Nextbase 522GW Faulty?

salawinder

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I have the a Nextbase 522GW with rear camera &* GPS mount in my car, and the exact same setup in my daughter's car.

Hers has been replaced once through the company I bought it from, and now may be faulty again.

It starts up when the ignition is turned on, but records for just one second before stopping. It stays on, but it gets very hot.

I have a Nextbase SD card which I have formatted in mine and also tested with h2testw and have also used a Samsung U3 SD card, both work in my unit but make no difference in hers.

I have updated the firmware to R21.5, which has made no difference.

Any advice, or is it fubar?
 
If you look in the Nextbase 522 section there are a number of replies from Nextbase detailing the full reset procedure.
 
Well I found one post with instructions for a 'full reset' which involved simply doing a reset on the dashcam with Keep user settings disabled....

Needless to say it has made no difference.

The recording counter goes to 0:01 then it stops recording. The files created are 0kb files.

This is using a freshly formatted (by the dashcam) Nextbase 128Gb 'Pro' MicroSD card.

Any more suggestions?
 
Just so that we can understand the situation a bit better, your daughters first dashcam. How long after installation did it start to play up? The replacement unit, has it ever worked correctly? Are you using the same sd card?
As you are running the same setup, does your daughters 522 work in your car? Finally have you tried your 522 in her car?
 
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The first dashcam went faulty within a month, but through my own testing and tech support I did several tests (firmware, full reset, remove rear camera, lower resolution, different SD cards). I ended up buying a Nextbase SD card, despite knowing that any decent U3 card should do. At this point they authorised a replacement. In total because I took a while testing etc, it was probably 6 months after buying it. The replacement was fine from day 1 (still using the Nextbase card), but after around a year it started playing up - missing recordings, starting up but not starting to record, screen staying on instead of screensaver (may not have been recording too). It was in my daughter's car, so I didn't see all the 'weird' things she says it did.

By this time I had bought another for my car, so I swapped the main units over - everything else (hardwire kits, rear camera, GPS mounts) stayed in the same cars. Immediately my camera in my daughters car (with a Samsung U3 SD card) worked perfectly. Her camera in my car (with the Nextbase card) did not. I formatted the card in a computer, then in the dashcam, no difference. I swapped the card for a brand new Samsung U3 card, no difference. I swapped the SD card from the working one now in her car with the non-working one in my car - no difference.

I have also updated (both) to the latest firmware, done a reset with a pin, done a reset via the interface after selecting to NOT keep user settings. Nothing makes any difference - the camera switches on, the red digits above the red circle count from 0:00 to 0:01, then stops.

So, any suggestions?
 
Thanks your your very comprehensive reply, I’m at a lose as to suggest anything as you do appear to have done all possible checks that we the laymen can do. What we do know is, it’s not the vehicles or the wiring or the setup.
I would hope that Nextbase pick up on your post and offer some tech support soon. Very unlucky to get two defective units but that’s how it’s looking.
 
If you want to rule in/out the vehicle wiring then simply power up the unit indoors using a mobile phone charger and allow it to record for at least 15 minutes so it records a few separate clips.

That will provide smooth power.
 
Hello,
I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing problems with your rear camera. Freezing at 1 second usually means your rear camera connector is loose.

I would recommend the following:

1. Please remove the SD card, then press the reset button on the underside of the Dash Cam. Then, without the SD card inserted, please plug in the rear camera. Then turn on the front camera. Does it now start normally? Can you now see the rear camera image?

2. Clean all of your rear camera connectors with an alcohol wipe to ensure that they're clean and free of debris.

3. Ensure the Rear Window Camera cable is fully inserted where the cables join- it should click when it's fully connected together. There's a connector about 30 cm from the rear camera, this connector can be a little deceiving and needs to be really tight.

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support
 
I don’t think the rear camera was the OP problem
 
A lot of the testing I have been doing is with no rear camera attached - but I will try the steps suggested (I've tried everything else, so what harm can it do!).

I'll post back with the results.
 
Okay,

While powered on, I removed Rear camera cable, Removed the SD card, Pressed the reset button. I don't have any alcohol wipes but used an air-duster on the connection to the camera and the connection just before the actual rear camera. I ensured that connection was firmly connected, then re-connected the rear camera to the dashcam.

I powered back on and as expected, the rear image was visible.

I turned it off, re-inserted the SD card and powered back on, the camera booted up, rear image on screen, and recorded for 1sec.

As said, a lot of the testing has been done with no rear camera attached with the same results so I didn't expect it to make any difference, but it was worth a shot.
 
It sounds like the SD card is likely to be the cause of the issue then. I'd recommend trying a Nextbase SD card instead- I'll send you a direct message now.

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support
 
Okay,

While powered on, I removed Rear camera cable, Removed the SD card, Pressed the reset button. I don't have any alcohol wipes but used an air-duster on the connection to the camera and the connection just before the actual rear camera. I ensured that connection was firmly connected, then re-connected the rear camera to the dashcam.

I powered back on and as expected, the rear image was visible.

I turned it off, re-inserted the SD card and powered back on, the camera booted up, rear image on screen, and recorded for 1sec.

As said, a lot of the testing has been done with no rear camera attached with the same results so I didn't expect it to make any difference, but it was worth a shot.
I'm in the same situation! Did you manage to solve it?
 
I'm in the same situation! Did you manage to solve it?
I've had Tech Support having me do tests, none of which worked, so I am trying to arrange sending it back for repair, but as it is out of warranty it will be at my cost. The fault appears to be the main board. I'd suggest making your own thread and hoping Tech Support look into it. To speed things up you could do a full reset, disconnect the rear camera and try a new (NextBase) SD card. That will at least speed things up.
 
Just to close this post off - I sent the dashcam to Nextbase support, they quickly diagnosed the main board as faulty, but also found the screen to be flickering (hadn't noticed this myself), replaced both and returned it very quickly, and so far everything seems to be working perfectly. As it was out of warranty I had to pay for the repair, but given they replaced most of the components it was pretty good value.
 
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