A229 Pro Overheating

[Augustus]

Hmmmm....both of my A229 Pro are now starting to suffer overheating in 3 channel mode. This is demonstrated by the intense heat felt on the LCD screen and that the AM band of the radio in my car will squeal with that 3rd channel plugged in. Remove that 3rd channel and the squeal will go away. This is regardless of what is the 3rd channel removed, I have also tested with different USB cables. Past that aspect, the dash cams are still functional and I have not seem them restart from high heat. I will keep using the A229 Pro while watching reviews for the new A329S and the VUEROID S1 Infinite.

Oh god not good 🙁

 

[Julian23]

Hmmmm....both of my A229 Pro are now starting to suffer overheating in 3 channel mode.

Hm that's weird. How hot is it currently in your area? (Please also in °C for the rest of the world)
Maybe the thermal paste or pads have gone bad after a certain time?
Would be interesting if you could check for anything unusual.

 

[lufa6977]

Oh god not good 🙁

Yeah, I know. These two dash cams were from the early pre-release set and I do run them at maximum settings. The other two channels are the Telephoto and the Interior lens, they both work great, never an issue with image quality but now the overheating issue has struck me. I did take one dash cam and replaced the thermal paste on the heat sink, that really did not help in this case. If it were not for the squeal on the AM band I probably would not have known of the issue since there have been no restart. When these two cams hit a certain internal temp, an onboard filter is failing or higher than expected RF is being emitted. I have been adding snap-on ferrite clamps but that has not helped.

I am not bummed about it, I have gotten two years out of the dash cams I guess. I generally upgrade on two or three year cycles so it is time for new dash cams anyway. The S1 has my attention as it is a new offering to the NA market and to me. Still I will wait and watch reviews for it and the A329S.

 

[lufa6977]

Hm that's weird. How hot is it currently in your area? (Please also in °C for the rest of the world)
Maybe the thermal paste or pads have gone bad after a certain time?
Would be interesting if you could check for anything unusual.

Not hot at all Julian, about 10C average during the day. This started back a month or so ago, when it was even cooler. I am still going to play around with this issue as I like the A229 Pro, but we all know that A229 Pro has a problem with heat. Just odd it manifests an effect on the AM band of my radio. Subaru has a procedure to test the filter at the hatch back, I have done that and there seem to be no issues. FM bands work great, no problem there.

 

[Julian23]

Not hot at all Julian, about 10C average during the day. This started back a month or so ago, when it was even cooler. I am still going to play around with this issue as I like the A229 Pro, but we all know that A229 Pro has a problem with heat. Just odd it manifests an effect on the AM band of my radio. Subaru has a procedure to test the filter at the hatch back, I have done that and there seem to be no issues. FM bands work great, no problem there.

That's very unfortunate and absolutely not warm.
My A229 Pro happily records without issues.
It only shutdown in the summer in 38-40°C weather while stuck in traffic with direct sunlight hitting it.
Max bitrate 2ch.

Let's hope my unit will keep on going.
I also have the A229 Duo. It was installed in November 2022. This unit has been recording ever since and has never quit recording.

 

[Augustus]

Yeah, I know. These two dash cams were from the early pre-release set and I do run them at maximum settings. The other two channels are the Telephoto and the Interior lens, they both work great, never an issue with image quality but now the overheating issue has struck me. I did take one dash cam and replaced the thermal paste on the heat sink, that really did not help in this case. If it were not for the squeal on the AM band I probably would not have known of the issue since there have been no restart. When these two cams hit a certain internal temp, an onboard filter is failing or higher than expected RF is being emitted. I have been adding snap-on ferrite clamps but that has not helped.

I am not bummed about it, I have gotten two years out of the dash cams I guess. I generally upgrade on two or three year cycles so it is time for new dash cams anyway. The S1 has my attention as it is a new offering to the NA market and to me. Still I will wait and watch reviews for it and the A329S.

That is pretty bad to be honest, mines still going but 4k is very heavy and demanding and chipset choice isn't the best for when it came out, even if technically it was possible.

My one is still going though I have it running in two channel only with the telephoto, and it does shut down in high heat. I can't fault it for the most part, but yours failing prematurely is never ideal

 

[phhaily125]

I would wait for the new VIOFO A329S which is soon to release, it is the latest and greatest. The A229 Pro is a great camera but it has a set of its own issues ( like most dash cams ), the A329S is expected to resolve those issues and issues with the A329.

Here is the ongoing A329S thread at DCT ... A329S

thanks for your feedback! ever heard of Vantrue E1 Pro 4K price same as A119 Mini 2 but quality equals to A229 Pro?
Wondering is it a trust worthy brand for long time using?

