DR500GW-HD starting & shutting down loop

egonvdv

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Location
A Dutchy in the South of France
Country
France
Dash Cam
TWO Thinkware's U10002CH (rear cams used as side cams)
Recently my blackvue would restart a few times after having been in parkmode (on warm days),
but still functioned well.

Until today, when it didn't start at all .

So:

- I cut the power on it twice to restart: nothing

- then formatted the SD card with the blackvue itself; nothing.

- reset button: Nada

- Next I changed the SD card for a new one, which I have ready as backup and also has the FW on it.
blackvue then started to upgrade (even though it's the same version) and restarted.

But now it keeps cutting off at: ""BV for your safe driving. starting normal re..../"",
and continues this in a loop...

I tried all of the above several times as well as:
-putting in an empty SD card (it says it's initialising it)
-took it apart & disconnected everything, apart from the little "watch" battery

I tested the SD card thatI had originaly in it and it turns out it has read/write issues.
So I'm guessing this is originally what caused the problem with the BV (?)

Maybe something went wrong during the formatting of the OLD SD card by the BV,
and/or when I inserted the NEW SD card which re-installed the FW on the BV...???

Any help would be appreciated.

I bought the thing on ebay (dreamseller) so warranty is probably going to be tricky..
especially as I already took it apart myself...

Cheers
Egon
 
Hi, Yes i do (I had it when the problem started AND used it to re-install the FW on the BV)

ps : the FW link you is for the 500-hd, not for the 500GW-hd. just in
case someone else decides to use it :)
 
Last edited:
Well...,

Took it apart & left it overnight.
Today reassembled and it's working again.. sort of:

Now, when wifi is OFF, the light is ON (and vice versa), and on top the sound on/off switch no longer works

re-installing the FW does not fix this...

BTW; I'm not sure if this could be one of the problems, but yesterday when I tested the camera
I hooked it up to the power at home using a 220 to 12v adaptor... could it be that the Hz is too high...?
(since it's working fine today in my car...)
 
is it a 220 volt ac to 12 volts dc adapter. Ac is alternating current which is 50-60 hz depending on where you live the 12 volts should be DC or direct current, there is no Hz in DC. You might have used a 220 volt ac to 12 volt ac instead of a 220 volt ac to 12 volts DC.
 
Often the cheaper AC to 12V DC adapters have very little or no output filtering, so there is a lot of ripple noise (100 Hz + harmonics on a 230V 50Hz system) superimposed on the DC which the BlackVue may not like. These adapters are typically designed for refrigerators or similar loads which don't get bothered by the electrical noise.
 
Hi, im starting to fear that this adaptor is the real problem, & that the inital problem was just a corrupt SD card.

The adaptor is indeed a cheap one (eBay/china):
input 90-240v / 50-60hz
output: dc 12v 500ma

As advised the BV seems to be working, though it sometimes randomly restarts
and as i advised earlier when wifi is OFF, the light is ON (and vice versa) & the sound on/off switch/sensor no longer works.
plus when I switch on/off wifi, the bv also states "parking mode disabled"

Did i truly Fry the BV, or is there a way to fix it..?
 
IT WONT WORK PROPERLY WITH A 500Ma power supply.

It has been proved you need one of at least 1 amp
 
but could that have damaged the unit, or is the problem something else?
 
but could that have damaged the unit, or is the problem something else?

No put a heavier supply on and it should come right

Format your cards in a PC using SD formatter It has also been proved that the cameras don't always do a good job of formatting them.

Sounds like the backup power in the camera has died.

My 400 did this It would endlessly say starting....... and shut down for a while and do it again and again.

A new Lipo battery fixed it.
 
This lipo battery, is that the big one (looks like 2 penlite's)?

Cos things are getting more confusing for me:

I have an old broken unit, which would just "loop" all the time,
(and thus I bought a new one )

I took the part, that has the 2 "penlites" soldered to it, from this OLD unit &
put it in the NEW one...which is now 100pct functioning again....(?!)

but on top: I then put the part from NEW unit into the OLD one....
and it's ALSO working again..
(only the wifi light does not come on & it has no backup power to shut down)


My guess is that the initial problem was just a faulty SD card,
but that I F'ed up the unit when I hooked it to the 220/12v adaptor.

And probably that's what ****ed up my OLD unit as well,
since I hooked that one up to it too!

However, why swapping the batteries fixes BOTH units is beyond me...?

anycase i'm chucking the adaptor & not touching the cameras anymore
(if it ain't broke...)
 
This lipo battery, is that the big one (looks like 2 penlite's)?

Cos things are getting more confusing for me:

I have an old broken unit, which would just "loop" all the time,
(and thus I bought a new one )

I took the part, that has the 2 "penlites" soldered to it, from this OLD unit &
put it in the NEW one...which is now 100pct functioning again....(?!)

but on top: I then put the part from NEW unit into the OLD one....
and it's ALSO working again..
(only the wifi light does not come on & it has no backup power to shut down)


My guess is that the initial problem was just a faulty SD card,
but that I F'ed up the unit when I hooked it to the 220/12v adaptor.

And probably that's what ****ed up my OLD unit as well,
since I hooked that one up to it too!

However, why swapping the batteries fixes BOTH units is beyond me...?

anycase i'm chucking the adaptor & not touching the cameras anymore
(if it ain't broke...)


The two cans are capacitors

Quote
anycase i'm chucking the adaptor & not touching the cameras anymore (if it ain't broke) Unquote

Bit late for that I would think

The capacitors provide the backup power to keep it running till it finishes recording.

A Classic case of playing with things with no idea of what you are doing.

Advice is to read the forums, ask questions and THEN pull things to bits.

A 500 doesn't have a Lipo battery it has the two capacitors which you have probably shorted, playing with them.
 
I only too the new unit apart & back together as per advise/instructions on this site,
so can't see how I could have broken it... apart for having used the 220/12v adaptor.
anyway, they both work now which h is the main thing I guess.
thanks for all the input.
 
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