Mini 0806 bricked, is the 0805 any better?

Froggyted

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Hello folks

My 0806 suddenly started freezing up after a few seconds of operation, with the screen going blank, requiring a forced shutdown, rendering the camera useless. I've followed the instructions on this forum for replacing the battery but this hasn't had any effect whatsoever. It's possible that the replacement battery is a dud because it doesn't seem to hold the charge any better than the original, or possibly the charging circuit is bricked. This is the second 0806 i've had and both have gone wrong within about a week of hardwiring them, which may or may not be a coincidence.

Although i've driven happily for 35 years without a camera i now feel naked without one. I'm not happy i've thrown about £120 down the drain with the 0806 and accessories (including memory card) but need a replacement. The 0806 was a big draw due to its small form factor and discrete position next to the rear view mirror. It's a shame that such a great design concept was let down by inferior Chinese quality control - yet more Chinese landfill.

So, is the 0805 a fitting replacement, i.e. is it more reliable? I liked the rapid gps fix on the 0806, and think i read that both this and the mount reliability is inferior, is this true? Perhaps more importantly, can this model be successfully hardwired? Failing this, can anyone recommend a suitable alternative? I need to keep my budget to a minimum and perhaps in a year or two when the prices fall for better quality products i will invest in one. Thanks in advance.
 
Hi Froggyted, I've been using my brand new 806 for 12 days now (replacing a different brand), I researched the heck out of this camera (especially all the hits from Google Search leading to this site, which I finally joined) in addition to endless YouTube footage and reviews (especially Techmoan). I am as astonished as you are with what seems to be hit-or-miss QC. Mine just pulled the random beeps, "Slow Card Error" and "Card Full Error" and also "No I/O" (which is one I hadn't been able to look up).

Since I've "stalked" these threads for almost six months, I learned quite a bit about the 806's peculiarities and how to work around them. Here are a few suggested tips pooled from everything I've read on this site and others.
1. Be sure you've purchased an 806 from a reputable source. (Gearbest and Alibaba are dicey options if I am to believe what other users have posted.) There are a few knockoffs floating around on Amazon.
2. Make sure you're using a genuine Class-10 card, with a brand name, and a high sustained-write speed (again, knockoffs and fakes flood the market) from a reputable dealer, and if you're using a microSD larger than 32 Gig, you need to format the card in a computer instead of in-cam, using the FAT32 method. The manual doesn't state this in the setup or operation sections, but it is noted in the description of the "Format Card" menu options. Some users have been able to use SDFormatter to do this on PC; for some reason that utility couldn't find my card so I used the SmartDisk FAT32 tool. Formatting in-cam will work up to a point - my 806 crashed when it used 3.99 Gig of my 64 Gig card, and that's when I remembered some posts on here discussing the FAT32 thing and once I did that, all was well again.
3. When your camera crashes like this, is it uncomfortably hot to hold the entire unit in your hand? When mine crashed at the 3.99 Gig mark, it was blazingly hot to hold; at first I was very concerned because it was only 74 degrees F in a car parked in the shade, I thought the unit was overheating, and if so, I knew it wouldn't last through the summer... But it seems formatting that card properly also fixed the overheating issue, because it's 76 degrees outside today, and I was parked in indirect sunlight with the windows closed and it was not running hot at all (more like gently warm). Certainly an odd possibility, but might be worth looking into.
4. As far as charging the internal battery goes... It literally takes a few hours to charge a battery that only lasts for a few minutes. Now, battery life on the 806 is much better than my previous dashcam, a GiiNii GD250 that lasts almost 45 seconds versus the 806's roughly ten-and-a-half minutes, comparison made with both cameras in standby (screen lit but not recording). My GiiNii I had to have plugged in simply to navigate the menus without it powering down! Unless you take very long journeys or leave the 806 plugged into an always-on power source, it will rarely be at full charge. I would recommend charging it off a standard microUSB wall-wart charger or off your computer's USB port fully and see if that helps any.
5. Are you using the standard power adapter that came with the 806? And are you powering directly thought the GPS mount? Sometimes plugging power into the other microUSB on the GPS mount or plugging the power into the microUSB on the 806 itself can fix the freezing issue, if it is caused by a poor power connection. In my 806, I found it worked better when I began using a 2A power supply (the manual states it needs a minimum of 600mA in the troubleshooting section) so there is a minute chance that your plug isn't able to put out the minimum amperage needed.

