K2 shuts down for no reason/at random

DesertBike

Active Member
Joined
Jun 27, 2018
Messages
310
Reaction score
168
Country
United States
I've had some weird behavior from my K2 recently.

In two different cases, the system shut itself off and stayed shut off, for no obvious reason.

The first time that happened, I was unaware until reviewing the video at home that night. System shut down a few miles down a dirt road, then came back on after I stopped for gas a while later. The last file it recorded before the gap was corrupted and unplayable.

I noticed the next day that the system had reset itself to defaults. 50 Hz instead of 60 Hz, km/h instead of mph, 1-minute clips, sound on, mic on, etc. I normally use settings 60 Hz, 3-minute clips, speed display off, sound off.

In the second incident, which was yesterday, the system stopped recording soon after I left my house. Much later I was on a dirt road & noticed the system had shut itself off. Every time I tried to turn it back on, it would stay on for perhaps 5 seconds, then shut down again. I tried many times to get it to work, but it wouldn't stay on long enough to connect WiFi.

The next day, I tried again. System seemed to work normally, except that it had again reset itself to defaults.

So far I haven't found a loose power connection or anything else that would explain this behavior.

On today's rides to and from work, the K2 worked normally.

What could be happening here? I'd like to record my rides on dirt roads, but so far I've got no video because the system keeps shutting itself down.

DVR is stuck to the inside of a fairing, where it gets plenty of airflow, so I don't think it's overheating.

Could the DC power supply be overheating, thus keeping the DVR from working normally? I have the power supply stuck to my bike's frame, in a covered location near the gas tank. I don't think it gets particularly hot there, but who knows.
 
Something is definitely going on here! The test rig I have for bench-testing sits for days without being connected to power at all and the settings (Hz and speed) stay. We have had units installed on UTVs that only go offroad with no issues. Could be that the ribbon cable inside the DVR is loose causing it to lose power and reboot. Give me a call 775-372-7270
 
It happened again yesterday. Doesn't seem to have anything to do with dirt roads, actually, it's more like the system doesn't want to work for an entire day of riding.

On Saturday I got video for about 4 out of 6 hours. The system quit about halfway through the afternoon, which was all on pavement. Same deal as before - would power up briefly after I turned the key on, then shut down for no apparent reason.

I experimented after I got home. K2 just wouldn't stay on, even after I let the bike sit and cool a while.

Weather on Saturday was cool and occasionally rainy, so I'm pretty sure this isn't a heat issue. At least, not due to the DVR overheating.

Worked normally next day, but I wasn't riding very long - only about a 5-minute ride a few blocks away.
 
Last edited:
Good news. Discussed the issue with Ryan, he sent me a new DVR to try.

Hope that's all it was. Great system otherwise.
 
Second new DVR on the way. Apparently, there are at least 2 different versions of the DVR. They have mutually-incompatibile power and GPS plugs.

The older design has plastic threaded rings on the plugs, the newer one has metal. I have the second one.
 
Unfortunately, a new DVR did not fix the problem.

The issue doesn't seem to have anything to do with vibrations or bumps. I never even got a chance to ride any dirt with the new DVR. It worked fine for several days' worth of commutes. Then one afternoon, it shut down about halfway through a 20-minute trip. Did the same thing on the way home, similar distance and duration of trip.

Turned it on next day - same deal as before, reset to default settings. No rides since.

Will be in touch with Ryan later this week, he's been at a trade show apparently.
 
So now my K2 is doing this thing where not only will it shut down randomly, sometimes it never starts up in the first place.

However, I'm not losing my settings each time, so that's some progress.

This really seems like a power supply problem. Still need to talk to Ryan, and check my wiring. I've crimped ring terminals on a bare wire end a few times before and it always worked out, but maybe I screwed up somehow.
 
A bad ground connection can cause this, but it could be something in the power supply itself. Only one way to find out! I'm sending you a new power supply. You should already have a shipping confirmation email.
 
Excellent, thanks! Yes, received the shipping notification.
 
New power supply received and wired in. Working so far.

I taped this power supply where I can see it without taking the seat off. So, if I have the same problem again, I can immediately tell whether the power supply is still good, or the DVR is just shutting off on its own.
 
