My RC500S Dual Channel Dash Cam not powering on

CaptnEric

Active Member
Joined
Mar 8, 2018
Messages
160
Reaction score
89
Location
Melbourne
Country
Australia
Dash Cam
VIOFO A129 DUO, Thinkware F770 1CH & 2CH
Hi everyone,
Sorry if this has been posted elsewhere, but I couldn't find a solution for my problem after doing several searches. I've had my RC500s dual channel dash cam for about 3 years now. It's hard wired with the DOD hardwire kit and I have the latest firmware FWI5GEMI installed. Until this morning it has been working perfectly without a glitch both in driving and parking modes. However, when I got in the car this morning, I noticed the lights on the dash cam were not illuminated. When I checked the DOD hardwire kit, the green light was on and the light on the cigarette lighter power socket was on too. I switched the hardwire kit off and back on several times without success. I reformatted the SD card and copied the latest firmware on the root thinking that might get the cam to start but still no luck. There is obviously power going from the hardwire kit to the dash cam but I'm baffled as to why it won't turn on. Am I missing something or has the dash cam just decided to die overnight? As this model is one of the best dash cams on the market I thought it would last longer than 3 years. I would appreciate if anyone would know why this might be happening. Thank you all in advance!
 
Try and disconnect the rear camera and see how it go then, dual channel cameras with issues are often rooted in the rear camera or the connection to it.
 
Try and disconnect the rear camera and see how it go then, dual channel cameras with issues are often rooted in the rear camera or the connection to it.

Thanks kamkar1 but unfortunately that didn't work either
 
Damn :unsure: i am not familiar with the DOD cameras, so lets hope someone else can fill in.
If the camera are one of those that are powered by 5 V VIA a mini USB ( normally ) you could try to take it off the windscreen and power it at home with a mains USB charger for something else you might have.
 
Ok thanks mate. I'll try to power it at home and see how that goes
 
Damn :unsure: i am not familiar with the DOD cameras, so lets hope someone else can fill in.
If the camera are one of those that are powered by 5 V VIA a mini USB ( normally ) you could try to take it off the windscreen and power it at home with a mains USB charger for something else you might have.

This dash cam is powered by a micro usb that goes into the cam and the other end into the car's cigarette lighter. But in my case it goes into the DOD hardwire kit. Would I be able to use a standard micro usb to plug the cam into my computer to power it up?
 
Ok, I've put it in my partners car, directly into the cigarette lighter and cam still won't power on. The led light on the power cable turns on so the cable is fine and so is are the cigarette lighter sockets. I inserted another reformatted SD card into the cam and that won't work either. I connected the cam to my pc with a micro usb cable and still nothing. I had the hardwire kit installed professionally by my auto electrician and if it wasn't installed correctly it wouldn't have worked flawlessly for nearly 3 years. Looks like for some reason the cam has died over night. Very dissappointed tbh because I really liked this dash cam and I had no issues with this model whatsoever since I bought it just under 3 years ago. For a premium dash cam that costs quite a bit I thought it would go for at least 5 to 7 years before it died. Looks like I'll be getting another one, but don't know if I should get the same one. Has anyone else had this issue with the RC500S or any other particular brand/model?
 
Micro USB, okay then it is also 5 V and should be able to run on any mains charger for some gadget ( not off a computer USB plug, that at best just turn the dashcam into a mass storage devise )
personally i expect 2 years of service from a camera, but they should be able to do more for sure, and some / most also do.
I don't think you have a faulty power supply for the camera, it do happen but not all that often from what i have seen in here over the years.

Australia have its own brands of Dashcams,,,,, Street Guardian and Guardtrak, but they only offer a 2 year warranty on their products, but they do run a pretty solid service and customer care.
Problems & questions with those get solved pretty quick, and if its really bad ( which i have never seen ) then you can drive up to Sydney and tell the boss of the company in clear Australian what you feel.

I am pretty sure had this been a SG camera and this posted in their sub forums in here, the problem would already be resolved, and you would have been offered some discount on a new product,,,,, that always happen but i don't know what discount the SG retailers are able to give.
I am pretty sure while SG "only" offer 2 years of warranty, they know that people expect their dashcam to last longer than that, and so if you want to mend a "wound" like that on a customer, then you got a little extra way to go.

There are others of course, but they are not Australian, Viofo are also doing well just to name one.
 
Micro USB, okay then it is also 5 V and should be able to run on any mains charger for some gadget ( not off a computer USB plug, that at best just turn the dashcam into a mass storage devise )
personally i expect 2 years of service from a camera, but they should be able to do more for sure, and some / most also do.
I don't think you have a faulty power supply for the camera, it do happen but not all that often from what i have seen in here over the years.

