Did my car fry my G1W-H?

Kimbosqueak

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Last night I tried moving my G1W-H to my other car (which I'll call car #2) and plugged it into a cigarette lighter socket doubler, which I had used before without any issues. After a minute or so, both the cam and the other thing I had plugged in began behaving strangely. The cam's screen went black, but the red LED showed that it was still recording. Then, all accessories inside the car died, including the radio and socket. I have put it back in car #1 for now. Now all of a sudden, I noticed two issues with the cam that were nonexistent prior to this:

1. The camera will not turn off by itself when its power is cut off. Rather, it continues to record as if it's still being charged and the battery charging icon continues to flash. I have to manually stop recording and turn it off every time I park. I have tested this and it will go on for as long as I allow it. I have tried opening up the cam and disconnecting/reconnecting the battery, and tried pressing the reset button to no avail. The same thing happened to my other G1W-H, which turned out to have a bad battery that needed replacing. Problem is, I just replaced this one's battery not too long ago.

2. When I reviewed the videos from last night, the videos gradually overexposed before abruptly dropping back to normal and gradually became so grainy as to be almost unwatchable.
Video from car #1 during the aforementioned incident:
As you can see, the exposure changes before the video goes black, then comes back, overexposes again and becomes grainier.

Video from car #2 during a drive a few hours later:
The video quality is perfectly fine at first, then gradually becomes grainier and overexposed, before suddenly dropping back to no exposure and becoming unbearably grainy.

Did I fry my camera for good or is there any way to resolve this?
 
Last night I tried moving my G1W-H to my other car (which I'll call car #2) and plugged it into a cigarette lighter socket doubler, which I had used before without any issues. After a minute or so, both the cam and the other thing I had plugged in began behaving strangely. The cam's screen went black, but the red LED showed that it was still recording. Then, all accessories inside the car died, including the radio and socket.
That sounds like a short-circuit in the power adapter. The same thing happened to mine recently: the plastic part that holds the negative flat springs broke, causing the top of the springs to touch the inside coil spring that's in contact with the internal fuse. Did you check if there were any blown fuses in the car's fuse box afterwards?


I have put it back in car #1 for now. Now all of a sudden, I noticed two issues with the cam that were nonexistent prior to this:

1. The camera will not turn off by itself when its power is cut off. Rather, it continues to record as if it's still being charged and the battery charging icon continues to flash. I have to manually stop recording and turn it off every time I park. I have tested this and it will go on for as long as I allow it. I have tried opening up the cam and disconnecting/reconnecting the battery, and tried pressing the reset button to no avail. The same thing happened to my other G1W-H, which turned out to have a bad battery that needed replacing. Problem is, I just replaced this one's battery not too long ago.
If the camera keeps recording after you cut off the power, then the battery is in very good shape. Are you using the same power adapter you used in car #2?


2. When I reviewed the videos from last night, the videos gradually overexposed before abruptly dropping back to normal and gradually became so grainy as to be almost unwatchable.
Video from car #1 during the aforementioned incident:
As you can see, the exposure changes before the video goes black, then comes back, overexposes again and becomes grainier.

Video from car #2 during a drive a few hours later:
The video quality is perfectly fine at first, then gradually becomes grainier and overexposed, before suddenly dropping back to no exposure and becoming unbearably grainy.

Did I fry my camera for good or is there any way to resolve this?
This issue can have many causes. Try recording in similar conditions with battery power only and then report back.
 
That sounds like a short-circuit in the power adapter. The same thing happened to mine recently: the plastic part that holds the negative flat springs broke, causing the top of the springs to touch the inside coil spring that's in contact with the internal fuse. Did you check if there were any blown fuses in the car's fuse box afterwards?

Checked the fuse box and couldn't see if any of the fuses were blown. The car is currently in the shop.

If the camera keeps recording after you cut off the power, then the battery is in very good shape. Are you using the same power adapter you used in car #2?

Interesting. The other camera's battery was definitely bad as it stopped holding the time/date shortly after. I believe you, though, because this one's battery was just replaced. Is it possible the short circuit turned it into some sort of super battery? I am using the same power adapter in both cars. It never caused an issue in car #1.

This issue can have many causes. Try recording in similar conditions with battery power only and then report back.

I recorded twice without battery and reviewed the footage. The first time was with the camera sitting on the couch for about 30 minutes in relatively bright conditions. The second time was inside a dark room, but this time the battery ran out of juice after just a few minutes and only made it to the second video clip. Both times the same thing was happening. The bluish color came and went multiple times and it gradually became grainier as time went on. I also noticed yesterday when I was teaching a family member to drive in a third car, the footage on the LCD screen looked like it was bouncing up and down. I'll have to test it again in one of the other cars to see if it was the car's vibrations or a new problem with the camera itself.

Could the lens be the issue? I may have to bench this camera until I can figure out how to repair this issue.
 
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