How-to fix an overheating Android head unit

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pagrey

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This is a short how-to for installing a cooling fan in the 5" Jeep/Chrysler android deck. Specifically, the PSD50WRJL sold by XTRONS or the similar deck sold on ebay by Zbark.

The last long trip I took my Android head unit overheated. Symptoms are a boot loop. The screen goes a bit haywire and the radio reboots over and over. When it happened to mine I held the reset button down to keep the radio off and turned off the heater and after a few minutes it was back to normal. I think a big part of the problem is the heater ducts wrap around the deck. Not to mention the decks have a sticker blocking a good number of the cooling holes on top.

radio-1.jpg


The factory navigation deck, the RB1, has a fan to deal with this so I just did the same thing.

radio-2.jpg


I had a few little 12V fans sitting around collecting dust so I used this one. I'm sure anything will work, I just picked a quiet one. This is an ADDA AD0412HB-G70 which is a 40mmx10mm fan. They are available on Mouser but look a bit different from this one now. I used six small diodes to reduce the voltage down to about 8-11V just to keep it quiet and under 12V when the engine is running.

radio-3.jpg


The third pin here is the ignition voltage or red wire to the deck so the fan just runs when the ignition is on. I grounded the fan on the top cover, it seems like a solid ground. There is plenty of room under the top cover for a pretty large if you wanted to go crazy. If you want a quiet fan I think the Panaflo fans are great. I don't sit in my Jeep listening to the radio with the engine off so it's not a big deal for me.

radio-4.jpg


They really should have put a fan in this thing or at least used a better heat sink on the processor. I'll report back after I get some use out of it.
 
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Thanks for the pictures! I will do this as we get closer to summer and warmer temps, for now I just poked holes in the sticker covering all the vent holes (great sticker placement :rolleyes:)
 
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Nice! When I first pulled mine from the box, I noticed there was a stamped area in the cast aluminum on the back that was intended for a fan, but the area hadn't been cut out. I assumed the unit wouldn't be prone to overheating since they avoided to make use of that location.

So, yours has been overheating? I've only had mine through the winter season. I may need to do this to mine too.
 
On mine worst case seemed to be running the heat through the upper ducts on a cold day for an hour or so. The heat has nowhere to go, the deck is surrounded by hot plastic ducts without much airflow. I've had it running on hot days without a problem, it was a long trip in cold weather that gave me problems.
 
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Is anyone else have issues with this unit and the factory sub working? My 1din pioneer unit worked fine but I just installed this unit and while I have more power to the 4 speakers the sub is non functional.
 
pagrey said:
The polarity of two of the speaker wire outputs are reversed. I'll see if I can find the post where I talked about the fix.
Click to expand...

Oh, man. It's reversed on the head unit or on the sub? I did replace the sub a few years back. Perhaps I flipped the wires?

Also, thanks. This makes my weekend knowing there is a fix.
 
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