Battery bulge

[tstorzuk]

A little help please!

I have 6 mobius actioncams in total, but I keep having problems with one of them.

On this one cam, the batteries keep getting fried. I see that the lights aren't flashing anymore, open it up and find that the battery has bulged. Today, it has been through the 4th battery now. And I also found out that it didn't record anything to the SD card the whole time it's lights were working (about 4 months).

The battery on the left is the bulged one.

I'm not sure as to what to do about this now. I do have a couple more back-up batteries, but I don't want to keep going through them, or finding out that the cam isn't even doing it's job recording. Also, having been laid off for quite a while now I don't have funds to replace it.

So does anyone have any suggestions what to check or look for on the PCB? I don't know if I could even be able to fix it, but I wouldn't mind giving it a try.

 

[Rajagra]

Good candidate for a capacitor?
If that doesn't work put a new battery in and carry it on your person for ad-hoc recordings. Or bin it. I doubt it can be repaired. Keep the case, lens etc. as spares.

 

[dash riposki]

are you using them as action cams, or dash cams?

 

[Mozzie]

Sounds like a charging issue with the camera. Is it left on 24hrs ?

 

[SawMaster]

A new board is over half the price of a new cam- it would probably fix the problem though. Installing super-caps is the better approach if you're using it as a dashcam; they plug in just like the battery. The protection circuit is in the battery pack but the charging circuitry is on the main board so unless you're good with SMD electronics it's not really user-fixable. If you have a DMM you could check the voltage at the battery plug while charging on this and a couple of your other cams using the same PS to see if there is a difference, which would also verify a bad main board diagnosis.

With all cams it's best to check the cards frequently even though everything seems OK. I try to check mine weekly, never more than 2 weeks. And always view the last file to ensure the cam is powering down correctly. Sometimes cards go bad and the cam shows no signs of that; this can happen with any cam or card. Cards also wear out- they don't last forever- which is another reason to check them regularly.

Phil

 

[tstorzuk]

are you using them as action cams, or dash cams?

Is it left on 24hrs ?

I use it at my front door as a 'time lapse' camera recording every 1 second, not in a car as a dash cam or as a true 'action cam'. So it is on 24/7, but not in high heat. I've been hoping to get a few months of activity on it to watch the season change......

If you have a DMM you could check the voltage at the battery plug while charging on this and a couple of your other cams using the same PS to see if there is a difference, which would also verify a bad main board diagnosis.Phil

I have a voltmeter (not sure what a DMM would be, perhaps a digital multimeter???), so I can try checking the voltage across the plug. Thanks for the tip.

Good candidate for a capacitor?

Installing super-caps is the better approach if you're using it as a dashcam; they plug in just like the battery.Phil

Also thanks for the tip about trying a capacitor. I'll see if I can find one online. I remember the last time I bought some, they were really hard to find. I just checked both eletoponline365 and digitalele889 eBay stores, and they don't have them listed. Banggood does have one listed. I might try that one, after testing the voltage across the battery plug.

With all cams it's best to check the cards frequently even though everything seems OK.Phil

I will check the media card too, to make sure it isn't toasted. I have several I can use if it is. I'll have to search through the forums to find out what card formatting/testing tool is used the most (unless someone else can provide the name/link).

so unless you're good with SMD electronics it's not really user-fixable.Phil

Nope, I've never done any soldering with SMD so I doubt I'd be any good at it. I know they are tiny solder points, but if it's toast anyways, why not give it a try. At least that's what I was thinking.

A new board is over half the price of a new cam- it would probably fix the problem though.Phil

If it turns out that it is the board, I will keep in mind to get just a replacement board instead of a whole new one. That would be the most cost efficient solution, you're right.


Thank you all for your suggestions and help. I have a path to follow to check what the culprit might be. It's a good starting point.