A119S began to reboot with date/time resetting periodically

[man55]

I've bought A119s dashcam at october from estore009, it worked fine, but after new year it started to malfunction.
The dashcam began to reboot and to reset date/time settings periodically.
I tried different power sources (one is from brand Samsung Galaxy phone), tried different cables (including from Canon EOS 50D), 3 different SD cards (Kingston, Sandisk, 32G, 16G, 1G), different settings (resolution, loop time, etc). Result is the same.
Dashcam can works several days or several hours or several minutes and then suddenly begin to reboot several times.
I tried to format or change SD, tried to reset dashcam settings - sometimes it make result, sometimes no.
I can't find any pattern, malfunction occurs and disappears suddenly.
And it was as in car as indoor in home conditions.
I think that this is hardware problem.
What can I do now?

 

[SawMaster]

Estore009 is a member here on DCT, you could send a PM and see what they can do under warranty.

Phil

 

[Harsh]

Update to the latest firmware (2.2) and power it using the supplied cable.

 

[man55]

Update to the latest firmware (2.2) and power it using the supplied cable.

already done, result is the same

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Did you manually default the cameras settings after you updated?

Random losing of the time and date could indicate an issue with the RTC battery. Does the loss of the time and date correspond to each reboot?

Since you’ve tried the usual suspects related to rebooting without success, you could have a bad capacitor.

 

[man55]

Did you manually default the cameras settings after you updated?

Yes, of course. Reset settings, format SD, set date/time, resolution, loop period.

Random losing of the time and date could indicate an issue with the RTC battery. Does the loss of the time and date correspond to each reboot?

After each reboot I see default date/time, and I see that default date/time values are varies in different SW versions.

Since you’ve tried the usual suspects related to rebooting without success, you could have a bad capacitor.

No, it's not right! Supercapacitiors are responsible for correct powerdown, but I think that A119S have RTC battery in addition to supercapacitor. I'll tri to find A119S internal photos in internet.

PS: I found this photo at Viofo site, I think that green are supercapacitors, silver at the right bottom - RTC battery

 

[CaptureYourAction]

The A119 and A119S have a small rtc battery to maintain time and date. You can see it just to the left of the top capacitor. With one capacitor blown the camera will usually experience random reboots and corrupt last files. With two blown, camera probably won’t start.

 

[man55]

Ok, thanks.
I dont want to disassemble my dashcam before estore009's answer.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Correct. Opening will void warranty without asking them first. If they give you the OK to open it, you’ll want to check the bottom of the capacitors. If one is rounded instead of flat, it’s blown.
I highly doubt you have a bad capacitor and a bad rtc battery. That would be very bad luck. Checking the capacitors is a good start thought and easy enough to do.

Do you get these random restarts when there is no memory card in the camera?

 

[man55]

RTC battery is not bad, because after several random reboots dashcam can then work fine some days before next reboot.

I didnt try to test without SD card.

Malfunction is very hard to catch. For example: I tried to leave dashcam working at home for 2 days with several on/off for testing and there were no reboots. Then I install it to car and took reboot after 40 min drive. Then I took it to home and try to make video and after about 5 minutes (when a set my smartphone for recording) dashcam stopped rebooting. Also I tried to shock dashcam slightly to simulate car driving ))) - no effect.

Time from one reboot to another is different, from 15-20 seconds to several minutes.

 

[Harsh]

Try the following before initiating a return, may work.

Reload latest firmware, reset to defaults and format SD card through the camera's menu and then see how it goes. Also do power it using the supplied 3.5 metre cable and charger.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Your original post suggests your camera reboots with different power sources, cables and memory cards, but in your last post, you said it doesn’t reboot when powered in your home. Does the camera reboot while powered via a USB wall charger (phone charger) in your home? Do not use your computer or cars USB ports as they generally don’t supply enough power for the camera.
If it’s fine in while powered via a USB wall charger, that would suggest a power supply issue in your car.
With the camera on and recording, pull the power cable. Does the REC button light stay lit for a few seconds or does it go out immediately?

 

[Leonauto]

I tried different power sources (one is from brand Samsung Galaxy phone), tried different cables (including from Canon EOS 50D), 3 different SD cards (Kingston, Transcend, 32G, 16G, 1G), different settings (resolution, loop time, etc). Result is the same.

Maybe a stupid question. Do you have checked the dashcam in another car, or only in your own?

 

[man55]

Try the following before initiating a return, may work.
Reload latest firmware, reset to defaults and format SD card through the camera's menu and then see how it goes. Also do power it using the supplied 3.5 metre cable and charger.

Already done, as I wrote before.

 

[man55]

Your original post suggests your camera reboots with different power sources, cables and memory cards, but in your last post, you said it doesn’t reboot when powered in your home. Does the camera reboot while powered via a USB wall charger (phone charger) in your home?...

Just misunderstanding. Dashcam reboots in car and in home. Previous post told about time before reboot. It can be from 1 hour to 3-4 days. Both in car and in home.

With the camera on and recording, pull the power cable. Does the REC button light stay lit for a few seconds or does it go out immediately?

Yes, about 3-4 seconds, in car and in home.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Yes, about 3-4 seconds, in car and in home.[/QUOTE]
Your capacitors are probably fine then

Did this issue only start after installing V2.2?

If the camera does not reboot with no memory card inserted, that would indicate a power issue or memory card issue. Once the camera starts to record, it draws more power. Are you using the supplied USB cables? Longer cables or lower quality cables can have current loss resulting in a power drop to the camera, causing reboots.

 

[man55]

For all:
I tried to power from:
1. V119S car power adaptor
2. my own previous car power adaptor (5V2A, about 5 years in use with different devices)
3. my car media USB input
4. Samsung Galaxy wall charger
5. Wall charger with 4 outputs and built-in voltmeter and ammeter
6. Huawei Honor wall charger

I tried to use cables:
1. A119S cable #1 (only power)
2. A119S cable #2 (full USB)
3. USB cable from my Canon EOS 50D

I tried to use SD cards:
1. Sandisk 32G 400x
2. Kingston 16G
3. Kingston 1G
All cards formatted both in dashcam and in my PC as FAT32

Results are exactly the same.
And I cant see any patterns. All reboots are sudden.
Only one is regular - after all reboots date\time settings becomes "default" ("default" value is different from SW version to version)

 

[man55]

Did this issue only start after installing V2.2?

No, this issue started about 2-3 week ago suddenly. I just driven my car and heard startup sound. After I heard this sound from time to time, I tried to find the reason and the solution.
Also I tried to update-downgrade SW version: 2.1 (initial) -> 2.2 -> 2.1 -> 1.7 with no results

 

[Harsh]

Earlier you mentioned Transcend and now you're saying Sandisk. Also earlier you said yes to formatting the card from the camera's menu and now you say "in my PC as FAT32".

Could you just follow what's been suggested in the thread, so that any user error can be eliminated.

 

[man55]

Earlier you mentioned Transcend and now you're saying Sandisk. Also earlier you said yes to formatting the card from the camera's menu and now you say "in my PC as FAT32".
Could you just follow what's been suggested in the thread, so that any user error can be eliminated.

Thank you, not Transcend, but Sandisk - its my mistake, corrected already.
Regarding format: I tried to format both by dashcam and PC, different times - result is the same.