reusing A118C power cable/adapter with A119 V3?

[budster]

Hi, I'm thinking to replace two A118C dashcams currently installed in separate cars with A119 V3 dashcams. In one, the A118C is hardwired and in the other, the A118C is using the 12V power cable/adapter that originally came with it. Should I be able to re-use my existing A118C power cabling with the A119 V3? Even for the A118C that's using the 12V power adapter, I'd rather not change the power adapter for the one that comes with the A119 V3 unless I really need to as the cable is already nicely tucked into the trim and thru the glove compartment to hide it and it would be a bit of a hassle to redo this with the cable that comes with the A119 V3.

 

[SawMaster]

The V3 will need the PS supplied with it. The one supplied with the A118C does not have enough capacity to run any of the newer "A" series Viofo cams reliably. Wish I had better news for you!

Phil

 

[budster]

The V3 will need the PS supplied with it. The one supplied with the A118C does not have enough capacity to run any of the newer "A" series Viofo cams reliably. Wish I had better news for you!

Phil

I was looking at the 12V power adapter supplied with the A118C. It says the output is 5V, 1A. 1A is really not enough to run the A119 V3?

 

[Kremmen]

The more recent Viofo kits are 2A. I also doubt that 1A will reliably run the V3.

FYI, I'm using a Nextbase series 1 kit that pushes out 1.5A that hasn't caused any issues.

 

[Dashmellow]

Aside from the power supply, another thing you need to check is the AWG (wire gauge thickness) of the cable. The A119 V3 comes with a 22 AWG cable. I'm not certain about what the A118C originally came with. You need to take a close look at the wiring to see if the A118C cable has wires that are thick enough to operate the A119 V3 properly. The AWG number will be written periodically along the entire length of your cables. If the A118C came with thinner 28 AWG wire like many dash cams did at that time you could experience issues such as a flickering screen or other potential issues like buzzing noises in your videos.

Viofo cameras have always been fairly current hungry and this is the reason they now come with a more robust PS but they need the proper cable thickness to work in concert with the PS. This was an old issue that Viofo eventually addressed with the higher current PS and thicker cables.

 

[budster]

Aside from the power supply, another thing you need to check is the AWG (wire gauge thickness) of the cable. The A119 V3 comes with a 22 AWG cable. I'm not certain about what the A118C originally came with. You need to take a close look at the wiring to see if the A118C cable has wires that are thick enough to operate the A119 V3 properly. The AWG number will be written periodically along the entire length of your cables. If the A118C came with thinner 28 AWG wire like many dash cams did at that time you could experience issues such as a flickering screen or other potential issues like buzzing noises in your videos.

Viofo cameras have always been fairly current hungry and this is the reason they now come with a more robust PS but they need the proper cable thickness to work in concert with the PS. This was an old issue that Viofo eventually addressed with the higher current PS and thicker cables.

The cable for the A118C power adapter I have is 26 AWG.

Are the power requirements for the A119 V3 different than the original A119? I recall an older thread here that concluded that the original A119 and A118C could share the same power accessories. I guess the A119 V3 may be more power hungry than the original A119.

I'll have to check later what the current output is for the hardwiring I'm using for one of the A118C. I purchased it on ebay back in 2015 for $3.49 from what seemed like one of Viofo's main ebay retailers. The item's title was "12v to 5v hard wire Power adapter Cord cable for Mini0801,G1W-C,G1W/H,B40,A118C". It sounds like if it's 1.5A, it may be ok to use based on the comment by @Kremmen.

 

[SawMaster]

When the A119 came into mainstream use there were many who had problems with trying to use other power supplies. Several folks measured the current being used at the cam which did not seem to indicate a need for more current, but in every case simply using the new cam's PS caused their problems to go away. There was quite a lot of discussion on the subject here at the time. These newer Viofo cams need a more robust power supply than most cams to function reliably, but it won't hurt the cam to try what you've got now. Just be ready to run the new PS if you encounter problems.

Phil

 

[Dashmellow]

Like @SawMaster said, try it and see what happens but don't be surprised if you run into some problems. The new power supply may or may not cure the issue alone. A flickering screen (even occasionally) will be a good sign you need the 22 AWG cable.

 

[Dashmellow]

I guess the A119 V3 may be more power hungry than the original A119.

I had an A119 V2 at one time but now I am running two A119 V3s front and rear. The V2 was more current hungry and fussy about AWG thickness than the V3 but both are more power hungry than most other dash cams I've had experience with. I don't know how they compare to the A118C but I suspect the older cam is fairly current hungry too.

 

[Kremmen]

I ran the V2 for a short while, until the V3 was released, on the Nextbase HWK, again without any perceived problems. Interesting that it was more demanding, and I was running the BCHobbyist firmware which I would guess was a bit more demanding with higher bitrates.

My kit is all hidden behind the dash so I can't inspect the wire.

 

[budster]

Checked the current hardwire on my A118C. It outputs 1.5A and the wire says it's 22 AWG. So I guess it might work for the A119 V3. Here is a photo of it.



I'm fairly certain this was the standard hardwire kit available for the A118C back in 2015 (I don't think Viofo ever released their own branded version then). Has anyone used this one before for the A119 V3?

I also have a Viofo branded hardwire kit that I originally bought to use for the original A119 (bought for about $10 on ebay a couple years ago). Never ended up using it. It's 1.5A and wire is 20 AWG. I also wonder if this one would work with the A119 V3.




I see that the official Viofo hardwire kit for the A119 V3 (https://www.viofo.com/en/accessorie...-duoa129-duo-ira129-pro-duoa129-plus-duo.html) has 3 wires, with an extra ACC yellow one to support parking mode. If I get this hardwire kit and don't plan to use the parking mode feature, would the red and yellow wires simply be connected together and the voltage setting be set to the highest level (12.4V)?

 

[Karagandinez]

I see that the official Viofo hardwire kit for the A119 V3 (https://www.viofo.com/en/accessorie...-duoa129-duo-ira129-pro-duoa129-plus-duo.html) has 3 wires, with an extra ACC yellow one to support parking mode. If I get this hardwire kit and don't plan to use the parking mode feature, would the red and yellow wires simply be connected together and the voltage setting be set to the highest level (12.4V)?

You can connect the red and yellow wires together and set the voltage wherever you like.
Everything will work.

 

[Dashmellow]

Checked the current hardwire on my A118C. It outputs 1.5A and the wire says it's 22 AWG. So I guess it might work for the A119 V3. Here is a photo of it.

View attachment 57138

I'm fairly certain this was the standard hardwire kit available for the A118C back in 2015 (I don't think Viofo ever released their own branded version then). Has anyone used this one before for the A119 V3?

I also have a Viofo branded hardwire kit that I originally bought to use for the original A119 (bought for about $10 on ebay a couple years ago). Never ended up using it. It's 1.5A and wire is 20 AWG. I also wonder if this one would work with the A119 V3.

View attachment 57139


I see that the official Viofo hardwire kit for the A119 V3 (https://www.viofo.com/en/accessorie...-duoa129-duo-ira129-pro-duoa129-plus-duo.html) has 3 wires, with an extra ACC yellow one to support parking mode. If I get this hardwire kit and don't plan to use the parking mode feature, would the red and yellow wires simply be connected together and the voltage setting be set to the highest level (12.4V)?

Looks good! I think you should be OK!