Here at Mob Armor, hearing from our loyal customers and resellers is the number one way we can improve our products. We’ve taken countless suggestions and put them into action – like adding foam padding to our cradle mounts for vibration damping, to engineering a second notch into our TabNetic tablet mount ball housings for 180 degrees of device tilt. That’s why we decided to open up our comments to an AMA – ask me anything – the past few days. We heard a bit of everything, from product design questions to wild hypotheticals. Keep reading for some of our favorites.
How is everything magnetized?
We use rare-earth neodymium magnets as the base for all of our magnetic products. They arrive to us with different pull-force strengths, based on their size. The magnetic pull-force isn’t determined by some fancy equation – it is simply equal to the amount of weight required to separate the magnet from the ferrous metal it is stuck to. Otherwise, when it comes to attaching your device or to your vehicle, the metal MobNetic Discs and TabNetic Discs (as well as the Device Plates) are just plain old steel with no magnetization. The magnets on the mounts themselves do all of the work.
How come my mounting discs aren’t sticking to the surface?
This is a question we get frequently. Since our magnets are so dang strong, they can pull the adhesive Mounting Disc off your dashboard pretty easily – but only if you didn’t allow it to properly adhere ahead of time. Included with your mount are mounting disc application instructions - you can also get them, along with a video, right here.
We include two surface cleaning wipes to prepare your mounting surface, assuring a dust and grime-free surface – be sure to use these first, and let completely dry before applying the Mounting Disc. Once you put the disc in place, press down firmly for a minute or so to get maximum adhesion. Now, this last part is key – wait at least 24 hours before putting a mount on the disc and putting it to use. Like we said before, the magnets are so strong, they’ll peel that adhesive right off if it didn’t have ample time to set.
It's also worth mentioning that the mounting discs are designed to work with smoother, flat, and hard surfaces. Soft dashboards can pose an issue with adhesion, so use your discretion on where you mount it.
Are your magnetic mounts strong enough to be mounted on top of an SR-71 Blackbird going at full speed?
Yeah, of course not. To start, the body of the SR-71 is made of mostly aluminum and carbon fiber, so a magnetic mount wouldn’t even stick. Also, where are we going to find a spare SR-71 to play with??
Now, we could use a mounting disc to get around the body not being made of ferrous material. However, with a top speed of over 2000mph (three times the speed of sound), the temperature on the surface of the aircraft can exceed 700 degrees Farenheit. Meaning, the adhesive on the disc would melt, and the disc would go flying off into someones backyard.
How many magnetic mounts do you think it would take to lift a car off the ground?
Okay, so we’re going to have to do a little math here and get creative…
To start, the average car in the United States weighs 4094 lbs empty. So, with the 90lb pull-force magnets on the MobNetic Maxx, we divide 4094 by 90 and get 45.48… or 46 MobNetic Maxx phone mounts. But we have to take this into consideration – cars are made of separate body parts, and they’d probably bend and rip from the frame of the car if we just dangled them off of a few magnets. So, we’d likely have to put the car on some sort of steel frame and place the mounts around there, adding a few more pounds (like, two or three thousand actually). So, we’d have to add a few…dozen… more MobNetic Maxx’s to the project to get this done.
All in all, this sounds like something really fun to test. But, we’re currently allocating our budget to creating sweet and innovative new products, and not buying a used car and steel frame and a rig to lift it up using only magnets… also OSHA probably wouldn’t like that anywhere near the property.
I’ve had issues with the FLEX Wireless Charger on my iPhone… Why?
Without seeing your mounting setup, we can give a few reasons why there may be issues. The number one reason we see charging troubles is the thickness of your phone case. If it’s not designed for MagSafe, the magnetic connection as well as the charging capabilities are greatly reduced. We recommend getting a case made to work with MagSafe chargers – they’ll have some sort of ring on the inside or out to help improve the magnetic connection between the charger and the phone.
The second biggest issue we have is giving the FLEX Magnetic Wireless Charger the proper wattage. It is designed to output up to 15W, which means it needs an input of at least that much. Some built-in USB ports in cars, or DC car charger accessories, do not provide enough power to enable effective charging. We recommend using our 38W Dual USB Quick-Charge Car Charger to get the maximum charging capability from the FLEX Magnetic Wireless Charger.
How do you product test?
We have a few proprietary (yes, secret) ways of accurately testing the durability of our mounts and other hardware both with and without devices in use. For all of our electronics, we also use industry-standard UL testing.
However, the best way (and our favorite way) to test our gear out is to put it through the tough tests that you, the user, would likely do. This means getting out of the office and into a variety of vehicles and going crazy. We’re talking side-by-sides, ATVs, motorcycles, dirtbikes, trucks, boats, even a helicopter! By taking these mounts out into the wild and getting them wet, dirty, and all sorts of banged up, we can really understand what it’ll take to create the most durable mounts on the planet.
Why shouldn’t I use my MobNetic Maxx on my motorcycle?
The MobNetic Maxx, while having powerful 90lb pull-force magnets, is design for closed-cab vehicles only. The vibrations of a motorcycle in use can be enough to shake your phone right off the mount – something that is not ideal when cruising at higher speeds. We designed our Mob Mount cradle phone mounts specifically for this purpose. With a three-point cradle that locks in practically any size device with a single twist and slide, your phone isn’t going anywhere. Plus, it comes with two mounting bases – one with a 90lb pull-force magnet, to attach to your fuel tank or motorcycle instrument panel; and one with an adjustable claw, making it the perfect handlebar phone mount. Check out both of them right here.
In Conclusion...
We want to give a huge shout out to everyone who asked us questions. If we didn’t get to answering yours yet, shoot us an email or a message on social media and we’ll get right back to you. If you want to see more product demonstrations, get info on deals and new releases, or see how other people are putting Mob Armor to the test, be sure to follow us on social media! We also will be answering these questions in video on our Instagram and YouTube. Click below to get to our accounts.
@MobArmor
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