Overheating?

M A R K

Active Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2019
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Location
Lincolnshire
Country
United Kingdom
Dash Cam
Viofo A129 Pro
So today was my first proper trip since I installed the 422GW in the car. A 3.5 hour drive down the A1, around the M25 and down the M3.

About an hour into the journey, I noticed that the camera was switched off. I pressed the power button and it powered back up but 10 minutes later and it was off again. Each time I would press the power button and the device would power back up but it would be off again in less than 10 minutes.

After a short stop at the services, the camera stayed alive for about 20 minutes before we dropped back into the 10 minute cycle.

The camera was VERY hot to the touch.

So I am suspecting an overheating problem here but clearly this makes the camera pretty useless if it can’t be trusted to stay on.

So I have the same journey back home again tomorrow night but if it’s a repeat of this journey down, the camera is going to be returned as faulty by the weekend.

BTW

Where is the IOS app?
 
Hi @M A R K

How is it being powered?

Can you hear the noise of it turning on/off or is it the screen going black for screen saver?

Hot is ok - recording 1440p and taking charge continuously generates a lot of heat. Twinned with the fact the body is actually smaller now the dash cam will get warm/hot.

iOS App still pending approval but news this morning of it being released over the next few days :D thank you for your patience with this.
 
Hi @M A R K

How is it being powered?

Can you hear the noise of it turning on/off or is it the screen going black for screen saver?

Hot is ok - recording 1440p and taking charge continuously generates a lot of heat. Twinned with the fact the body is actually smaller now the dash cam will get warm/hot.

iOS App still pending approval but news this morning of it being released over the next few days :D thank you for your patience with this.

Powered via a usb cable into the smart mount

I am running the speed display as a screen saver so I know it’s off because the screen goes off and the red light goes out and when I hit the power button to restart it I get the Nextbase splash screen

There is no question it has powered down of its own accord. Its literally just powering down leaving a half written file on the SD card

The pattern suggests overheating but am happy for you to suggest its a software fault that looks like an over heating problem

Oddly when the screen saver is set to OFF rather than speed display it appears to behave (well I got 30 minutes out of it before my journey ended) which once again suggests heat issues.

Of course if the answer is to disable some features then it clearly wasn’t fit for launch.

I have a finite returns window so need to see a fix before that window is up otherwise I am left with no option to reject it and take it back to the retailer. Looking at some of the horror stories from owners of the previous generation who have been waiting for months (and still are) for some issues, I am not prepared to sit and wait
 
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Powered via a usb cable into the smart mount

I am running the speed display as a screen saver so I know it’s off because the screen goes off and the red light goes out and when I hit the power button to restart it I get the Nextbase splash screen

There is no question it has powered down of its own accord. Its literally just powering down leaving a half written file on the SD card

The pattern suggests overheating but am happy for you to suggest its a software fault that looks like an over heating problem

Oddly when the screen saver is set to OFF rather than speed display it appears to behave (well I got 30 minutes out of it before my journey ended) which once again suggests heat issues.

Of course if the answer is to disable some features then it clearly wasn’t fit for launch.

I have a finite returns window so need to see a fix before that window is up otherwise I am left with no option to reject it and take it back to the retailer. Looking at some of the horror stories from owners of the previous generation who have been waiting for months (and still are) for some issues, I am not prepared to sit and wait

Hello @M A R K

Can I please ask does the same issue happen when you power this via the 12V cable from the box?

We would also like to request a copy of a file so that we can check the Metadata of the file.

To send the file use the website www.wetransfer.com to our email address Support@nextbase.co.uk.
 
Hello @M A R K

Can I please ask does the same issue happen when you power this via the 12V cable from the box?

We would also like to request a copy of a file so that we can check the Metadata of the file.

To send the file use the website www.wetransfer.com to our email address Support@nextbase.co.uk.
Hi

So I have done some testing today.

With the 12v cable out of the box, the same thing happens. The thing runs for about an hour then shuts off then runs for 10 minutes or so after each restart before shutting off again.

If I turn off the speed display screen saver so there is just a blank screen, the unit runs OK. I managed 2.5 hours

Note that today has not been an overly warm or sunny day

I have uploaded a file so you can see the metadata but this does have all the symptoms of an overheating device.

And whilst it runs fine with the screen off today, when summer arrives (hopefully soon) and the device is exposed to higher external temperatures, what then? Of course by then there is the risk I am out of my return window (like the many 512GW owners on here) and stuck hoping for a fix
 
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M A R K, so the screen with the speed reading isn't really off it is.
And you get better performance when the actual screen is totally off, as in screensaver.

I'll have to test that on the 522, as I used screensaver straight from the off.
I wonder how hot the 522 runs natively.
 
M A R K, so the screen with the speed reading isn't really off it is.
And you get better performance when the actual screen is totally off, as in screensaver.

I'll have to test that on the 522, as I used screensaver straight from the off.
I wonder how hot the 522 runs natively.
Correct
With the speed showing the screen is obviously still turned on even though most of it is black. Assuming it's an LCD screen (not OLED) then all the pixels are still going to be lit even though only the speed is shown. The power usage and thus temp will likely be very similar to when you just leave the screen showing video on.

