How Cold is Too Cold to Install This Camera?

GeekOnTheHill

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Location
Upstate New York, USA
Country
United States
Dash Cam
4Sight TODC2, Street Guardian SG9663dc, Vantrue S1 Pro
Basically I'm concerned about the 3M sticky things curing properly. I live in the Northeast U.S. and it's pretty cold lately. It's expected to climb to roughly a balmy 45F / 7C next weekend. Is that warm enough?

Alternatively, I can go ghetto for now and use Velcro, then make it permanent when it warms up.

This camera will be replacing a 4Sight TODC2, which has been a real workhorse. But I want better video quality. If there's anything else I should know before installing it, please feel free to educate me. Thanks.

Richard
 
Last edited:
From the 3M Application Techniques page

https://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal...08C090I4RULB0A0016000000_univid=1180621642980


Temperature

The ideal temperature for application is between 70ºF to 100ºF (21ºC to 38ºC). Pressure sensitive adhesives use a viscous flow to achieve substrate contact area.

Minimum suggested application temperatures are:
  • 50ºF (10ºC): 4950, 5952, 4910, 4952, 4611, 4622 tape families
  • 60ºF (15ºC): 4941, 4945 tape families
  • 32ºF (0ºC): 4951 tape families

Your tape is most likely #5952
 
yeah even though you can apply it at 10°c I would think doing it at 20°c would be the better option, not always practical when the weather is against us I guess
 
From the 3M Application Techniques page

https://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal...08C090I4RULB0A0016000000_univid=1180621642980


Temperature

The ideal temperature for application is between 70ºF to 100ºF (21ºC to 38ºC). Pressure sensitive adhesives use a viscous flow to achieve substrate contact area.

Minimum suggested application temperatures are:
  • 50ºF (10ºC): 4950, 5952, 4910, 4952, 4611, 4622 tape families
  • 60ºF (15ºC): 4941, 4945 tape families
  • 32ºF (0ºC): 4951 tape families

Your tape is most likely #5952

Okay, thanks. I guess I'll go ghetto for now and use Velcro.

Richard
 
Okay, thanks. I guess I'll go ghetto for now and use Velcro.

Richard

I happen to live in Northern New England and I can say that you might get away with mounting in colder weather if you do it on a "warm" sunny day and heat up the windshield with your defroster before application. Make sure the tape is warm before application too. Then, leave the mount in place with no weight on it for as long as possible until the bond sets up and try to keep your vehicle interior warmed up for awhile.

Also, if you read the linked Application Techniques guide you'll see:

"Note here that the initial tape application to surfaces at temperatures below the suggested minimum temperatures is not recommended, because the adhesive becomes too firm. However, if the tape is applied properly, the low temperature bonding is generally satisfactory. To obtain the best performance with all 3M™ VHB™ Tapes, ensure that the surfaces are dry and free of condensed moisture."
 
the way the weather is these days a warm day could come around at any time

Yes, but I'm like an overgrown little kid. I just ordered the camera last night and I've checked Amazon three times already to see if it's been shipped. It should arrive Tuesday.

My dad has a heated garage... I wonder how warm it gets in there? Maybe a visit is in order.

Richard
 
Heated (temporary) garage would do a job.

Sent from my VKY-L29 using Tapatalk
 
I happen to live in Northern New England and I can say that you might get away with mounting in colder weather if you do it on a "warm" sunny day and heat up the windshield with your defroster before application. Make sure the tape is warm before application too. Then, leave the mount in place with no weight on it for as long as possible until the bond sets up and try to keep your vehicle interior warmed up for awhile.

Also, if you read the linked Application Techniques guide you'll see:

"Note here that the initial tape application to surfaces at temperatures below the suggested minimum temperatures is not recommended, because the adhesive becomes too firm. However, if the tape is applied properly, the low temperature bonding is generally satisfactory. To obtain the best performance with all 3M™ VHB™ Tapes, ensure that the surfaces are dry and free of condensed moisture."

I suppose I could put a propane heater in the car...

Richard
 
The biggest challenge I've run into with trying to apply 3M VHB tape to a cold windshield is condensation. Even a tiny amount of moisture will ruin the bond.
 
The biggest challenge I've run into with trying to apply 3M VHB tape to a cold windshield is condensation. Even a tiny amount of moisture will ruin the bond.

The defroster runs the A/C compressor to dry the air, which would help with that problem. And I have a tiny electric heater that throws out a lot of heat and would be much safer than propane. Even on its lowest setting it would keep the car interior warm. I'll give it some thought. Or I'll just use the Velcro for now. It has the opposite problem, in my experience: It sticks fine when it's cold, but falls off when it get hot. Thanks.

Richard
 
The defroster runs the A/C compressor to dry the air, which would help with that problem. And I have a tiny electric heater that throws out a lot of heat and would be much safer than propane. Even on its lowest setting it would keep the car interior warm. I'll give it some thought. Or I'll just use the Velcro for now. It has the opposite problem, in my experience: It sticks fine when it's cold, but falls off when it get hot. Thanks.

