A229 Pro Overheating

N8TM8T said:
My A229 Pro 2CH has been suffering from overheating ever since the outside weather has started getting hotter (above 85F or 30C) whenever I leave my car parked in direct sunlight. I do not use parking mode, so when I turn on my car the dashcam will power on for a few seconds and then shut itself down. I have noticed that this problem usually only happens when the dashcam itself was in direct sunlight. Also of significance is that that this issue does NOT occur if I unplug the rear camera under the exact same circumstances. I contacted VIOFO support and after some discussion they told me me this:

I very much like the camera aside from this issue, so I'm very hopeful that one of these new firmware that I've seen talked about here might help to alleviate the issue somewhat.
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what firmware are you running?
 
rcg530 said:
experienced two thermal shutdowns with the 1.3_240702 [test] firmware installed during today’s drive
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Do you have a changelog for this version? Could you send it to me and I`ll tell you temperature shutdown values for this FW? On previous FW it was 112 degrees on chip in 60 seconds period.
 
Dex_ said:
Do you have a changelog for this version? Could you send it to me and I`ll tell you temperature shutdown values for this FW? On previous FW it was 112 degrees on chip in 60 seconds period.
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I don't have a changelog for that version. I've not been given permission to distribute the test versions I've received for the thermal shutdown issue.
 
My experience is if you are in a hot + sunny environment you should unmount the dash cam and put up windshield reflectors. A 1080p camera may be able to deal with 45+C temps but a passive device dissipating 5-10W is always going to be thermally challenged.
 
The main camera has never overheated when I use it by-itself. Its only when I connect the rear camera for 2CH mode that it has problems. If that additional processing heat is enough to push it over the edge, I'm thinking VIOFO might have pushed the margins a bit too much when designing it.
 
Correct, 1-channel parking mode still works (outdoor temp ~ 33-40°C) but it very hot and the dashcam will die soon (or lost focus).
2/3-channel parking mode last 1-1.5 hours only for hot enviroments.
Solution: modding a fan+heatsink. My modded A229 Pro still works in 3-channel parking mode (after 3 hours, outdoor temp ~33-36°C, on-chip temp ~78-82°C at max).
 
My A139 2CH is the same, it only runs for 1-1.5 hours when the outdoor temp hits 30°C

I suspect in 1CH mode it might last better,

I will be experimenting with some static cling tint but I reckon this will only help a bit, it might stop sun shining on the body, but won't help if the interior temperature is too high
 
ductt said:
Correct, 1-channel parking mode still works (outdoor temp ~ 33-40°C) but it very hot and the dashcam will die soon (or lost focus).
2/3-channel parking mode last 1-1.5 hours only for hot enviroments.
Solution: modding a fan+heatsink. My modded A229 Pro still works in 3-channel parking mode (after 3 hours, outdoor temp ~33-36°C, on-chip temp ~78-82°C at max).
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The images you posted of your cooling mod are actually one of the things that drew my interest to this thread. I have started considering something like that myself but have been too busy with life/work to give it a try. For the moment I'm gonna try dropping the camera's resolutions and see if that has any affect on this problem.
 
It seems that parking mode has the fixed resolutions for cameras. Hope that Viofo will release the firmware that can turn off rear camera (same as interior camera) in this mode.
 
ductt said:
It seems that parking mode has the fixed resolutions for cameras. Hope that Viofo will release the firmware that can turn off rear camera (same as interior camera) in this mode.
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It will not be so safe if disable the rear camera in the parking mode since the view range of the front camera is limited.
 
Correct, but in some cases a single functioning camera is more useful than two cameras that are turned off . Could it auto turn on after cooling down in parking mode?
 
There are users who use a telephoto camera instead of a rear camera. And a camera with a telephoto lens is not that useful in a parking lot.
A main camera that works smoothly will bring more benefits in the parking lot. Perhaps someone will set up an interior camera to monitor parking. Perhaps it uses less resources.
 
ductt said:
It seems that parking mode has the fixed resolutions for cameras. Hope that Viofo will release the firmware that can turn off rear camera (same as interior camera) in this mode.
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It must be possible to do. I would like the to have the ability to do this on the A139 range though as well. And turn GPS off - this will save heat and battery.
I did suggest this via viofo support. fingers crossed it will become a reality.
 
ductt said:
Solution: modding a fan+heatsink. My modded A229 Pro still works in 3-channel parking mode (after 3 hours, outdoor temp ~33-36°C, on-chip temp ~78-82°C at max).
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Do you have any more detail on your mod? It looks like you created a copper "heat pipe" which goes to the outside? Is that what the weirdly shapped copper is? Is the fan temperature controlled? How did you do that?
 
Maybe Viofo will release a remote CPU like the old Street Guardian DR or Blackvue Box series. That will then help hide the processing unit from direct sunlight.
 
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