Mini 0803 - Heat Issue?

[borland]

Yes, repair warranty for 1 year. Let's hope you don't have to replace many. I recall e-prance selling them long before any others.

 

[Ouch77]

Has anyone measured the voltages produced by the various power supplies and chargers?

Voltage is usually limited within the hardware by a voltage regulator which clamps the voltage to a fixed level and dissipates any energy released as heat. An iffy charger that produces 5.5v rather than the required 5v could well be the source of the problem.

It's prudent to measure the open circuit and the load voltage, as different power supplies respond differently when you apply a load.

 

[Bishop526]

This is the first dash cam that I have used. Liked what I saw and for the price thought it was the best. I did not hard wire it in and just plug it in when I drive and unplug it when I get to my location. I do have plans to hard wire it in some time.

Well the other day I did not unplug it. It was on for about 4 hours and yes it does get very hot. So hot the plastic is separating at the top and the screen is just white now. I cannot see to change any of the options. It seems to still be recording but now after a hour of driving it locks up and no longer records.

So I one need to get a new one or two find something that does not get so hot. If I get a new one I am still worried that long drives it will over heat and I will lose the money on a second one.

 

[Nigel]

...Well the other day I did not unplug it....

How hot did the car get? Are we talking parked in full sun in Death Valley or are you in Alaska?

Whatever camera you get, there are limits to what they can cope with.

 

[Bishop526]

I am in southern CA. The car was in the shade with sunroof and back window open. No direct sunlight on the cam. The air temp was in the low to mid 80s inside the car was about the same as the outside air. maybe a few degrees warmer.

I agree that there are limits and if I was in death valley at or over 100 I would blame me not the cam. To me something that is made to sit in the window-shield should be able to handle the temps.

In testing the camera after to see if it was still working I plugged it into my computer USB port. After about 20 minute it was to hot to handle.

I got it though Amazon and hoping to do a like for like replacement. I liked the camera and think it works great. Just runs a bit warm.

 

[Nigel]

I am in southern CA. The car was in the shade with sunroof and back window open. No direct sunlight on the cam. The air temp was in the low to mid 80s inside the car was about the same as the outside air. maybe a few degrees warmer.
...

Should cope with that easily, and it should only get slightly warm plugged into the computer so send it back. I guess it has had a battery failure.

Leaving it on in a parked car in the sun with the windows closed would not be wise so it is worth getting it hard wired into a circuit that gets turned off with the ignition if your accessory socket doesn't turn off.

 

[Bishop526]

Leaving it on in a parked car in the sun with the windows closed would not be wise so it is worth getting it hard wired into a circuit that gets turned off with the ignition if your accessory socket doesn't turn off.

Agree well worth getting it hard wired to the car.

 

[billknow]

We have reported over heat problem to the manufacturer before, they have solved this problem in new version, changed the case and add cooling fin, wish it will be much better when using in hot weather.
The new version is available for sell.

 

[chris-s]

Cooling fin or cooling fan?

 

[jokiin]

Would be fin (heat sink)

 

[chris-s]

Thanks. I knew the term "heat sink" but not "fin*

 

[jokiin]

Thanks. I knew the term "heat sink" but not "fin*

no problem, I speak fluent Chinglish

 

[Nigel]

no problem, I speak fluent Chinglish

I think in this case it is decent English, cooling fins are what you find on heat sinks, in this case the case of the camera, made out of thermally conductive plastic, is the heat sink so when you add to it you will add cooling fins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooling_fin

My 0803 got up to 52 degrees C yesterday, very hot to the touch, good thing I hadn't left it switched on!

 

[shafferb0b1]

I live in Arizona, and for the last couple of days it's been over 110 degrees F here. I never use the A.C. in my car (you DO get used to the heat), and I've run the 803 continuously for up to 5 hours at a stretch. While it has gotten fairly "warm", it has never failed/melted/blowed up or anything like that. Be nice if it ran cooler, sure. But the performance hasn't suffered.

 

[rtrski]

Those of you providing temp measurements at different pixel densities, what 'data rate' setting were you at (s.fine, fine, normal)? Just curious; I'm currently set for 1080p and "s.fine", with WDR on if that does indeed make a difference.

May throw my IR thermometer into the car tomorrow on the drive in; we're having a slightly cool spell right now but it's August in TX...that'll change.

 

[Nigel]

Those of you providing temp measurements at different pixel densities, what 'data rate' setting were you at (s.fine, fine, normal)? Just curious; I'm currently set for 1080p and "s.fine", with WDR on if that does indeed make a difference.

May throw my IR thermometer into the car tomorrow on the drive in; we're having a slightly cool spell right now but it's August in TX...that'll change.

I've been running maximum resolution with S.Fine (a little over 20Mb/s) and seeing 45 degrees C case temperature with ambient temperature around 25. i.e. as long as the sun is not shining directly on the camera then it runs about 20 degrees C above ambient. Direct sun can add another 20 degrees C. All measurements with a cheapish IR thermometer, it's normally very accurate on plastic.

That is with screen turned off and LDWS turned off, both of which seem to make a difference. I also have WDR off but only because it normally has a negative effect on quality.

I suspect the resolution/quality doesn't make much difference to temperature since the sensor always operates at full resolution and the image is scaled down for the lower resolutions, less data to write but extra work on the scaling. I haven't actually proved that properly though.

 

[Sila]

little modernization

 

[jokiin]

swiss cheese edition, nice

 

[shafferb0b1]

I just ran a piece of windshield washer hose from the AC vent up to where the camera is (totally hidden) and that cools it off nicely.

 

[DashBoat]

How can I tell if I have the new version? Ordered it from foxoffer last Friday, so I don't have it yet.