A119 overheating and constantly restarting after FW 2.0 update

jokiin said:
tried a different memory card?
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I'm using a Lexar 633X 128 GB right now. The only other card I have is the much dreaded red and silver Sandisk Ultra in 64 GB. Doesn't hurt to try I guess.
 
memory card or power supply are the two most common causes of problem, always worth trying a different one
 
the sandisk will be fine to test with for a couple hours. i have a red/silver 16gb sandisk ultra card i use in my GitUp action cams, and sometimes in my dashcams (just for short tests), and it's fine. the 64gb sandisk ultra that died on me (in a different model dashcam) took several weeks of continuous use, including parking mode, before it died.

i haven't ever felt the screen after driving but i'll try to do that next time i go somewhere. i do press the lock button often, but it's a quick press - i'm not laying my finger across the buttons to check their temp.

i could even use my non-contact IR thermometer to check the screen's actual temp.
 
Well, I've been testing out different configurations with using different charger, alternating between the two power ports, and different memory cards. I am running into all kinds of annoyances.

- The Sandisk Ultra either gave me memory errors and kept beeping, or it did record but pops up the yellow exclamation mark and beeps while recording.
- The screen still feels very hot regardless of memory card, USB charger, or USB cable.

But one condition I couldn't duplicate over the week was the sun showing up the in the sky. It's been overcast the whole week, until this morning. And whaddya know! With the sun up and beaming, the camera overheats and kept restarting. This time, I'm using a different USB charger and memory card (but same brand and size) as the first overheat incident.

It gets worst! The camera does some funky things too! It would turn on and record, showing the record red circle on screen and lights up the "REC" button. But the screen display would turn from a stable display to slowly flicker faster and faster until the screen saver kicks in. The record button still shows as lighted and recording. But when I press any button, Menu or Save File button, the camera restarts! It would repeat the same thing to record, and then screen flicker, and then screen saver, and restart!

What is going on!?!?! I haven't been able to test out my other two A119 cameras in the other cars, but I sure hope this camera doesn't have a problem with recording when the sun is high up in the sky!

 
the symptoms you describe sound like a power problem, assuming the charger you're using is up to spec it will be a camera problem, best to talk to whoever you bought it from about getting it replaced
 
jokiin said:
the symptoms you describe sound like a power problem, assuming the charger you're using is up to spec it will be a camera problem, best to talk to whoever you bought it from about getting it replaced
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I just submitted a ticket to GearBest to initiate the exchange process. But if they deny the exchange, does Viofo have any 1 year warranty against defects or anything? I couldn't find any information on their webpage about it.
 
it is covered under warranty, see how you go with Gearbest, they can be difficult to deal with but they are your first point of contact for issues like this, if they don't sort it out then talk to @viofo
 
jokiin said:
the symptoms you describe sound like a power problem, assuming the charger you're using is up to spec it will be a camera problem, best to talk to whoever you bought it from about getting it replaced
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It seems a power problem.

We suggest to use the original cable and try to power by power bank to do testing.
 
viofo said:
It seems a power problem.

We suggest to use the original cable and try to power by power bank to do testing.
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I am using the original cable. I have 3 A119 and I've tried swapping the cables and charger around. This camera still overheats. I used the gen2 A119 (the one with the notch) with the same charger and cable that was used for yesterday's overheating unit, and the camera's screen was only warm to the touch. I could put my fingers on this screen and hold it there for hours, whereas I could only touch the gen1 camera screen for about 10 - 20 seconds since it gets so hot. I'm suspecting it's a thermal runaway of some sort.

I'll try to test the gen1 camera with a powerbank.

Gearbest is consulting their product department to decide how to proceed.
 
AlexL said:
Gearbest is consulting their product department to decide how to proceed.
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I have send a PM to you, if gearbest can not offer a good solution, we can help to you also we'd like to check it further.
 
viofo said:
I have send a PM to you, if gearbest can not offer a good solution, we can help to you also we'd like to check it further.
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Thanks for reaching out to me. I'm still waiting on a response from GearBest.
 
I'm also having the same problem as AlexL about the device overheating. It seems that the sd card area gets hot. I have latest firmware 2.0 with new 128gb samsung evo plus micro sdxc. Recently purchased the Viofo A119. Also when pausing recording then pressing menu it either takes snapshot or freezes and therefore needs restarting. To gain access to the menu functions I have to press the menu button soon as the VIOFO logo starts up. Am I doing this right because I'm a new user to dash cams also this camera is for my dad for christmas and I'm making sure its working.
 
VRBabe16 said:
I'm also having the same problem as AlexL about the device overheating. It seems that the sd card area gets hot. I have latest firmware 2.0 with new 128gb samsung evo plus micro sdxc. Recently purchased the Viofo A119. Also when pausing recording then pressing menu it either takes snapshot or freezes and therefore needs restarting. To gain access to the menu functions I have to press the menu button soon as the VIOFO logo starts up. Am I doing this right because I'm a new user to dash cams also this camera is for my dad for christmas and I'm making sure its working.
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i find i often have to press REC more than once to make it stop recording so i can get into the menu for setup. just have to wait for the flashing red dot at the top of the screen to go away and the camera to start beeping, then you can press menu to get into setup.
 
KrigerP said:
My camera also heats a lot on high resolution settings, but if I use 720p not much heating on the camera, once i opened the camera I found that one of the capacitors was blown up, need a replacement...

https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threa...gs-are-lost-cmos-battery-problem.26548/page-2
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@viofo I don't know what's happening with the A119/A119S ....Tidal wave of defect complaints. Could it be just one batch of recently produced A119/A119S that all have problems because I never heard of so many problems when the cams were released. If this was about defective cars there would be a recall.
 
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With the report of the swelled capacitor I'm betting the factory got a batch of bad or fake components (yes, the faking happens with electronic components too) :( It seems only recently these problems have shown up and only with newer cams.

The older cams seemed quite reliable so it's not a design problem or those would have behaved similarly ;)

I sure hope Viofo doesn't get stuck with replacing dud cams out of his own pocket, but if the problem can't be identified as something caused by the factory that could happen :eek: Maybe Viofo will suggest the people having this problem check those capacitors but that needs to be his decision, not mine as opening your cam might void the warranty otherwise.

ve5fsz.jpg


The swelling on the end of the lower green and white wrapped capacitor can be easily seen- that end should be flat or nearly so like the upper one appears.

Phil
 
Of course, I have the same problem. I'm using the GPS module and the extra wiring that was included to hardwire mine using an Add A Circuit fuse I had bought from O'Reily's. I also modified some of the settings. The LED would begin flickering, then it begins the continuous rebooting loop. I'm going to adjust the settings to see if it corrects the problem.
 
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Barfo said:
Of course, I have the same problem. I'm using the GPS module and the extra wiring that was included to hardwire mine using an Add A Circuit fuse I had bought from O'Reily's. I also modified some of the settings. The LCD would begin flickering, then it begins the continuous rebooting loop. I'm going to adjust the settings to see if it corrects the problem.
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Does it reboot when powered through the cameras power port?
 
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