Recognizing faulty hardwiring kits

[veritas44]

Hi, I just purchased a A129 Plus Duo + the HK3 hardwiring kit.

On the Amazon's product page, I saw that a number of reviewers complained that the kit had drained the battery, and a few folks suggested that in some of these, the yellow/red cables are inverted, whereby the yellow cable should be connected to an always on fuse and the red one to an ACC one. Does anyone know if there's any way to check that before finding out the hard way (I.e.,ending up with a fried battery) ?

I also noticed that the same item sold by a different seller (BlackBoxmyCar) has way fewer of those reviews... maybe I should just buy one from them instead?

Many thanks!

 

[DT MI]

I also noticed that the same item sold by a different seller (BlackBoxmyCar) has way fewer of those reviews...

Most likely just a matter of Amazon selling a lot more of the product than any difference in the product itself - more sales = more potential for a faulty product in absolute numbers even though the percentage versus total sales is the same.

 

[veritas44]

Most likely just a matter of Amazon selling a lot more of the product than any difference in the product itself - more sales = more potential for a faulty product in absolute numbers even though the percentage versus total sales is the same.

BlackBoxmyCar is actually selling through Amazon, and the one they sell has a higher number of reviews. Upon searching HK3 on Amazon, one can purchase from three different sellers (they are actually three different postings as opposed to, you know, trying to buy the product from a different seller FROM the product's page).

I'm thinking, perhaps one way to check if the cables have been mixed up is—before I install the camera properly—to just connect them to the fuse box and see if the camera switches to parking mode when I turn off the engine. Isn't that what should be happening?

 

[Nigel]

Yes, it won’t function correctly if incorrectly wired.

BBMC may have less reports of problems because when the faulty batch was discovered, they scrapped the batch, or at least all the faulty ones, instead of selling them and also selling faulty returns, or something of the sort, buying from a source with a reputation to look after is always a good way to avoid problems.

 

[DT MI]

BlackBoxmyCar is actually selling through Amazon, and the one they sell has a higher number of reviews.

I put limited faith on Amazon reviews. More than once I've seen reviews for an entirely different product than the one listed. Sometimes it's a matter of the product being replaced and others the 'reviewer' was, to put it nicely, careless. As to the vendor specific product reviews you, again, have to trust that the reviewer is actually posting to the specific product and vendor which can be a real 'leap of faith'. In my own case when leaving reviews on Amazon I'd click on my purchase history and the item that would come up would be the same item I bought but sold by a different vendor.

As to a possible way to insure your specific unit is correct I'd contact VIOFO directly and ask them.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

I have sold a ton of these kits and not one user has complained to me about the wire being opposite of what was labeled. Not saying it's not possible for some to slip buy in production some how, but if it did, it's would be extremely rare. My guess is some didn't bother to read the label on the wire and just assumed yellow was the battery wire and red was the accessory wire, since that is the most common way it's done.

 

[Nigel]

My guess is some didn't bother to read the label on the wire and just assumed yellow was the battery wire and red was the accessory wire, since that is the most common way it's done.

I have seen a photo of one that certainly appeared to be wrong. Of course it could have been created in order to generate bad reviews, you never know with Amazon reviews!

Best get one from CaptureYourActiion, then you will get good service in the unlikely event it is needed.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

I have seen a photo of one that certainly appeared to be wrong. Of course it could have been created in order to generate bad reviews, you never know with Amazon reviews!

Best get one from CaptureYourActiion, then you will get good service in the unlikely event it is needed.

Labeled wrong or the wires were reversed but labeled correctly?

 

[Nigel]

Power was yellow and labeled power, acc was red and labeled acc.
No reason to think the poster wasn't reporting correctly and the photo clearly showed the power label on the yellow and it was a Viofo labeled HK3.

But I'm sure this is highly unlikely to happen on any supplied today, so not worth worrying about, and it's not going to blow up if connected the wrong way.

 

[Mtrev]

To test it you shouldn’t even need the fuses you plan to use really, just temp attach earth to earth and the yellow and red to 12v then take the yellow off, it should go into parking mode, if it cuts off then it’s the wrong way around.