Do I need a replacement dashcam?

[NX01]

New member.

I have had a 522GW since I think it was 2017 when I bought it, including the rear camera ( the wired one that fits on the rear screen ). It was fitted for me, and I think it is on a switched circuit rather than a permanent live one.

It worked fine for many years, and I noticed that some recordings dated back to 2017 despite being in 2022. I saw that the system would often start up on random dates and then change to the correct date. Also, there were times when the dashcam would not start recording and needed to be powered off and back on again. Likewise, I had a few corrupt recordings.

I assumed that my sd-card was nearing the end of its life. It was a 128Gb Samsung EVO Plus bought back when I got the camera, so it had seen plenty of use.

I got a new card again in October, a Samsung Evo Plus 128Gb SDXC U3 Class 10 A2 130MB/s ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B09FFF18BQ ), although I thought I got the High-Performance card but obviously decided not to.

Sadly this has not solved my problems as I get randomly messaged that the card needs to be formatted but when you power off and power back on it works fine. I am also finding the dashcam went through a few instances of randomly locking up and getting warm.

The battery, I do know, is not fantastic and will often be drained within a couple of minutes.

I updated the firmware about two weeks ago, from what it came with and whilst this has helped a bit, I still have a dash cam with the odd bit of attitude problem.

Due to its age, I think I need to bite the bullet and replace it with a new one, but what to gauge thoughts before I do.

If I have missed anything, please ask.

Thanks

Paul

 

[TRSpceStr]

I've had a 522 too and frankly they are awful after a long time. A battery was a really bad choice, as it needs replacing after about 9 months if hardwired correctly.

Sounds like the camera is completely dying and that it is on a switched circuit, which explains the date issue, and it getting corrected is it connecting to your phone and syncing the time.

The locking up and getting hot is the fault of the rear camera usually. You can try running without it and see if it does this again.

The random failing to record happened to me too, although I never found a fix for that.


I ended up just changing cameras after that. I chose the Viofo A129 plus duo, and I couldn't have been happier. Although now I use the Vantrue E2 which is also a very good, quality camera, and I'd argue both are a significant upgrade over the 522, for a lot less money

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum NX01.

I would ditch this, it have too many things going against it.
1: You do not want a camera with a battery it it, it must be super capacitors for emergency power.
2: The brand are also picky about what memory cards they like, that to me is also a minus.
3: there are also better sensors in use now, the very latest being viofo launching the first ( 4 K ) camera with a sony starvis 2 sensor in it, this is however a very new system so very little footage out there to go by and user experience.
But already some users in here have the A139 PRO in hand, and from what they say it are generally OK, i am personally looking forward to nerd out on footage from this model i do not have.

Other popular cameras on the IMX 335 sensor ( 1440p resolution ) also not bad, i have tested quite a few of these lately and i dont miss the 1080p cameras.

The new Samsung evo card you linked to, i have a hard time finding a camera it will work with, just tried in the viofo A229 and it just would not work, i could format it and record + make a single stop, but the next day setting off it would not record.

 

[Kremmen]

For unknown reasons the 522 does appear to attract a lot of problem posts. I'm also not a fan of batteries, they don't seem to last more than a couple of years for some.

Could the additional features of the 522 over the cheaper NB series 2 models be putting extra strain on the battery ?

 

[TRSpceStr]

For unknown reasons the 522 does appear to attract a lot of problem posts. I'm also not a fan of batteries, they don't seem to last more than a couple of years for some.

Could the additional features of the 522 over the cheaper NB series 2 models be putting extra strain on the battery ?

It can get very hot so I suspect 1440p + rear cam is pushing it to it's limits. It does try to use the magnet and mount to try to dissipate heat, but it just means you'll burn yourself taking the camera out.

And batteries don't like being fully charged or discharged all the time, so being full 24/7 doesn't do it much good.

 

[Decking]

Now here’s a thought. Would the unit work without the battery? If I only use it in the car, hard wired. What is the point of the battery (yes I know what the manual says). I suppose it keeps the time and date correct!

 

[TRSpceStr]

Now here’s a thought. Would the unit work without the battery? If I only use it in the car, hard wired. What is the point of the battery (yes I know what the manual says).

It would, but it probably risks the current recording being corrupt when power is disconnected, which usually happens in a crash, and that's the file you need.

 

[Kremmen]

I agree. All files need to be 'closed' and without a battery the last file would be corrupt ...... which is not what you want when power was cut due to an accident

 

[Decking]

Point taken

 

[NX01]

Thanks for the replies. I will check out those other cameras that are recommended. At the moment it is working ok but that could just be temporary - I notice that there is another firmware out so might download that and update and see what happens.

 

[Decking]

Yes 22.8 is out there

 

[Nextbase Support]

New member.

I have had a 522GW since I think it was 2017 when I bought it, including the rear camera ( the wired one that fits on the rear screen ). It was fitted for me, and I think it is on a switched circuit rather than a permanent live one.

It worked fine for many years, and I noticed that some recordings dated back to 2017 despite being in 2022. I saw that the system would often start up on random dates and then change to the correct date. Also, there were times when the dashcam would not start recording and needed to be powered off and back on again. Likewise, I had a few corrupt recordings.

I assumed that my sd-card was nearing the end of its life. It was a 128Gb Samsung EVO Plus bought back when I got the camera, so it had seen plenty of use.

I got a new card again in October, a Samsung Evo Plus 128Gb SDXC U3 Class 10 A2 130MB/s ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/B09FFF18BQ ), although I thought I got the High-Performance card but obviously decided not to.

Sadly this has not solved my problems as I get randomly messaged that the card needs to be formatted but when you power off and power back on it works fine. I am also finding the dashcam went through a few instances of randomly locking up and getting warm.

The battery, I do know, is not fantastic and will often be drained within a couple of minutes.

I updated the firmware about two weeks ago, from what it came with and whilst this has helped a bit, I still have a dash cam with the odd bit of attitude problem.

Due to its age, I think I need to bite the bullet and replace it with a new one, but what to gauge thoughts before I do.

If I have missed anything, please ask.

Thanks

Paul

Hi Paul,

If the date is being forgotten that's sympatomic of a battery failure, I'd recommend replacing the battery.

We can provide a new battery for you directly and we offer two battery services. I've provided the details below:

To minimise the time you have to spend apart from your camera, we can send you a battery for £10 with free postage and packaging. This option is only available to mainland UK delivery addresses due to transportation limitations.
The battery replacement process is relatively straight forward and usually takes between 15/20 minutes to complete, but does require some soldering. We can email you the instructions directly.
A replacement battery can be purchased from the below website:
https://bit.ly/34j4EUS

Alternatively if you don't feel comfortable with the replacing the battery yourself, we can get the camera booked in for repair for £35. The average turn around for repairs is between 7-10 working days.

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support