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Air Tag used to track a portable Honda Inverter generator

O

Ollieowner

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 30, 2023
7
1
I have a Honda EU3200i inverter portable gas generator and am thinking about buying an Air Tag to track it if it should get stolen.

Does anyone know if the generator being an inverter will have any effect on how an Air Tag functions?

Will the heat from the generator engine running render the Air Tag useless? What are the hot and cold ranges of an Air Tag?

Thanks in advance.
IMG_8487.jpeg
 
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It is not likely that the generator would be running if someone has stolen it…so I'm thinking electrical interference wouldn't matter.

Are there any removable plastic panels on that thing that aren't close to the engine action?
 
BrianBaughn said:
It is not likely that the generator would be running if someone has stolen it…so I'm thinking electrical interference wouldn't matter.

Are there any removable plastic panels on that thing that aren't close to the engine action?
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There are two removable panels, so an AT could be hidden. Good point on the gen not running if stolen. Thank you, completely new to using ATs.
 
I lost an AirTag. I go to where Find My says it is.

Cant connect to it...can't find it. Map shows me standing right on top of it....no dice.

Seems entirely unreliable to me. I'm not buying any more.
 
Ollieowner said:
There are two removable panels, so an AT could be hidden. Good point on the gen not running if stolen. Thank you, completely new to using ATs.
Click to expand...

Is this an emergency generator? I would expect you'd need to remove it while you used it so as not to kill the airtag.
 
Ollieowner said:
How would the Gen kill the AT?
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My understanding of combustion is that it generates heat... putting the airtag inside the casing probably puts it at risk of exceeding the max recommended temperature for the battery inside the airtag.
 
nicho said:
My understanding of combustion is that it generates heat... putting the airtag inside the casing probably puts it at risk of exceeding the max recommended temperature for the battery inside the airtag.
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I will give it a try once I receive the ATs, as most inverters have an internal running temp well below the Apple 140 degree point. A work in progress.
This also begs the question if an AT will work inside a hot car interior in the brutal heat of the summer?
 
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monstermash said:
I lost an AirTag. I go to where Find My says it is.

Cant connect to it...can't find it. Map shows me standing right on top of it....no dice.

Seems entirely unreliable to me. I'm not buying any more.
Click to expand...
The location direction are not that specific. They are generally within about 20 to 30 metres. If you have it attached to something large enough you should be able to see it in that kind of distance. I have one in my car and left the car at a mechanic for for 4 days last week and the AirTag was showing my car parked on the street instead of inside the garage. My car has its own GPS capability and it clearly showed it was inside the mechanic shop.
 
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nebo1ss said:
The location direction are not that specific. They are generally within about 20 to 30 metres. If you have it attached to something large enough you should be able to see it in that kind of distance. I have one in my car and left the car at a mechanic for for 4 days last week and the AirTag was showing my car parked on the street instead of inside the garage. My car has its own GPS capability and it clearly showed it was inside the mechanic shop.
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This makes sense when you consider that the people walking past and pinging it with their iphones were probably on the street rather than traipsing through the garage.
 
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nicho said:
My understanding of combustion is that it generates heat... putting the airtag inside the casing probably puts it at risk of exceeding the max recommended temperature for the battery inside the airtag.
Click to expand...

Everyone's so concerned about the operating temperature of the Airtag or battery (140F) yet has no concern about the gasoline reservoir also inside the case...

Serious - the exhaust system is designed to push the heat out of the casing. If truly concerned about how warm the Airtag gets, locate it near the air filter / intake so it'll stay close to ambient temperatures.

nebo1ss said:
The location direction are not that specific. They are generally within about 20 to 30 metres. If you have it attached to something large enough you should be able to see it in that kind of distance. I have one in my car and left the car at a mechanic for for 4 days last week and the AirTag was showing my car parked on the street instead of inside the garage. My car has its own GPS capability and it clearly showed it was inside the mechanic shop.
Click to expand...

Common misconception - the map location is NOT the location of the Airtag, it's the location of the device which last picked up the Airtag's signal. So the map location for your car's airtag would've been the location of the person's phone who parked or walked or drove by close enough for their phone to hear the Airtag's broadcast.

Similarly, @monstermash might go to the map location, but that's just saying the location of the phone which last heard from the Airtag. If that timestamp is recent then the AirTag is likely nearby and walking around with Precious Finding on should locate it. If the timestamp is older though then it's likely the AirTag has been disabled and moved.

Either way, finding lost stuff isn't what Airtag's are marketed to do - so don't expect them to be stellar at doing that job. With a car, you'd do better with a real GPS tracker that sends it's own GPS location. They - and associated service plans - are pretty cheap.
 
deeddawg said:
Everyone's so concerned about the operating temperature of the Airtag or battery (140F) yet has no concern about the gasoline reservoir also inside the case...

Serious - the exhaust system is designed to push the heat out of the casing. If truly concerned about how warm the Airtag gets, locate it near the air filter / intake so it'll stay close to ambient temperatures.



Common misconception - the map location is NOT the location of the Airtag, it's the location of the device which last picked up the Airtag's signal. So the map location for your car's airtag would've been the location of the person's phone who parked or walked or drove by close enough for their phone to hear the Airtag's broadcast.

Similarly, @monstermash might go to the map location, but that's just saying the location of the phone which last heard from the Airtag. If that timestamp is recent then the AirTag is likely nearby and walking around with Precious Finding on should locate it. If the timestamp is older though then it's likely the AirTag has been disabled and moved.

Either way, finding lost stuff isn't what Airtag's are marketed to do - so don't expect them to be stellar at doing that job. With a car, you'd do better with a real GPS tracker that sends it's own GPS location. They - and associated service plans - are pretty cheap.
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It looks like the Air Tags worked quite well in this situation. Millions in lost stuff found. 😊

https://www.foxnews.com/us/airtag-h...ed-stealing-over-1-million-from-armored-truck
 
If you really care to not lose item, buy yourself gps tiny box tracker.
AirTags are only good for wallets (not Apple one) and keys when they drop out your pocket.

If someone steal item they will have an iPhone or Android with apple app and know airtag is hidden and then remove battery, move to real place where they store things and sell it afterso.
 
Ollieowner said:
I will give it a try once I receive the ATs, as most inverters have an internal running temp well below the Apple 140 degree point. A work in progress.
This also begs the question if an AT will work inside a hot car interior in the brutal heat of the summer?
Click to expand...
No problem with using an AR in a car. I have been using one for a couple of years without a problem.
 
I have two portable generators and use ATs in both. Used double sided tape to affix them inside the air cleaner box. They've been run for hundreds of hours in all temps without a single issue.
 
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