Viofo A139 Pro Won’t Enter Parking Mode w/PWC8

[Chuck McCoy]

I won’t have time

I’m feeling adventurous, are you? lol
Let’s get to the bottom of this.
You can insert the 3-wires from the original Viofo Hardwire Kit you were using into the PC8 output connector as shown.
It will be tricky to get the wires to stay put long enough to check if parking mode functions properly.
Use your imagination.

If this works, it means there is something wrong with the “one-piece” spliced cable.
You could get another spliced cable, or you could fix it yourself.
I know you don’t want to solder, or mess with electrical tape.
That’s why I use these lever connectors;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07K7H7BXM

 

[lufa6977]

I won’t have time/daylight to diagnose until Thursday, so was thinking if BBMC could send me an extra cable in the mean time (for free), that could save me on shipping times later. But yes I agree I need to diagnose my current cable before I know for certain what the issue is.

Since you ordered this from BBMC you should very likely be dealing with BBMC over the issue. They have a top-notch tech support department and will work with you to resolve the issue.

The battery pack and the cable work or do not work, either way this is a warranty issue and you really should be dealing with BBMC and any diagnostics to be done with them.

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

I’m feeling adventurous, are you? lol
Let’s get to the bottom of this.
You can insert the 3-wires from the original Viofo Hardwire Kit you were using into the PC8 output connector as shown.
It will be tricky to get the wires to stay put long enough to check if parking mode functions properly.
Use your imagination.

If this works, it means there is something wrong with the “one-piece” spliced cable.
You could get another spliced cable, or you could fix it yourself.
I know you don’t want to solder, or mess with electrical tape.
That’s why I use these lever connectors;
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07K7H7BXM

I was able to get some perfectly sized terminal ends from work today, that I can use to test my old hardwire kit with the PC8 tonight. Will report soon with my findings.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

test my old hardwire kit with the PC8 tonight.

Get the fire extinguisher ready.
Just kidding. lol

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

Get the fire extinguisher ready.
Just kidding. lol

Wow, looks like parking mode still isn’t working correctly even after plugging in the hardwire from the PC8, to the dash camera…. Guess a bad PC8 then?

I followed the diagram also, from right to left, black ground, yellow ACC, and red constant.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

It looks like the switch is OFF, can you confirm & verify you were testing in Low or HIGH?

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

It looks like the switch is OFF, can you confirm & verify you were testing in Low or HIGH?

Yeah I was testing in Low, picture was from after I turned it off.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Yeah I was testing in Low, picture was from after I turned it off.

Congratulations.
You get to move onto the next branch of the “trouble tree”. lol
Do you have a Digital Multimeter?
We need to measure voltage at Pin #2, (charging & discharging).
Pin Configuration Left to Right;
Pin 1 = Constant Power
Pin 2 = Switched Power
Pin 3 = Ground
Pin 4 = Not Used

With vehicle engine running you should see voltage on Pin 2
With vehicle engine off, and key off you should see NO voltage on Pin 2

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

Congratulations.
You get to move onto the next branch of the “trouble tree”. lol
Do you have a Digital Multimeter?
We need to measure voltage at Pin #2, (charging & discharging).
Pin Configuration Left to Right;
Pin 1 = Constant Power
Pin 2 = Switched Power
Pin 3 = Ground
Pin 4 = Not Used

With vehicle engine running you should see voltage on Pin 2
With vehicle engine off, and key off you should see NO voltage on Pin 2

Welp, when the car is on I am reading 13.6v from pin #2, and when the car is off, I’m reading 12.6v.

What tree branch is next?

 

[rcg530]

Welp, when the car is on I am reading 13.6v from pin #2, and when the car is off, I’m reading 12.6v.

What tree branch is next?

Please confirm that when you turned off the car, that the charging power was not being supplied to the PowerCell 8 battery pack. If the charging power is sourced from a circuit that has a slight time delay before it's turned off might result in the behavior you observed. The left most LED [red] should be off when the PowerCell 8 is not charging or you can check its status in the app.

If the PowerCell 8 is truly not getting power when the car is turned off, pin #2 (counting from the left) should have a 0V reading. If pin #2 has a 12.6V reading when there's no charging power, then there's a problem with the PowerCell 8.

I also am assuming that you measured the pin #2 voltage using pin #3 as the ground, correct?

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

Please confirm that when you turned off the car, that the charging power was not being supplied to the PowerCell 8 battery pack. If the charging power is sourced from a circuit that has a slight time delay before it's turned off might result in the behavior you observed. The left most LED [red] should be off when the PowerCell 8 is not charging or you can check its status in the app.

