Not a Happy Camper with the A139

EGS said:
In the video, I heard a click at the moment where the camera shutdown. Was that the ignition switch being turned off manually or where did the click came from?
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Either the plastic flexing due to heat or camera shifting on makeshift stand I made (cooler bag). I hear same the clicking at random times throughout the video. Not just at the shutdown.
 
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HBDave said:
160f degrees, that's a well done steak in America!

I'm not sure any dash cam's are going to perform well above 160f?
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It is unrealistic to expect any dashcams to do so, and if they do then you shouldn't expect them to have a long life.
Personally, I would prefer my cameras to shut down at that temperature than continue and damage themselves.
 
Nigel said:
It is unrealistic to expect any dashcams to do so, and if they do then you shouldn't expect them to have a long life.
Personally, I would prefer my cameras to shut down at that temperature than continue and damage themselves.
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1. @jokiin suggested Viofo maybe needs to dial back the bitrate on low bitrate recording to keep the camera from overheating. He said the A129 Pro had same issue.

2. Viofo needs to set a threshold in a firmware update so that the camera will exit the file being recorded before overheating. Maybe 1C before overheat, tell camera to shut off and exit recording. So file isn't corrupt.

@jokiin See I'm a thorough beta tester! Wink Wink. If you ever get street guarding stuff you want tested ;)
 
HonestReview said:
1. @jokiin suggested Viofo maybe needs to dial back the bitrate on low bitrate recording to keep the camera from overheating. He said the A129 Pro had same issue.
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not the bitrate, that would have little effect if any for parking mode, they dropped the resolution down on the A129PRO for parking mode
 
jokiin said:
not the bitrate, that would have little effect if any for parking mode, they dropped the resolution down on the A129PRO for parking mode
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Garmin does the same. Normal recording @1440p and parking mode @1080p
 
jokiin said:
a logical approach if there are heat issues, can make a lot of difference
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Should I sumbit a ticket to Viofo and see if they can reduce the resolution in a firmware update and also set the shutoff lower so camera shuts off cleanly.

I still don't know / understand if my unit is faulty though...Seems everyone is getting very different benchmark and results. With @SawMaster saying his unit doesn't overheat at all in his van. Maybe larger vehicle + more airflow but you'd think the windshield would heat up all the same.

Thoughts here or too early to tell if my unit is faulty or this is "normal behavior"?
 
HonestReview said:
Should I sumbit a ticket to Viofo and see if they can reduce the resolution in a firmware update
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what resolution options do you have, perhaps try running things at a lower setting and see what difference it makes, might help to determine what to ask for, no point asking for something that doesn't work
 
jokiin said:
what resolution options do you have, perhaps try running things at a lower setting and see what difference it makes, might help to determine what to ask for, no point asking for something that doesn't work
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On regular recording, I have it set to Maximum. I haven't experienced any issues when driving and recording. Only when parked. The only option for Park Mode is Low Bitrate. So the resolution isn't user adjustable. Adjusting the parking resolution would have to come from a firmware update I believe.
 
It has no selection options for resolution? (I mean for normal driving mode, not parking specific)
 
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jokiin said:
It has no selection options for resolution? (I mean for normal driving mode, not parking specific)
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I understand your question, but I don't understand your point. There is a menu to adjust recording quality in normal driving. However, the camera isn't overheating in normal driving. It's only overheating in parking mode. Where the only choice for parking mode is Low Bitrate. The camera functions fine under all conditions except park mode while sitting int he sun. The camera spontaneously shuts down and corrupts the last files being written.

Otherwise, the camera records fine while driving. Camera records fine while parked (if not hot and sunny). Supercapcitor works when I yank power and finishes writing the current file (no corruption).

Simply put, is my camera faulty because it overheats, spontaneously shuts down, and corrupts the current file being written. Or is this normal behavior.

Here is a picture of the menu you requested:

menu.jpg
 
That's not the menu I was asking about, does it have resolution options, eg, can the front camera be set to 1080p for regular recording, or you have no options to choose from?
 
jokiin said:
That's not the menu I was asking about, does it have resolution options, eg, can the front camera be set to 1080p for regular recording, or you have no options to choose from?
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2k - 1080p- 1080p or FHD - FHD- FHD. I'm confused at why this is relevant? The camera isn't overheating in normal recording mode? Or will setting the Video Resolution to FHD for all 3 cameras reduce recording quality in Parking Mode too? Thus, generating less heat? I can try setting all 3 to FHD later when I am out if you'd like. And run more tests.

menu.jpg
 
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Yeah set it to 3 x FHD, it will use that setting while parked, if you don't get overheating problems at that setting then it's worth asking them to add the option to use 2k but switch to 1080p during parking mode, same idea as what they do on the A129pro to switch to a lower resolution when parking

If it still has issues then it's going to require more than just the drop in resolution, if it works though then you know what to ask for
 
So my tests today were inconclusive.

Test 1: Pretty sure I had it on FHD lasted 1 hr 5 minutes.
Test 2: Camera seems to have froze (lights on) and stopped recording. May be cause I checked on it and started car. Maybe glitch???

Either way, on test #1 and test #2, when camera crashed, it seems to revert back to the default 2k + FHD + FHD.

Will run these tests again tomorrow to see if I can get consistency in results. Not looking good though. If others aren't getting overheating shutdowns, I might ask for Viofo to do a Replacement on Camera. Hoping another another A139 will perform better??
 
HonestReview said:
... If others aren't getting overheating shutdowns, I might ask for Viofo to do a Replacement on Camera. Hoping another another A139 will perform better??
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Are you going to ask for a replacement of the unit which you confirmed (I have a little observation to mention but I'm not going to be PITA :geek: ) is able to withstand temperature well above the spec claims..? :unsure:
 
Nath said:
Are you going to ask for a replacement of the unit which you confirmed (I have a little observation to mention but I'm not going to be PITA :geek: ) is able to withstand temperature well above the spec claims..? :unsure:
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Well the issue here is others aren't seeing their units shut down. Or not so far. @SawMaster is in the tropics and he has stated his unit has never overheated. So if my unit is the only one behaving in this manner, then there may be an issue with it.

Second, if in fact other users begin to validate the overheating problem, then Viofo needs release a firmware update to shut camera down 1-2C before overheating so the last written file isn't left corrupt after a spontaneous power down.
 
HonestReview said:
then Viofo needs release a firmware update to shut camera down 1-2C before overheating so the last written file isn't left corrupt after a spontaneous power down.
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that's only possible if the hardware has been built to support that function, for hardware that does have this you often (not always, so don't panic just yet) see the temperature shown in the OSD on the video, or on the screen for models with a display
 
I started a 3 X 1080 p parking guard session when i got home this afternoon / evening, but i dont feel optimistic,,,,,,, been one of those days.
 
jokiin said:
that's only possible if the hardware has been built to support that function, for hardware that does have this you often (not always, so don't panic just yet) see the temperature shown in the OSD on the video, or on the screen for models with a display
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I just wish I wasn't the only one running tests. Doesn't seem like anyone else is very active on isolating the problem. So it's becoming very hard to determine if my repeatable failures are design flaw related / limitation of the A139 itself or my unit is the culprit.

I would think without a display, this could still be hardcoded into the unit, presuming there's an internal temperature monitoring built into the bios. Another question for Viofo I guess once the root cause is isolated.

I'm going to begin my testing again here soon and will post results this evening / later tonight on what I find.
 
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