Australia have its own brands of Dashcams,,,,, Street Guardian and Guardtrak, but they only offer a 2 year warranty on their products, but they do run a pretty solid service and customer care.
Problems & questions with those get solved pretty quick, and if its really bad ( which i have never seen ) then you can drive up to Sydney and tell the boss of the company in clear Australian what you feel.

I am pretty sure had this been a SG camera and this posted in their sub forums in here, the problem would already be resolved, and you would have been offered some discount on a new product,,,,, that always happen but i don't know what discount the SG retailers are able to give.
I am pretty sure while SG "only" offer 2 years of warranty, they know that people expect their dashcam to last longer than that, and so if you want to mend a "wound" like that on a customer, then you got a little extra way to go.

There are others of course, but they are not Australian, Viofo are also doing well just to name one.

Unfortunately using a micro usb charger didn't turn it on either. I have emailed DOD Australia support but yet to receive a reply and not even hopeful I will get a response. I would've expected a longer life span from these dash cams too considering how much they cost. My mobile phones, which do more, have lasted for years and I still have a couple of my old phones that are over 10 years old as spares.

Yeah I was looking at the Street Guardian and Viofo models and they do look good and much cheaper than the overpriced DOD. If I'm not wrong, I think Street Guardian is designed in Australia but made in China. I'll have a look at Guardtrak too...I've also heard IRoad are good too. Which company offers more than a 2 year warranty? Most I've seen only offer 1 year. So I think I rather go with another brand than take another risk with a DOD, so I'll do some more research on these other cams. I'm quite disappointed as I really liked the RC500S and it was working perfectly, even though it had some glitches. Haha I won't waste my money going to Sydney, it's a fair hike from Melbourne.

If and when I hear back from DOD Australia I'll comment back here with the results. Thanks for all your input Kamkar1, much appreciated mate.
 
Yes most things are made in China, which are also fine if you make your stuff to a standard, they after all landed a rover on the moon, when Israel tried that they crashed into the moon, and if Denmark tried that i am sure it would not get off the ground.
The 2 year warranty for SG products you also have to register online, so it do take a few minutes of your time for the extra year, otherwise i think we Danes may be a little overprotected so 2 years are the norm / minimum on most things here.
My phone are on the way out, the battery are inflating and have lifted the LCD a little, and battery time have dropped from 4-5 days to 2 ( as you can imagine i don't use it much )

You can drive the long route from one end of Denmark to the other in a work day with ease, i some times forget to account for the scale when i look at my adopted home country Australia, hope to soon get back down there and walkabout for some months to get more than the superficial look on the place i have now ( engaged my first ship as a engineer in Freemantle years back )
 
Did you try the reset button?
46719
 
Yeah that might work.
I had a SG camera go weird on me one day, but reloading the firmware straitened that all out.
Still funny it somehow painted itself into a corner like that, but since then over a year ago the camera have been operating 100% and never been weird again.
 
Yes most things are made in China, which are also fine if you make your stuff to a standard, they after all landed a rover on the moon, when Israel tried that they crashed into the moon, and if Denmark tried that i am sure it would not get off the ground.
The 2 year warranty for SG products you also have to register online, so it do take a few minutes of your time for the extra year, otherwise i think we Danes may be a little overprotected so 2 years are the norm / minimum on most things here.
My phone are on the way out, the battery are inflating and have lifted the LCD a little, and battery time have dropped from 4-5 days to 2 ( as you can imagine i don't use it much )

You can drive the long route from one end of Denmark to the other in a work day with ease, i some times forget to account for the scale when i look at my adopted home country Australia, hope to soon get back down there and walkabout for some months to get more than the superficial look on the place i have now ( engaged my first ship as a engineer in Freemantle years back )

We'll be lucky to get more than 1 year warranty for most products here in Australia. TVs and white goods are usually 2 years or more though. Sounds like Denmark is more generous. Australia is still a good country but it's getting more and more Americanised every year
 
I've contacted D
Tried reloading the firmware?

Yes, that was the first thing I tried. Waited 10 minutes and nothing happened
 
I contacted DOD Australia and they got back to me to advise they don't do product support and referred me to DOD Tech. That was last Tuesday, the day this happened and still no response from DOD Tech and it's Sunday today. Very disappointed by this company's customer service and support. I'm also disappointed by the dash cam itself. For an expensive product I'd expect a few more years of operation. I have had it installed professionally and used it according to DOD's instructions. I used to be a big advocate of DOD, recommending them to my family and friends. I have now lost faith in them and the quality of their dash cams. I won't be buying any DOD products in future
 
tried without the rear camera connected? if it's still doesn't work then it is probably terminal

Yes I disconnected the rear camera as well and still won't turn on. I did suspect it could be dead but don't understand how and why when the day before it was still working. Switched it off over night while the car was in my garage. Tried turning it on the next morning and it wouldn't switch on. So don't know what might've happened between the time I switched it off from the DP4 till the next morning and the car was parked in my garage all night
 
Back
Top