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Overheating, Sunlight, Unit shut off.

Yesterday we were trying to create a video for work showing the potential of Skype and the ability to draw in 3D space during the conversation and I ran into an issue. I live in California, and yesterday it was cloudless ~80 degree day. We were trying to film and after about 5 minutes of sun exposure while the device was being used, it would shut off. It would then shut off immediately when trying to turn it back on after that. Only after letting the device sit for about 5 minutes would it start working again. I check the device temperature through the device portal (website) and it said Cool, but obviously it seemed as though it was not. The outer case was very warm to the touch, but not overly hot. Since then I've tried the device server times indoors and it seems to work perfectly fine under load, and does not shut down after long periods of use, so it would seem to me that the sunlight surely overheated the device itself.

So my question is, has this happened to anyone else, is this a normal use scenario for the heat, or is my device possibly over sensitive to heat and should be looked at, exchanged, return, etc.

If need be I can open an incident, but wanted to see what the community thoughts were.

Thanks

Best Answer

Answers

  • Any resolution to this. Are others having issues outside. This is one area we plan on testing next week, so curious as to what we should expect.

  • @EdAM We havent really tried since, but I havent heard anything from MS related to this either. My suggestion is to keep it out of the sun. Stay in the shade or in a cool area. I've personally not heard of this happening to anyone else, but I also don't know anyone else with a Hololens :)

  • I thought it would be a good idea to chime in on this issue. During outside testing I have been able to confirm Hololens will overheat very easily while in contact with direct sunlight. The best way I've been able to combat this is by killing all the non essential processes than are running and only use one application at a time.
  • I've had this issue too, on a sunny day with air temp around 32C, and in direct sun, the Hololens shut off. At that point it was also getting somewhat uncomfortable to wear it, since my body temperature was also up, so it didn't bother me. I didn't check what the internal temperature got up to, but the casing was warm to the touch, so the external temperature was probably at least 40C.

    It's frankly not surprising that this kind of extreme temp would cause an overheat, so I wouldn't regard this as a hardware issue.

    After a cooling off period the device was fine.

  • In case anyone is monitoring this thread, I can confirm the issue as well. At an outdoor event this week demonstrating a mixed reality experience that we built for one of our customers, the device would periodically shut down and require a brief cooling off period before being put into action. If you're going to participate in a similar event, I would recommend having multiple devices and planning a rotation to allow for cooling.

  • Use an umbrella to hide from direct sunlight. The unit overheats and shuts off in 5-10 minutes of active use in direct sunlight.

    BTW, does the bright light cause any issues? If so, we designed a solution and trying to gauge the interest of other developers to justify manufacturing.

    https://forums.hololens.com/discussion/8521/hololens-outdoor-and-industrial-use#latest

  • I am currently doing trials myself for my company. This outside heating issue is becoming a deal killer. My end users need their hands free to complete their tasks. I cannot even go five minutes without issues.

  • edited June 2018

    My testing temperature is 87 degrees Fahrenheit

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