I have a 3 month ‘old’ goTenna, I noticed that I lost pairing at home. I noticed the led’s were flashing indicating the loss of pairing so I was going to turn off the goTenna. The chassis was very warm, I grabbed my IR gun. Near the LED area I recorded 102.5 deg with the unit laying on a table at 66 deg F.
I have a short youtube showing the temperatures (will share with support).
Support needed. I would also like to know what failed on the unit, it never held a charge properly since 1st use/purchase (Dec 2018).
That sounds about normal if you leave the flashing LED on for an extended period. I use a plastic pickle jar that I modify into a magnetic mount for the goTenna to put on your car roof, etc.
Usually, I leave this on 24/7 powered by the truck battery during midsummer here in the Midwest, so ambient temps were high. I brought the paired phone inside to update it one time and left the goTenna Mesh blinking away. It caused the pickle jar, which totally encloses the GTM, to warp a little around the top from the heat the LEDs built-up.
So don’t pack it next to the butter and you’ll be OK if you leave it flashing.
More details on the charge issue would be helpful. Does it not last about 24 hours on a full charge?
The unit was hanging in free air space, not contained. It was flashing 2-3 minutes in the basement where it’s 65-68 degrees F. If I turn it off, allow it to cool, and turn it back on it immediately starts warming up.
Before the recent heat issue, not inside a container, with the unit paired, when charging it charges to 92-94%. I have a second unit that charges to 100%, does not get warm at all. Understanding that there is a load while it’s charging, the % indicator is not my concern -I have to charge this one more frequently than my other unit (son to dad direct messaging in the home, direct msgs).
I will email Nate, thanks for the support email address (neat mobile package).
fw: 1.1.8
I let the battery drain, when charging it’s at 4.59v/1.14a, 105.9-111.7 deg F just below the USB connector. I lose bluetooth pairing, it shuts down, etc.
I split the charging device across a USB2 mini-hub to lower the amperage into the units, two are charging at 4.44v/0.85 total between them (temp: 94-97 deg) with both units off.
Does GTM not regulate incoming amperage? I will email support to confirm, but letting units slow charge to see if they work afterwards.
One of my units sat unused for a while, and when I went to charge it, it wouldn’t turn on and got warm after taking power for a while. Haven’t had the chance yet to crack it open and find out what happened. My thought is either the charging circuit shorted out or the battery developed self-discharge.
The Mesh units are only supposed to sip current, around 250 mA if I recall correctly.
After some further thought, my earlier comment needs some elaboration. I wouldn’t worry about your average goTenna melting anything, The one in the Meshmobile is powered by the truck’s electrical system. Most vehicles operate somewhere around 13 V or a little more. Sure, the GTM isn’t powered directly from that, being instead powered off one of those little USB plug things that go in your lighter socket. While these tend to produce 5 V, it wouldn’t surprise me to see one putting out more than 5V. That most likely accounts for my warped pickle jar, along with it being mid-summer at the time it occurred.
