A129pro duo overheating and reliability?

PCHammond

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I have a A129 Pro Duo installed and I'm honestly not impressed by it's overheating situation at all. I have it plugged in directly to the camera, yet it overheats easily even on mild days while parked. I'm in Sydney and it's been overheating even in 30 degree days. I even reduced the resolution to try and reduce the heat

I used to have no problems at all with overheating back with the Panorama 2 even on the HOT days.

And then out of the blue the other week, my rear camera freezes the main unit when connected, even though it was working totally fine beforehand.

Honestly a bit concerned about reliability
 
while parked. I'm in Sydney and it's been overheating even in 30 degree days.
That is normal if the sun is heating the car, not a reliability issue since it shuts down to protect itself from real overheating.
 
30 degree days here are nothing really. That's a pretty cool summer's day. I'll clarify that it doesn't shut itself down. The "rec" light just flashes (and stop recording), and the camera is just plain HOT

Considering my previous Panorama 2 functioned fine even in 45 degree days, and even more previous Blackvue DR400 performed fine back ~8yrs ago, I am definitely disappointed that a new camera overheats in what is a mild day here.
 
Considering my previous Panorama 2 functioned fine even in 45 degree days, and even more previous Blackvue DR400 performed fine back ~8yrs ago, I am definitely disappointed that a new camera overheats in what is a mild day here.
1080p cameras run a lot cooler, the 4k cameras all overheat in our climate, same issue for Thinkware and Blackvue 4k cameras also
 
I use two A129 pro (not duo) cameras, and never had them overheat. That being said, they are in a Tesla and I have overheating protection turned on in the car. They are also in San Jose, CA where it only occasionally gets above 100F.
I have had trouble with too much resistance in the power cable causing the voltage to drop. I have not had trouble since I replaced the USB extension cords I was using with lamp cord. There is also some buggy behavior with the parking mode in certain configurations (single power supply connection with parking mode enabled. Parking mode should be disabled in this configuration, and motion detection should be enabled for when the car is parked).
 
I'll clarify that it doesn't shut itself down. The "rec" light just flashes (and stop recording), and the camera is just plain HOT
I'm wondering if it is the memory card overheating? As far as I know, it actually powers down rather than flashing red lights when the camera overheats. Maybe try another card just to see.
 
The memory card is a 256gb Sandisk High Endurance. Tried it with a 256gb Samsung Evo and same thing. I did definitely notice that the unit was much hotter when plugged into the GPS though.

I'm really considering going to a 1080p blackvue dual setup instead. Or even putting the front camera for the A129 Pro on the back, and getting a 1080 camera for the front that is wired in.

Disappointing where after ~10yrs of dash cams, I may need to go back to 1080. Or maybe I should just get a Tesla instead like DAP ;);)
 
I have a few questions.
Do you have the hard-wire kit for parking mode installed?
Does it over heat in parking mode?
Do you have the newest firmware installed (2.1)?
What I've read was the 2.1 version turns the camera to 1080P in parking mode to keep it cool so it wouldn't stop recording in parking mode.
Mine runs hot here in Florida and I was concerned to, but after seeing this video, I think it maybe fine.
 
I've been running it from a Celllink. I have a hard wire kit on the way
Yep, I've been changing to parking mode manually when I leave the car for the day. In the cooler months I just left it on normal and that didn't pose a problem. It was only more recently that it's been playing up
Yep, 2.1 is installed. Haven't checked if it does change to 1080
 
I've been running it from a Celllink. I have a hard wire kit on the way
Yep, I've been changing to parking mode manually when I leave the car for the day. In the cooler months I just left it on normal and that didn't pose a problem. It was only more recently that it's been playing up
Yep, 2.1 is installed. Haven't checked if it does change to 1080
Did you get a chance to watch the video?
Very interesting how hot he got the 129 Pro.
Have you downloaded https://dashcamviewer.com/
They just came out with a newer version of 3.6.5 on Feb 20th.
 
Part of the problem could be also build quality. My test unit was doing the same thing as OP's. After i changed thermal paste under heatsink and used different power supply it stopped (it has other issues but...). Then there were users who thermal paste under heatsink was completely missing. Not to mention that damn flex cable between camera and base.
 
Part of the problem could be also build quality. My test unit was doing the same thing as OP's. After i changed thermal paste under heatsink and used different power supply it stopped (it has other issues but...). Then there were users who thermal paste under heatsink was completely missing. Not to mention that damn flex cable between camera and base.

