After a 10 minute drive I got home and decided to put an iphone usb cable from the usb port to inside the glovebox, by just tucking the cable into the gap between the plastics around the gear stick/centre console.

I've seen someone do this before so that their device was in the glovebox rather than sat on view near the cars USB/aux/power outlet ports.

However when tucking the cable in just before the right hand side of the glove box (shown second pic down), I burt my finger on something underneath the dash!

(I've removed the USB cable again worrying that it may melt the wire's casing).

In the pic below, looking underneath the dash you can see theres a pipe of some sort. Is this something to do with the climate sytem (I didn't have the climate control on during the drive)?

Any ideas / any one else noticed this being hot?

cheers

I'm not sure what it is, but yes it gets very hot!

I'm not sure what it is, but yes it gets very hot!

Ah well glad to hear it's not just mine that's hot. Thanks for the reply nath

Have you considered finishing this off by removing the usb socket from the plastic fascia and pulling it inside, then connecting the ipod cable to it and having it run entirely inside rather than having it coming out and then going back into the gear stick.

Basically what you have done but just a bit cleaner.

Also about the temperature I believe it is the feet outlet for the heater as I noticed when I done my ipod cable it had came off so instead of it heating my passenger footwell it was hearing the expensive bluetooth voice control module and my glovebox, just a simple clip on outlet to be fair.

Have you considered finishing this off by removing the usb socket from the plastic fascia and pulling it inside, then connecting the ipod cable to it and having it run entirely inside rather than having it coming out and then going back into the gear stick.

Basically what you have done but just a bit cleaner.

Also about the temperature I believe it is the feet outlet for the heater as I noticed when I done my ipod cable it had came off so instead of it heating my passenger footwell it was hearing the expensive bluetooth voice control module and my glovebox, just a simple clip on outlet to be fair.

I did think about it but didn't want to remove the casing around the gear stick or remove the USB port from its little panel.

Ideally the power/USB/Aux ports would all be inside a built in arm rest, or I could at least have extensions up into my after-market armrest, but I can't be bothered drilling holes or making any irreversible mods. Hopefully my next car will have this kinda thing as standard lol.

:)

The same thing happened to me! Actually burnt my finger on it. Have no clue what it is but thought I’d should’ve been covered my friend could feel something hot next to his leg so I put my hand there trying to figure out where the heat was coming from as I was worried and I touched the pipe and it was boiling hot. 

Thought i may have been the bulb but now looking at the picture i see you are no where near the bulb.

7 year thread revival!!  

It's a heater matrix pipe btw.

...................and it's still hot