Mobius Powered On LEDS are Dim

[MiiHere]

This is a new one for me, so far my two Mobius cams have been set it and forget it dash cams, with the exception of updates and pulling videos, but this early AM I went out to my car, started it and saw the blue light lite briefly and then it went to do the usual yellow/red combo and the red didn't light and the yellow was VERY dim and barely visible.

The cam is hardwired in and once there is daylight I'll go poke around at the wiring/fuses for anything suspicious. I did bring the camera in and plugged it to the computer and all LEDS functioned.

I originally thought capacitor issues or drain because I don't drive the car that often, but if anyone has other ideas let me know and I'll include it on my problem solving expedition.

 

[Dashmellow]

This is a new one for me, so far my two Mobius cams have been set it and forget it dash cams, with the exception of updates and pulling videos, but this early AM I went out to my car, started it and saw the blue light lite briefly and then it went to do the usual yellow/red combo and the red didn't light and the yellow was VERY dim and barely visible.

The cam is hardwired in and once there is daylight I'll go poke around at the wiring/fuses for anything suspicious. I did bring the camera in and plugged it to the computer and all LEDS functioned.

I originally thought capacitor issues or drain because I don't drive the car that often, but if anyone has other ideas let me know and I'll include it on my problem solving expedition.

Temperature?.....or maybe a failing component on the PCB.

Checking your wiring sounds like a good idea. Perhaps vibration or oxidation on a connector has led to marginal contact with a connection.

 

[MiiHere]

I did wonder if it was the cold; it's 25 degrees (feels like 15) and after I brought it inside and updated it and took it back out (a bit warmer now) it worked just fine. I'll keep this posted if something happens again.

 

[Dashmellow]

I did wonder if it was the cold; it's 25 degrees (feels like 15) and after I brought it inside and updated it and took it back out (a bit warmer now) it worked just fine. I'll keep this posted if something happens again.

In some very cold situations one of my Mobius cameras (V1 PCB) will not boot up if the temperature is in the low teens (Fahrenheit) or below after being in sub zero temps overnight or longer. If I leave it plugged in for a bit (anywhere from 15-60 seconds) unplug it and plug it back in it boots right up. (The V2 and V3 PCB Mobi in my truck don't seem to suffer from the sub freezing boot-up problem.) So, I'm guessing that you "may" have a failing super-capacitor that still holds power when frozen but not quite enough to start the camera or properly illuminate the LEDs. One idea might be to check to confirm if the date and time are still being stored when the camera is so cold. That might help troubleshoot whether you have a failing supercap or some other failing component on the PCB.

Another trouble shooting idea might be to try a different power source and cable when the cold camera is still in your vehicle? Either a temporary set-up with a cigarette lighter adapter and a different cable or perhaps a power bank with different cable.

 

[MiiHere]

That's my next step. I'm going to see if it recorded this AM (it did it again and it's cold) even though the lights were dim and then bring it inside overnight and see what happens tomorrow if it plug it up while warm.

I'm thinking the capacitor is doing as you said; it is going on a couple of years old.

 

[Dashmellow]

Banggood has the best price on the Mobius super-capacitor module at $5.29 shipped. Unlike other items where they sell stuff that isn't actually in stock even though they say it is, I think they will probably be able to ship one of those to you fairly quickly if you are inclined to order from them and are willing to wait a couple of weeks for it to arrive. (Sometimes I've had small items like this show up at my door in as little as 8-10 days but maybe I just got lucky.)