Dead Mobius: 12v Killer?

[richard in brum]

I bought my Mobius 30.08.13 and had great results, but when I needed to power my Sat Nav at the same time I bought a double socket adapter with integral USB socket for my car's 12v cigar lighter. I assumed the USB socket was constructed to be 5v so did not use the 5v adapter supplied with the Mobius. I've tried the 're-set' and 'battery disconnect' suggestions but still dead. Do you think it's the 12v that's killed it? Are any parts useable, eg the battery if I keep it as a spare? I can't test anything as I'm not tech-savvy. Cheers.

 

[Gurkha9]

I bought my Mobius 30.08.13 and had great results, but when I needed to power my Sat Nav at the same time I bought a double socket adapter with integral USB socket for my car's 12v cigar lighter. I assumed the USB socket was constructed to be 5v so did not use the 5v adapter supplied with the Mobius. I've tried the 're-set' and 'battery disconnect' suggestions but still dead. Do you think it's the 12v that's killed it? Are any parts useable, eg the battery if I keep it as a spare? I can't test anything as I'm not tech-savvy.

Most likely the double socket adapter with integrated USB ports only supplied 500mA which is not enough to properly power the Mobius. You need a 1A rating at least.
What damage this has done to the cam over time I don't know, but you may want to try changing the internal battery or powering it without the internal battery.
If it does not work when you power it externally and have already disconnected the internal battery, it might be dead.
USB by definition is 5V so no way you could have gotten 12V into the camera from that. Not using the supplied USB adapter that puts out 1A may have been a mistake in hindsight.

 

[russ331]

Try plugging it into a wall USB charger or iPad charger & give it 3 hours charge. If it's not revived, then the battery is probably dead as result of inadequate external power supply. For an explanation see http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/the-mobius-heat-issues.2392/page-6#post-36892

May be worth replacing the battery with the new Capacitor kit. As you're in the UK, you can get it quickly from JooVuu.

 

[HaveATank]

Well I burned my mobius wiring it into my car I made a simple mistake andbuse the 12v wire instead of the 5v wire. The camera would tune o. And it was super hot until the battery ran out.

Note 3

 

[Gurkha9]

Unless you know the amp rating of the USB dual port charger in question then this is an assumption. Most USB dual port chargers share the output rating between both ports when connected at the same time, unless stated my the manufacturer to be otherwise. So a 1amp charger would indeed supply (500mA) halved only if two devices were to be connected at the same time. As it would with 2Amp again being halved (1Amp each port) if two devices are connected/ shared, unless the manufacture has stated that each port has a verified independent output rating.

Of course it's just a guess based on his symptoms. I have a similar setup except I don't use the built in USB ports of the dual socket adapter since they only put out 500mA each for a total of 1A. Instead I use an Anker in one socket and the Mobius vendor supplied adapter in the other to make sure I get 1A to the Mobius. The USB port of the Anker is for a rear cam and the built in Micro USB wire to charge an Android phone at the same time. (2.4A+2A or 3.6A combined)
I've tried these types of dual USB adapters, but they don't put out what they say and cannot power a GT300W and a phone at the same time despite being rated at 2.1A+1A or 3.1A combined.

 

[richard in brum]

Unless you know the amp rating of the USB dual port charger in question then this is an assumption. Most USB dual port chargers share the output rating between both ports when connected at the same time, unless stated my the manufacturer to be otherwise. So a 1amp charger would indeed supply (500mA) halved only if two devices were to be connected at the same time. As it would with 2Amp again being halved (1Amp each port) if two devices are connected/ shared, unless the manufacture has stated that each port has a verified independent output rating.

You need a 1amp minimum output for the just the Mobius alone.


Can you show us a link to the socket adapter you used to see its ratings as I use a similar set-up myself, but the difference is when i connect the sat nav I use an older car camera instead of the Mobius as I cant guarantee my Mobiles will get the 1 Amp feed as I also have a rear cam connected. So in that particular case I have three devices in total.

Thanks for all the replies. Here's a link to the adapter, which DOES refer to 5v via the USB, +/- 5%. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171153844650
The Mobius won't charge directly to my phone charger or computer's USB. No lights at all, but after disconnecting and re-connecting the battery the 1st time yesterday, I had a few seconds of repeating blue and green.

I had this hopeful message from the supplier in China, eletoponline365 and will update them on the 5v and ampage matters. I'm leaving the Mobius on charge this morning and have postponed the cremation

"Hi friend, Thanks for your message. Sorry to heat that. You directly use DC 12V power supply from your car to work with the camera? Oh, friend, the camera work with DC 5V power supply, if you use DC 12V, the camera will be damaged. Now the camera is damaged, you can kindly return the camera back to us for a replacement, we will try to fix the camera when we get it."

