Interior cam input not responding

D

DashCamUser123

Active Member
Joined
Jan 29, 2021
Messages
322
Reaction score
78
Location
Ontario
Country
Canada
Dash Cam
A129 Duo x 2 / A139 3-Channel / A229 Plus 3-Channel
A139 3-Channel. The Interior cam input on the unit isn't working. I thought the Interior cam was not working. Then I input the Interior cam cable into the rear cam input. Interior cam works. I plug the rear cam cable into the Interior cam input. Does not respond.

I will try and plug the Interior cam cable into the Interior cam input many times to see if it suddenly works. I assume there is something about the Interior cam input that is not working. Dirt? Shorted?

Update: May 7, 2025. It has been determined that the Interior Cam input is not working. Steps taken: Reset A139 twice and problem persists. When selecting which cam to show as priority in the Viofo app, selecting Interior Cam gets the Viofo message 'Interior Cam, not available'. Plugging and unplugging cable into Interior cam input has on effect on the A139. (normally if you pull out a cable, the A139 would announce 2 cameras recording or 1 camera recording, etc.) I think this is almost conclusive the interior cam input is not working.
 
Last edited:
@viofo I am still waitng for delivery of the replacement refurbished A139. PDN the courier does not say when they will deliver, they just show up one day. I missed the call and get an Exception status.

I emailed them several times to make sure they have all the info to get in touch with me. No response. Their phone number does not pick up. I tried several times already. What is going on with the PDN courier that Viofo has chosen to deliver? I also cc'd Viofo Support. No reply for a few days..
 
DashCamUser123 said:
@viofo I am still waitng for delivery of the replacement refurbished A139. PDN the courier does not say when they will deliver, they just show up one day. I missed the call and get an Exception status.

I emailed them several times to make sure they have all the info to get in touch with me. No response. Their phone number does not pick up. I tried several times already. What is going on with the PDN courier that Viofo has chosen to deliver? I also cc'd Viofo Support. No reply for a few days..
Click to expand...
What is your email address or ticket number?
 
The refurbished A139 main unit arrived today. @BlackboxMyCar So I hook it up to the Powercell 8 refurbished battery ($445 CAD with taxes). The A139 refurbished from China kept rebooting constantly. It got so hot to touch and smelled like burnt plastic or burnt electronics. (same experience with my original A139, hooked up to the refurbished Powercell 8 and kept rebooting after a month of use). A139 refurbished kept rebooting and got so hot to the touch). It took over 30 minutes to cool down. Only the front cam was working.

I decided to use the Viofo car charger instead. 2 cams were working. Not 3. What is causing the problem? The refurbished Powercell 8? Only in use for 2 months. It sat inthe box for a few months before I started to use it. The refurbished Powercell 8 was purchased to replace a 1-Year old Powercell 8 that died. Maybe it was a huge mistake to take a chance on a refurbished Powercell 8.

There is a warranty with the refurbished Powercell 8 but it's pointless. If it is causing issues, try and prove it. It turns on. Not being into electronics I can't test output etc from the Powercell 8.

That is the situation right now.
 
Last edited:
DashCamUser123 said:
The refurbished A139 main unit arrived today. @BlackboxMyCar So I hook it up to the Powercell 8 refurbished battery ($445 CAD with taxes). The A139 refurbished from China kept rebooting constantly. It got so hot to touch and smelled like burnt plastic or burnt electronics. (same experience with my original A139, hooked up to the refurbished Powercell 8 and kept rebooting after a month of use). A139 refurbished kept rebooting and got so hot to the touch). It took over 30 minutes to cool down. Only the front cam was working.

I decided to use the Viofo car charger instead. 2 cams were working. Not 3. What is causing the problem? The refurbished Powercell 8? Only in use for 2 months. It sat inthe box for a few months before I started to use it. The refurbished Powercell 8 was purchased to replace a 1-Year old Powercell 8 that died. Maybe it was a huge mistake to take a chance on a refurbished Powercell 8.

There is a warranty with the refurbished Powercell 8 but it's pointless. If it is causing issues, try and prove it. It turns on. Not being into electronics I can't test output etc from the Powercell 8.

That is the situation right now.
Click to expand...

It sounds like your power source is the issue.

Try hooking the camera up via a bench test. Use the 12V Car Adapter to see if all 3 cameras work.
 
I use the Viofo car charging cable connected to the cig-lighter. I am only geting the front cam to work. Just like my my old A139. It has no issues running 1 cam whether connected to the Powercell 8 or the car cig-lighter.

There is no way to prove there is any issue with the refrurbished Powercell 8. I do regret paying $445 CAD for the refurbished Powercell 8 after my 1-Year old Powercell 8 died. Buying a refurbished is throwing good money after bad. Never again. You are depending on their QA. I did it beacuse what are the odds I'll be screwed twice?

If someone was into elctronics they can easily test the actual voltage output etc. Not me. It could also be the camera but what are the odds two A139 had the same thing happen to it?
 
None of that makes a lot of sense. If you are in the Toronto area I would recommend contacting SafeDriveSolutions and arranging a meet with them.