For those following along at home: so far so good. I'm calling this "fixed." No more unwanted shutdowns in the last few weeks.

All I did vs. the first install was move the K2 power supply's ground point to the battery (-) post, instead of a ground on my accessory fuse panel.

Shouldn't have mattered. I have many other devices powered by that fuse panel, but none of them malfunction. That includes one other "smart" power supply (for heated grips). The K2 power supply is especially sensitive to where it's grounded, apparently.

Originally, I used the accessory fuse panel for both the yellow wire (voltage sense) connection and black wire (ground) to the K2 power supply. Reason was, my battery posts were already crowded with ring terminals for other devices. However, I was able to shuffle a few things around and eliminate a redundant device or two, to make room.
 
It seems the K2 is very sensitive to battery condition.

I had a couple of episodes in the last 2 months, where the K2 shut itself off shortly into my ride. As if it weren't seeing at least 12V, although my charging system was providing a steady 14.5V. I suspected this was happening after I had sat with the electricity on, but bike not running, for a few minutes. Sometimes I used to do that while I was plugging in heated gear & generally arranging myself, before actually moving.

I figured out what was going on last week. One afternoon, I had to repeatedly start and stop the bike. We're talking 6-8 engine starts, with only a few minutes of running between starts. While I never had starting trouble, I'm sure the repeated starts drained the battery significantly. Although the charging system was working fine (>12.9V), the K2 would not stay powered up.

As an experiment, I then rode for about an hour and a half without stopping. That gave the battery a chance to recharge more or less fully.

This worked. I stopped, restarted the engine, and the K2 powered up & stayed on for the rest of my trip.

Later, I took my battery out of the bike & had it tested. Battery was toast. Even at "full" charge, it was only measuring 12.01V. It could not complete a load test. The test machine kept giving an "error" condition.

Battery was 2.5 years old, and it was time for a new one.

If you have problems with the K2 powering down for no reason, check your battery condition. Even if you don't have charging or starting problems, it's worthwhile to get the battery tested. Most auto parts shops, or Cycle Gear, will do it for free.
 
Well, that didn't last long.

In the last week, I've watched the K2 shut itself off for no reason several more times.

Today was the worst so far. It shut itself down at least 6 times.

For several of those shutdowns, I was monitoring voltage on the power, ground, and voltage sense ("accessory") connections.

With the engine running, at no time did either the power or accessory voltages fall below 14.3-14.5V.

That was true both before and after I got a new battery, last week. I don't think the battery had anything to do with the issue, since the bike's electrical system is clearly producing more than enough volts to keep the K2 "happy."

All connections (red, black, and yellow wires, plus the forward weatherproof coupling) are clean and tight. No kinked or damaged wires.

In other words, there's no reason for the K2 power supply to shut down the system with the engine running.

I emailed OCDTronic to ask for a refund. I'm super tired of wasting time and effort, trying to get this thing to work reliably. I guess it's time to try a different dashcam system.
 
We can send you another updated blue LED power supply to see how that goes, hard to say what's going on with yours. (not a known issue) I'd try a new memory card to rule that out as well. I've seen memory cards cause the strangest things that go away once the card is replaced. (in other Novatek based dashcam products) Worth a try.
 
Then I'll try another power supply I guess.

Can you crimp on ring terminals before you ship it this time please? Having them already on there would make the swap easier (and eliminate one possible source of trouble, though my crimps were fine the last couple of times, as far as I could tell).
 
Please respond to the email I sent with your details and we'll send one out. (The new power supply doesn't come with crimp rings though)
 
Done.

FWIW, I'm using the identical model SD card in the K2 as in my car dashcam (Samsung Pro Endurance 128 GB). Have had zero issues in the car dashcam. Just for giggles, I swapped 'em.
 
Have done a bit of driving & riding since swapping the SD cards. No problems with the car dashcam, so I don't think the SD card was the problem with the K2.
 
Have done a bit of driving & riding since swapping the SD cards. No problems with the car dashcam, so I don't think the SD card was the problem with the K2.

If you’re moving the card from a dual channel system to a single channel system it won’t be an equivalent test if there’s an issue with writing
 
Back
Top