If the PowerCell 8 is truly not getting power when the car is turned off, pin #2 (counting from the left) should have a 0V reading. If pin #2 has a 12.6V reading when there's no charging power, then there's a problem with the PowerCell 8.

I also am assuming that you measured the pin #2 voltage using pin #3 as the ground, correct?

Correct, I used pin #3 as ground. And for the charging power it’s currently using the radio fuse, which turns off immediately after the car is turned off, so no delay. But I’ll triple check to make sure using the LED and status in the app.

 

[rcg530]

Correct, I used pin #3 as ground. And for the charging power it’s currently using the radio fuse, which turns off immediately after the car is turned off, so no delay. But I’ll triple check to make sure using the LED and status in the app.

Many vehicle manufacturers will provide power to the radio for a limited amount of time after the ignition is switched off [usually up to 10 minutes] or until a door is opened. This is known as retained accessory power [RAP] using a General Motors term for it. Not saying that is the case in your situation, but it is something to be aware of when testing fuse box fuse socket locations when adding a fuse tap to the fuse box.

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

Many vehicle manufacturers will provide power to the radio for a limited amount of time after the ignition is switched off [usually up to 10 minutes] or until a door is opened. This is known as retained accessory power [RAP] using a General Motors term for it. Not saying that is the case in your situation, but it is something to be aware of when testing fuse box fuse socket locations when adding a fuse tap to the fuse box.

Very interesting, thanks for explaining that.

Tomorrow morning when I check again, am I able to check before turning the car on?

 

[rcg530]

Tomorrow morning when I check again, am I able to check before turning the car on?

You can certainly test it before starting the car for the first time tomorrow. The radio power should be off by that point in time, otherwise your vehicle's battery might get fully discharged by the radio running all of the time [which it shouldn't be doing]. It's still worth checking after the car has been started and then you turn off the ignition to see if there's still charging power being supplied to the PowerCell 8.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Welp, when the car is on I am reading 13.6v from pin #2, and when the car is off, I’m reading 12.6v.

Mystery solved!
As long as no charging power is being delivered to the pack after you shut the engine off as rcg530 describes it looks like the culprit is a malfunctioning PC8.
The next step is contacting BBMC to start the return process.
Here is a link to BBMC's return policy;

Warranty, Returns & Exchange Policy | BlackboxMyCar

As North America's largest dash cam distributor, we go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction. We have created this simple graphic below for customers to understand how our warranty procedure works, and how our services compare to major retailers out there in the market. Customer...

www.blackboxmycar.com

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

Mystery solved!
As long as no charging power is being delivered to the pack after you shut the engine off as rcg530 describes it looks like the culprit is a malfunctioning PC8.
The next step is contacting BBMC to start the return process.
Here is a link to BBMC's return policy;

Warranty, Returns & Exchange Policy | BlackboxMyCar

As North America's largest dash cam distributor, we go above and beyond to ensure customer satisfaction. We have created this simple graphic below for customers to understand how our warranty procedure works, and how our services compare to major retailers out there in the market. Customer...

www.blackboxmycar.com

@Panzer Platform and @rcg530 thank you both for helping me and walking me through confirming the issue I’ve been having with my PC8, I truly appreciate it. I’ll keep you posted on how the advanced RMA process goes, when I get my new pack in, and how that works for me.

 

[rcg530]

I would still suggest checking the charging power is truly turned off when you test the power on terminal pin #2. Just to be sure your issue is not rooted in another area other than the PowerCell 8 battery pack.

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

I would still suggest checking the charging power is truly turned off when you test the power on terminal pin #2. Just to be sure your issue is not rooted in another area other than the PowerCell 8 battery pack.

Just tested it this morning after my car was sitting all night. Didn’t turn the car on and tested it, showing 12.3v from pin #2 when switched to low setting on the pack.

 

[_DashCamGuy_]

So much back and fourth in emails going on today between BBMC and myself on this issue, when I already explained to them exactly what’s going on and what I’ve determined with my testing…

They now want me to test voltage coming from pin #2 with the PC8 completely disconnected from my vehicle entirely.

 

[rcg530]

So much back and fourth in emails going on today between BBMC and myself on this issue, when I already explained to them exactly what’s going on and what I’ve determined with my testing…

They now want me to test voltage coming from pin #2 with the PC8 completely disconnected from my vehicle entirely.

I can understand how they might want you to test that configuration. That takes your car completely out of the issue. If pin #2 is still providing power with it disconnected from your car, it's 100% a PowerCell 8 failure/problem. That test is just the more extreme version of the test I suggested to make sure your car's charging power is turned off to the PowerCell 8.