My Mapillary mount (the one Mapillary sent me in the mail) keeps falling off when I put it in my car (I am using rental cars so I am constantly taking it out and putting it on). Is there any good way of keeping it in place (the suction cup isn’t strong enough)? I have tried tape and it doesn’t work.
Hi @andrewpmk, Sorry to hear you are having trouble. Might be that you got a bad mount, we could try to send you a new one and see if that helps. Just send an email to mounts@mapillary.com. Thanks!
It seemed that the mount had some sort of adhesive which wore off after putting the mount on and taking it off the car a few times. After that it is very difficult to keep the mount on for very long. I managed to get useful imagery a few times (Taunton Road in Durham Region and Yonge Street in York Region) but the mount falls off regularly.
I noticed that when I received my mount, the package was damaged (though the mount itself appeared undamaged) and Canada Post had put it in a bag saying “damaged parcel” on it, but the mount appears fine except for the fact that the bottom of it isn’t sticky enough. Does this have something to do with it? Or is this a problem with Mapillary’s mounts in general that a lot of people are having? Would it be better for me to buy a different type of smartphone mount online, does anyone know of a type of mount that works better?
@andrewpmk I noticed that if you hold the mount in such a way that the suction cup faces up and makes a shallow bowl, put a few drops of water in there and rub it around with your finger. Dust and dirt that has accumulated on the adhesive will come off into the water and can be rinsed off easily. After this, my mount stuck and hasn’t come off since.
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@andrewpmk Give @ian’s suggestion a go and if it doesn’t work we can send you another one. Most mounts aren’t designed to be continually taken off and put back on as the adhesive naturally wears off but I understand when you’re in rental cars you don’t really have a choice.
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Up…
I’m still facing the same problem. I asked for the first mount two years ago for permanent settling in my personal car. After less than one year, it fell down. Following ian suggestion, I tried some cleaning with water and put it again on the windscreen. It was more or less ok but, now, the game is over.
I also asked a second mount last year for a travel in Madagascar. So I mounted and unmounted it several times in local transportation. I was careful with water rinsing and putting the protective plastic paper not in use and stored in a small plastic bag. It was ok for the whole travel. Now, I wanted to use it in my car after one year rest. It didn’t stick for 5 minutes.
Car mounts are presently out of stock. Any other suggestions to resurrect my mounts?
Free car mounts are back in stock so I ordered a new one. Received. Will install soon after a thoroughly windscreen cleaning.
The Mapillary mounts are great for a free option, but if you are looking for a long-term fixture in your car and can afford it you may consider buying a different one. For example I have an iOttie Easytouch 2 which has a much stronger adhesive and has not fallen down.
Thanks for the tip. I had a look at the price and I can afford it, especially considering that even before Mapillary contributing, I was fighting with smartphone car mount.
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Am I understanding correctly that this mount has a suction cup? Where are you mounting it? It needs to be on a smooth surface. If it’s on the dashboard itself, it’s not going to work. Most of them are too rough which prevents a good seal.
Of course, I install it on the inner side of the windscreen, after glass cleaning.
Concerning the last one I received three months, I installed it on my windscreen. Time to time, I unlock it without ungluing. I press on it while locking again. Also, by looking from the outside, I check that the gluing area is always making a thick ring on the glass. Despite all that, it fell yesterday while the car was “abandoned” on a parking with sun for the whole day (Tmax=37°C at weather station). The mount was alone, without phone on it.
I’m not familiar with the mount. Are you saying it has an adhesive, a glue? If so, that adhesive may not work well on glass. It also may not be up to the task of surviving the heat for long. The UV and the heat would break it down.
If it’s just a suction cup, what vehicle do you have? Is the windscreen FLAT-FLAT in the place your puting it? Modern windshields are usually curved. If you’re putting in on place with a slight bend, it may have enough suction to stick for some time but eventually the air getting in at the slight curve would lead to that bond to breaking with time.
I have 3 of these GoPro mounts and they’ve all worked well for years. The only trick is getting the non-go pro pieces to work with them.
I think you found the problem. This happens to me too during the Australian summer. The glue melts and the mount falls off, particularly when the phone and gravity are doing their thing.
I have an odd way to make suction cups more reliable. I apply a thin film of silicon spray and wipe off excess. That also takes dirt with it. This also makes them usable on imperfect surfaces. (My Garmin GPS cup is sitting on a plastic fruit contaner lid with moulding marks/ridges.)
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If the issue is adhesive and you’re confident you want the mount to stay where it is, you’ll want some 3M VHB double-sided stuff.
Cleaning both surfaces is the major tip.
I winter it is not possible to mount the cup immediately. The car and the glass have to warm up before.
I learned that the hard way. My boss though I had problems because it took me so long to drive away in the morning.