Any advice would be appreciated..

[jokiin]

What about in the instances of a short in the wire or loose connection? I would think this would cause low voltage, but also lead to spikes in voltage, if the wire is moved. Since the connection is being broken and isn't consistent.

no, doesn't work like that

 

[M4ttc]

everything works until it doesn't, if the hardwire kit has failed and it is outputting 12v the camera is doing you a favor by not powering up, if it did it would do permanent damage, they must have overvoltage protection on the input, hopefully they have that on the GPS mount as well (if it still works when you power by the cig plug then it's probably fine, talk to the seller about warranty on the hardwire kit

Thanks for this reply @jokiin !
You are correct that everything works until it doesn't. I was just trying to highlight that there wasn't a fundamental issue from the initial install and everything has been great. It stopped recording 10 min into parking mode on Saturday.
The camera works fine of if use a usb cable and plug into a different source such as a different one in the car or a usb power bank. So I think you are right that the camera has a protection built in..
If what everyone is saying, I should not be getting 12 volts output and 14.3v when the engine is running out of the mini usb port of the HWK
Thanks for the reply!

 

[jokiin]

to do it randomly like that just points to it being a component failure in the HWK, not the kind of thing that happens often but anything is possible when it comes to electronics

 

[M4ttc]

to do it randomly like that just points to it being a component failure in the HWK, not the kind of thing that happens often but anything is possible when it comes to electronics

Thanks you for your reply.

All 4 contacts on the GPS mount are recording 12v when measured. I have just done it again.

Can someone confirm I should be getting 5v here?

I measured each of the Taps and they are giving the correct output 12v for battery and 5v for ACC

Thanks to all for all the responses. This is a top forum

 

[Nath]

Thanks you for your reply.

All 4 contacts on the GPS mount are recording 12v when measured. I have just done it again.

Can someone confirm I should be getting 5v here?

I don't have A119V3 particularly but I'm pretty sure you should get 5V on at least one pin (since HWK provides this voltage), ground, and probably bunch of 3.3V (fluctuating) for communication with GPS. Since you measure 12V on all pins, your GPS mount is probably dead.

 

[jokiin]

the GPS mount should be receiving a 5V input so should only have a 5V output, you can confirm that by plugging your cig charger power supply into the GPS mount and measuring the voltages on the GPS contacts again

 

[M4ttc]

I don't have A119V3 particularly but I'm pretty sure you should get 5V on at least one pin (since HWK provides this voltage), ground, and probably bunch of 3.3V (fluctuating) for communication with GPS. Since you measure 12V on all pins, your GPS mount is probably dead.

Thanks @Nath
The only thing is the GPS mount and Cam work fine when connected to a power source other than the HWK.
So if the HWK is supposed to step the voltage down?? If so, it doesn't appear to being doing that anymore

 

[Nath]

The only thing is the GPS mount and Cam work fine when connected to a power source other than the HWK.

Then Viofo did a good job of protecting their stuff. Good to know.

So if the HWK is supposed to step the voltage down??

Yes, so there is something wrong with HWK.

 

[jokiin]

So if the HWK is supposed to step the voltage down?? If so, it doesn't appear to being doing that anymore

think it's pretty clear the hardwire kit has failed, just contact the seller about getting it replaced, should be no issue

 

[M4ttc]

the GPS mount should be receiving a 5V input so should only have a 5V output, you can confirm that by plugging your cig charger power supply into the GPS mount and measuring the voltages on the GPS contacts again

Spot on @jokiin !

I have Just tested it.

The GPS mount is getting 5.1 V from pin 1 and slightly less from the others when plugged into another power source in the car and operates fine then.

 

[M4ttc]

I've whipped the HWK out and sent it back for a refund. I will order a new one then

 

[ds2010]

Hi boys,

I am a bit late for this topic, but I thought I'd throw in my 5c worth anyway - maybe more for the future searches.
(and - yes, I am the owner of VIOFO A119v3)

1) It does NOT matter at all for this model, which MiniUSB socket (on the dashcam or on the GPS module) you plug your miniUSB plug from the HK3 into - the power, gnd and signalling (ID) pins are bridged together on those sockets when DashCam is mounted on GPS module. The only thing to remember is that if you want to connect your dashcam to PC for file transfer, you have to use a proper signalling 4-wire MiniUSB cable and connect it to the dashcam socket ONLY - the GPS module does NOT have the Data+ and Data- connections.

2) If you look at the four contact pads on the GPS module (where the dashcam spring-load contacts connect to), they will carry the following signals (starting from the center hole going towards the edge of the GPS module):
Vbus (+5V), GPS stream, ID, GND (closest to the edge).

(but even if you don't look at those four pads, they will still carry the same signals anyway... )

3) When the MiniUSB plug on the end of the properly wired up HK3 power cable is plugged into the GPS module, the following voltages on those 4 pads should be present and considered normal :

GND is electrically connected to the body of your vehicle (or to the (-) terminal of your car battery for that matters)
Vbus (dashcam supply) should be measuring +5V (+/-0.5V) relative to the GND (GND pad or vehicle body)
GPS stream should measure (relative to the GND) jumping voltage anywhere between 0V and 2.5V - this is the serial comms stream from the GPS to the (currently unplugged) DashCam.
ID pad should measure (relative to GND) less than 0.5V when the car is off (Accessories voltage is NOT present) and more than 4V when the car is running or when your key is in ACC position (radio is going). This signal tells the DashCam to switch between normal (road) mode and parking mode.

4) When A119v3 is powered from the cigarette lighter using it's own 12V->5V cigarette lighter plug and the long USB cable from the purchased set, the parking mode to- and from- switching logic is completely different to that when powered from the HK3 kit. Be aware of that.

5) I agree with jokiin that it was very forgiving of V119v3 to continue working after having been powered with 12V instead of 5V. You should donate $20 to the charity.

Hope someone will make use of this info.

 

[ds2010]

All 4 contacts on the GPS mount are recording 12v when measured. I have just done it again.

"recording 12V" relative to what? To the vehicle body? Then it is most likely that you have a broken ground, because, as I wrote above, the outer of those four pads (the one closest to the edge) should be connected flat to the vehicle body and therefore should measure 0V.
The fact that you also measure +12V on it (relative to the vehicle body) tells me that they are not connected together.
So, I'd be prepared to bet a dollar that if you put your multimiter probes directly onto the two outer pads of the GPS (black - to the most left, red - to the most right) the multimeter would never show 12V. (it would most likely show 0V or thereabouts).
So I am speculating that your dashcam has in fact never been exposed to 12V supply (the voltage between most left and most right pads on the GPS module) and this explains the "mysterious survival" of your dashcam.
(Charity donation still applies though... )

All this is just a speculative handwaving, as I realize that you had already gotten rid of the faulty HK3. It's just that it looks like that it may have been a simple issue of the ground connection being lost.