Garmin Dashcam Mini Still overheats w/ 7.50

bgreenstone

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Well, I had high hopes that they had fixed the problem where the camera would overheat and completely freeze and never power down. All winter long it has been working fine with the 7.50 firmware, but yesterday it was 62º out and I parked the car in the sun. The interior probably got to ~85º and that was enough to cause the same old problem from happening. The camera locked up, got red-hot, and would not power down no matter what. I had to pull the power cable out to reset it.

I'm really sad about this because I really thought Garmin had fixed it. Apparently, it was just the cold winter air that prevented it from overheating, but it didn't take summer heat to cause the problem. Just a nice, cool 62º day. Frustrating!

-Brian
 
Interesting, I've not had any customers report issues with theirs over the Australian summer.
 
I wonder if it's just because nobody noticed. The Garmin Parking cable will automatically cut power once the battery drains too much, so it's quite possible that nobody has noticed that the camera is locked up and not working when it overheats. The 2 red lights remain on, so there's no indication anything is wrong until the car is shut off. At that point it should go into Park mode, but because it has overheated and locked up both red lights remain on. Unless they notice this they probably never realize anything is wrong.

-Brian
 
I came here looking for information on the overheating of the Garmin Mini. Thanks for the post. I got mine around XMas time. Have done all the updates. Bought a great memory card for it. Coincidence or not - both times mine wouldn't power on I had just had it indoors looking at video. I put it back on, set the position, then BAM. the next time I start my car it won't power on. Both times it was warm (live in SE PA - was only about 60 today but the front of my car was warm.

I am not sure if it is from sitting in the sun or what. Today I disconnected everything (do not have the parking wire set up) removed the memory card, reinserted it, etc. I actually held it up to my AC for a while and then replugged it in and it worked. Thus I assume it is a "sun"/temperature issue. I feel this is unacceptable as it is only April. I don't want to have to disconnect it every night.
 
Interesting, I've not had any customers report issues with theirs over the Australian summer.
My mini has overheated from new. It seems to be a issue with parking mode. Can not have parking mode on if car is not out of the sun in a cool location. It shuts down while in parking mode and the only way to get it going is to unplug the power leave it cool down completely. It is FW 7.9
 
My mini has overheated from new. It seems to be a issue with parking mode. Can not have parking mode on if car is not out of the sun in a cool location. It shuts down while in parking mode and the only way to get it going is to unplug the power leave it cool down completely. It is FW 7.9
something related to parking mode is where it has problems, this guy talks about it here

 
something related to parking mode is where it has problems, this guy talks about it here

something related to parking mode is where it has problems, this guy talks about it here

So why does Garmin keep selling this device with parking mode if it pretty much useless unless you live at one of the poles.
 
Also a bit perplexing for me how Garmin can manage to get the camera to generate that much more heat in parking mode, really in my world that should at the most be the same heat level as the camera generate while recording in regular mode.
 
Also a bit perplexing for me how Garmin can manage to get the camera to generate that much more heat in parking mode, really in my world that should at the most be the same heat level as the camera generate while recording in regular mode.
I'm not sure it's just a heat issue, suspect it's a software bug that causes it to lockup and then the processor is churning away running some errant process
 
Yeah. for sure something out of the ordinary, though similar style bugs have been seen now and then.
Just strange there have been no effort to resolve it yet.
Just saw the new much anticipated game cyberpunk 2077, it have some code in it tailored for older processors, that seem to hold back modern much stronger processors.

Also unexpected i sit here in my 2 floor apartment getting a headache, as since 06:55 this morning repairs on the sewer here have begun, meaning tearing up the concrete deck in the tunnel thru the building, its so loud i have to turn my volume all the way up ( using monitor speakers ) just to be able to sort of hear youtube videos.

Very fortunate that these days i can fall asleep fast, problem it is in the late afternoon / evening i sleep, and then get out of bed around midnight.
Where as my normal bad trying to sleep pattern would see me go to bed at midnight, and then fall asleep around noon,,,,, but thats not going to happen in this jackhammer noise.
The work are supposed ( less noise i hope ) to go on until the 23.
 
Garmin isn't alone in having a somewhat stubborn and arrogant approach toward some aspects of dashcams. They do build some really good cams but their Mini isn't one of those- it's been known for overheating from the beginning. With most dashcam nmanufacturers it seems that if they can't find an easy and quick fix, they tend to ignore the problem instead or suggest that you don't use the feature which is causing the problem :mad:

This is why it is so very important to research your cam choice well before purchasing, being sure to get lots of user-input from experienced owners who know what cams are supposed to do such as you get here on DCT. The not-in-depth reviews found on sites selling cams (and even on many generaol 'tech-review' type sites) don't paint a true picture of what's going on. Garmin has shelves full of cams they want sold rather than taking a loss by throwing them out or extensively reworking them to make them function properly, but if they make another batch once those are gone without incorporating a fix it's shame on them and it says a lot about their company too :cautious:

Phil
 
Has the overheating issue been fixed? Or I am better off picking the 66w for a rear cam?
 
Has the overheating issue been fixed? Or I am better off picking the 66w for a rear cam?
Not through any firmware updates. I don’t believe they have made any changes to the camera itself either. Note it only overheats when setup and using parking mode. I can’t comment of the 66 as I only have the mini and apart from the parking mode issue i love the the camera for its small form factor.
 
Hi all, I really like the size etc of the Garmin Mini. I have heard that the overheat issue can be solved by using a high capacity card such a 256 or 512 card. Also make sure that the card you're using is specific to constant use (constant read/write activity) it will have this feature on the package. The Samsung Pro Endurance seems to be the best for car dash cams. Also, when dash cams overwrite older video files, that process permanently damages the memory card.Samsung-Memory-Card.jpg
 
No memory card have no say in the issue, all dashcams do constantly read / write when the card is full, and this work just fine even with a 32GB card getting hammered by a 4K system.
The overheating as i understand it is solely a parking guard issue, so if you want to do that you should go with another camera for sure.

If a memory card is too slow from the factory, or as they also seem to be able to, paint them self into a corner, then the system should record erratic or maybe totally stop recording, with the alarms mostly present in modern cameras.

I do strongly recomend to buy endurance memory cards with warranty for dashcam use, but even here all cards are not the same, though one would assume so.
 
It is true a memory card is listed in lifetimes as total write cycles, or some times in total lifetime in constant recording, which could be something like 40.000 hours or more.
The same is the case for solid state harddrives for your computer, you can only fill it and delete the content again so many times.
 
I stuck a heatsink on my Garmin 56 as it was tucked up at the very edge of the rear window. Anything to increase surface area. Stick something on the back of the mini camera.

IMG_20210414_105822951_HDR~2.jpg
(Linear polarising film over lens)
 
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