Is it safe to leave camera gear in a vehicle on a hot summer day?

[A.Hruskach]

I have a small pelican case (Orange) that I keep my GoPro, batteries, and portable charger in. I often leave it in my vehicle because I travel a lot. Is it safe to leave camera equipment in a vehicle on a hot day? I don't know how hot it gets, but my car is dark blue so it soaks up sunlight and builds interior heat really quick? I know that I should check each items operating temp in the manual, but will it cause any other damage besides with the batteries?

[TempestCatto]

What's the outside temp going to be? 90+ degrees F? I would keep it stored elsewhere. If it's below that and just for the day, it should be fine. Arizona heat would turn your equipment into a goo; for example.

[BrinkGG]

10 minutes ago, A.Hruskach said:

I have a small pelican case (Orange) that I keep my GoPro, batteries, and portable charger in. I often leave it in my vehicle because I travel a lot. Is it safe to leave camera equipment in a vehicle on a hot day? I don't know how hot it gets, but my car is dark blue so it soaks up sunlight and builds interior heat really quick? I know that I should check each items operating temp in the manual, but will it cause any other damage besides with the batteries?

Where? You can look at forecasts and see what the weather will most likely be. 

If the outside of the car gets anywhere above 90F, then no. Put them somewhere else. 

[Turtle Rig]

19 minutes ago, A.Hruskach said:

I have a small pelican case (Orange) that I keep my GoPro, batteries, and portable charger in. I often leave it in my vehicle because I travel a lot. Is it safe to leave camera equipment in a vehicle on a hot day? I don't know how hot it gets, but my car is dark blue so it soaks up sunlight and builds interior heat really quick? I know that I should check each items operating temp in the manual, but will it cause any other damage besides with the batteries?

Just leave it inside the trunk,  nothing bad will happen.

[TomvanWijnen]

As we all know, hot air rises, and I'm fairly sure this is also the case in cars. From personal experience from a few hours ago today, the lower something is in a car, the better. Perhaps place it under the front seat (either in the back or front), or put it in the boot (or any other low spot).

[Zodiark1593]

9 minutes ago, TomvanWijnen said:

As we all know, hot air rises, and I'm fairly sure this is also the case in cars. From personal experience from a few hours ago today, the lower something is in a car, the better. Perhaps place it under the front seat (either in the back or front), or put it in the boot (or any other low spot).

Cars tend to trap heat rather well, so even lower, it's still likely to get quite hot.

 

I wouldn't keep anything remotely valuable in the car. If need be, travel lighter, use a smaller camera, etc. This is a part of the reason I went with a compact, as carrying an SLR with even a single lens every day to work and back would be far too impractical. And there's little point having a camera I'm seldom able to have with me.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, A.Hruskach said:

I have a small pelican case (Orange) that I keep my GoPro, batteries, and portable charger in. I often leave it in my vehicle because I travel a lot. Is it safe to leave camera equipment in a vehicle on a hot day? I don't know how hot it gets, but my car is dark blue so it soaks up sunlight and builds interior heat really quick? I know that I should check each items operating temp in the manual, but will it cause any other damage besides with the batteries?

Id be more afraid of someone busting out the Windows and stealing the stuff than the heat. 

[TetraSky]

If it's an extreme heat day, the battery could swell up and explode. If the temperature outside is 90˚F, the inside of the car would be at 133˚F within an hour according to this vet website. (Hence why you also should never leave a baby or an animal in a car...)

 

You could also just get your window bashed in and have your gear stolen.

[vanished]

The battery could suffer permanent loss to the total capacity or perhaps in the worst case even fail and explode, but I'd be more concerned about the former as that's almost guaranteed while the latter is certainly not.  The camera should theoretically be fine though, I've seen some durability tests on DSLRs and they are built to handle the world's extreme conditions - deserts, arctic, etc.  More importantly though, this plan is flawed from the start - never leave anything valuable (ie, a dime or more) in a vehicle.  There are people who are that desperate and just need that little bit more to get what they need, and will break in for it.  By comparison, a whole camera bag is about as rich of a treasure as you can get.  It's just asking for trouble.

[Jim, in Iowa]

I had my camera in my trunk while on a canoe trip. When I retrieved it, it would not function because it was too hot. It was fine once it cooled off, but I don't care to try that again. If I had a similar situation again, I'd look for one of those fans that sit on the window to pull a little air through the cabin. 

[Turtle Rig]

2 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

The battery could suffer permanent loss to the total capacity or perhaps in the worst case even fail and explode, but I'd be more concerned about the former as that's almost guaranteed while the latter is certainly not.  The camera should theoretically be fine though, I've seen some durability tests on DSLRs and they are built to handle the world's extreme conditions - deserts, arctic, etc.  More importantly though, this plan is flawed from the start - never leave anything valuable (ie, a dime or more) in a vehicle.  There are people who are that desperate and just need that little bit more to get what they need, and will break in for it.  By comparison, a whole camera bag is about as rich of a treasure as you can get.  It's just asking for trouble.

Amen!  Nice one Ryan... Ya mean its not a safe practice to leave a 500 dollar or more camera in the car in hot weather.  Firstly they can break in and steal your camera, which is why I suggested keep it in the trunk, if you must.  I wouldn't do such thing.  If I had a expensive camera I would never leave it in the car,, people will break in and snatch it.  Always have the camera with you is the moral of the story.

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

The battery could suffer permanent loss to the total capacity or perhaps in the worst case even fail and explode, but I'd be more concerned about the former as that's almost guaranteed while the latter is certainly not.  The camera should theoretically be fine though, I've seen some durability tests on DSLRs and they are built to handle the world's extreme conditions - deserts, arctic, etc.  More importantly though, this plan is flawed from the start - never leave anything valuable (ie, a dime or more) in a vehicle.  There are people who are that desperate and just need that little bit more to get what they need, and will break in for it.  By comparison, a whole camera bag is about as rich of a treasure as you can get.  It's just asking for trouble.

It is estimated that storing a LI-ION battery for one year at 60C (140F) would result in a battery that could still be recharged to around 75% of its original capacity. That depends on the level of charge is is kept at while at that temperature, the higher the charge the faster the degradation. In practice, the effect of high temperature for short periods of time, such as in the back of a car, should not cause a problem. Take for example the operating temperature of the Canon 7D2 is 0C-40C. If the external temperature is 33C then on average the boot temperature after 3hrs will be 41C, so only slightly outside the recommended operating temperature. In a bag this could be slightly less. In the cabin of a car however the temperature differential compared to ambient can be substantial. For instance a recent event here in the UK with external temperatures of 33C, the cabin of a car where a dog died was up to 49C. I would still not be concerned about the battery in the camera exploding. Most battery manufactures use 60C as a general rule of thumb for storage, the temps at which explosion becomes a risk is quite a bit higher than that depending on the cell type.