iPod can overheat in Showcase

[Syzygies]

Ok, I consider playing my iPod ten hours straight while traveling coast to coast, recharging in mid-flight from a battery pack, to be normal behavior. The Showcase was not designed for such use, and my iPod overheats. Symptoms were hot to touch, protection circuit stopping play, and distortion. My iPod is fine after it cools down.

Here's the response from Contour Design:

"No, we did not do any heating tests with an external battery or a battery life longer than the standard iPod. We do recommend that you follow Apple's official advice to remove the iPod from any case when charging it. If your iPod continues to over heat in the Showcase, we recommend that you discontinue use of the Showcase. As for credit for your Showcase, we're sorry, but we only offer credit within 30 days for items purchased directly from us."

I'm waiting for a metal 4gShield to arrive, for which I have higher hopes.

[Bob]

It has been a long asked question in these forums and I have always given the same reply - Apple state you should not charge or sync your iPod in a case. They state this for a reason.
Some case makers think that by sticking a couple of dozen pin sized holes in the back of a rubber case will help dissipate heat. Do they carry out tests to see if they work or is it purely cosmetic?
You're still going to have to remove the iPod from your metal case as well - most seem to use neoprene as a liner. Neoprene is another insulating material. Thats why wet suits are made from it.
Two simple rules to prevent overheating:-
Charging? Remove it.
Syncing? Remove it.

[Bluewookie]

I have a black contour showcase, and a 40 GB HP iPod. I always charge while it is still in the case, and have never noticed a problem. Now that I read this I may have to rethink that.

Also, I never keep the belt clip on my showcase, so may that is providing enough ventilation/dissaption room... who know.

[Syzygies]

Bluewookie, I removed the clip in the first ten seconds, you should worry.

Madpict, your position is reasonable, sorry you have to keep stating it. Apple's position is reasonable. And my iPod is hosed as of the last software update, the hard disk probably overheated beyond repair.

So how come my first case, a Speck bought in the Apple Store, comes with a pajama drop seat for squatting on the dock, and no warnings to this effect? The case is a ridiculous pain to put on, they surely don't intend people to remove it daily. I cut off the drop seat, again in the first ten seconds.

Easy to say after the fact, "Oh gee, we don't support that!" Reminds me of my other problem, half my headphones short audio ground to the metal iPod case, causing distortion till I taped the case. This should be a recall issue, go to Radio Shack and look at a generic gold 1/8" stereo plug, it will short to the iPod case. Earbuds like those that come with the iPod, cylindrical plugs with no flange at the base, are in the distinct minority.

Apple's position? They only support the earbuds that come with the iPod...

[heywire]

I still don't know what is going on with everyone having problems with their ipod getting hot. I cannot even get my ipod warm enough to feel any significant temperature. 10 hrs charging, 8 hrs playing... nothing... actually the metal casing is usually kind of chilly.

[Tomo_kun]

You could always check the heat inside of the iPod, there is a thermometer in the diagnostics menu.

[hitkaiser]

i leave my ipod in my showcase while it charges, sure, it warms up a little.. but not enuf to alarm me, when its been playing many hours, i take the pod out, its often quite cool...

[AndyH]

Originally posted by hitkaiser
i leave my ipod in my showcase while it charges, sure, it warms up a little.. but not enuf to alarm me, when its been playing many hours, i take the pod out, its often quite cool...
Same here, no problems charging my iPod while in the Contour Showcase. However, if I know I'm going to be performing a large music-sync operation (>400 songs or so) I will take the iPod out of the case to aid in cooling as large file transfer operations do tend to heat up the iPod quite a bit (due to heavy hard-disk usage).