Richard

I would go ahead and try it. Even if it fails eventually you can always apply some new 3M VHB tape to the mount.

Sounds like your plan should work OK.
 
I would go ahead and try it. Even if it fails eventually you can always apply some new 3M VHB tape to the mount.

Sounds like your plan should work OK.

Thanks. Also, I'm just thinking, I have a whole bunch of 3M tape from an accessory kit I bought for my GoPro, so if I wind up having to do it again it's no big deal.

Richard
 
I don't recall what temperature was when I installed mine but it wasn't 20 C for sure. Since i did it in February and installed it soon after arrived as I was worried driving around in new car with no dashcams. And since I also got little kid syndrome... I think I've installed while temperature was less then 10C in underground kon heated garage but car was pretty warm by the time I ran cable from the back. So I believe you should not worry much about it as long as your windshields are clean and dry.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk
 
leave car heater in full hot for a while in the shed. use hair dryer even.
 
Hi, Like puska said above, make sure windshield is clean and dry. I installed my front and rear cams outside in 35-40 F temps and all is good. Clean front and back glass and dry very well.
 
I just got a shipping notice from Amazon that says it will be arriving Tuesday, and a UPS notice that says it will arrive tomorrow. I have an account with UPS, so they send me notices whenever a package is addressed to me. It's not unusual for them to beat Amazon's promises by a day, especially when Amazon ships from any their Pennsylvania or New Jersey locations (especially EWR4 in Robbinsville, New Jersey, which practically guarantees an early delivery).

Depending on what time it arrives, the remaining daylight, and the precipitation, I may be able to start the installation tomorrow by heating the car and the glass as suggested. They're predicting snow for tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday, however, which could put a damper on things -- more because I'm the guy who has to spend time clearing it than because it makes much of a difference in the installation.

That's okay, though. I have a portable car battery booster that has an accessory plug and provides a nice, clean voltage; so if worse comes to worse, I can satisfy my "little kid syndrome" by doing the device setup and any needed firmware updates while inside the house.

In the interest of furthering thread drift...

I've had some people ask why I even bother with a dash cam considering how little traffic there is where I live. The main reasons are the deer and other wildlife, and the tourists from the NYC Metro Area who descend upon us en masse at various times of the year (mainly early trout season, summer vacation, hunting season, and ski season). The deer and the tourists conspire against the locals.

The problem basically boils down to tailgating. Everyone in the NYC Metro Area tailgates. I know this for a fact. I was born there, learned to drive there, and lived there most of my life. I was even stationed there for part of my time in the military. Everyone down there tailgates.

The reason they tailgate is not because they're necessarily bad drivers. It's because it's impossible not to tailgate in and around New York City. If you back off enough to allow the recommended three seconds between yourself and the vehicle in front of you, other drivers will immediately fill that gap. So unless you're moving backwards, it's impossible to avoid tailgating in the NYC Metro Area.

Where I live now, almost none of the locals tailgate. Yeah, you get the occasional idiot with a souped-up pickup; but for the most part, people maintain a safe distance. The reason is wildlife, especially suicidal deer. You don't want to rear-end the guy in front of you if he has to stop to try to avoid a deer. This is especially important in the early mornings and late afternoons when the deer are commuting between their living and foraging areas. There are some roads where you can easily see a dozen or more deer in a five-mile stretch. So as a general rule, the locals don't tailgate.

The tourists, on the other hand, always tailgate. It's what they're used to. They don't even know they're tailgating. They're not being aggressive or trying to get the vehicle in front of them to move faster. It's just how they drive. Sometimes they'll even tailgate you while you're in the right lane on one of the rare four-lane roads. And when a suicidal deer leaps in front of you while a clueless tourist is tailgating you, there's a good chance you're going to get rear-ended (which is why I insist on a dual-channel camera).

Another reason why I like having the dash cam is because I've started to enjoy posting the videos on Vimeo. Some of the routes are just pretty. Vimeo also doesn't compress as much as YouTube does (at least not with a Pro account), so the videos tend to be clearer. Vimeo will actually warn you if they think the video bitrate is too low for the resolution on a given video.

In a nutshell, my having a dash cam is part practical and part fun. The reason I chose the SG9663DC in particular is because by all accounts, it has the best video quality of any dual-lens camera with a rear camera that can be mounted on the glass. My current 4Sight TODC2 would actually suffice for practical purposes. If I were to get rear-ended, it would capture both the deer in from of me and the idiot behind me well enough for legal purposes. I mean, rear-end accidents are pretty cut-and-dry to begin with.

But I wanted better video quality. And a new toy. :)

Richard
 
UPS just revised the delivery date for Tuesday. Oh well.

Richard
 
My new car was delayed by a month from the factory and the new toy complex is killing me. My new DC is just sitting here in the box. :-(
 
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