Also, sometimes the rapid on-off-on power switching of the 12v outlet when you start your car (most common with vehicles that have the outlet turn off with the ignition) can cause the camera to glitch out during boot or a few seconds after. Easiest way to check this is to plug in your power lead after the car is started every time, and see if it improves.

From what I've heard of the 805s, they are very good cams. However, the mount issues you refer to (as far as I know) are across most of the Mini series, and typically stem from frequent removal of the camera. I have some issue with GPS that another user posted on, we have to power up the GPS mount for a little while before sliding the camera into it in order to get ANY GPS lock at all (flaky GPS mount is the culprit, not the cam). I've had mine in and out of the mount at least fifteen times in the past 3 days, so far it still slides in pretty firmly. "Generic" brand mounts are $12 on Amazon, and there's one called "GRDIAN DEFENDR" that looks exactly like the Mini mount for $20. ChiTronic sells them for $9.99. By comparison, my GiiNii's suction cup windshield mount wore out after 2 removals, and it would run me $35. So looking at those prices, it's not unreasonable to buy an extra one and keep it in the car if the original mount gives up on you - and I used an inexpensive plastic-handled single-edge razor blade scraper gently under the tape all the way around the edges and got the adhesive off fairly easily, so... Mine seems to be holding up, but if yours goes south, they are fairly inexpensive (above quotes are in US dollars) and fairly easy to change out compared to other mounting systems.

Best of luck to you, hopefully one of my suggestions will help clear up some/all of your issues!
--Andy
 
Oh, I forgot to mention in that post, that my 2A power cord running my 806 is a hardwire kit, so yes it can successfully be done. Just be sure it is capable of a minimum of the 600 mA the manual specifies (higher is better and recommended). Keep in mind, however, if you connect your hardwire kit to a circuit that is always on, you will need to manually power off the camera if you're not using it (it will always record unless in motion detection mode) and with an always-on circuit, choose a hardwire kit that will turn off when your car's battery drops to a certain point to keep you from getting stranded and needing a jump start!

In my case, I didn't need the car battery voltage monitor, because I tapped my hardwire kit into the radio power circuit (which also powers my 12v outlet). Just make sure you tap into something that won't cause your car to freak out. Make sure there is a fuse somewhere too (tap into a fused circuit or buy a hardwire kit with a fuseholder in the input leads). Safety first! ;-)
--Andy
 
Hello Andy, and many thanks for your detailed response. Unfortunatelly I'm not sure any of this will help though, and i'll address your response point by point to try to explain why. First off though, i must stress that i'm based in the UK.

1. I have to admit that i bought from one of the cheaper UK sources, but as they replaced the first faulty unit with absolutely no quibble (even sending it out before i returned the original, to the cottage i was holidaying in) i think they were a pretty honest supplier. The second unit worked well for several months (once i'd reverted to the default letterbox resolution, since the next one down in the menu caused the camera to freeze unpredictably and i suspect this was down to the card being unable to handle this resolution - see point no.2).
2. I have a good Samsung EVO Class 10 card, but this is largely irrelevant because the fault exhibits with or without the card.
3. The camera has never got really hot as far as i know, but it doesn't have time to now before this issue, which now occurs within a minute of booting up on every single occasion, rendering the camera useless. A thread on here suggested it might be the battery at fault, not holding any charge and thereby causing the unit to supply all power to the battery rather than the screen when booting up, but a replacement battery has made no difference whatsoever.
4. I've tried charging the replacement battery overnight via the USB cable but this has not resolved the issue.
5. Both the units i've had worked well with the original accessory socket charger that came with it. However, both failed within a week after hardwiring. This may or may not be coincidence, but i suspect that the hardwire kit may have supplied a spike to the unit and consequently damaged the internal electronics. It would be interesting to hear from anyone else who may have had a similar problem.