With the screen saver setting set so the scree actually turns off all together then it looks like the device is not getting hot enough to become a problem which would make sense but of course it is only May and I have no way of knowing how close the device is to overheating. If we get into July and have a summer like last year then there is every chance the device will run hotter even with the screen off thus my concern that it will reach that critical point even with the screen off. Of course if I wait until summer arrives (assuming Summer does arrive) and find this to be the case, then I am out of my return window and reliant on Nextbase providing a fix and that assumes this can be solved in software.

As for the 522?

Being bigger, the screen is bigger so the potential for more heat but at the same time a bigger body could distribute the heat better.

If you are testing this then note I had been driving for a good hour or so before it first powered down so this isn't a quick test
 
Yep, it'll be tested today. Taking my son out driving for a couple of hours so will test it then.
 
An LCD screen takes very little current. It's the backlight that uses it, and that's on regardless of screen content, unless the screen is turned off of course.
 
An LCD screen takes very little current. It's the backlight that uses it, and that's on regardless of screen content, unless the screen is turned off of course.
Indeed although I would class the backlight as part of the overall screen assembly. This of course is an area where OLED would benefit
 
Assuming you haven't already, drop the resolution to 1080/60/30, this is a native 1080 cam anyway so using 1440 will only make the camera perform unnecessary work for zero benefit. Mine gets hot at 1080/60, but nothing too extreme.

My DDpai (native 1440) got very hot at times, but NEVER failed - in fact I replaced the internal battery with a supercap fearing the thing might catch fire! My Mobius too gets pretty hot, but again, NEVER fails.


**EDIT**

Ok, ran the cam for a good few hours today and can confirm it gets extremely hot. It never turned off or anything but it does get very hot. My cam is set to 1080/60.
 
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Assuming you haven't already, drop the resolution to 1080/60/30, this is a native 1080 cam anyway so using 1440 will only make the camera perform unnecessary work for zero benefit. Mine gets hot at 1080/60, but nothing too extreme.

My DDpai (native 1440) got very hot at times, but NEVER failed - in fact I replaced the internal battery with a supercap fearing the thing might catch fire! My Mobius too gets pretty hot, but again, NEVER fails.

Not sure if that's right (native being 1080 only) as the published specs state 1440 but non the less as the camera can't perform as advertised I have returned for a full refund as I'm not prepared to be an unpaid beta tester whilst the vendor sorts out their software/hardware.

Shame really as on paper it was good and when it worked the images were good.
 
Not sure if that's right (native being 1080 only) as the published specs state 1440 but non the less as the camera can't perform as advertised I have returned for a full refund as I'm not prepared to be an unpaid beta tester whilst the vendor sorts out their software/hardware.

Shame really as on paper it was good and when it worked the images were good.

Yep, it's a 1080 camera - to the best of my understanding. Check the user manual at the Nextbase website, the sensor resolution is listed as 1936x1097.
I fell for it too. I assumed it was 1440 purely because of the price. It's my first and last product from Nextbase.
 
Assuming you haven't already, drop the resolution to 1080/60/30, this is a native 1080 cam anyway so using 1440 will only make the camera perform unnecessary work for zero benefit.

The 422GW recording resolution is 2560*1440.
 
The 422GW recording resolution is 2560*1440.

Not sure what you mean. A sensor with 1936x1097 pixels cannot record at 2560x1440 pixels. If you look at the spec for the 422GW it says it has a 2.12 Megapixel sensor.

If you check the spec of the 522GW you will see that it has a 5.14 Megapixel sensor which means it is fully capable of native 1440.
 
I found my 522gw a piece of junk. I purchased it a few months ago. It overheats (very very hot) and crashes from time to time. Also parking mode doesnt work as it only records 5 or 10 seconds before the battery dies. Its been in the drawer since then, however I did decide to give it another go recently - yup same piece of junk. Avoid.
 
It doesn't use the battery to record.

And this the 422GW thread.
 
The battery or capacitors in a dashcam are only there to finalize the last recording in case of a major event where power can be lost.
To use parking guard you need to have a hard wire kit.
How do you power your camera @markc_uk ?
 
Apologies but parking mode is a feature of all this new series.

Battery IS used to provide a 30 second recording if the g sensor is triggered (i.e. hit in a car park) when the camera is not being powered.

As per user manual;

Parking Mode
When Parking Mode has been turned on, the Dash Cam enters standby mode when the 12Vdc supply has been turned OFF (typically removing your ignition key). The Dash Cam will also enter standby mode if no physical movement is detected for 5 minutes, this is designed to allow use of a permanent 12Vdc supply, i.e hard-wire kit. Should physical movement of the vehicle be detected, the Dash Cam will power on and start recording a 30 second protected video. If no further physical movement is detected then the Dash Cam will return to standby mode, if physical movement is detected subsequently, then the camera will continue to record normally, i.e. driving once more.
 

Also stated here...
 
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