For many of us, the car becomes almost a second home and sometimes a different “useful” storage room. Why should you leave things locked in the car and take things with you that can come in handy? Unfortunately, during the warmer weather, it’s worth taking a quick inventory of what we have in the car. If you are going to leave your car outside for an extended period of time, make sure that none of the items listed below are present.
Remote control for gate
If not in the car, where do you keep the remote control for the gate? Well – if it’s too hot, it’s better to take it to a cooler place. Why? Batteries used in most remote controls should not be exposed to temperatures above 40 degrees for long periods of time, e.g. In the case of a 12-volt 23A battery, manufacturers allow long-term storage at temperatures from minus 10 to 35 degrees Celsius! In the case of branded, high-quality batteries, the risk of electrolyte leakage is not very high. In the case of cheap batteries, the risk of leakage due to overheating is high, and such a failure can result in irreparable damage to the electronics. Remotes can be expensive! And if the remote control is to be in the car, we put it in a place out of direct sunlight, such as a deep storage compartment.
Smartphones and laptops
Smartphones do not like high temperatures
Modern smartphones are highly efficient, pocket-sized computers, with a weakness for cooling. In the extreme case, even a smartphone left in a sunny place may become unusable because, for example, the battery swells, the housing explodes, or the display shatters. The worst thing you can do is leave your smartphone in a hot place connected to the charger, with active applications in addition – work and charging will increase the temperature of the device! It is worth knowing that the housings of devices of this type are more and more often not screwed, but glued – and at service stations, for example, to change the display or open the housing, they are briefly heated to temperature. They can be easily reached by lying on the dashboard of a car parked in a sunny spot.
Due to the low resistance of the display and batteries to high temperatures, it is also better not to store laptops or tablets in the car.
Navigation and car cameras
Car navigation
Why take navigation out of the car if it’s mostly used in the car anyway? In theory, equipment intended for use in a car is tested for resistance to high temperatures. But this immunity has some limitations. Leaving such devices behind the windshield in a car where the temperature is above 80 degrees does them no good. First, built-in batteries can be affected, but displays are also at risk. Connecting a very hot device to a power supply/charger is a particularly dangerous moment. Good devices should have protection against charging at high temperatures – until the device cools down, it may not work.
Pens and felt-tip pens
A fountain pen or felt-tip pen can be very useful in the car, but when it’s hot, the risk of ink leaking from them is really huge. Cleaning the upholstery afterwards is sometimes impossible. In hot weather, only pencil is safe.
Medicines
Medicines should not be stored in the car, especially in hot weather
Store in a cool and dark place – Such annotation can be found on most drug packaging. This is not only about antibiotics or probiotics (most of which should be stored in the refrigerator), but also about vitamins, popular pain relievers and antipyretic drugs or ointments and creams. At best, overheated medicine will stop working, but there are many medicines that are toxic and sometimes even dangerous when exposed to high temperatures. For this reason, we only keep dressings in the car first aid kit – no medicines!
Sprays
Almost all sprays (pressurized packaging) have a warning: “Do not expose to temperatures above 50 degrees C!”. This temperature is at least several degrees lower than the temperature at which the interior of the car heats up on a hot day. If the entire spray is not left under the glass, the probability that the package will suddenly unscrew is not great – but there is a risk that the valve will not withstand the pressure and the fuel will gradually leak out of the container. The spray will stop working and we will be inhaling toxic chemicals in the cabin.
Batteries and Power Banks, Accumulators for Tools
Most users think that low temperatures are dangerous for batteries and batteries. Of course, a cooled battery loses its capacity – but these are not irreversible changes (unless we are talking about a discharged battery, whose electrolyte freezes and tears the housing). However, in reality, excessive heat leads to more serious problems – in the case of most batteries and batteries, high temperature leads to rapid degradation of the cells, but also to their rapid self-discharge. For most power banks or tool batteries, manufacturers recommend storing them at room temperature.
Food and beverages
No need to convince anyone that leaving groceries in a hot car isn’t a good idea. Even for the usual car snacks – chewing gum, candies or bars, several dozen degrees is definitely too much. Flowing sweets not only pollute our insides, but they can also make us hungry. What about drinks? As long as it is mineral water in a closed, original container, nothing happens. In an already opened drink – even plain water – in a few hours at high temperatures, many microorganisms multiply and can harm us.
adBlue
A mandatory addition to modern diesel engines, it does not tolerate both low and high temperatures – in the cold, the aqueous solution of urea simply freezes and crystals precipitate from it, while in hot weather the mixture rapidly decomposes, causing production to stop. To fulfill its role in the exhaust gas treatment system. No need to carry adBlue supply with you – we will buy it at each station if needed!
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