Safe Drive Solutions

@SafeDriveSolutions

I very seriously doubt VIOFO sent you a faulty replacement dash cam, refurbished or new. It seems you have a wiring/battery/connector issue of some type. Unless you have a digital multimeter and the ability to isolate electrical faults, you should contact SDS or a local shop that installs dashcams / audio.
 
lufa6977 said:
None of that makes a lot of sense. If you are in the Toronto area I would recommend contacting SafeDriveSolutions and arranging a meet with them.

Safe Drive Solutions

@SafeDriveSolutions

I very seriously doubt VIOFO sent you a faulty replacement dash cam, refurbished or new. It seems you have a wiring/battery/connector issue of some type. Unless you have a digital multimeter and the ability to isolate electrical faults, you should contact SDS or a local shop that installs dashcams / audio.
Click to expand...
My setup is the refurbished Powercell 8 and a Viofo spliced cable made for the A139, A229 etc. The power cable connects from the Powercell 8 to the power input of the A139.

Unfortunately i don't live in Toronto but have family there. It's a 4 1/2 hour drive for me. I can always send to Safe Drive Solutions and have family pick it up.

I do have a multimeter but wouldn't know how to isolate electrical faults. If I had to guess, I would say connect the USB-C that goes into the A139 (coming from the Powercell 8) to to some voltage device to measure output? To see what is the voltage going to the A139?

I can't wait until the Viofo dashcam battery is available in Canada.
 
DashCamUser123 said:
I use the Viofo car charging cable connected to the cig-lighter. I am only geting the front cam to work. Just like my my old A139. It has no issues running 1 cam whether connected to the Powercell 8 or the car cig-lighter.

There is no way to prove there is any issue with the refrurbished Powercell 8. I do regret paying $445 CAD for the refurbished Powercell 8 after my 1-Year old Powercell 8 died. Buying a refurbished is throwing good money after bad. Never again. You are depending on their QA. I did it beacuse what are the odds I'll be screwed twice?

If someone was into elctronics they can easily test the actual voltage output etc. Not me. It could also be the camera but what are the odds two A139 had the same thing happen to it?
Click to expand...

As I said before, there is a VERY VERY EASY way to rule out the camera. Power all 3 with the 12V connect (cigarette lighter) and if they work, then it's the power source (Powercell Battery) that's the issue OR your configuration for Powering the Power Cell to Recharge.
 
jsmith said:
As I said before, there is a VERY VERY EASY way to rule out the camera. Power all 3 with the 12V connect (cigarette lighter) and if they work, then it's the power source (Powercell Battery) that's the issue OR your configuration for Powering the Power Cell to Recharge.
Click to expand...
I did power it up with the Viofo 12V car charger and only the front cam works. Let me have another look at the Powercell 8. It is powered by the cig-lighter. I'll check again with the black voltage thing that connects to the Viofo spliced cable (This setting is OK because it just stops the charging if he voltage coming from the car's battery drops to a certain voltage. So, it just makes sure the car's battery doesn't drain).

The Viofo Hardwire kit that BBMyCar has spliced and ready to plug into the power-out of the Powercell would not fail and be a cause of too much power to go to the dashcam?
 
Last edited:
Will this device work to see what is the voltage / amps going to the dashcam? You plug the USB-C cable coming from the Powercell 8 into the test device instead of into the USB-C power input of the A139 to test power going into the dashcam? Then check the reading to make sure it's what should be going into the A139?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0B5W5NKKN
  • USB C Tester: Monitors USB-C power and charging up to 240W; measures voltage and amperage; visualizes the directional flow of electrical current; features an updated OLED display for improved readability; includes a new orientation button for screen rotation
 
Last edited:
DashCamUser123 said:
I did power it up with the Viofo 12V car charger and only the front cam works. Let me have another look at the Powercell 8. It is powered by the cig-lighter. I'll check again with the black voltage thing that connects to the Viofo spliced cable (This setting is OK because it just stops the charging if he voltage coming from the car's battery drops to a certain voltage. So, it just makes sure the car's battery doesn't drain).

The Viofo Hardwire kit that BBMyCar has spliced and ready to plug into the power-out of the Powercell would not fail and be a cause of too much power to go to the dashcam?
Click to expand...

Unplug the power cell. Hook up all the Front + Rear + Interior (plug into proper ports). Now take the 12V Plug provided by Viofo and power with the Cigarette lighter. Do you get 3 channel recording audio confirmation? Check via Viofo software to see if all 3 show up.
 
Last edited:
jsmith said:
Unplug the power cell. Hook up all the Front + Rear + Interior (plug into proper ports). Now take the 12V Plug provided by Viofo and power with the Cigarette lighter. Do you get 3 channel recording? Check via Viofo software to see if all 3 show up.
Click to expand...
I may have tried already but will try this again tomorrow. I will reset the refurbished A139 first. Also, can't wait for the USB-C tester to arrive.

