Lost all confidence in my A119 V3.

[JockoT]

I use a device similar to this but 4.8A to supply my camera.

The 3.1 amp socket is the type of household socket I have with 220V 13A and 5V 3.1A outlets.

 

[gse]

The cable I have installed is 22AWG

Take the DVR home, connect it to an uninterruptible power supply of 5V from 1A and above, from the Viofo cable, set it to record all night, check the recording in the morning, if everything is fine, look for the reason in the car.
What kind of memory card are you using? make a test through USB 3.0 and show.

 

[JockoT]

Take the DVR home, connect it to an uninterruptible power supply of 5V from 1A and above, from the Viofo cable, set it to record all night, check the recording in the morning, if everything is fine, look for the reason in the car.
What kind of memory card are you using? make a test through USB 3.0 and show.

As I said this morning, I tried all that and it worked fine. I too suspect the problem was in the car. I do not have USB 3.0. I use a SanDisK High Endurance 256 Gb micro SDXC memory card. It is brand new and never used in anything else.
I installed the camera back in the car, with the original hardware, set up and a 5 second Boot delay. It worked fine, though I didn't go anywhere. After about a minute I started the car and the camera shut down and restarted immediately.
I regularly switch the engine off at long traffic lights (aux still on), and I have never had a problem before. I will have to keep a check on the operation of the camera to see where I go from here.

 

[kamkar]

it will not be the first time someone have a 3 Amp charger, and then in truth it only deliver 1.5 A at best.

The 2 USB chargers i have in the glove box are 2.5 A X 2 + 4 X 1 A on one and the other claim to be 2.1 A on all 4 ports but i doubt that.
The first one i have actually had 2 channel systems running on just fine, but i just noticed today my K2S side system are not booting in the car, at home it will do that just fine ( no cameras attached as they are fixed to car )
I have tried to move the plug in between the different > 2A ports i have, but the unit only come on for a second then it shut down.
It have worked fine for over 2 years, so i am a little confused why it stopped all of a sudden, i will try and change the USB A -> USB C wire that power the damn thing.

 

[Dashmellow]

I agree with what @kamkar said about not always trusting the claimed output of some USB chargers.

You can buy inexpensive USB voltage/current testers on places such as Banggood and AliExpress that will do a great job of checking and monitoring your power source. Over the years many members here have found these to be very useful and I wouldn't be without one. I consider it a required dash cam accessory.

Some of these little testers are almost like fully functional multi-meters but the basic ones work just fine. I like the KEWEISI models. I paid about 5 bucks for mine. It has a built in timer which is great for monitoring how long you've been running a power bank or how long it take to charge it. It will also log how much current was transferred over time and this can be useful to check if your powerbank really has the claimed capacity. On a basic level, if you plug it into the path between your USB charger and your camera it will tell you how much voltage and current is actually flowing. Many people find that the claimed output from their power adapter isn't what the seller said it was.

 

[Kremmen]

Jocko has said that when plugged into a home USB outlet it's faultless so it has to be the car power.

I don't like third party USB car power socket converters and I'd rather use a dedicated lead with it's own power plug, or better still a hardwire solution ....... wired properly to an ignition source that doesn't lose power on starter motor cranking.

 

[Cirrus]

Since October (when it became colder here in the morning) my A119 V3 started showing erratic boot-up behaviour.
I was using a third party cigarette lighter plug with dual USB outlets.
Then, I started using the Viofo plug: Problem solved, no boot problems anymore.

 

[JockoT]

My car is permanently connected to a SMART charger in the garage to keep the battery in tip-top condition as I seldom drive more than once or twice a week and only half a dozen miles then.
I am not going to the trouble of hardwiring the camera and the Aux socket cannot be dedicated to the camera as I have my GPS speedometer and occasionally my phone plugged in.
I'll just have to live with it and monitor it. Never had an issue with the Nextbase over 5 years of use.

 

[Kremmen]

IIRC the Viofo, due to better resolution and bitrate does need slightly more power.

