heat sink added into 0803

[rtrski]

A member of Russian forums has added a heatsink to his 0803.




Thread in Russian is here

http://www.taker.im/phpBB2/topic/164882-мини-0803-blackbox-на-ambarella-a7la50/page__view__findpost__p__2657511

In short, hanging problems in hot weather stopped after adding this DIY sink. Before the cam would only work for about 30 minutes then hung.

Great pics, and fairly similar to what I was planning. Good to see someone else risk it first. ;-).

Slightly surprised he (she?) ran the sink along both the SOC and the card socket, but I guess it makes sense. Also from a thermal standpoint the bonds are your highest resistivity compared to the metals. Assuming the fingered sink shown is aluminum not copper...I was going to just go with a larger copper strip and sort of 'wrap' the exterior some (copper being about twice the themal conductivity of aluminum). Overall though a very nice job!

Will be sure to post if I do mine...although it's actually been behaving as long as I keep some A/C flow over it, I'd like to be able to bump up the data rate and go to the superHD vs. plain old 1080, and I don't think I should risk either of those without a supplemental sink.

 

[billknow]

Rayman,
Can you confirm that Foxoffer currently carries mini 0803 with added heatsink version?
Thanks a lot!

We sold the updated version 2 week ago, normally we keep limited in stock, so it is easy for us to move to the new version.

 

[Route 66]

We sold the updated version 2 week ago, normally we keep limited in stock, so it is easy for us to move to the new version.

Billknow, I bought mine on August 6th, it was shipped to me on August 8th. Have you sent me the updated version?

 

[FourEyes]

Further development from that user - second heatsink added:

Also from a thermal standpoint the bonds are your highest resistivity compared to the metals. Assuming the fingered sink shown is aluminum not copper...I was going to just go with a larger copper strip and sort of 'wrap' the exterior some (copper being about twice the themal conductivity of aluminum).

Regarding glue, I so understand this was a test project just to see if a heatsink of any kind would make a difference with stability of operation. Black aluminium sinks were chosen simply because the author had plenty of them laying around. On resistivity/conductivity of materials you're absolutely right.

 

[Nigel]

Further development from that user - second heatsink added:





Regarding glue, I so understand this was a test project just to see if a heatsink of any kind would make a difference with stability of operation. Black aluminium sinks were chosen simply because the author had plenty of them laying around. On resistivity/conductivity of materials you're absolutely right.

Looks to me like the heat has to flow too far through the metal for that to work well, better to get some air flow through the case and passed the processor, due to the small size it may be a good idea to add a chimney on top to get the convection working...

 

[mr_milo]

From the first set of photos, I was wondering why they build it with the heat sink going down.
Now, seeing the mount, it makes sense although I think it might be slightly more efficient with the heat sink exiting the top. After all heat does rise.

 

[rtrski]

In the absence of any forcing (fans, etc.) hot air rises and displaces cooler air, starting convection. But that has nothing to do with conductive heat transfer. Heat will spread in a good thermal conductor like aluminum or copper in whatever direction with no preference. You want the spreader surface exposed to your airflow so under the angle of a windshield it might actually work better to have it on the bottom where the flow from your defrost vents isn't (somewhat) obstructed by the unit itself. (I'm not going to argue that a couple inches difference matters to the 'ambient' temp of the air the heatsink is in if no fans are on, but if the distance was much larger then again having the sink project in the cooler air direction would make sense too...)

I'm sure it's just a balance between that and what sticks out too far in your way... . The guy posting the pics is doing just fine. The other factor to balance against is every ounce of metal added to the camera body is cantilevered on that already kind of flimsy mount, so it can add to contact problems, wobble under vibration, etc. Really wish the Guardtrak form factor would come out...

