Random recording failure after a couple of hours.

[murcod]

The Mobius refused to start recording with the format done by SD Card Formatter, so I had to use the Mobius in camera quick format and then left it running overnight.

This morning it was sitting there with both LEDs on solid. It ran for 6hrs 45 min, so it appears that it's perhaps getting to the same area of the memory card and failing each time. I'm satisfied now that it's definitely "dead" enough to be binned.

I just checked and it looks like I purchased it back at the end of May 2017. It's in the vehicle that only gets driven about once a week and is parked in a garage- so a very disappointing life span. (I changed to the Samsung EVO cards after having two Sandisk Ultras die, but they both lasted longer than this card.)

It was also in the rear camera which is shaded better (never in direct sun) and runs off the ignition "ON" circuit. Perhaps just bad luck? The front camera has a Lexar 633x 128GB which is about six months older. That Mobius runs for about 15 minutes after the car is locked and is subject to more heat in Summer. It also comes on as soon as the doors are unlocked, so is running a lot more than the back cam. (eg. I might get something out the car but not drive it, or unlock it to give the car's battery a charge if it's sitting for more than 7 days.)

 

[murcod]

Out of interest I left the card running in an A119 to see what would happen. The camera formatted the card with no errors; it then recorded for about 7hrs or more before it began beeping with "Card Failure" (or similar) displayed.

There are definite advantages to using a proper dashcam. Even though the Mobius LED's are visible in the rear vision mirror (it's rear facing) I hadn't noticed it "locking up" when driving in busy suburban traffic.

 

[SawMaster]

I've come to like audible malfunction warnings along with visual ones. I too have missed cam failures while driving without an audible warning. You just get used to a cam working correctly so it might take awhile to notice LED-only signs of trouble.

Phil

 

[murcod]

I too have missed cam failures while driving without an audible warning.

I'm used to checking both cameras boot up okay when I first start the vehicle- out of habit from having startup issues in the past.

When a camera dies mid trip it's harder to notice as you've got other priorities while driving in city traffic.

Other dash cams have improved enough that I'm looking at retiring some of the Mobius cameras, or reassigning them to other duties.

 

[SawMaster]

Ditto the above @murcod

I along with so many others had great hopes that the newer Mobius products would at least keep pace with the march of technology but IMHO they haven't The hoary old Mobius original is still unique in a number of ways which gives it validity for some uses, but as a general-purpose dashcam it's days of glory are over. Many better dashcam choices nowadays which is good for us

Old soldiers never die, they just fade away. There's something a little sad about that, but that's just how it goes.

Phil

 

[murcod]

I've got an A119 V3 to experiment with as a replacement. For the price (under AUS$120 with the GPS base) it was hard to go past. I'm trialing it in the rear of my car and will be interested to see if it is better for DAB radio interference (without the GPS base) compared to the Mobius.

I've been running an A119 V2 for a couple of years in the wife's car as the forward camera. I can't say I like the wide FOV on the V2 much, the V3 is a lot better. The V2 has had the CPL filter turn orange and the RTC battery has started failing. It has been fully exposed 24/7 to the Aussie sun and survived relatively well. I've got a new RTC battery on the way to see if that fixes the RTC.

 

[Tony lovelock]

What's the life span of a super capacitor on the mobius series 1? Had mine running with 1 for about 2 & half years now...

 

[Dashmellow]

What's the life span of a super capacitor on the mobius series 1? Had mine running with 1 for about 2 & half years now...

@russ331 has been regularly reporting on this question for a rather long time. You can see his latest post from three days ago HERE.

I'll quote him: "Update. I installed capacitors in my two Mobius cams 5 years 10 months & 5 years 7 months ago, respectively. Both cams start recording when the engine is started. Both hold date & time correctly, & save the last file after the engine is switched off."

Personally, I had a super-capacitor unexpectedly fail on a Mobius a few months ago but the particular super-cap module that failed came out of a Mobius that was gifted to me by another DCT member so I don't know its age or history. With all my other super-capped Mobius cameras I have had a similar experience to what Russ has described but I haven't been so conscientious about keeping track.

 

[jokiin]

usage patterns may come into it also, someone that drives 10 minutes a day is a lot different to someone that has them running multiple hours per day, running while parked at increased temps etc

 

[Dashmellow]

I've been running my super-capacitor powered Mobius cams for extended periods of time while driving and parked in both hot and cold temps for at least five years now with no issues. This level of reliability is one of the hallmarks of the Mobius.

 

[kamkar]

Mobius have gone the way of lexar memory cards.

 

[Dashmellow]

Mobius have gone the way of lexar memory cards.

I don't know if that's quite the analogy I would use, but yeah, for us hardcore Mobius aficionados it's been painful to watch.

 

[Tony lovelock]

Had my v1 C3 mess us today twice & some recording clips missing last week... Plugged into 12v cigarette lighter with 2 meter usb lead (decent awg gauge material) I plug in my mobius to record it boots up as usual but then I get a solid orange light (set my mobius to flashing blue led as easier to see during the day etc. I have to un plug then re plug a few times to get it to record correctly... Hoping its not a super cap issue, I format my Samsung 128gb sd card weekly without fail too... Strange