Leica Ultravids in hot car (1 Viewer)

I live in Northern Ireland, not the superheat capital of the world by any means, but we've had some hot weather recently, and the interior of cars does get very hot. I have a pair of Leica Ultravid 8x32 BR I keep in the car - in the boot, or 'trunk'. They are in a backpack with some outdoor clothing. So they are not in the main passenger compartment. It is my understanding that the boot and the glovebox do not get as hot as the main interior, but is it OK to leave binoculars in the boot or glovebox, even in hot weather?

I wouldn't leave them there - but for security reasons, not heat.
Martin

honeym said:

I wouldn't leave them there - but for security reasons, not heat.
Martin

Click to expand...

I don't mind the security as they are fully insured. Heat is the only worry! There's a Nikon D7100 in there too. Now that has a battery so could be an issue. It's in the boot. I once left a Garmin satnav in the windscreen on some hot days and the lithium battery was fried.

I always leave my No 2 pair of bins in the glove compartment and I do go in there for other things so its not a case of have never checked. Have never noticed a heat issue in there even when the main body of the car is very hot, same applies to the boot where I always leave my tripod etc. They have never been hot to handle. Need a 2nd pair of bins in case I go out without my Swaro's and its not unknown!

Cheers

Phil

I would think that the main problem with storing at elevated temperatures (elevated in cars due to the greenhouse effect) is the likelihood of the grease outgassing volatiles that could condense on the glass surfaces or even having its viscosity so reduced that it runs and gets to places it shouldn't be and leaves components without adequate lubrication.

Leica doesn't give an acceptable temperature range in their website. Zeiss quotes a maximum 'functional' temperature of 63 deg C for their HT and Swaro a max functional of 55 deg C for their EL SV and, more relevant for us here, a maxium storage temperature of 70 deg C or 158 deg F.

There is no greenhouse effect in the boot but there is probably some heat soak through from the cabin on a hot sunny day and in any case the relatively small volume of the boot space surrounded by heating metal means there must be some 'oven' effect.

Why not stick a weather thermometer in there and check. I mean the sort that you leave outside and record maximum temperature reached and that don't change the reading as they cool down?

Lee

I have found that infrared thermometers are accurate. I think that is what they are. Remote reading ones with batteries.
They are not expensive and come in different temperature ranges.
They give an instantaneous reading.
I think that glove boxes can become hot with the addition of engine heat.
Leica don't use grease in the focuser maybe.

Dialyt,
The Leicas are filled with dry nitrogen gas and leaving them at a high temperature in the car will undoubtedly do something with the nitrogen: it will escape, but it will be replaced with dry air (80% nitrogen, so not a severe problem unless the sucked in oxygen will start to cause some problems, but it never did to my lungs, so...
Gijs van Ginkel

Would a small cool box help?

The heat may affect the rubber armor more than the optics, by drying and possibly even fading it. I kept my Trinovid in my car year round, and it seemed like over time the armor became harder and less sticky, to the point where it almost had a hard plastic feel. But this may have been caused by a decade and a half of use too.

As to safety, I used to keep them under the passenger seat of my car. One day someone broke into my car and stole a small case that I had tossed there, that had a Swiss army knife and a few other things in it. If they had moved their hand six inches forward, they would have had a nice binocular too.