G1WH charging problem with replacement PSU

[Andaho]

Hi all,

long time reader here, but just signed up to ask for help... I've previously found lots of useful advice on here, but this problem I cannot find a solution to...

I was getting bad FM radio interference with the standard power supply, and thanks to these forums I found that replacing the PSU can solve the problem, however...

It seems that the unit doesn't charge when it's recording with any other PSU: I've got a Belkin 1A car-usb adapter, and I thought it might not being giving enough power, so I bought a genuine Griffin one: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B0042B9U8Q I know there are a lot of fake ones of these around, so I bought from Amazon direct, and am confident this is a genuine one... however, it still doesn't seem to charge it when it's powered up.

This non-charging of the cam causes the battery to quickly die, and then after a couple days driving (short trips) the cam starts going nuts, powering on and off when driving and creating corrupt video files.

Normal behaviour with original PSU: Turns on, has a purple light, which I believe is the red light showing it's on, and the blue light showing it's charging, hence purple.

With secondary USB PSU: turns on, light is initially purple for 1 second, but then goes red after the cam has finished booting. So it seems that it's not charging when it's on.

So, I initially thought that the Belkin car USB adapter I had wasn't giving enough power, so I bought the griffin one (as above), but it does the same?

So I thought, since it might not be getting enough power, I used BOTH the Belkin and Griffin PSUs with a hard drive Y power cable (to take power from them both in parallel). If I'm not being clear, it's one of these things:

But it still has the same behaviour.

Can anyone suggest what the problem may be? - Is it something like needing to short out the data wires in the USB cable? - I know that most mobile phone need that to recognise that it's AC and not a data port?

Many thanks in advance for any help

 

[jokiin]

have you tried going back to using the supplied power adapter, even if noisy, just to check if the camera operates as expected still

 

[Andaho]

have you tried going back to using the supplied power adapter, even if noisy, just to check if the camera operates as expected still

Oh yes, sorry that wasn't clear... When I use the original psu, it works fine and charges when in use with the purple light. But the RF interference, on my already weak FM signal, is so bad it makes the radio so you can't listen to it. - e.g. with original PSU plugged in... radio on most stations is very spotty and hissy - as soon as I unplug the adapter, it clears up instantly. - I ruled out it being a grounding problem by plugging an extension into my mums car, and putting the adapter in my car - same radio interference.

 

[jokiin]

A lot of people use the USB hardwire kits rather than the type you're using now and don't seem to have problems with them, might be worth a look

 

[Andaho]

A lot of people use the USB hardwire kits rather than the type you're using now and don't seem to have problems with them, might be worth a look

what hardwire kits are you talking about? - I have previously searched for and read all the posts on the forum about "hardwire" - but what I have done, is kind of the same thing :/

 

[jokiin]

There's a few different types that are common, not at my computer right now or I would have posted a link for you, will check again when I'm at my PC tomorrow and find the link if nobody else has found it in the mean time

 

[mel]

I think I read somewhere on here that the g1wh needs a 1.5A supply. I'm not sure that wiring two 1A psu in parallel would necessarily work reliably as their output voltages would likely differ, so the higher voltage one could potentially go into overload and shutdown when the voltage drops enough for the other to start supplying current - I might well be wrong though as I'm no electronics expert.

I've been trying to order a g1wh myself, and was planing on getting a 2 amp supply to use until I decide whether to build my own battery protection circuit and hardwire it. eg this one is 2 x 2.1 amp http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/mw3399-black/in-car-usb-psu-5v-2-1a-dual-output/dp/PW03056

 

[Andaho]

I think I read somewhere on here that the g1wh needs a 1.5A supply. I'm not sure that wiring two 1A psu in parallel would necessarily work reliably as their output voltages would likely differ, so the higher voltage one could potentially go into overload and shutdown when the voltage drops enough for the other to start supplying current - I might well be wrong though as I'm no electronics expert.

I've been trying to order a g1wh myself, and was planing on getting a 2 amp supply to use until I decide whether to build my own battery protection circuit and hardwire it. eg this one is 2 x 2.1 amp http://cpc.farnell.com/pro-power/mw3399-black/in-car-usb-psu-5v-2-1a-dual-output/dp/PW03056

Thanks, yes, you may be right... I've ordered an Anker 24W PSU https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00B8M4IMK Hopefully this will fix the problem! I'll report back when it arrives and I test it.

 

[Andaho]

GRRR... I received my new Anker 24W car adapter in the post this morning... plugged it in, same problem!

So... it was probably the first thing I should have tried... I tried a different USB extension cable - and it works fine with all of my USB adapters now! DOH!

 

[soddo]

I have a similar problem, in my GF's car there is no interference, only in my car.

im currently using a garman/navman GPS plugged into it, funny though its rated to 1A. There is no interference with this adapter.

I bought a 10A multi socket since I need a few at times which also has USB so I will get a 1.8-2m mini USB to USB cord and plug it in, they are about $5.

 

[mel]

I have a similar problem, in my GF's car there is no interference, only in my car.

im currently using a garman/navman GPS plugged into it, funny though its rated to 1A. There is no interference with this adapter.

I bought a 10A multi socket since I need a few at times which also has USB so I will get a 1.8-2m mini USB to USB cord and plug it in, they are about $5.

I found up a usb lead I could attach through my multimeter & measured the current drawn by mine. It averaged 0.6 amp @ 5V, but got as high as 0.68amp. This was while recording with the display on and the battery charging (almost fully charged), so a decent 1 amp supply should be fine.

I guess the posts I read saying it needed 1.5a were just going by the label on the supplied one.

I'd already ordered the 2 x 2.1a one I linked to above, which while overkill, is working fine with no radio interference. Currently it is being used with several usb extension cables plugged together as I need at least 4m to reach around the windscreen. I bought a long lead on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/231243851007 and have just tested it playing back files on the pc direct from the the g1wh in mass storage mode.

 

[soddo]

2.1a should be good, you will easily be able to plug in your phone/gps as well