 

[phhaily125]

Yeah, I know. These two dash cams were from the early pre-release set and I do run them at maximum settings. The other two channels are the Telephoto and the Interior lens, they both work great, never an issue with image quality but now the overheating issue has struck me. I did take one dash cam and replaced the thermal paste on the heat sink, that really did not help in this case. If it were not for the squeal on the AM band I probably would not have known of the issue since there have been no restart. When these two cams hit a certain internal temp, an onboard filter is failing or higher than expected RF is being emitted. I have been adding snap-on ferrite clamps but that has not helped.

I am not bummed about it, I have gotten two years out of the dash cams I guess. I generally upgrade on two or three year cycles so it is time for new dash cams anyway. The S1 has my attention as it is a new offering to the NA market and to me. Still I will wait and watch reviews for it and the A329S.

have you tried to isolate a229 pro 1 channel just one channel, to see if it still occurs to have heating issue?

 

[lufa6977]

thanks for your feedback! ever heard of Vantrue E1 Pro 4K price same as A119 Mini 2 but quality equals to A229 Pro?
Wondering is it a trust worthy brand for long time using?

I have not used the Vantrue products before. Perhaps @Augustus has an answer?

 

[lufa6977]

have you tried to isolate a229 pro 1 channel just one channel, to see if it still occurs to have heating issue?

I am going to do that today, our high temp today is 14c, clear sky, lots of sunshine so a good day for testing. I will pull the Telephoto and Interior and use the HK4 for power, then pull it and use the Dongar dongle to power via the rear view mirror. I also have a Mophie cigarette lighter adapter that is USB-C I can power with. I could be getting dirty power from the HK4 perhaps?

This started with the next to last FW update, so that has me curious as well. I think it was @Dex_ that had a FW that recorded internal temps, might have been a VIOFO FW, not sure. I will have to look on my drive and see what I have saved.

 

[mentadent]

I don't know

 

[Augustus]

I have not used the Vantrue products before. Perhaps @Augustus has an answer?

Vantrue I've had no issues with for the most part, though their heat tolerances in terms of their setting before they turn off the dashcam is say 10-20 degrees Celsius higher than Viofo. Don't quote me on it on exact figures, but it was in that ballpark.

In terms of reliability and usability for image quality, Vantrue seems to be a viable alternative to Viofo

 

[jsmith]

Vantrue I've had no issues with for the most part, though their heat tolerances in terms of their setting before they turn off the dashcam is say 10-20 degrees Celsius higher than Viofo. Don't quote me on it on exact figures, but it was in that ballpark.

In terms of reliability and usability for image quality, Vantrue seems to be a viable alternative to Viofo

Vantrue's parking mode is also 15 Frames per second versus Viofo's 30 FPS. It appears Vantrue knows the limits of their hardware as to keep it running. Viofo prefers Optimal Quality and pushes the hardware to its limits. As a result, it heats up faster and shuts off at Thermal Max quicker.

 

[Augustus]

Vantrue's parking mode is also 15 Frames per second versus Viofo's 30 FPS. It appears Vantrue knows the limits of their hardware as to keep it running. Viofo prefers Optimal Quality and pushes the hardware to its limits. As a result, it heats up faster and shuts off at Thermal Max quicker.

I wouldn't say they heat up faster, in my testing it's obviously the sun that's the deciding factor to make things super toasty for both dashcams. The Vantrue has recorded higher temps than the Viofo, its moreso that the Viofo has set itself a lower temp limit to shut off at over the Vantrue

 

[lufa6977]

Heating issue with my A229 Pro seems to be related to 3 channel mode. When on the AM band of the radio, once the LCD gets warm enough, the squeal begins on the AM band, removing the cable for the Interior camera causes the squeal to dissipate over about a 20 second time frame. When back to 3 channel mode, squeal returns, removing the cable for the Telephoto camera and the squeal dissipates in about 5 seconds.
I tried different cables on the Interior and Telephoto cameras and put ferrite clamps on the cables. No difference.

FM bands continue to be clean, no restarts on dash cam, just the squeal on AM bands when using 3 channels. The easiest temporary resolution is to remove the IR cable as it is the easiest to get to.

 

[jsmith]

I wouldn't say they heat up faster, in my testing it's obviously the sun that's the deciding factor to make things super toasty for both dashcams. The Vantrue has recorded higher temps than the Viofo, its moreso that the Viofo has set itself a lower temp limit to shut off at over the Vantrue

The dynamics of a dashcam are the same dynamics of any electronics. Higher Resolutions requires the CPU to work harder and other electronics to generate more heat. Case design and ventilation come into play. Couple that with the vehicles ambient temperature increasing with direct sunlight, and yes it impacts the recording time of parking mode.

