spineyn
New Member
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2014
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 0
- Country
- Australia
- Dash Cam
- Mini 0801
I bought a mini 0801 from Aliexpress Givoe in Feb 2014. It worked well until Jul 2015 - one day I noticed it wasn't recording anything. There was no red/blue light, no startup tone, no screen on and nothing happening. That was when plugged into the GPS mount in the car. I took it inside and plugged in via mini USB to an Apple charger and still nothing - apparently completely dead.
I didn't have chance to look at it any further at the time so it sat unused on a shelf waiting until I had time to try and revive it. Fast forward 2 years to just now (I don't know where the last 2 years have gone!) and I just missed an incident on the freeway where I wished I had a camera in the car to capture it. I dug out my mini 0801, and tried it on the Apple charger again and still dead.
I then took it apart and checked it over inside. No sign of any disconnected wires or burnt out components. The battery is not puffed up or anything. I put a multimeter onto the board where the battery is connected, and with no USB power supply connected, it registers no movement on the analog multimeter. When plugged in via USB, there is the tiniest movement of the needle - only a fraction of a volt. I assume the battery is dead and/or the built in circuitry is preventing it from charging/discharging because it has run too flat in the 2 years since it was last used.
I then disconnected the battery completely, in case a fault in there was preventing the rest of the camera from starting up even on USB power. Still nothing can revive it! Should I be able to power it up via the mini USB port with no battery installed? Is there anything else I can try to revive it? I don't want to spend more on it by getting a new battery if there's something more serious that has already killed it.
If anyone has any ideas of anything else I could try, it would be much appreciated - thanks! Failing that, I guess it's time to pick a replacement. I notice there's a mini 0801S super capacitor version now available, which could be a straight swap to fit on the GPS mount that is still in my car all this time. I would definitely go for a capacitor camera this time, as the temperatures here in Australia can get very high in summer. Reliability problems on the mini series concerns me, but I really like the tiny form factor with built in screen. Also considering one from the Street Guardian range which are a fair bit bigger but hopefully more reliable. Would like to hear anyone's thoughts on these too - thanks!
I didn't have chance to look at it any further at the time so it sat unused on a shelf waiting until I had time to try and revive it. Fast forward 2 years to just now (I don't know where the last 2 years have gone!) and I just missed an incident on the freeway where I wished I had a camera in the car to capture it. I dug out my mini 0801, and tried it on the Apple charger again and still dead.
I then took it apart and checked it over inside. No sign of any disconnected wires or burnt out components. The battery is not puffed up or anything. I put a multimeter onto the board where the battery is connected, and with no USB power supply connected, it registers no movement on the analog multimeter. When plugged in via USB, there is the tiniest movement of the needle - only a fraction of a volt. I assume the battery is dead and/or the built in circuitry is preventing it from charging/discharging because it has run too flat in the 2 years since it was last used.
I then disconnected the battery completely, in case a fault in there was preventing the rest of the camera from starting up even on USB power. Still nothing can revive it! Should I be able to power it up via the mini USB port with no battery installed? Is there anything else I can try to revive it? I don't want to spend more on it by getting a new battery if there's something more serious that has already killed it.
If anyone has any ideas of anything else I could try, it would be much appreciated - thanks! Failing that, I guess it's time to pick a replacement. I notice there's a mini 0801S super capacitor version now available, which could be a straight swap to fit on the GPS mount that is still in my car all this time. I would definitely go for a capacitor camera this time, as the temperatures here in Australia can get very high in summer. Reliability problems on the mini series concerns me, but I really like the tiny form factor with built in screen. Also considering one from the Street Guardian range which are a fair bit bigger but hopefully more reliable. Would like to hear anyone's thoughts on these too - thanks!
