[Fixed] Problem with My V2 Not Turning On

[Skeezix]

My old hard-wired A119 V1 finally bit the dust. During its last days it would not always turn on when I started the car. It finally failed to turn on a couple months ago so I replaced it with a brand new A119 V2 that I bought shortly after that version came out. The V2 has been working fine until yesterday. I started the car, but the little red power light did not automatically turn on, so I manually started it. That worked, but it turned itself off shortly after I drove off. I pulled over and pressed the button and reconnected the power cable but that did not fix the problem so I drove off again.

After a couple miles, the thing turned back on by itself and worked fine until I got home.

It's definitely not the connector or cable, and it is not the connection to the GPS unit (the power cable is connected to the V2). Nor is it the power button. I don't know if its the internal battery, the caps, or the original software, but something is wrong inside. Before I monkey around with it anymore, I thought I'd come here and see if other folks have had a similar problem and what they did to fix it.

 

[DT MI]

Has it been extremely cold where you are? I ask because in the past I've had intermittent startup issue with cameras like you describe that I was able to reasonably conclude were due to being very cold, and once temps went up everything worked fine.

 

[Kremmen]

Also, give the metal contacts between camera and mount a good clean and check they aren't bent

 

[Skeezix]

Has it been extremely cold where you are?

Yeah, I think that might be it. The car lives in the garage where it is never below 50. Yesterday it had been parked for 1.5 hours in sub-30 temps when I had the problem. And this morning when I turned the key on, the dashcam turned right on too. I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[kamkar]

On / off over the past weeks here in Denmark we had down to 10 - 12 degrees of frost here ( Celsius ) but i have not seen any of the 3 systems i run in the car ATM mind that.
Of course -10 / -12 degree C is not super cold.

I have read stories in here over the years about the same issue, often from Canadians, but while Denmark actually is Canada north on the globe, well we are located more fortunately so winters are not super cold here, for that to happen you have to skip over to our neighbours the Swedes and Norwegians, and there go another 1000 KM north to get close to the arctic circle, but then they can also dish up some cold days.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yeah, I think that might be it. The car lives in the garage where it is never below 50. Yesterday it had been parked for 1.5 hours in sub-30 temps when I had the problem. And this morning when I turned the key on, the dashcam turned right on too. I'll keep an eye on it.

Thanks for the tip!

I live in a place that experiences very cold temperatures during the winter and we are currently in the midst of a polar vortex over the last few days with temps down to 7º Fahrenheit (-17.777 C) . My Viofo cams have been very reliable in the cold but this is always a concern. Over the years I've experienced frozen dash cams that won't start because the low temps exceed that ratings of the processor. Here's a tip that might help, assuming the sub freezing temperature is actually the culprit.

If your camera won't start, simply leave it plugged in for 60-90 seconds. Even though it won't start, the processor (and other electronic components) are still receiving power and this slowly warms up the processor. After 60-90 seconds either unplug and re-plug the camera's power supply or restart your car if the camera is hardwired to reboot the camera. From my experience the camera will (usually) start up as normal. This has worked for me at -15º below zero F (-26.1111 C).

 

[Skeezix]

That's good to know - thanks for posting your experience.

I need to learn how to be patient...

 

[kamkar]

I need to learn how to be patient

Welcome to the club.