is high humidity to blame?

So i recently installed a Pioneer AVH 4000-NEX in my 09 Mazdaspeed 3, sweet radio with lots of cool features. Had it installed for about a week now, got the PAC module working to keep OEM LCD and SWC and all that, but yesterday and today I've experienced some really weird behavior from the radio. I live in a small valley of sorts where the humidity gets extremely high and quite foggy. So yesterday I got in my car and fired it up, after the radio had been working flawlessly for a week, and it was totally wigging out, would not respond to anything, kept locking up.

This went on for about ten minutes with me cussing and carrying on like an idiot, then all of a sudden it just started functioning properly again. I had been running the A/C with warm air because my windshield was foggy, and I am thinking that removing the humidity from the cabin allowed it to start working again. Same exact scenario played out this morning, only without so much cussing because I had an idea of what might be causing it, just wanted to see if any of you guys have ever experienced anything like this, and if so have any hints on how to prevent it? Obviously i could take the face plate off every night and store it inside, but i'd rather not...

Thanks

Obviously this sounds like it may be possible. Are your conections soldered? A loose connection usually does not cause software glitches other than power cycling or muting of sound. Remember the radio is a solid metal case with a warm circuit board inside. It can get condensation on it. (Think soda can) It may be possible that the specific radio you have has other issues like a cracked solder joint and it is being exacerbated by high humidity.

You could look into a solar powered dehumidifier to hook up to your car as well

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To master and control electricity is perfection. *evil laugh*

nope, I used butt connectors like I have in countless other applications, yea I am thinking the humid environment is causing havoc inside the radio somewhere, i am going to try bringing the faceplate inside with me tonight and see if that resolves it.

upon further thought it may also be possible that the high humidity has caused your dash bracing/ground points to become so corroded that it is causing issues. However you would think if this were the case you would have multiple other issues with things like the gauges, hvac, and dash lighting etc.

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To master and control electricity is perfection. *evil laugh*

i also think it could be possible for the humidity to affect your head unit. living in lower louisiana myself i have to deal with high humidity pretty often. i havent personally seen the humidity mess with a car radio but i have seen it mess with smart phones, especially the touch screen. its possibly for water to activate certain touch screens and i would assume that if the humidity is high enough then the touch screen could act like its being touched all over and start acting funny.

but what im talking about is a different kind of "humidity" because you are talking more of fog and im talking more of actual heat and humidity. your problem is more related to condensation and mine is more related to evaporation. im not sure which would be worse on a car radio but im leaning more towards the fog being worse if your radio is being directly exposed to it somehow.

but, even if it is possible, i wouldnt rule out other possibilities like loose connections or faulty radio firmware glitches, etc...

I have never heard or seen humidity cause any problems with any radio or amplifier. And I am in Humidity Central.

soundnsecurity wrote:

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i also think it could be possible for the humidity to affect your head unit. living in lower louisiana myself i have to deal with high humidity pretty often. i havent personally seen the humidity mess with a car radio but i have seen it mess with smart phones, especially the touch screen. its possibly for water to activate certain touch screens and i would assume that if the humidity is high enough then the touch screen could act like its being touched all over and start acting funny.

but what im talking about is a different kind of "humidity" because you are talking more of fog and im talking more of actual heat and humidity. your problem is more related to condensation and mine is more related to evaporation. im not sure which would be worse on a car radio but im leaning more towards the fog being worse if your radio is being directly exposed to it somehow.

but, even if it is possible, i wouldnt rule out other possibilities like loose connections or faulty radio firmware glitches, etc...

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yea i first though maybe it could be a connection issue or something along those lines, but the radio works perfectly once the humidity in the car drops down. Im not talking about normal humidity where its like a hot day and muggy outside, I am talking like fog settling in a valley humid, then once the sun comes up it starts to dissipate and the radio works perfectly...I took the faceplate off tonight and its supposed to be upwards of 90% humidity so I will see if it works in the morning since it will be in the air conditioned house.

i dont know man, if there is that much moisture getting into your closed up car during the night then there is something wrong with a seal somewhere in your car. if i were you i might want to check your gaskets and grommets on the firewall and anywhere else something could have been misaligned or come off all together. i would check just as a precaution.