3790 Overheat

Just go to Google and enter Garmin 3790 Overheat and you'll see a collection of comments regarding that issue.

I have been using mine daily for about 1 1/2 months and have not had a problem.

Cool. (no pun intended) I was just curious. I don't actually know that's what caused the shutdown, just guessing. It wasn't super hot (no more than anything else black would get sitting on my dash), just wondering if this unit has a lower tolerance to the heat than my previous units. I'm sure the black finish doesn't help. We'll see how it does when we get to summer. I guess I will finally have to stop leaving it on the dash when I go into stores and leave the car in the sun.

Yes... my new nuvi 3790T gets pretty hot. I don't know if its a related issue, but I also had some trouble with the maps flickering and the unit re-booting itself. Garmin said they would replace the unit if the problem continues.

That's a good idea anyway. There are many opportunistic thieves out there to come back to a broken window and runaway GPS.

Treat your garmin like you would any other other device that should be kept as cool as possible. Computers have fans to disapate/regulate heat and garmins don't. I wouldn't leave any electronic device in the sun while not moving that could be harmed by over heating. While the heat may not kill it today it will certainly shorten the life of the unit due to heat or a thief taking it from you.

The aluminum back on the 37xx series is it's heat sink. Other nuvis have the main board mounted inside of a semi-hollow case, partially filled with airspace. Due to the 37xx's thinness, it has virtually no airspace inside of it. There's a reason for the aluminum back.

Electro-magnetic interferences (EMI) is also another reason for the aluminium case. I opened my 37xx gps to see how it was done. Compared to other models where there is a Faraday cage around some compoenents, this one did not have one. So having a metal case helps in reducing EMI.

My 3790LMT does get very warm while in use but so far I haven't had any problems with shutting off or flickering. Hopefully that doesn't change when summer gets here.

It would be interesting to define how warm all your 3790 become.

There is a lot of differences between burning hot, hot, very warm, warm, etc... Compared to cold (when you start it in the morning), very warm could be suspiciously hot, but I am sure it does not come as hot as your coffee cup in the morning or even a 60 watt light bulb.

Most electronic omponents have a maximum junction temperature of 125 degree Celcius (or 257 degrees Farenheight) before they start damaging themselves. Assuming derating for long last duration, junction to case thermal transfer, component case to GPS case and GPS case to air, etc...), the temperature felt by the hand is much lower than the above values.

Garmin rates the operating ambiant temperature range of the 3790 up to 60 degrees C (or 140 degrees F). This is ambiant temperature and this is the same temperature as the hot water coming out of your water tank. This is so hot you can`t keep your fingers in there for a long time.

In my opinion, very warm is pretty safe for normal operation. Still, I would not leave the unit in the car under the sun for a long time. You all touched the hood of your car under the sun and this is very hot.

As a rule of thumb, I would say that if you can withstand the ambiant temperature, your GPS can do it too! LOL!

I discovered that most of the heat on mine comes from the radiant heat from the sun. Being black in color it is naturally going to absorb the heat. When I use it at night it barely gets warm, using it in the daytime is when it gets warm. Not so hot that it is uncomfortable touching it but defiantly warmer than the dash around it.

I always remove it from the dash or cover it with a baseball cap if the car is parked in the sun for any length of time.

Not the entire aluminum back. I thought it is probably the part over the battery or the CPU. It does feel warmer than my other GPS units. But so far has not caused it to shutdown.

My 3790 is hot (well not scalding, but not warm either) to the touch. I had it sitting in a case inside my house where it doesn't get a siganl. However, it was in the standby that it's supposed to last a week in (single click of the power button instead of the hold down to power off).

When I took it out to the car to place it in the charging bracket it was hot to the touch. Anyone have this occur to them?

Thank you.

My 3790 does get pretty warm when plugged in but I don't notice it getting warm in "standby" mode.

Well, I've only noticed it once. I'd updated the software on it via the WebUpdater and also through the myDashboard on the garmin site and I haven't seen it do this again.