F828 Infrared hack magnet issues

So I bought the F828 and did the infrared hack and it seems that every time you turn the camera on and off, it resets, so I've been looking for a place to keep the magnet. I put it on the hotshoe area today, and things started getting weird - I couldn't get exposure. Battery life said it was near death. White streaking/even even color/exposure on image in lcd. Full spectrum mode stayed active after camera was turned on and off.

Eventually, turning the camera on and off resolved these issues even with the magnet still in place on the hot shoe.

Now my question is, am I damaging the camera by keeping this magnet on the hot shoe, or is this just random weirdness because the magnet is there?

Guessing you are damaging the camera. If nothing else, the weirdness will likely cascade the wrong way eventually and cause the camera to get "stuck" between different processes. At that point it won't be able to find the way to off or on. It will be stuck in limbo. Keep the magnet somewhere else. Perhaps a pocket on the camera strap.
Thanks,
barondla

Now you're making me want to buy another and see what artistic results this could produce.