PS. When I was a little kid I wanted to learn electronics but went in another direction instead. I remember this now. Maybe these darn dashcam battery problems will force me to learn a thing or two about electronics. My 2 mulimeters and the USB-C tester is a start! I need to learn how to wire those cables to hook up to an Ecoflow external battery which seems to be an alternative power source and is less expensive and some have a larger capacity(?) than commercial dedicated dashcam batteries of 75 wh. A thread in the Battery forum here.
 
Last edited:
I explained to Viofo Tech Support. They said try and remove the memory card, start it up and see if it reboots. It just says 'please insert memory card'.

I plugged in all cables and hooked up to Viofo cig-lighter. My cig-lighter isn't like the one they shared with me in the email. Theirs show a USB that inserts into a Viofo cig-lighter input which then you insert into the cars cig-lighter.

I have a Viofo hard-wired cig-lighter. VIOFO Model CC-030N. Thing is when I buy the Viofo cams, I put the cables away because I use the BBMyCar which comes with the Viofo spliced cables.

My USB-C power checker arrives tomorrow. Can't wait to test amps, watts, volts coming from the BBMyCar Powercell 8. Will report back here.
 
DashCamUser123 said:
I explained to Viofo Tech Support. They said try and remove the memory card, start it up and see if it reboots. It just says 'please insert memory card'.

I plugged in all cables and hooked up to Viofo cig-lighter. My cig-lighter isn't like the one they shared with me in the email. Theirs show a USB that inserts into a Viofo cig-lighter input which then you insert into the cars cig-lighter.

I have a Viofo hard-wired cig-lighter. VIOFO Model CC-030N. Thing is when I buy the Viofo cams, I put the cables away because I use the BBMyCar which comes with the Viofo spliced cables.

My USB-C power checker arrives tomorrow. Can't wait to test amps, watts, volts coming from the BBMyCar Powercell 8. Will report back here.
Click to expand...

The 12V design might not be identical but you obviously know how to plug one end to 12V socket and other to Camera.....

Did doing so work? Did you try resetting the camera back to factory defaults?

Do you now get 3 channels?
 
jsmith said:
The 12V design might not be identical but you obviously know how to plug one end to 12V socket and other to Camera.....

Did doing so work? Did you try resetting the camera back to factory defaults?

Do you now get 3 channels?
Click to expand...
Still only 1-Channel. Front cam.
 
Hmmm....a guess would be that when you connected the second dash cam to the origainl BBMC battery pack, which may be faulty, you possibly damaged the second A139. Just a guess.
It will be interesting to see what the inline tester you ordered reveals.

It is concerning the A139 during repetitive boot failures overheats to the point it takes 30 minutes to cool down. Over voltage will usually just smoke the two voltage regulators at the input side. Under amperage usually does not matter however, under amperage can cause components to overheat based on circuit design and transistor / mosfet saturations.

For future reference, especially if you wrangle another dash cam out of VIOFO, 🙂 , do not use that damn battery pack or its harness for testing. Use the CLA and USB cable provided by VIOFO, or get a USB power bank from Anker or most any company and use it. The power bank needs a 5vdc output, with approximately 2 amps. Just use a standard USB power cable, avoid the power direct USB cables. IMO.
 
@lufa6977

It's odd the PowerCell would damage camera, but I'm guessing his unit is faulty, and it isn't an overall problem with the PowerCell brand itself.

What @DashCamUser123 should have done is bench test the new cameras using the 12V socket to make sure they worked BEFORE using the battery.

Anyway, I would suggest given your difficulties @DashCamUser123 that you maybe take that 4 hour drive and have @SafeDriveSolutions do a professional install. A working Dashcam is a small price to pay for the evidence it can capture. My cameras have saved me so many times, it's worth all the money I've spent multipliers over.
 
jsmith said:
@lufa6977

It's odd the PowerCell would damage camera, but I'm guessing his unit is faulty, and it isn't an overall problem with the PowerCell brand itself.

What @DashCamUser123 should have done is bench test the new cameras using the 12V socket to make sure they worked BEFORE using the battery.

Anyway, I would suggest given your difficulties @DashCamUser123 that you maybe take that 4 hour drive and have @SafeDriveSolutions do a professional install. A working Dashcam is a small price to pay for the evidence it can capture. My cameras have saved me so many times, it's worth all the money I've spent multipliers over.
Click to expand...
Oh, I need no convincing about how important a dashcam is with personal experience 🙂 Basically when the A139 was hooked up to the Powercell 8, the refurbished A139 kept rebooting numerous times. Then the refurbished A139 got extremely hot, too hot to even touch. Takes over 30 minutes to cool off but still warm to the touch. This is the exact same thing that happened to my original A139. Rebooting numerous times followed by over-heating. Burnt smell like burnt plastic or electronics, not that I know what the smell is.

Not sure what caused the constant rebooting of the A139. There are posts in these forums saying it's a known issue with the A139. I'm not sure how they came to that conclusion.

Basically I purchase these dedicated external dashcam batteries so I can install myself without having to bring it into a shop (to do hardwiring). That is the purpose of these batteries as there is an easy do-it-yourself option, plug some cables and plug into the cars cig-lighter. Once the warranty on my car has expired, that's when I will try and do a hardwire setup and not void any warranties.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top