stereo face HOT to touch- normal???

[trtlflwrs]

As I was driving last night, my fingers missed the volume control and landed beside it. My hand recoiled immediately because the front of the panel was hot to the touch. Now, I wasn't burned by any means, but it just seems that this is unusual as to how hot it was. The radio had been on during my 35 minute drive home and there was a CD in, but not playing. Not sure if these would affect it.Is this common? Has anyone else had this problem? Should I worry about it?In the pic below I squared off the section i'm talking about. Nothing else seemed to feel the same.

[joatmon]

I think it's normal. CDs get really hot too, so never use one that has an adhesive label on it

[GMJAP]

Mine gets hot, especially there, too. It's the incandescent bulb that backlights everything between the knobs.

[zionzr2]

yup! this heat is normal not just in this car but most others i have seen and used too.

[GrayFox]

I've kinda wondered about this myself but my sunfire did the same thing.

[trtlflwrs]

Thanks for th quick responses!I've never had this happen in my other cars, but then again this is the first CD player I've had!I'll just try to be more careful and not fiddle with the radio while I'm driving Thanks!

[azsapphire87]

I thought I was out of my mind the first time I experienced this. Strange how in an age of LEDs they are still using traditional light bulbs to illuminate gauges and buttons. The heat is always in the same spot too, right between the volume knob and the tuning/adjustment knob. I was really going through some mind games trying to figure out if it was really as hot as I thought, but it is unusual how quickly it heats up (even on a short drive).

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by azsapphire87 »Strange how in an age of LEDs they are still using traditional light bulbs to illuminate gauges and buttons.Yup! That's one thing I hated about my Vibe! Since I drove in the dark most of the time, and when I did drive in the daytime, I had the lights on as well, a couple years into the game things were starting to burn out. It's nice having LED's now, I drive for 6 hours with the lights on and everything is cool to the touch except for the indicator on the shifter which if that burns out, I also have a display for that in the cluster that is more convenient anyway. lol! LED's are cheap, super efficient, don't generate heat, last forever - and can go a long way towards customer satisfaction because nothing sucks more (in my mind at least) than how crappy things look when those stupid incandescent bulbs burn out! But the incandescent can save them a couple pennies a car and they don't have to use as many to get the same amount of light output, so they continue to go that route for lighting up the inside. Well, at least on the Vibe, they are using LED's for the cluster. lol!

[VforVIBE]

Sence we're on the subject, has anyone have the paint chip off the stereo buttons?

[ColonelPanic]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »Sence we're on the subject, has anyone have the paint chip off the stereo buttons?Yes. Rule #1, Wait until you can not stand it anymore to make any presses of the buttons and ONLY very, very, VERY lightly touch a tiny corner of the button with clean hands. Don't touch the radio after you've been eating fries or whatever. Rule #2, Use only clean water and a very soft cloth to clean the radio and only when necessary. Never let any sort of cleaning agents or protectants near the surface.

[drunkenmaxx]

yep, mine was really starting to look like crap by the time i traded it in. it had spots of red all over the place where the paint came off.

[trtlflwrs]

Quote, originally posted by drunkenmaxx »yep, mine was really starting to look like crap by the time i traded it in. it had spots of red all over the place where the paint came off.i'd bet it has something to do with the prolonged exposure to heat, too... not just due to us button-pushing maniacs

[VforVIBE]

I noticed something, where the paint was chiping off, is where my nail hits the button, (me thinks if it gets too bad I will be in need of a newer, better one )

[drunkenmaxx]

Quote, originally posted by trtlflwrs »i'd bet it has something to do with the prolonged exposure to heat, too... not just due to us button-pushing maniacs i think perhaps you are right. it was cracking and such. i would imagine if it was from repeated pushing, it would look worn instead of chipped. perhaps it was painted with the same trash as the outside of the car?

[northvibe]

Quote, originally posted by VforVIBE »I noticed something, where the paint was chiping off, is where my nail hits the button, (me thinks if it gets too bad I will be in need of a newer, better one )i had a girl that was a friend with a grand prix that would pick the butttons on the steering wheel while she drove...yea...they were blank after a while mine too gets warm (HU) even my old pioneer in my taurus got warm, and yea it was a hot warm. they could use cooling fans in them mod time!!!

[ragingfish]

There are spots on both the radio and climate control faces in my G6 that get pretty toasty...As was previously said, it's an inherent flaw in the use of incandescent bulbs for such an application...