I still haven't modded mine. Had a few of the power on endless beep freezeups I've had to reset from, but I think they're mostly associated with starting up after I did something dumb like turned off my ignition (start button car, no key) without putting it in park so I had to cycle car power on and off again quickly to correct, which is probably stuttering the accessory power to the unit. Although it's getting hot again I've been kind of gentle about blasting the 0803 with the defrost vents for a couple minutes if it's been out in the hot car all day before plugging the power supply back in the socket to power it up, so I don't think I've had heat-related errors yet. But I am only running 1080, holding off on trying superHD until I do mod it. Have an astrophotography gig this weekend and a carshow photo gig next, so probably early Sept is the time I might attempt the project...

 

[synoptic12]

Is there anyone who knows foxoffer carries this mini 0803 with heatsink installed?
I email them but their answer is not clear "This issue had solved , so you can buy mini 0803 trustingly."
Thanks a lot!

I ordered from FoxOffer on August 10, 2014 (Mini 0803). I sent an e-mail to FoxOffer, and within a minute I received a reply. I will receive the latest model with heat sink installed. "Yes, we ship the latest version with heat sink" (response from FoxOffer) Have not received the unit as yet, it's still in N.Y customs sort facility. Nice to see quality customer service, very efficient.

 

[Nguyen]

I ordered from FoxOffer on August 10, 2014 (Mini 0803). I sent an e-mail to FoxOffer, and within a minute I received a reply. I will receive the latest model with heat sink installed. "Yes, we ship the latest version with heat sink" (response from FoxOffer) Have not received the unit as yet, it's still in N.Y customs sort facility. Nice to see quality customer service, very efficient.

Did you received your mini 0803 yet?
I received mine today from FoxOffer eBay store where I bought it a week ago.
I hope I received the one with heatsink added.
I could not tell by looking at it from outside. I will X-ray it tomorrow to find out.
BTW, the firmware is FW20140611.

 

[jokiin]

if you bought it a week ago it will be the updated version, they've had them several weeks already

 

[Nguyen]

if you bought it a week ago it will be the updated version, they've had them several weeks already

Thanks a lot Jokiin.
I trusted FoxOffer that's why I bought it from them

 

[Pinhead]

all the 0803s released from 2 weeks before have been updated to the version with heatsink.
I think they must have sent back all their stocks for this update.
And, if any user think your 0803 have to be updated for a "with heatsink version", please contact your distributor.
(the Motion Detection function is not recommended if your camera is under sunlight in summer.)

I bought mine when they were first released. Does this mean I will automatically be entitled to a replacement to the latest modified model?
I purchased mine through Joovuu.

Thanks

 

[GearBest]

Wow, this is a great idea considering the high temperature when parking car under the sun.
We confirmed with our supplier that our mini 0803 is the update one with heat sink. Feel free to check out.

 

[synoptic12]

Did you received your mini 0803 yet?
I received mine today from FoxOffer eBay store where I bought it a week ago.
I hope I received the one with heatsink added.
I could not tell by looking at it from outside. I will X-ray it tomorrow to find out.
BTW, the firmware is FW20140611.

125.2 grams

 

[GJHS]

Gearbest has a different heat sink

 

[jokiin]

Gearbest has a different heat sink View attachment 7611

Would have thought turning that heat sink around 90 degrees would make more sense

 

[synoptic12]

http://www.scamadviser.com/is-gearbest.com-a-fake-site.html

 

[GJHS]

http://www.scamadviser.com/is-gearbest.com-a-fake-site.html

I think those of us who have gotten our cameras from there would disagree

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/gearbest

 

[jokiin]

I think those of us who have gotten our cameras from there would disagree

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/gearbest

Real reviews are far more useful than an online test site, those can be useful if its a site you've never been to just to check for malware etc, there's no spam problem here though like some sites where random recommendation to sites to buy from are common and that might be more useful

 

[reverend]

I've got to agree I had no issues at all with Gearbest - in fact it was exactly the opposite in that the comms were great all along.

After looking at the scamadviser a lot of that score is purely because the site isn't based in the US and is in China - it sounds more political than much else! FO gets a much higher score on that one.

I don't trust a lot of the review sites because sometimes you can spot the fake reviews (both positive and negative) a mile off.

I'm exactly having the exact same sort of issue now trying to track down a new exhaust system for the car as mine snapped in two today :/