Reboot loop (turns on and off consistently) while hot

[Sika]

Hi everyone,

I got recently my Yi Dashcam and after I installed in the car it started recording perfectly.
I parked at work in direct sun for about 8 hours - hot weather +30 degrees C, definitely in car was maybe 10 degrees more.

Drove home and after few minutes the Dashcam started to turn on and off indefinitely.

I took the camera inside house and next morning I hooked up in the car... No problem.

Coming back from work (same hot days) I get same reboots.

Then I let it cool down and after 1 hour I hook it up and everything was working fine.

I left if in the sun exposed for few hours then I noticed the reboot Issue (turns on/off) and is definitely caused by heat.

Now... Is someone here with the same issue?
I contacted Yi support and seller but they didn't responded yet.

My ideea is something related with battery. Do you guys know where I can buy one?

Thanks!

 

[Geralt]

I think you should return it and get it replaced. I drove 1500 miles in 2.5 days with the camera on for at least 16 hours and never had it reboot with outside temp at 91 degrees of course i had the AC on at 75 degrees in the car yet the camera was in direct sunlight. The SD card i use is the transcend high endurance one if that is a factor. If it's a China seller they may not respond so dispute the transaction with your card company and then pay higher price on Amazon. Or get a different dash cam! The choice is yours

 

[Sika]

Thanks for your feedback!
I tried to contact the seller via Aliexpress customer service but didn't got any reply.

I have a Sony SD card U3 at 64 GB. The card is good while I currently use it with my SJCAM 4000 (mounted in car). I choose Yi for far superior image quality especially while driving with the sun right into the lens.

Unfortunately by the way it looks the Chinese reseller would not do anything about it. I'll contact Mastercard to see what it can be done.

Cheers!

 

[Geralt]

Let us know how it goes! Im hoping they help you out since this product is not what you bought with such a disastrous product defect

 

[Sika]

No luck. Yi technology simply ignore my warranty requests and the seller never bother to reply me.
I guess I have a lemon and I got to live with it.

Maybe this post would help others to think twice before buying stuff from Aliexpress.

Ensure that you avoid like plague this seller:
http://s.aliexpress.com/bEFja6jy

 

[Geralt]

What did MasterCard or your credit card company say about it? Call the number on back of card??

 

[Sika]

I will try that, too. I highly doubt that Mastercard would do something about this but what the heck, it's worth trying.

I wast expecting more from Yi (Xiaomi) but by the way it looks their warranty support doesn't exist.

What a stupid bussisness model. I'm not sure how they would survive in North America. I would say they would fail miserably if they start ignore customers in the long run. Or maybe I'm wrong.

Time would tell....
In the mean time, everyone, be careful buying directly from China seller via other than Amazon. You can get screwed.

 

[Cadmus]

Have the same issue. Weird thing is if I plug it on a powerbank or a power outlet, it works fine. Tried it on another car to see if the lighter is the issue but it did the same thing (reboot loop).

 

[Sika]

Interesting discovery. If we add a powerbank then we can use it. Plug the powerbank in the car's lighter then out to camera.

Great tip! I will do it! Thanks for reaching out, it's definitely a better solution than nothing from YI support. Cheers buddy!

 

[Cadmus]

I haven't tried it on daisy chain (lighter>p.bank>d.cam) yet since plugging it on the p.bank alone works. Kind of a hassle though because I have to bring a p.bank with me then charge it afterwards. Let us know if that'll work for you.

 

[Sika]

I believe that the power bank would recharge directly from the car's lighter everytime car is turned on. My plan is to leave it there permanently as a interface between the car's lighter and Dashcam.

Good find! Hopefully it would work!

I will set it up over this coming weekend and I will keep it on for 1 week then I will report here.

 

[Berniebutt]

I use my Yi Dash Cam in multiple cars and this rebooting issue only happens in my black car on a hot day. I do believe it is a heat related issue.

 

[Cadmus]

Could be. But mine starts to work as soon as I plug it to a powerbank. And when I plug back to the lighter, it goes on reboot loop again.

 

[Cadmus]

Found the culprit. The charger I was temporarily using (charger that came with the dashcam was broken) didn't have enough power output. Dashcam started to work normally after I got the car charger replacement. Make sure your car charger has atleast 2amp output.

 

[thancam]

This model can't stand the heat. What do you expect from 55$ dashcam ?