Hi all,
First time post and dash cam user. Recently bought the Aukey DR-01. I 'hardwired' it to my fuse box using an add-a-fuse kit from Spy Tec.
It took me a while because I had never done this kind of installation before, but eventually got it to work (wired into the fuse, grounded, cables hidden). It seemed to work really well the first day, but just today (2nd day of usage), the camera would power on, record, and then shut off. Then, it would restart after a few minutes and require me to input the date & time information again--it should have this information saved from initial setup. It kept going through this cycle and didn't seem to fix itself by the time I finished driving.
Here's what I think most likely happened:
Today, the temperature was really hot in the car. Yesterday, I installed and used the cam in the garage and drove later at night, when it seemed to be working just fine. I think the DR-01 is overheating and it's causing a lot of issues despite being powered by a capacitor? I'm not sure if the cam is restarting when it thinks it's barely cool enough to run, then powering off again because the heat of operating/recording + the sun is still too much. Note: I am running the A/C while driving for ~15-20 minutes so the car's ambient temperature is dropping from initially entering the vehicle. However, the dash cam is located at the top-middle section of my windshield, just in front of my rear-view mirror. That area is likely to stay hot because my A/C isn't run too strong and the sun is shining right on it. For reference, there is a plastic arm the extends from the roof of the car to the rear-view mirror (this is how the mirror is mounted) that is in the same area as the dash cam (top-middle). I tried touching this arm, and it is hot enough to where I cannot touch it for more than 2 seconds. This arm isn't protected by my windshield reflector which I had put up prior to entering my car.
Of course, there are plenty of other explanations/potential causes. For one, it could be the add-a-fuse kit material is not adequate enough to withstand the heat on a summer day (the wire is actually pretty thin, several strands of 20-gauge(?) according to some 2-star reviews complaining on Amazon). It may also be my own fault with installation - I didn't use the right fuses (I used two 20amp fuses for the add-a-fuse, so this is unlikely) OR the more likely installation issue (if it is one): I didn't crimp the power to add-a-fuse extension properly. I know this because I used regular pliers to 'crimp' and the power wires were slipping out of the connector after the first few tries. I had to really clamp down on my pliers to make the connector grab onto the wires.
Anyways, I'm leaning against the explanation that my issues are stemming from installation mistakes. Sure, I could have made a better connection between the power and add-a-fuse lines, but the DR-01 was resetting its time and date information upon restart. Even with cutting power (pulling the micro-USB from a reliable power source), the time/date information should be retained. I'm thinking there's something wrong with the DR-01 and the heat itself. Is it fake? Is the temperature too high for it to operate? Low quality wire material?
I would really appreciate any response from the forum - you all probably have a much wider range of experience and knowledge on it. Thanks for reading. Let me know if there's any more information/detail necessary to help diagnose the issue. I will be driving later at night and see how the dash cam operates.
First time post and dash cam user. Recently bought the Aukey DR-01. I 'hardwired' it to my fuse box using an add-a-fuse kit from Spy Tec.
It took me a while because I had never done this kind of installation before, but eventually got it to work (wired into the fuse, grounded, cables hidden). It seemed to work really well the first day, but just today (2nd day of usage), the camera would power on, record, and then shut off. Then, it would restart after a few minutes and require me to input the date & time information again--it should have this information saved from initial setup. It kept going through this cycle and didn't seem to fix itself by the time I finished driving.
Here's what I think most likely happened:
Today, the temperature was really hot in the car. Yesterday, I installed and used the cam in the garage and drove later at night, when it seemed to be working just fine. I think the DR-01 is overheating and it's causing a lot of issues despite being powered by a capacitor? I'm not sure if the cam is restarting when it thinks it's barely cool enough to run, then powering off again because the heat of operating/recording + the sun is still too much. Note: I am running the A/C while driving for ~15-20 minutes so the car's ambient temperature is dropping from initially entering the vehicle. However, the dash cam is located at the top-middle section of my windshield, just in front of my rear-view mirror. That area is likely to stay hot because my A/C isn't run too strong and the sun is shining right on it. For reference, there is a plastic arm the extends from the roof of the car to the rear-view mirror (this is how the mirror is mounted) that is in the same area as the dash cam (top-middle). I tried touching this arm, and it is hot enough to where I cannot touch it for more than 2 seconds. This arm isn't protected by my windshield reflector which I had put up prior to entering my car.
Of course, there are plenty of other explanations/potential causes. For one, it could be the add-a-fuse kit material is not adequate enough to withstand the heat on a summer day (the wire is actually pretty thin, several strands of 20-gauge(?) according to some 2-star reviews complaining on Amazon). It may also be my own fault with installation - I didn't use the right fuses (I used two 20amp fuses for the add-a-fuse, so this is unlikely) OR the more likely installation issue (if it is one): I didn't crimp the power to add-a-fuse extension properly. I know this because I used regular pliers to 'crimp' and the power wires were slipping out of the connector after the first few tries. I had to really clamp down on my pliers to make the connector grab onto the wires.
Anyways, I'm leaning against the explanation that my issues are stemming from installation mistakes. Sure, I could have made a better connection between the power and add-a-fuse lines, but the DR-01 was resetting its time and date information upon restart. Even with cutting power (pulling the micro-USB from a reliable power source), the time/date information should be retained. I'm thinking there's something wrong with the DR-01 and the heat itself. Is it fake? Is the temperature too high for it to operate? Low quality wire material?
I would really appreciate any response from the forum - you all probably have a much wider range of experience and knowledge on it. Thanks for reading. Let me know if there's any more information/detail necessary to help diagnose the issue. I will be driving later at night and see how the dash cam operates.
Last edited: