Thin Thermal Insulation?

[jaredyates]

I've noticed that in the hot weather, my panel-mounted GPS is overheating. This isn't too much of a surprise, since it's installed in a little oven. The boot cowl/glare shield is painted black and I don't have any vents. I'm planning to install a vent, but would also like to see if I can find some peel-and-stick insulation to install on the underside of the glare shield to try and reflect more of the heat back away from the metal. Has anyone found a good source for something thin and lightweight?

[N942VT]

EZcool insulation - http://www.lobucrod.com/ Not peel and stick but you can spray it with adhesive, light weight and very effective. Not aviation approved, don't know the burn test results etc, etc.

[jaredyates]

Perfect Dave, thanks! I hope your plane is doing well... I'd like to catch up again sometime.

[David Weber]

I got some peal and stick insulation at kosh 3 years ago...will see if I can find it and see if it has model name and seller...would be perfect for that

[David Weber]

Do not know if my idea will work, but I bought a 12v computer fan to be used as avionics fan

[Zzz]

Do not know if my idea will work, but I bought a 12v computer fan to be used as avionics fan

I like this idea. Even with the insulation, once the volume of air under the glareshield heats up, that insulation is going to work against you with that static air. I think the answer is ventilation, and if you don't have the vents, then getting the air moving could work.

[Ed.Meyer]

"...12v computer fan to be used as avionics fan"

I have seen posts of VAF where people have installed these fans to draw air from under the glare-shield through vents on top. Also serves to defrost windshield in the winter.

[Erbman]

I took a different approach for a similar but different problem. My problem was when flying in the summer on certain headings the sun would shine through the windshield on the glareshield. This would heat up the glareshield which would radiate infrared back into the cockpit. The result was that it felt hot in the cockpit even with cold air coming through all the vents.

The solution was dirt simple--I placed a black bath towel over the glareshield. I started with a white towel, but the reflections in the windshield eventually became annoying. Normally you would think of black as getting hot rather than insulating. My experience has been that the insulating qualities of the cloth overpower any heat absorption from the color, so the towel stays cool. Not as cool as a white towel, but much cooler than the glareshield was before.

As mentioned, the towel will slow down the escape of heat from under the glareshield, but I haven't had any trouble with the avionics. I did cover the firewall with heat insulation and sound deadening, but in the summer you can still feel some warmth coming through from the engine.