 

[richard in brum]

It would seem I did not fry the Mobius with 12v as the USB in the adapter is 5v.
I've just been to russ331's link to Isoprop's comments at postings 97 and 109 http://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/the-mobius-heat-issues.2392/page-5 and pg 6. It made me think of a problem I had with the double adapter I used https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/171153844650 which was that it worked its way loose sometimes, thereby breaking the current while recording/writing to the micro SD card, perhaps leading to the problems described by Isoprop (thanks for the link, russ331).
So, is it safer to
a. use the Mobius without linking to the car's electrics for all journies less than,say, 80 mins and just re-charge at home via computer USB or my mobile phone charger, OR
b. use the supplied 5v USB for Mobius with nothing else connected ie use the sat nav unconnected to the car (re-charging at home) OR
c. get a better quality adapter which won't work loose (but would I still have a problem with shared current?).
What do you reckon?

 

[Gurkha9]

The adapter you linked to only puts out 500mA via USB as I suspected. That's the problem. Change the battery and get a 1A USB charger.

 

[richard in brum]

The adapter you linked to only puts out 500mA via USB as I suspected. That's the problem. Change the battery and get a 1A USB charger.

Much obliged. I'll try Joovu.

 

[richard in brum]

Battery + pnp £9 will be a cheap fix if it works. It'd probably cost me that to post back to the eletoponline 365 people in China.

 

[richard in brum]

Thanks, pauluk. Do you know if the 2 x 1A still 1A when both outlets are used at the same time?

 

[richard in brum]

This one appears to have the 1A and 2A USB, so would seem to have been tested to deliver the right current, but I'm still concerned that the 1A current would reduce if one of the socket outlets were to be used at the same time, eg for my sat nav. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B00AAT3SVE

 

[Gurkha9]

It should work but why dont you use the original adapter in one of the cig. plugs

 

[russ331]

Article on USB car chargers... http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-usb-car-charger/

 

[richard in brum]

Thanks, Ghurka9. I am just concerned that the current will drop if both sockets are used at the same time. I'd imagine that the USB connection has seperate wiring from the sockets. An adapter with single socket and 1A USB would do me (my old one being 500mA) to run the Mobius plus sat nav.
I'm beginning to think that the use of a double adapter is risky and I'd have piece of mind just using the 5v USB adapter which came with the Mobius, not connecting the sat nav, which is not used that much anyway. I'm pre-supposing that my Mobius is revived by the new battery ordered from Joovuu.

 

[richard in brum]

Just reading that 'wirecutter' article, russ331, where it refers to devices only drawing what they need to charge, does that mean that I don't risk damage using, say, a 2.1A USB connection, it's just that the Mobius needs a min of 1A? I'm being well educated here, if a little much all in one sitting ;-)
I'm quite happy using the supplied 1A USB adapter if I don't connect the sat nav, but would prefer a safe double use.

 

[Isoprop]

Just reading that 'wirecutter' article, russ331, where it refers to devices only drawing what they need to charge, does that mean that I don't risk damage using, say, a 2.1A USB connection, it's just that the Mobius needs a min of 1A? I'm being well educated here, if a little much all in one sitting ;-)
I'm quite happy using the supplied 1A USB adapter if I don't connect the sat nav, but would prefer a safe double use.

Jumping in here
Min is the incorrect terminology. The Mobius can draw up to 1A when it's recording and writing to disk and outputting video. It will use a little less if it's not using video-out, but that's quite minimal.
1A is a safe figure. If the Mobius needs more current than your external power can supply you'll have major problems in the long run. If your external power can supply 1A to the Mobius then you'll be safe. So, if you have a 2.1A supply and your Sat Nav also needs 1A max. then you're safe with 100mA reserve.

 

[Gurkha9]

Thanks, Ghurka9. I am just concerned that the current will drop if both sockets are used at the same time. I'd imagine that the USB connection has seperate wiring from the sockets. An adapter with single socket and 1A USB would do me (my old one being 500mA) to run the Mobius plus sat nav.
I'm beginning to think that the use of a double adapter is risky and I'd have piece of mind just using the 5v USB adapter which came with the Mobius, not connecting the sat nav, which is not used that much anyway. I'm pre-supposing that my Mobius is revived by the new battery ordered from Joovuu.

I think you may be getting confused with the total supply of the adapter itself vs the total output of the integrated USB ports.
If your satnav connects to the cig adapter not the USB you'll be ok. The issue of 500mA was per USB port for a total of 1A.
The cig adapter itself should be able to handle 5A-10A total (all sockets including USB).

I currently run a double cig adapter with 2 integrated USB ports. I only use the cig adapter ports as the USB ports are only 500mA each (useless really, like your current adapter)
With the 2 cig adapters I run 2 Mobius and an Android phone without any issues.

 

[richard in brum]

Thanks, gents. I'll muse till my battery arrives (should be tomorrow or fri) and see if Mobius fires up.

 

[richard in brum]

The new battery came from Joovuu, but despite hours of charging the camera is still dead, so I'll be posting it back to supplier, who has been kind enough to say they'll replace it I'm going away for a month, so will just let you know then if I get a replacement.