A119 overheating and constantly restarting after FW 2.0 update

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AlexL

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Hi All,

I've been using the A119 for about a month now and after the udpate to FW 2.0, the device kept restarting! I hear the startup tune every 30 seconds. I've jiggled the power connections to make sure it wasn't a loose connection. When I touched the device, it was hot! The screen, the button, the sides, were hot. Not burning hot, but way past warm.

This was about an hour into my normal morning drive and I had to pull the device off the GPS mount to cool it off. I put it back on after it's cooled down and it didn't restart for the remainder 20 min drive.

I can't think of anything else that may have caused the dashcam to overheat except for the FW update. The sun was shining on the dashcam, but it's been working fine for the past month that I've been using it. I'll check later tonight to see if the camera actually recorded footage.

Any one encountering a similar issue of constant restart after the FW update?

Other info:
- Recording on 2K
- Lexar 633x 128 Gb card
- GPS all info and time stamping on footage
- 3 minute loop recording
- WDR On
- Outside temperature ~ 65 F
 
Is the rainbow cable in the GPS housing, or the dvr?

I have 3x A119, each in different cars. This overheating unit is the older version where there is no notch on the swiveling lens head. I'll switch to the notched newer version for the commute tomorrow to see if I encounter the overheating and constant restart.
 
@Not-Exist probably means ribbon cable.

Have you switched from the supplied charger to a different power supply by any chance?
 
Last edited:
harsh said:
@Not-Exist probably means ribbon cable.

Have you changed the power supply by any chance?
Click to expand...


Nope, haven't changed power supply. Same car, same 12V port, same 5V USB charger, same microSD card same cable for the past month. Hadn't had any issue until today when I first used the FW 2.0.
 
AlexL said:
Is the rainbow cable in the GPS housing, or the dvr?

I have 3x A119, each in different cars. This overheating unit is the older version where there is no notch on the swiveling lens head. I'll switch to the notched newer version for the commute tomorrow to see if I encounter the overheating and constant restart.
Click to expand...
The ribbon cable is in the main unit. It transmits the power from the GPS mount to the camera. Use the power port on the side of the camera to see if the issue goes away.
 
I had the same problem, it started 2-weeks after installation.
Ive dident changed anything too.
I think the ribbon cable moved because of the heat.
My dvr working 24/7 with vico power plus.

Try to use the mini usb port that on the camera itself.
 
Gibson99 said:
Did you reset defaults in the menu after firmware update? That can fix all sorts of weird stuff after an upgrade. Ask me how I know :oops:
Click to expand...

You mean to reset all settings to default, and then change it to my liking? Not sure how that would fix an overheating issue. But I'll go ahead and try it anyways.

On my way home, I left the power plugged in through the GPS module and the unit didn't overheat/restart; the screen did feel pretty hot though. I wanted to see if I can duplicate the issue again, but this time at night.

Once I got home, I was able to retrieve all the footage prior to, and in between, the overheating restarts. I saw that the sun was directly beaming straight into the lens causing a lens flare in the video. 45 minutes worth of direct sun focused through the lens onto the CMOS may cause overheating (???). But then again, dashcams are meant to be driven while there is sun out so I don't think that direct sunlight is causing the overheating. I'm just thinking out loud to narrow down the problem.

I'll drive with the same setup tomorrow morning (power through GPS module) and see if the camera overheats/restarts. Then I'll switch power to the camera body port to check again. Stay tuned.

Thanks for all your responses so far.
 
AlexL said:
Once I got home, I was able to retrieve all the footage prior to, and in between, the overheating restarts. I saw that the sun was directly beaming straight into the lens causing a lens flare in the video. 45 minutes worth of direct sun focused through the lens onto the CMOS may cause overheating (???).
.
Click to expand...

was this while parked or driving?
 
AlexL said:
You mean to reset all settings to default, and then change it to my liking? Not sure how that would fix an overheating issue. But I'll go ahead and try it anyways.
Click to expand...

I didn't expect it to fix anything either but it did. I'm thinking there may be a stray setting from the old version that's confusing the new firmware, causing it to go into a race condition, thus overheating and boot looping.

I do believe they say to reset to defaults as the last step of the firmware upgrade instructions.
 
Gibson99 said:
I didn't expect it to fix anything either but it did. I'm thinking there may be a stray setting from the old version that's confusing the new firmware, causing it to go into a race condition, thus overheating and boot looping.

I do believe they say to reset to defaults as the last step of the firmware upgrade instructions.
Click to expand...

I'm happy to report that my camera didn't have the restart problem this morning. Maybe the reset to default settings solved it? It was cloudy and had no direct sun beaming into the lens. Although, the camera screen and button did run hot.

I'll try to switch to camera body power port to see if the camera gets just as hot. I'm afraid that if the outisde of the camera is getting so hot, what temperatures are the internal capacitor seeing?
 
Make a test with another cable and another charger.

enjoy,
Mtz
 
Gibson99 said:
Do you have the screen saver enabled? Having the screen on all the time will make it run a bit hotter.
Click to expand...

Screen saver turns on 3 seconds after startup.

For the commute this morning, I plugged power into the camera body port and the screen and buttons still seem to be hot to the touch. I don't have quantitative temperature numbers, but I'll try to test how hot it gets.

Anyone else feel the screen and buttons get hot after an hour of driving?
 
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