Although the mount now has a separate issue, in that it is not making correct contact with the unit (possibly resolvable by disassmbling, but there's no point unless i can sort the camera out), this is not the cause of the issue i have described because it also exhibits when i supply power directly to the camera usb input via the accessory socket and also via a pc usb outlet.

I've come to the conclusion that my camera is unsalvageable. If anyone thinks this is an incorrect assessment i'd love to know why, otherwise i need to know whether it would be worth taking a chance on the 0805 or whether this would be just throwing more good money away.

Thanks again for all the time you've taken to help, Andy.
 
Again, re your second post, I have tapped the hardwire kit into the accessory socket fuse in the fusebox via a piggyback fuse connector. It's possible that the generic hardwire kit is not quite the correct spec, but i couldn't find any reference on the OEM site for purhasing an OEM hardwire kit and the hardwire kit was supplied as an add-on from the dashcam supplier, implying that it was of the correct spec. All worked well with both 0806 units i had for about a week, so i can't say that it was providing an insufficient current, possibly the opposite is true and it supplied a spike of excessive current that damaged the units.

To be frank, there's an awful lot of garbage emanating from China, it usually ends up in the landfill within weeks or months, but what do they care, they are milking the Western capitalist markets and their economy is doing very well out of it at our expense.....
 
You might be on the right track about a spike or over-voltage coming from the hardwire kit. I should've thought about that. LOL A poorly-regulated supply will definitely fry the cam AND take out the battery... And you're right about dodgy electronics from cut-rate factories!

I believe you could be right about the 806 being dead... Have you tried re-flashing the firmware? It's worth a shot before you toss it in the dustbin.
 
It's possible that the replacement battery is a dud because it doesn't seem to hold the charge any better than the original, or possibly the charging circuit is bricked. This is the second 0806 i've had and both have gone wrong within about a week of hardwiring them, which may or may not be a coincidence..

there's a very common hardwire kit I've seen selling on eBay and the like which is an 0806 killer, it has wildly fluctuating output voltage, dozens of people have fried their 0806's with it

which one did you use?
 
You might be on the right track about a spike or over-voltage coming from the hardwire kit. I should've thought about that. LOL A poorly-regulated supply will definitely fry the cam AND take out the battery... And you're right about dodgy electronics from cut-rate factories!

I believe you could be right about the 806 being dead... Have you tried re-flashing the firmware? It's worth a shot before you toss it in the dustbin.

Thanks for this suggestion. I guess i've nothing to lose. How would I go about doing this. Is there a link on this site?
 
there's a very common hardwire kit I've seen selling on eBay and the like which is an 0806 killer, it has wildly fluctuating output voltage, dozens of people have fried their 0806's with it

which one did you use?

Hi jokiin. I have attached the best picture i can find of the item, from my eBay account records. I purchased from the eBay seller hash_tag_uk, which seem to be now trading under the following name: http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/gadget_shack_ltd. Unfortunately, they no longer have this item up on their site and i doubt you'd be able to recognise it from the picture i have attached. What are the general symptoms of an 0806 damaged in this way? Also, which item would you recommend, and from which source?

Mini 0806 Hardwire Kit.jpg
 
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can't say they are all the same but the one that fries these cameras does look the same as the one pictured
 
can't say they are all the same but the one that fries these cameras does look the same as the one pictured

Which one would you recommend then, jokiin, and from what source? It would maybe be best if the hardwire kit was packaged with the camera to avoid this sort of thing happening. Also, how do you define frying? I read a thread on here that talked about a camera getting so hot it started melting. This hasn't happened to mine, it's simply not working.

