Los Angeles weather is known to be kinder to people than anyone else, but for the cars' electronic devices, the situation is much more complicated, because of extended exposure to sunlight, temperatures above 100° Fahrenheit inland, saltwater in the air near the shore, and extremely low moisture levels that all negatively impact the operation of your keys.
The modern key fob is nothing but a compact electronic device enclosed in a sealed unit, and high temperatures constitute its arch enemy. Being left in a car cabin for hours on end makes fobs susceptible to overheating. Circuit boards, adhesives used to hold the parts together, and all components degrade under the influence of heat, resulting in unreliable functioning of your buttons or slow degradation of remote capabilities.
The coin-cell battery is especially prone to high temperatures. They accelerate the rate at which chemicals drain inside, so while a freshly bought battery can easily last several years in storage, being left in the sun can kill it much quicker. Fading range in a remote during summer is definitely caused by LA heat. The full list of factors can be found in our guide about fob not working.
Apart from damaging the battery, exposure to constant UV radiation can deteriorate the housing of the remote. Plastic tends to fade and eventually become brittle under constant influence of sunlight. Besides, repeated exposure of the remote left in a dashboard or glove compartment to the extreme heat of LA summers can eventually ruin any seals and seams on it.
Avoid leaving the fob in the car at any time possible. The fob left inside the car is exposed to extremely hot temperatures, accelerating its aging process. Keep it safe in a bag or a pocket, never leave it in a spot that gets sun rays because the heat is the fastest way to a dead remote and a potential lockout.
High temperatures tend to make plastic brittle. Therefore, dropping your physical key in LA on a hot asphalt road may result in its casing cracking and exposing inner electronics to additional influence of heat and dust. Metal parts of a key tend to be durable, but the transponder housing is more sensitive to heat and may start wearing out as well. Salty marine air may affect exposed electronics if your area is located near the ocean.
Extreme temperatures and humidity impact the mood and behavior of drivers making them act in a way that increases chances of a lockout significantly. People may forget their keys at home as a means of protecting them from overheating, rush into a store without taking their keys out of a pocket in a hurry to escape the heat, put the keys aside to grab a drink from a vending machine and get locked out.
Despite the summer weather in Los Angeles being pleasant and comfortable for the majority of people, there is one issue that remains, high temperatures tend to harm the batteries of key fobs, thus, making them not work properly. To avoid such a problem, it is recommended not to leave the key fob in the hot part of the car such as on the dashboard, use new batteries for your key fob, park in a shade, and have a spare key at hand if the first one fails.
It goes without saying that having a spare key is always better than not having one in case your regular key stops functioning, however, storing it in the wrong way makes its life shorter. In particular, keeping the spare key in a hot place, such as the car, will definitely lead to the same results as those of having the original key fob in a hot place because it damages batteries and electronics.
Weather you have an old fob or maybe it went missing, we offer mobile fob programming and key replacement across Los Angeles.
.Key fobs that abruptly stop working are inconvenient, and some owners might believe that they cannot use their old devices anymore. However, the problem may be much simpler and solvable than the loss of keys or the requirement to go to a repair service.
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