Hopefully Dashmellow can assist with this.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

My car is permanently connected to a SMART charger in the garage to keep the battery in tip-top condition as I seldom drive more than once or twice a week and only half a dozen miles then.
I am not going to the trouble of hardwiring the camera and the Aux socket cannot be dedicated to the camera as I have my GPS speedometer and occasionally my phone plugged in.
I'll just have to live with it and monitor it. Never had an issue with the Nextbase over 5 years of use.

Nextbase had an internal battery, not capacitors correct?

 

[Harsh]

My car is permanently connected to a SMART charger in the garage to keep the battery in tip-top condition as I seldom drive more than once or twice a week and only half a dozen miles then.
I am not going to the trouble of hardwiring the camera and the Aux socket cannot be dedicated to the camera as I have my GPS speedometer and occasionally my phone plugged in.
I'll just have to live with it and monitor it. Never had an issue with the Nextbase over 5 years of use.

Either you take the trouble to switch to the supplied cable and charger or it's going to keep troubling you. Your choice...

 

[Dashmellow]

IIRC the Viofo, due to better resolution and bitrate does need slightly more power.

Hopefully Dashmellow can assist with this.

For reasons I don't fully understand Viofo cameras have always been more sensitive to voltage and current drops than other cameras, so it is apparently not due to higher resolutions and higher bit rates. For example, I had a A119 V2 that experienced a flickering screen and occasionally noisy audio (pulsating buzzing) when I used it with an aftermarket cable that had a different AWG power cable than the 22 AWG the camera was supplied with.

@JockoT might benefit from testing with the supplied cable temporarily installed just to see if it makes any difference and then moving to a proper install if it does fix the problem. I have the feeling it will.

 

[Harsh]

Yes. I remember the issues faced with 24AWG cables from Monoprice and the A119S.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes. I remember the issues faced with 24AWG cables from Monoprice and the A119S.

Another factor, at least for me was when I used a longer cable than the one that came with the camera. I used a 15 foot Monoprice cable when experimenting with the V2 as a side camera on the passenger side fixed rear window of my truck. At the time the V2 shipped with a 9 foot cable.

 

[Harsh]

Another factor, at least for me was when I used a longer cable than the one that came with the camera. I used a 15 foot Monoprice cable when experimenting with the V2 as a side camera on the passenger side fixed rear window of my truck. At the time the V2 shipped with a 9 foot cable.

IIRC the ones I bought were 4 metres. After facing similar problems with the A119S, switched all the cables to the ones that came with Viofo cameras and also bought a couple more. I think I have around 6-7 cables, front + rear, all Viofo. Never had any issues since with any of the cameras installed.

 

[JockoT]

To be totally honest, I have no idea where my VIOFO cable and charger is. I have a pile in a box but none of them appears to have VIOFO on it. I have just moved house and all the things that were in a place are still in a place, only I no longer know where that place is. What I can say is the 22AWG cable I am using is shorter than the VIOFO cable and also has gold plated connectors. I have been using the car today and the camera has worked flawlessly.

 

[Kremmen]

When I get home on Sunday, and if I remember, I'll dig out my Viofo box and see what markings the cable and any connector has.

 

[JockoT]

When I get home on Sunday, and if I remember, I'll dig out my Viofo box and see what markings the cable and any connector has.

Thanks. I have spent the last hour searching for the VIOFO box. The rattle suppression pads are in it and I may need them.

 

[DT MI]

...I have just moved house and all the things that were in a place are still in a place, only I no longer know where that place is....

You have my sympathies, I've traveled that road a few times in my life.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

To be totally honest, I have no idea where my VIOFO cable and charger is. I have a pile in a box but none of them appears to have VIOFO on it. I have just moved house and all the things that were in a place are still in a place, only I no longer know where that place is. What I can say is the 22AWG cable I am using is shorter than the VIOFO cable and also has gold plated connectors. I have been using the car today and the camera has worked flawlessly.

Cable and adapter don't say Viofo on them.

Should look like this.