Why does a car USB flash drive get hot?
2 Answers
It is normal for a car USB flash drive to generate heat. The USB flash drive is composed of many electronic components, and the flow of electricity naturally causes the USB flash drive to heat up. Here is some relevant information about USB flash drive usage: Format: Generally, vehicles recognize music files in MP3 or WMA format. Therefore, when downloading music, it is important to pay attention to the file format. If the format is incorrect, it must be converted to MP3 or WMA format. Path: Try to place music files in the root directory of the car USB flash drive. If they are placed too deeply, the car's audio system may not be able to locate the files. Capacity: Some car audio systems may not support USB flash drives with excessively large capacities. In some older car models, since the USB flash drive is mainly used for storing music, which does not take up much space, it is only necessary to choose a suitable USB flash drive for the car, without requiring a large memory capacity.
I've also encountered the issue of USB drives getting hot while driving. This is mainly because the USB drive continuously reads and writes data, especially when playing music, causing the chip to operate at high speed and generate heat. Moreover, the temperature inside the car is already high in summer, with the dashboard getting scorching hot, making the USB drive feel like it's in a steamer. Poor-quality USB drives are more prone to overheating due to inadequate heat dissipation design, with the chip enclosed in a plastic shell trapping heat. It's recommended to choose a USB drive with a metal casing for better heat dissipation, unplug it when parked to let it rest, and avoid letting it continue to drain the car's power after turning off the engine. Later, I switched to a faster read-write speed USB drive and streamlined the songs stored on it, which significantly improved the heating issue.
