Does this mean my Hardwire Kit has failed?

[DJ Zee]

My A129 Pro Duo was professionally installed in December with the Viofo Hardwire Kit in a Kia Sportage. Out of the blue the camera no longer powers on BUT if I plug in a power bank to it, it works just fine. I checked the Hardwire Kit and I can still see a little Red LED inside it so it must still be getting power but despite changing the voltage switch on it to all the different settings it never powers on the camera.

I have contacted the installer but he thinks it's a failed HWK as apparently it happens often. Any suggestions for anything else it could be? I am hoping there is something else as removing and replacing the entire HWK again would mean I would need to pay for another installation fee.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

Cheers

 

[Nath]

Assuming you power it via base, have you tried to power it directly to the camera on the side USB connector?

But yeah, some HWKs for A129Pro were crappy so it could be also a dead HWK. If you are skilled with "soldering station" I would just swap board of the HWK - nothing difficult and much easier than ripping the whole thing off.

 

[NINRH8R]

Well, I'm no professional but I installed my own HWK. My camera worked flawlessly for over 2yrs. Until 1 day I noticed it had no power. I would unplug the power cord from the camera and plug it in only half way and it would work, but it was missing footage.

When I would connect the camera to any other 12v source it would work fine. In the house, or even the cigarette lighter in the car it would work.
I've read on line that the GPS mounts often short. So I've replaced the mount just in case, but still no power when plugged into the HWK.

Right now I'm not using the HWK, I am just plugged into the lighter and it's been working fine for about a month.
I have a new HWK sitting here, but I haven't had the time or the motivation to try to reinstall it. I'm thinking of going to local shop to have them do it.

I believe my HWK has failed.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[thomas-dash]

Have you checked the fuses? It’s possible one of them blew. I think I read a post saying the red LED indicated the status of the BATT wire and not the ACC wire.

 

[LateralNW]

My A129 Pro Duo was professionally installed in December with the Viofo Hardwire Kit in a Kia Sportage. Out of the blue the camera no longer powers on BUT if I plug in a power bank to it, it works just fine. I checked the Hardwire Kit and I can still see a little Red LED inside it so it must still be getting power but despite changing the voltage switch on it to all the different settings it never powers on the camera.

I have contacted the installer but he thinks it's a failed HWK as apparently it happens often. Any suggestions for anything else it could be? I am hoping there is something else as removing and replacing the entire HWK again would mean I would need to pay for another installation fee.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

Cheers

First off check the usb plug that goes into the dash cam hasn't worn causing an intermittent problem. Try pulling the plug out of the socket slowly in micro steps and you may find it will start up.

If that didn't work:

Ask the installer what devices he taped for the red and yellow wires. The yellow wire might not be connected to the ideal circuit.

I've found that sometimes the yellow wire needs a"reset" to get the hwk back in "sync"

Placing a switch on the yellow wire to make it easier to reset the hwk may work.
Once reset leave the switch alone until next time it plays up.

Cheers

 

[v81]

My A129 Pro Duo was professionally installed in December with the Viofo Hardwire Kit in a Kia Sportage. Out of the blue the camera no longer powers on BUT if I plug in a power bank to it, it works just fine. I checked the Hardwire Kit and I can still see a little Red LED inside it so it must still be getting power but despite changing the voltage switch on it to all the different settings it never powers on the camera.

I have contacted the installer but he thinks it's a failed HWK as apparently it happens often. Any suggestions for anything else it could be? I am hoping there is something else as removing and replacing the entire HWK again would mean I would need to pay for another installation fee.

Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions.

Cheers

Late reply, my apologies.
Any chance you're near South East VIC?
I have had some experience with a number of HK3 hard wire kits fail and have developed a test to root out this issue.
Feel free to PM me.
Details of my experience in this thread...

HK3 hard wire kit - terrible voltage regulation

So, not an owner of a Viofo cam myself, have been going through nightmares trying to install one with my father. First - this is not a 129 issue, this is a HK3 hard wire kit issue. Posting here as the related camera is an A129 Pro Duo First install resulted in a camera that functioned for...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[DJ Zee]

I'm in Vic but further north. Despite the HW kit looking like it was working (red LED inside still working) I ended up contacting Viofo and they sent me another HW kit and sure enough the new one works fine. So these must fail very easily.

 

[LateralNW]

I'm in Vic but further north. Despite the HW kit looking like it was working (red LED inside still working) I ended up contacting Viofo and they sent me another HW kit and sure enough the new one works fine. So these must fail very easily.

Nice to hear Viofo sorted it out.

Out of curiosity did you ever try disconnecting the yellow wire and then reconnecting it while the car is running?

