K2S received

LiFePO4 is much better with full charge to discharge, repeatedly, and I don’t have to worry about coming back to a car in flames

I'm not so sure I'd say it's "much" better, but it does have a higher and flatter discharge curve which makes it easier to design around and use. As far as "flames" you needn't worry- I can personally attest to LiIon 18650's handling high heat quite well, as there was one in the console of my old Buick when an engine bay fire destroyed the car in front of my eyes, and the cell saw at least several hundred degrees for several minutes before it vented with flames. Pretty solid for safety I'd say ;) I don't know of any 'clinical' tests for LiIon degradation due to storage and use in high heats thgough that does happen- also happens to LiFePo4 to a lesser degree. The big issue now is sourcing good LiIon18650 cells cheaply- they're not air-shipped to the US from China anymore :(

Either will do as long as you know what you're doing.

Phil
 
Lipo is also reasonable to use these days and is generally cheaper, although in a car you need to make sure it won't get punctured either in normal use or an accident.

Heat tolerance of all three types is very similar, you must not charge below freezing with any of them, and you can also get similar lifespan and charge rate if you only charge the LiIon and Lipo to 80% of maximum capacity - ie a similar amount of charge to the LiFePo4. So it really comes down to cost and availability.

But you must know what you are doing, a little too much voltage, or charging below freezing, and flames are quite possible with all lithium based batteries.
 
I'm always grateful

I’d rather be on the safer side

The 18650 I am using is not LiFePO4, but I purchased it from a brand that I found to be reliable based on specifications and evaluation.

The charger is a simple 5V UPS with two lithium-ion batteries connected in balance.

I also considering purchasing LiFePo4 specifications, but as pointed out by @SawMaster , it is not a big problem with recent excellent lithium-ion batteries.
Today's LiIon cells are quite safe in an automotive environment as long as you use only quality cells and the proper charging technique.
Thanks!

The reason I excluded the LiFePo4 option from the list of lithium-ion batteries is the issue of fast charging efficiency and electrical capacity.

Applicationally, perhaps, LiFePo4 will be activated for EVs in the future.

Thanks for the kind answers.
Everyone, be careful about your physical condition about COVID-19, which is a problem in the world ...

Good luck and good health in life.
 
A good week or so ago i moved the K2S system away from the OBD power adapter, as far as i can see the camera have not missed a beat since then.
I also finally got around to move the main unit out of the way of the seat airbag, but the camera are still on the drive side of the car so if i get hit hard there, the camera might also be compacted.
 
A good week or so ago i moved the K2S system away from the OBD power adapter, as far as i can see the camera have not missed a beat since then.
I do some OBD products already, I wouldn't use it as a power source for cameras though, not a good choice in my experience
 
Yeah it did create some boot problems for me, so for a long time i have eyeballed the K2S and if it had not booted i would start it manual.
I think Rayman said something was under dimension-ed in it, and it would be / have been redone.

On a regular power supply ( the USB outlet of the Rhundo splitter ) it work like a charm.
 
Hi, I just got a K2S today, and testing it before fitting it,
I checked the firmware version and it says " K2S FW-20200110v1.2" this seems to be more recent than the one on the website (K2S-FW-20190827)but not sure that it is?
Thanks
 
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Does the Pro have a different lens or a different sensor?
 
Yes the pro both sensors are IMX 291, with the first version the one lens was IMX 323
 
My K2S seem to have lost the ability to recycle when the memory card is full, tried 3 different cards now and once full it just stop recording. :cry:

I have moved it to traditional power ASO, so not the OBD thing that are playing tricks on me, and when not full the camera also seen to record everything as it should.
 
Okay this might not be the fault of the K2S, it would seem that when routing the wire thru the L rear door i have made a boo - boo so when the window are cranked all the way down it pull the USB C plug out of the camera.
So thats why it have not recorded in almost 2 weeks :unsure:
The other door are fine in this regard just the L door i have to stop a couple of inched before the window are all the way down.
 
I'm pretty happy with the cameras as side cams. they are nice and small & easy to wire the cables under the doorframes.
so far no overheating issues in our 30c+ weather
for the moment i'm on timelaps+motion detection, but will probably switch to just motion, as it's easier to find footage in case of an incident.
would just like to see different sensitivities for driving (low) & parking (high) , because it's giving too many false alarms while driving...

will install the thinkware U1000 today to replace my F770 which is on it's last legs...
 
well not so happy anymore. the camera freezes in parkmode, i think because it overheats.

i can still turn on the screen and see a (moving) image , but other than that the system is irresponsive and does not record.

I could live with the overheating, as this is unfortunately unavoidable in 30c+ weather, but the problem is that the camera won't restart by itself.

So now it becomes something that i need to monitor which is the last thing you want to do with a dashcam.
 
I never used parking mode since it requires using the OBD2 PS, and my old bus doesn't have that. I have used it recording constantly instead for awhile, and on the hottest of days it would sometimes 'lock up' similarly. Given the extreme temperatures that wasn't unexpected as no cam is 100% reliable in those conditions. I always unplugged-replugged as a fix and it always rebooted and worked fine after that. Agreed that it's a pain to have to always watch for cam start-up when driving, but with as many cams and problems as I've had through the years I have come to do that as a matter of habit, and it's proven worth doing more than a few times. In fack, any timne i have a suspicion of a cam problem I do a re-boot, then look into the situation ASAP afterward. Even my original Mobius has done this a few times, and there's no better cam for high heats than that one.

Unfortunately I've never seen an 'overheat-lockup' solved with any cam; it seems that the issue is in a processor function stopping, so that only re-booting can set things right.

Phil
 
my thinkware shuts down when it overheats, and turns on again on car startup.
at least i don't have to do anything to get it to work again

ok, i use the k2s as sidecams, but still.. not good
 
I can't recall directly, but I don't think the K2S has a thermal-shutdown feature. That requires added hardware; firmware can't fix it. And even the cams which have this are still unreliable because they may be intentionally shut down when you needed them to be working :eek:

There is no real solution until active cooling is incorporated into a dashcam, and then you have to power it so it's not a good solution either. It's just something we have to live with I guess, even though it's not a good thing.

Phil
 
1598984969922.png

But clearly this isn't working, or the camera actually gets already too hot at temps below the 90c...
 
turns out it's not overheating but just freezes for unknown reason.
the main unit is stored "openly" in the trunk so it's not a matter of it not being able to ventilate
@Rayman.Chan any solution for this ?
 
I dont know what i have done to my K2S, but for a while now it refuse to record more once the memory card have filled up.
I think i have tried it all, other memory card - resetting ASO
As long as the card it not full it dont miss a beat, but once full the door get slammed in my face.
 
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