Heat resistance

[GregWH]

Hi all,

I got, for Xmas, a Navig8r Crashcam. The idea is promising but the rest of it isnt.

First, the stand it comes on never tightens and it flops about like a fish out of water. Nevertheless, I managed to fix that in my own way.
Next, though it says it works in low light, it just doesnt.
After that, it says it will stop recording and only record again when the scene changes, if the car is parked. It doesnt. It just stays on if connected to the always on socket or if running on battery, turns off after a few minutes even though I told it not to do that.
Lastly, it isnt in the least heat resistant. We had a 34C day recently and I parked in partial shade, mostly sun. I estimate that the inside of the car was around 50C when I got back and the unit didnt show any signs of damage. I turned it on and it did that but then I thought I would look at the settings again and that is when I found that every button other than the power button now wont work because of being affected by heat.

Now excuse my silliness but the packaging mentions that it is for protection of the car when you are away from it as part of what it does. Eg, record when no-one is there. So shouldnt it take into account Australian Summer conditions?

As a result, an $80 buy is junk. Oh sure it works when I am driving and it is plugged in but I cannot change a thing now and forget night time. It just doesnt record anything outside of the headlights or really bright street lights.

So, does anyone know of *ANY* dash cam that is able to take the heat inside a car on a typical Aussie Summer day please?

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi GregWH,

The "Best Dash Cams" on our Dash Cam Comparison page handle heat pretty well.

 

[GregWH]

Thanks for the reply but that review didnt say anything about heat resistance. Dont take me the wrong way - I appreciate that you must know more than I do - but how do you KNOW that they are heat resistant?

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi GregWH,

Thousands of these cameras have been sold and people write reviews on them, particularly in Russia and Korea, but increasingly in English speaking countries. Just like you wrote about Navig8r Crashcam, others have written about all those other cameras. If heat is a systemic issue with a camera, I will note it as a known problem. Does this guarantee that extreme temperatures will not affect the camera you purchase? No. But it at least gives you a better chance in getting a decent camera. Even the "Best Dash Cams" are not perfect and you could get a dud but that is true with almost any purchase.

 

[GregWH]

Hi GregWH,

Thousands of these cameras have been sold and people write reviews on them, particularly in Russia and Korea, but increasingly in English speaking countries. Just like you wrote about Navig8r Crashcam, others have written about all those other cameras. If heat is a systemic issue with a camera, I will note it as a known problem. Does this guarantee that extreme temperatures will not affect the camera you purchase? No. But it at least gives you a better chance in getting a decent camera. Even the "Best Dash Cams" are not perfect and you could get a dud but that is true with almost any purchase.

I can understand what you are saying but Korea and Russia are different year round climates to here.

The fact is that the advertising for the unit says to leave it in your car for protection while you are away from it. That protection is supposed to be:

1) Record only when something chnges in the view field of the camera. Doesnt happen. You either plug it in to always on to keep it running constantly no matter what the view is, even if it never changes or you run it on battery and it lasts a few minutes, turns off and doesnt turn back on again until you turn it on, regardless of how the view changes.

2) Left in the car. That means "leave it in the car" to me. With that sort of recommended protection and given it is on sale right now in Summer when the temperatures can be extreme (35C today and not considered extreme, here), why, then, does it get badly affected in approximately 50C inside the car? The advertising says to do that - leave it in the car. I do and it gets damaged.

So, do you see what I am saying? Technically, I am doing what they say to do. Practically, it damaged the unit doing what they said to do.

As for "the best dash cams" in that review, ther very first one to read about says it gets blurry if you go over bumpy road. I live in Australia. Even roads that have been put down less than 24 hours are bumpy. Most highways are passable and most normal roads are "watch where you are driving" because there is likely to be a pot hole. The review left me wondering which end I should be reading first because the first didnt look like it was at all good if it gets blurry.

I guess, in the end, manufacturers arent really building dash cams for Summer Australian conditions but that being the case, they shouldnt be saying to leave them in the car and if you dont leave them in the car, then the only recording you get is when driving. Dont get your car stolen!!

 

[DashCamMan]

Hi GregWH,

Last time I checked other countries have summer as well with temperatures above 30 degrees C, not just Australia. People have successfully used dash cams at those temperatures.

As for the bumpy road issue, it is a problem for some users but can be fixed for about $5 with a shorter more stable mount as the review states. I consider that a minor problem, while a burned out camera I consider a major problem.

 

[Tampasky]

I recently purchased a F500LHD through Amazon.com. I was happy with the camera so I purchase another one for my wife. I'm not sure if one or both were the counterfeits, but when it got "warm" here in Tampa, FL (hot day, late May, parked car closed up), both cameras were "destroyed" by the heat in the car. The plastic body (on both cameras) warped and caused the SD card to pull away from its contacts. The control buttons jamed in the warped plastic body, etc. I never saw any mention of this issue in the reviews.

Amazon.com gave me a full refund for both cameras. But I very much liked having the cameras and would like to try again.

So I have the same question, does anybody know of a dashboard camera that can withstand the intense heat inside a closed car during a hot summer day?

Thanks