On my last trip from Belgium to Denmark, my ipad mini overheated 3 times.
It wasn’t a big issue because we where flying in formation and I had a 2nd GPS.
But 2 years ago I just took off from Gap-Tallard flying a PA28, and the iPad (my only GPS) overheated while flying in the mountains, not so cool :)
Has anyone tested this: https://x-naut.com/ ?
It’s very expensive, but if it works…
Yes jvdo – see posts 85 & 86. For sale at all good pilot shops 
I would recommend using it attached to a power bank so that you don’t run the risk of having to change batteries mid flight. I run my iPad and the X-NAUT from a 16000 mAh power pack but with batteries also installed in the X-NAUT – that way if the power pack empties I still have the power from the batteries – never happened yet, evem on a long days flying.
However, enroute charging does increase the risk of (a) shutdown and (b) a fire.
I think a LIPO fire is extremely unlikely if the battery is not being charged. You would basically have to puncture it.
I sometimes wonder whether simply gluing a ~1mm aluminium or copper plate to the back of a tablet would stop the shutdowns, by dissipating the heat from the hot spot(s). The thermal design of these things is really sub-optimal.
The X-NAUT runs of regular AA batteries so no recharging there. Agreed the iPad does warm up more when charging.
I used to think this didn’t apply to me. Never once have I experienced a shutdown, until: last week in France my primary iPad suddenly displayed a red thermometer and .. shut down. What’s different is that: a) this was a newly acquired 3rd generation iPad (because it’s much faster); b) I was in the PA-28, not the 172; c) it was on the passenger seat with sunlight streaming in, and it was the glass that was really hot, not the back.
My backup iPad2 continued unaffected, as did my reserve iPad mini. As for the spare iPad2 in the back, I don’t know, but I’m guessing the 3rd gen iPad is more power dissipating than the ancient iPad 2’s. The hot iPad returned to normal after a couple of minutes in the PA-28’s air inlet in the conveniently cooled footwell – try that in a 172!
So my take is that it’s the black bezel that’s soaking up the sunlight, and just keeping it shaded fixes the problem. In the Cessna I’ve had no problem in 30 deg C ambient temps, or with sunlight. But at 20 deg C ambient in the Warrior, bang! Always have a spare!
My backup iPad2 continued unaffected, as did my reserve iPad mini. As for the spare iPad2 in the back, I don’t know,
Speak about redundancy!
I wonder if the Ipad Mini is specially likely to overheat?
It would be my tablet of choice if I had to move to IOS for some specific app which doesn’t come on Android, e.g. Foreflight. I can’t use anything bigger in the TB20; nowhere to put it.
I had an iPad mini 4 shut down due to heat in a glider, having it on a kneepad under a bubble canopy. It hasn´t shut down anymore since then, neither in the glider (now in a more unexposed position) nor in a PA28, SR20 or C172 in hot sunny climates. But it still is a good strategy to have a backup…in my case an iPhone 7plus with a rather big display plus panel-mounted GPS plus a paper chart in the back(not necessarily up to date). And the radio is usually still there too….
Peter wrote:
I wonder if the Ipad Mini is specially likely to overheat?
Don’t think so, Peter. I’m using an iPad Mini2 (therefore not the latest and greatest…) in rather hot climes and – so far – never had an issue with it. That said, I fly Cessnas where the cockpit is more likely to be in the shade than in some other types. I have a feeling that the choice of mount is important here. Some mounts have a solid backplate which means the tablet gets no ventilation whatsoever. Mine covers about half the back with some holes in the rest, and I’m planning to drill some more in there.
I would expect the biggest shutdown issues to be with faster hardware, but it may not be obvious because in some cases a faster version draws less (or at least no more) power. For example an XPS13-9360 laptop is similar CPU performance to the 6 years older X230, but the half-size battery lasts about the same number of hours.
And if/when I get another Ipad, it would be the top-spec Mini, with the SIM card slot so it has a GPS as well.
Any idea how long the battery lasts? If less then 6hrs then potentially it will need to be powered in flight too.
At FL180 there is only 1/2 the conductive/convective cooling, compared to sea level. I wonder whether this is why Apple set that altitude limit (mentioned in some other posts) of IIRC 10000ft?
A solid aluminium mount might be OK if it touches the back all over, because the heat is dissipated only in certain spots (mainly, the CPU area, and the charging circuit). One can also get thermally conductive foam, to fill any air gap (not cheap but very effective).
