Extreme 55 degrees C (131F) dashcam

[Fais]

Anyone tested and tried a dash cam in this extreme temperature?

I live in Kuwait and want to buy a dash cam but I'm not sure if there is one that can withstand such conditions.

Also I'd be grateful if anyone can recommend rugged SD cards as well.

 

[Harsh]

Most dash cams with a capacitor will work fine at 55°. Leaving it in the car if parked under direct sunlight isn't recommended.

For the card you could go with the high endurance range.

 

[Fais]

Which capacitor dash cam do you recommend?

I'm guessing the high endurance range SD card is from SanDisk?

 

[Harsh]

There are more than a few, depends on your requirement in terms of video quality, mounting options, form-factor and budget.

I'm using a SG96665GC in the front and a Mobius for the rear, both are capacitor based.

 

[Fais]

Thanks I'll check those out.

 

[kamkar]

high endurance range

Also Trancend.

 

[Module 79L]

Most dash cams with a capacitor will work fine at 55°. Leaving it in the car if parked under direct sunlight isn't recommended.

Isn't recommended for anything, even for humans.
If the car has A/C and the camera is kept away from direct sunlight, even a battery one will work fine.

 

[Harsh]

Don't think he'd want to bother with battery based ones keeping in mind his location, more likely to fail or worse.

 

[niko]

Is that temperature inside or outside car ?
Bare in mind that if outside temp is 55C then inside ( closed ) car temperature will be way much higher.

 

[Harsh]

Definitely outside, inside would be a furnace if it's parked out for long.

We touch 50-52 in Delhi but doesn't last more than a few days. Middle east isn't that lucky.

 

[niko]

Definitely outside, inside would be a furnace if it's parked out for long.

We touch 50-52 in Delhi but doesn't last more than a few days. Middle east isn't that lucky.

54C inside car can be achieved in 1 hour if outside is 32C

 

[Harsh]

Even with a capacitor I think it'll be best if the camera is removed when parked, of course depending on parking location and ambient temperature.

 

[niko]

It is never recommended to run dashcam in parking mode in such extreme conditions. Even if daschamera is switched off while car is parked then cheaper capacitor based daschams use cheap lens which may deform under heat. Also they use cheaper low heat restive plastic shell parts which may also melt or deform. Best is to remove dascham if I would park car over 1h in those extreme conditions.

 

[Module 79L]

Don't think he'd want to bother with battery based ones keeping in mind his location, more likely to fail or worse.

It's not a problem when it gets very hot inside the car, one can always cool it down before starting the camera, but if the camera isn't protected from the sun when those conditions occur, there are a lot of things that will fail long before the battery does. @niko has already pointed out some of them.

 

[Sunny]

I heard in Texas, someone measured over 180 Fahrenheit inside a vehicle, that's over 82 celcius.
When I lived there, I had CD covers and cassette tapes below the back window and several were deformed/bent completely.
In that kind of conditions, even if capacitor works, housing may give away.

 

[lacibaci]

There is also a difference between inside temperature and temperature of objects attached to the windshield in direct sun.

 

[lacibaci]

Here is a small demonstration. Today, (somewhere in "sunny" western Pennsylvania ) was 70°F partly cloudy. I parked my car for 30 minutes.

Dashboard temperature: 153.1°F = 67.3°C


Blacked out area on the windshield: 142.1°F = 61.2°C


The camera lens (CPL, lens housing): 121.7°F = 49.8°C