That could be it, unfortunately. I'll see if I can open it up next weekend
 
Many cams do not handle heat well, and those offering the higher levels of performance run hotter than those not pushing the hardware as much. Same for cams with more channels. The higher the workload the more heat generated in the cam and the less external heat it will be able to handle.

It doesn't get equally hot here in SC USA but we do have hot summers and I often have my van closed and locked parked in full sun with cameras running. Some 'freeze up', stop recording, and refuse to answer button presses, some stop recording but show no sign of malfunction. LiPo batteries take it hard. But most of the better quality cameras I have take it in stride and I've not killed any through this abuse yet so I don't think thermal overheat protection is either necessary or good. Yes, it may help the cam last longer, but will it make you happy if the cam has turned itself off when you need it most? :eek: So as I see it, thermal shutdown isn't a "feature" but a "bug" :mad: Better to put maximum effort into heat management instead ;)

Those of us in hotter climates still need to be careful with cam choice. I expect 2 of the cam's I'm testing aren't going to do well this summer :( As always I'll share my results but I can't know for sure until then so I'm not recommending them until I find out. It would be lovely for my predictions to be wrong- we will see :cool:

Phil
 
Just checking in because my A129 Pro Duo was malfunctioning the other day when it was hot out. It was the first hot day of the year, and halfway driving in the evening the camera started doing a slow beep, and two short beeps randomly. I'm pretty sure it was because it was overheating.

I'm pretty frustrated, this is the replacement one for it being warrantied last summer for doing the same thing if I remember correctly.

Hardwired using the Viofo three wire cable. I think parking mode on. I suppose I could try turning that off. I also have it to prompt me to format the card every once in a while, so it's probably not a memory card formatting issue. The power is to the camera, not the GPS mount.
 
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I've had the Viofo Pro Duo since it's release with it set to 4K and have never had an issue with the unit shutting down from heat. And I live in Vegas with summer temps reaching 115F-120F.
 
Just FYI: these guys tested the heat resistance and went as far as 65°C.

What struck me was that a BlackVue model was able to withstand 70°C. (Been thinking about replacing my BlackVue DR500GW-HD with a VIOFO A129 Pro.) My BlackVue never let me down, even when there were heat waves and the inside of the car was +50°C.
 
I bought the camera yesterday as the replacement of A129 Duo. I am unpleasantly surprised about the overheating. The seller told me there was a revision where they improved the thermal management. Is it true? Is the problem already solved?

After 2 hours of recording (4k + FHD) in the garage with approx 20°C, I could see the camera had almost 60°C at the surfice. The micro SD card had 60°C. The recommended max working temperature of Samsung micro SD is 85°C. I could imagine the temperature during the summer when the car is parked outside during the day. There can be like 60°C in the car, i.e. 40°C more. So the camera will have 60°C + 40°C. It is not healthy for the card. The card can fail so I cannot rely on the parking mode. And I am sure the internal temperature is higher so it will restart all the time I think.

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I bought the camera yesterday as the replacement of A129 Duo. I am unpleasantly surprised about the overheating. The seller told me there was a revision where they improved the thermal management. Is it true? Is the problem already solved?

After 2 hours of recording (4k + FHD) in the garage with approx 20°C, I could see the camera had almost 60°C at the surfice. The micro SD card had 60°C. The recommended max working temperature of Samsung micro SD is 85°C. I could imagine the temperature during the summer when the car is parked outside during the day. There can be like 60°C in the car, i.e. 40°C more. So the camera will have 60°C + 40°C. It is not healthy for the card. The card can fail so I cannot rely on the parking mode. And I am sure the internal temperature is higher so it will restart all the time I think.

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I have been using a129 pro for 4 years.
What you are talking about is recording 4k of a vehicle parked in the garage. In this case, your vehicle must be in parking mode. A stationary vehicle gets hotter. For this reason, the image quality drops to 2k in parking mode. This prevents overheating and saves energy and data.

To give an example, during my 3 hours of continuous driving at 40°C, 6 hours of parking in the sun, and then 3 hours of driving at 35°C, all recordings were smooth. By the way, I experienced this with a 512 GB card.

The cameras are designed to not pose a danger of overheating. When it gets too hot, it may shut down. This is to prevent possible negative situations.

However, if there is a situation that you are hesitant about, that is, if you want to take precautions when the temperature is very extreme, lowering the recording quality and lowering the resolution may be an additional solution. this will make you feel better.
 
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