 

[DJ Zee]

No I never tried that unfortunately. I did disconnect the leads from the fuse box and replugged them back in in case the connections were loose but not while the car was running.

 

[v81]

I'm in Vic but further north. Despite the HW kit looking like it was working (red LED inside still working) I ended up contacting Viofo and they sent me another HW kit and sure enough the new one works fine. So these must fail very easily.

Seems to be a large volume of these that have failed voltage regulators.
I have tested, verified and presented evidence of this and viofo kinda quietly acknowledges it and are doing what they can to help people.
Crazy thing is there are people that want to deny such a problem exists.
If it were at all possible I'd love to get hands on your HK3 kit to determine if it's the same issue I'm finding on other units.
I'd be up for making a small contribution to postage.
The most common issue is the voltage on the unit swinging wildly as seen in this example.

 

[DJ Zee]

Would have been happy to but unfortunately I have already disposed of it

 

[luckyl]

Hello there, I've 3 of these HK3 that failed on me. Viofo sent me 2 more, 2 lasted less than a year, with the most recent last less than 6 months. Same issue here, red light is on but no power to camera, or camera turn on and off itself like it's loosing power.

 

[ogzogz]

Hello there, I've 3 of these HK3 that failed on me. Viofo sent me 2 more, 2 lasted less than a year, with the most recent last less than 6 months. Same issue here, red light is on but no power to camera, or camera turn on and off itself like it's loosing power.

You can try artificial connection with an adapter that produces 12 volts constant energy.

your vehicle's alternator may be providing more energy than it should be or out of the required range. measuring and checking

 

[LAKKS]

First off check the usb plug that goes into the dash cam hasn't worn causing an intermittent problem. Try pulling the plug out of the socket slowly in micro steps and you may find it will start up.

If that didn't work:

Ask the installer what devices he taped for the red and yellow wires. The yellow wire might not be connected to the ideal circuit.

I've found that sometimes the yellow wire needs a"reset" to get the hwk back in "sync"

Placing a switch on the yellow wire to make it easier to reset the hwk may work.
Once reset leave the switch alone until next time it plays up.

Cheers

You hit the nail on the head!!! My cam wouldn’t turn on for more than 5 seconds and I only noticed because the video clips were so short. I thought the unit died after just 2 years, but I noticed it came alive when I pulled out the power plug slowly. I used an o-ring to keep the power plug out at the correct distance, and tacked it in place with gasket adhesive. This worked for a few months, but I noticed that it hadn’t recorded for. week!!! The power faceplate came
loose which meant the power plug was out too far. The camera didn’t work during a long road trip, which was a big shock. I don’t want to superglue the faceplate in case I have to access the power plug internals in order to keep the cam alive. Not a great thing to know the cam may not be recording when I need it.

 

[LateralNW]

You hit the nail on the head!!! My cam wouldn’t turn on for more than 5 seconds and I only noticed because the video clips were so short. I thought the unit died after just 2 years, but I noticed it came alive when I pulled out the power plug slowly. I used an o-ring to keep the power plug out at the correct distance, and tacked it in place with gasket adhesive. This worked for a few months, but I noticed that it hadn’t recorded for. week!!! The power faceplate came
loose which meant the power plug was out too far. The camera didn’t work during a long road trip, which was a big shock. I don’t want to superglue the faceplate in case I have to access the power plug internals in order to keep the cam alive. Not a great thing to know the cam may not be recording when I need it.

Hi Lakks, thanks for the feedback it is always nice to think I might have helped someone.

It is a pain if the dashcam you rely on doesn't do its job.
If the unit is falling apart perhaps you could hit up @VIOFO-Support to see if they can help you out.

Which part of the dashcam is the power faceplate? If it is the area I am thinking it should be a mould and not able to come apart.
I'm curious which bit it is, do you think you might be able to post a photo of it?

Cheers

 

[VIOFO-Support]

You hit the nail on the head!!! My cam wouldn’t turn on for more than 5 seconds and I only noticed because the video clips were so short. I thought the unit died after just 2 years, but I noticed it came alive when I pulled out the power plug slowly. I used an o-ring to keep the power plug out at the correct distance, and tacked it in place with gasket adhesive. This worked for a few months, but I noticed that it hadn’t recorded for. week!!! The power faceplate came
loose which meant the power plug was out too far. The camera didn’t work during a long road trip, which was a big shock. I don’t want to superglue the faceplate in case I have to access the power plug internals in order to keep the cam alive. Not a great thing to know the cam may not be recording when I need it.

You can return it for repair if the issue cannot be solved by yourself. Please open a ticket here and tell me your ticket number: https://support.viofo.com/support/tickets/new

 

[LAKKS]

Thank you! The unit seems to be working okay now as long as I check for the startup tone each morning.