 

[Augustus]

The dynamics of a dashcam are the same dynamics of any electronics. Higher Resolutions requires the CPU to work harder and other electronics to generate more heat. Case design and ventilation come into play. Couple that with the vehicles ambient temperature increasing with direct sunlight, and yes it impacts the recording time of parking mode.

Higher resolutions of course, we are talking like to like resolutions here and only differences in bitrate. I never said anything about parking mode. So in my testing the time taken to heat up between those two models are pretty similar, the Vantrue obviously goes past Viofo's temps and gets hotter overall (because the Viofo shuts down).

 

[jsmith]

Higher resolutions of course, we are talking like to like resolutions here and only differences in bitrate. I never said anything about parking mode. So in my testing the time taken to heat up between those two models are pretty similar, the Vantrue obviously goes past Viofo's temps and gets hotter overall (because the Viofo shuts down).

I mentioned bitrate and Frames per second, along with parking mode. Please reread my post. Vantrue uses 15 FPS and Viofo 30 FPS in parking mode. Obviously, a higher frame frame even with identical bitrates, would mean the Viofo Processor and hardware are working harder than the Vantrue in a hot enclosed vehicle.

Dashcams rarely overheat while in normal usage. Occupants open windows to our vehicles for fresh air and keep the their Comfortably "climate controlled". It's different if the dashcam is parked, the car is closed up (windows not cracked), and the vehicle gets heated to 45C due to sunshine.

 

[Augustus]

I mentioned bitrate and Frames per second, along with parking mode. Please reread my post. Vantrue uses 15 FPS and Viofo 30 FPS in parking mode. Obviously, a higher frame frame even with identical bitrates, would mean the Viofo Processor and hardware are working harder than the Vantrue in a hot enclosed vehicle.

Dashcams rarely overheat while in normal usage. Occupants open windows to our vehicles for fresh air and keep the their Comfortably "climate controlled". It's different if the dashcam is parked, the car is closed up (windows not cracked), and the vehicle gets heated to 45C due to sunshine.

You never mentioned bitrate, please reread your posts. And I didn't acknowledge your parking mode, because I wasn't even talking about that.

I have had my Viofo a229 Pro overheat when parked and also on a hot 38/40C day after driving for half an hour, and I wasn't even parked during that time driving. My car was parked in an undercover carpark at work for eight hours before driving off. And that's with the dashcams not even operating in parking mode. I've done the temperature testing and shared the results on these very forums.

 

[jsmith]

You never mentioned bitrate, please reread your posts. And I didn't acknowledge your parking mode, because I wasn't even talking about that.

I have had my Viofo a229 Pro overheat when parked and also on a hot 38/40C day after driving for half an hour, and I wasn't even parked during that time driving. My car was parked in an undercover carpark at work for eight hours before driving off. And that's with the dashcams not even operating in parking mode. I've done the temperature testing and shared the results on these very forums.

I referred to quality. Quality is both resolution and bitrate. Sorry I didn't spell things out for you more clearly.

Your Viofo A229 overheating in Australia when parked is to be expected. I mean 40C summer temperatures, whether or not the sun beats on your vehicle, is going to make the interior 70C or higher at times. Cracking your window may help ventilate the vehicle, but it's still going to be very hot unless all windows are rolled down. Even then, it may not prevent the camera reaching thermal max shutoff.

The thermal shutdown of the Viofo A229 is -20℃ ~ 65℃

https://www.viofo.com/products/viof...LVf3FuLyw6nLMcx8ToWuBiG07-sbYF21pYwvJtWFqSC9Y

also on a hot 38/40C day after driving for half an hour, and I wasn't even parked during that time driving. My car was parked in an undercover carpark at work for eight hours before driving off.

You complain about me making a typo on 999 versus 990 and saying controller card when I meant controller....

You were driving 30 minutes, and not parked when Camera overheated. But then your car was parked in an undercover carpark for 8 hours before driving off? Exactly what the heck are you saying. What does Camera overheating on a "Regular Drive" have to do with you being in a car park for 8 hours.

Trying to decipher your gibberish. Let's assume you mean the Camera shut off on after 30 minutes on a 38/40C day during normal driving. Was the Air conditioning turned on? Were the windows cracked? The camera getting proper airflow shouldn't be overheating.

Now the last part....Being parked in a carpark 8 hours? Not sure if you're referring to 8 hours of attempting to use Parking Mode or just felt like Rambling this one off for no reason?