Glue to windshield?

[RarelyHere]

Hello everyone, new to the forum and new to Viofo.

I've just purchased an A229 and was a bit surprised to find that the GPS sensor is supposed to be glued to the windshield.

Not really an issue except that during the last two long road trips (3500 miles and 2200) my windshield had to be replaced due to thrown up rocks. Statistically unlikely to have it happen twice in fairly quick successionm, but there you go.

The existing dash cam was simply a question of removing the sucker contraption and transferring it to the new shield - two minutes on a slow day.

Regluing with sticky pads would have been a different deal entirely, assuming I had a spare pad 2000 miles from home. I'm debating adapting one of the better suction devices in place of the glue pad - did that for my radar detector which used to fall off very couple of weeks and now it is 100% solidly in place yet removes in seconds.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[DT MI]

A number of members here, myself included, use this as an alternative to adhering directly to the glass. I've had it attached to glass for multiple weeks at a time without it detaching - although it's possible/likely for any suction cup mount to come loose at some point.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B000FGI9R0

 

[Nigel]

Regluing with sticky pads would have been a different deal entirely, assuming I had a spare pad 2000 miles from home.

New sticky pads are cheap, there is a spare one included in the box, which you could keep in the car if you think it may be necessary.

You can slice the old one off the old glass using a knife, or thin wire to saw it off, a fairly quick operation.

The advantage of the sticky pads is that they never fall off (unless stuck to greasy/waxy glass), and don't vibrate, while suction cups always fall off eventually, and do vibrate.

If you decide to go for a suction cup, try to select a short one, so that the vibrations don't get amplified so much. You want the lens to be close to the suction surface. If the suction mount has a flat surface, or can be given a flat surface, then stick the dashcam to it using the standard sticky pad.

 

[kamkar]

you can also use the static sheet most cameras come with now, that stick to the windscreen with 0 glue, and then you can stick the camera to that.
This however do only work on the smooth glass, so on the dotted area up on top of the windscreen it would not work. well that is some it may but my windscreen are not even there, its like the dotted area are baked on from the inside.

 

[Dashmellow]

Regluing with sticky pads would have been a different deal entirely, assuming I had a spare pad 2000 miles from home.

You know, I've been using dash cams for a very long time now and so I know what it is like to suddenly experience an unexpected dash cam failure out on the road. For this reason, years ago, I put together a small kit in a plastic storage box with a few items I might need in such a circumstance. This includes a spare power supply, a spare compatible cable, a memory card reader, several spare memory cards, a few small tools, a razor blade, some alcohol swabs and a small roll of 3M VHB tape (type 5952 - the same type of tape that came with your camera) and a few other misc items.

These days, dash cams are far more reliable than they were years ago when I began this practice but it can still pay off. A couple of months ago my new camera started boot looping all of a sudden and so when I had the opportunity I tried a few troubleshooting measures and discovered that one of my USB power adapters had failed and so I popped in a new one and was on my way. Over the years I've also had a few unexpected failures of the camera mount adhesive where I came back to my vehicle and found my dash cam hanging down from the headliner and was glad I had some spare VHB tape, a razor blade and some alcohol swabs.

 

[kamkar]

I have only had cameras that i previously had mounted in another place come loose, and then always at the plastic mount, even if i of course changed pad and also cleaned everything very well, in some cases even sanding the plastic surface too.

O just remembered i had one come off the glass, after about 10 years of swapping cameras in and out of my car, there was so much left over gunk on my dotted area that a camera mount gave way to the " glass "
Did a through cleaning using Kent speedy 500 glue remover, and i was back to zero with every camera since then sticking as they should.

What left over gunk you can not scrape off, several detergents will remove just fine, and up high on the dotted ares i doubt most PPL would even notice if there was a little left over.

 

[Dashmellow]

You're right. The tape usually separates from the plastic more than it does from the glass, although 3M mentions in their literature that smooth surfaces like glass can be a problem and may need a chemical adhesion promoter.