm asking as i'm redoing the interior of my westfalia and the current 'system' consists of an old ass jensen CD player mounted in an aftermarket holder that mounts the player almost vertically near the shifter. put in my old polk db6500 comps in the doors but need to kill the jensen asap. thx.

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[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

quick question, will most head units work when mounted near vertical or will that seriously harm the CD players ability to function? i'm asking as i'm redoing the interior of my westfalia and the current 'system' consists of an old ass jensen CD player mounted in an aftermarket holder that mounts the player almost vertically near the shifter. put in my old polk db6500 comps in the doors but need to kill the jensen asap. thx.

I had to Google that to know what kinda vehicle you were talking about!

I don;t know about the short term but anear-vertical mounting for the long term isn't something I would suggest, personally. I cannot say with any degree of certainty that it wouldn't work but I know the only CD player I've ever owned that specified an ability to mount vertically was a 10-disc changer and it had a switch you had to slide if it was going to be mounted that way.

I just wouldn't do it over the long term with a normal head unit.

 

[bigjus 10+ year member]

I had to Google that to know what kinda vehicle you were talking about!

HA! getting ready for a ten day road trip in a week, been redoing my interior and cleaning everything up to make it a little more enjoyable for the trip. last summer was spent evaluating the mechanical condition, didn't want to spend much on the interior in case i had to put in a new engine/tranny. thus far never had any issues *knocks on wood*

hmm....that's kind of what i was afraid of though. called crutchfield today and they didn't have a clue, but they gave me the # for alpine and pioneer to ring them...of course they were closed by the time i got around to calling. will take your input and try them tomorrow and report back my findings.

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

My biggest concern over the long term is that the lion's share of after market head units were designed to be mounted on a pretty much horizontal plane (or very close to it) and if you mount it permanently at an extreme angle (such as where it would be in your VeeDub) simple gravity is going to be affecting the CD transport in different ways than it would if the deck were mounted, say, in my car.

Like I said....I cannot say for certain as I just don't know for sure....but it just doesn't seem a terribly good idea...

 

[DragonCub 10+ year member]

There is nothing that I see that would be wrong with mounting it vertically. Its just a spindle that the cd goes into and a laser, what harm can be done to that?

 

[Prowler573 5,000+ posts]

There is nothing that I see that would be wrong with mounting it vertically. Its just a spindle that the cd goes into and a laser, what harm can be done to that?

Centrifugal force at an odd angle over a long period of time.

Take a bicycle rim that isn't attached to a bicycle. Spin it. If parallel or perpendicular to the floor the rim isn't that tough to hold onto while spinning rapidly.

Now turn it at an angle while it is spinning rapidly and see how difficult it immediately becomes to hold steady.

Now think of that bicycle wheel being your CD and the mechanism spinning it...

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

There is nothing that I see that would be wrong with mounting it vertically. Its just a spindle that the cd goes into and a laser, what harm can be done to that?

Actually most owner's and installation manuals recommend NO MORE than 60 deg from the horizontal plane.

My 860 manual doesn't state that it would be detrimental to the unit but that it may not give it's optimum performance.

In my opinion I would think the unit would skip more installed at a 90 deg angle but I couldn't say for sure.

 

[DragonCub 10+ year member]

Take a bicycle rim that isn't attached to a bicycle. Spin it. If parallel or perpendicular to the floor the rim isn't that tough to hold onto while spinning rapidly.

what are you proving? You just said that if the wheel was perpendicular to the floor it would be easy to hold on to it. So when mounthing the HU vertially, the cd would be perpendicular to the car, no?

 

[DragonCub 10+ year member]

Actually most owner's and installation manuals recommend NO MORE than 60 deg from the horizontal plane.
My 860 manual doesn't state that it would be detrimental to the unit but that it may not give it's optimum performance.

In my opinion I would think the unit would skip more installed at a 90 deg angle but I couldn't say for sure.

I've never read manual, I'm speaking from experiece. I've mounted many slot load cd drives (which is what HU bascially is) vertically without any problems, and these drives get may hours of play. and don't tell me that the in the car there are bumps and such, cause the HU are designed to withstand that.

 

[NhustlaR 10+ year member]

x2 on the skipping part, a lot of HU's are touchy when they are tilted in certain angles //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

I've never read manual, I'm speaking from experiece. I've mounted many slot load cd drives (which is what HU bascially is) vertically without any problems, and these drives get may hours of play. and don't tell me that the in the car there are bumps and such, cause the HU are designed to withstand that.

I'm not arguing with you in ANY way. I was merely quoting a Pioneer installation manual and gave my opinion on what could happen. If you have the experience then I guess you'd know.

 

[bigjus 10+ year member]

for those who care, alpine said only up to 30 degrees, didn't have time at work to call pioneer.

 

[PatFitz9 10+ year member]

eclipse also says 30 degrees or less

 

[hoss 5,000+ posts]

Centrifugal force at an odd angle over a long period of time.
Take a bicycle rim that isn't attached to a bicycle. Spin it. If parallel or perpendicular to the floor the rim isn't that tough to hold onto while spinning rapidly.

Now turn it at an angle while it is spinning rapidly and see how difficult it immediately becomes to hold steady.

Now think of that bicycle wheel being your CD and the mechanism spinning it...

that doesent really have anything to do with the argument, he isnt taking teh CD player and rotating it 90 degrees while it is playing, so the "centrifugal" force doesent apply at all. and if you want to get really technical, there is no such thing as "centrifugal" force //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif . the only additional forces that would be applied would be the gravitational force in a direction that the CD player is not used to. what does this mean for the CD player? the possibility of skipping since the laser mechanism is going to be jolted in new directions that it wasnt designed for, the CD eject motor working against the extra force of ejecting a CD with more resistance than it is used to, and perhaps some other forces that the chasis/mechanics might not be used to.

the ejector motor, shouldnt be an issue. most CD players eject with a significant pressure compared to the weight of a CD. the mechanics/chasis/laser mechanism, these are usuall well designed to stand up to shock since the design is MOBILE audio.

my oppinion, shouldnt be an issue at all. just make sure the unit is secure, and that there isnt any stress on the wiring coming out of the back. this means tie it up properly, and make sure the unit isnt resting on the wires. do this and you should have no problems whatsoever.

i had my alpine 9815 installed 90 degrees vertically in my last vehicle for nearly three years without a single problem out of it //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[yacob.naif 10+ year member]

Is it a full size radio? Or a mini-devil?

I read your original post like 3 times, but it's confusing me for some reason.