I'm reluctant to buy another now given that two have gone faulty on me, unless i could be convinced it was the hardwire kit at fault and i had a reliable source for a properly functioning hardwire kit to replace it.
 
honestly if you want to hardwire the safest option is buy yourself a female cig lighter socket to wire to your fuse panel and plug the included adapter into that

there's a power supply that looks just like the one you linked to and the voltage fluctuates wildly on it, the design is terrible, lots of 0806's met an early death due to those
 
Thanks for your advice jokiin. I see that you are registered as a manufacturer on the forums so would like to provide this input: In my opinion, factories that are producing these very shoddy products should be closed down. At the very least they should not be allowed to trade with, or import into, EEC and other countries. Apart from the fact that they are profiteering from gullible consumers by selling goods that aren't fit for purpose, shoddy electrical equipment is a serious risk to life. Perhaps you should provide this feedback to the factories involved, because from my perspective i would encourage consumers to complain to Trading Standards and have these products outlawed in the EEC. Products like this are giving China a bad name, and as a result i for one only buy Chinese products when i have no alternative (i.e. when i can't afford to buy more reliable products manufactured elsewhere).

After what you have told me i am now going to take a look and check that my hardwire kit hasn't melted anything behind the trim.
 
as much as there are bad factories that make some poor quality stuff ultimately there are thousands of small traders on eBay, Amazon etc that know nothing about the products they sell that import this stuff, when things go sour they generally disappear and it's the consumer that suffers in the end, while ever people keep buying things on price there will always be a market for garbage products unfortunately
 
as much as there are bad factories that make some poor quality stuff ultimately there are thousands of small traders on eBay, Amazon etc that know nothing about the products they sell that import this stuff, when things go sour they generally disappear and it's the consumer that suffers in the end, while ever people keep buying things on price there will always be a market for garbage products unfortunately

This is true, and is a fault of the capitalist system generally imo. But if companies like this weren't allowed to trade and/or were shut down it would soon help improve things. Any company that makes products that endanger life with electrical products that overheat/short circuit should be prosecuted and fined heavily. From the 0806 manufacturer's perspective, they have an interest in this because these shoddy hardwire kits are ultimately giving their own product a bad name. I suspect that the mini series has already lost many thousands of potential buyers for future products because of general poor reliability, but no doubt they have made a large global profit in the meantime and can then just reinvent themselves with a new trading name to get around the bad publicity.
 
names change often as you might well imagine, why do you think so much product exists that has no branding, much easier to hide from the past
 
Yes, you are right, and eBay and Amazon are partly at fault for not doing more to protect consumers. Are you connected to the manufacturer of the mini series? If so, i admire you for your frankness. But the hardwire kit issue could have been resolved by supplying one with the camera, even if that meant the camera cost a few £ or $ more for consumers and traders.

I notice that there are 0805 units for sale on eBay from UK suppliers for about £50. Nobody has yet answered my question as to whether these would be more reliable than the 0806 because for £50 i might be prepared to take a chance.
 
Yes, you are right, and eBay and Amazon are partly at fault for not doing more to protect consumers. Are you connected to the manufacturer of the mini series? If so, i admire you for your frankness. But the hardwire kit issue could have been resolved by supplying one with the camera, even if that meant the camera cost a few £ or $ more for consumers and traders.
.

no I have no connection to the mini series products, I do know the manufacturer but that's all there is to it

I notice that there are 0805 units for sale on eBay from UK suppliers for about £50. Nobody has yet answered my question as to whether these would be more reliable than the 0806 because for £50 i might be prepared to take a chance.

the 0805 has been around a lot longer, some of the design ideas of the 0806 are what lead to some of the issues it has, what looks good on paper isn't always easy to achieve in reality, I would say whatever you choose it would be wise to buy locally so that you have some level of support, warranty, consumer protection laws etc
 
there's a very common hardwire kit I've seen selling on eBay and the like which is an 0806 killer, it has wildly fluctuating output voltage, dozens of people have fried their 0806's with it

Ugh.... is this the one you're talking about?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00S73FE8A
Just bought one, but haven't hooked it up yet.
 
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