SGGCX2PRO does not start automatically during the cold weather

Noll

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Winter is coming and it's getting colder and colder.

My car is kept outdoors and when I start it in a cold morning, my SGGCX2PRO (powered by the hardwire power kit) does not start automatically.
When I press the power button manually, it starts fine.
When it gets warmer, the dashcam is starting automatically for the rest of the day and I don't have to press the button.

I hoped that the problem is with the $30 power supply, not with the $160 dashcam so I decided to check. I unplugged the dashcam and kept it indoors
for overnight and it turned out that it starts fine in the cold morning.

Seems like the camera module does not function properly in the cold temperature (colder than +5...+10 Celsius, I guess).

Did anyone else experience the same problem? Is there a way to fix it?
 
Dont think it is the temperature / camera as such, Canadians had good experience with SG cameras in much colder temperatures, though one also reported that on the really cold days it did take a little while for the camera to get going.
But since keeping it indoor and plugging it in and it also work it is probably not your battery in the car, though testing the DR model here during summer /fall i had and other testers had some issues that in my case was resolved by putting a new battery in my 2012 car.
But these was not as much startup issues, but rather startup fine but with default time/date, but if mu car had been parked for over 12 hours ( only using parking guard for 1 hour ) then that would happen to me on the first drive of the day, but not the rest of the day.

How are you powering your camera, with the supplied kit or the hard wire kit ?

Friday my car experienced -5 deg C temperatures overnight and it was not a problem ( other model but as i recall much the same hardware )

Anyways one of the official SG guys will be here shortly to take care of you, cuz -5 should not be a issue. -15 deg C maybe a little. (y) hang in there.
 
Are you using a 2-wire or 3-wire hardwire kit? (is it the official Street Guardian hardwire kit or 3rd party?)
Install V1.32 firmware
If you're using 2-wire power try to increase the "Boot Delay" value
If you're using 3-wire power, what make model vehicle do you have, and which # fuse taps have you used for ACC(red) and BAT(yellow)?

SGGCX2PRO has been chamber tested to -20C/-4F. (loads of customers in cold climates around the world)
1606677758793.png
 
I am using a 3-wire hardware kit bought from Street Guardian. I did ground it to the solid metal bolt which mounts the fuse box to the chassis.
Both fuses are 5 Amp.
The car is Honda CRV 2012.

Perhaps I should have said that I own this dashcam for a long time and it worked more or less OK. I did have the same issue last winter, but only once, so I attributed it to a glitch. Now it is a stable effect.
In the summer the camera once somehow started recording on its own in a parked car. In live mode, not in parking mode.

I copied the firmware file to the SD card, powered the camera, but it started to work as usual and nothing seemed to change.
Perhaps that's because I have SGGCX2PRO and the firmware is for SGGCX2PRO+. Should I rename FWGCPX2P.bin to FWGCPX2.bin and try again?

Current firmware version is X2PRO181113V1.18
 
[mention]Noil [/mention] I just sent you a private message with special 2-part firmware update instructions to convert SGX2PRO to SGX2PRO+
You shouldn’t convert though if you are using an IMX323 (SGR323CAM) rear camera
 
The plot thickens.

Seems like my experiment with keeping the camera module indoors was conducted improperly. When I drive, I start the engine (obviously), but when I did my experiment, I turned the ignition key only to ACC position to save the engine resource.

After upgrading the camera to SGGCX2PRO+ and the latest firmware, I checked it on a few cold mornings. I kept being a careful car owner and was just turning the ignition key to ACC position. It turned the dashcam on and made me happy. I thought that upgrade solved the problem.
Although, when I finally needed to drive, I turned on the ignition conventionally to crank the engine and the dashcam did not start! I turned the dashcam manually and seems like it tried to start (the LEDs got on), but could not (perhaps it was particularly cold). When I turned the ignition off (completely, not just to ACC), the dashcam started!

The next time I needed to drive the same thing happened. I started the engine and the camera did nothing. I turned the engine off and the camera started! I turned the engine on again and the camera continued working.

Today I repeated my experiment with the camera kept indoors for overnight and this time I started the engine instead of just turning the key to ACC. The camera did not start.

The power supply threshold switch is set to 12.2 V.

I measured the voltage.

1. Everything is idle.
Between the unloaded battery terminals (apparently, dormant car equipment still consumes a little bit): 12.20 V (my battery is old and I will replace it soon).
Between the ground and battery lines: 12.06 V
Between the ground and ACC lines: 0.1 V

2. Ignition key is turned to ACC.
Between the ground and battery lines: 11.70 V
Between the ground and ACC lines: 11.67 V

3. The engine is running.
Between the ground and battery lines: 14.30 V
Between the ground and ACC lines: 14.03 V

4. Right after the engine is turned off.
Between the ground and battery lines: ~13 V and slowly decreases.
Between the ground and ACC lines: 0.1 V

So, the dashcam starts at ~11.7 V on both lines, at ~13 V on the battery line and ~0 on the ACC line, but not at ~14 V on both lines.

Maybe the problem is with the power supply? Maybe it somehow gets its measurements off due to the cold weather and thinks that actual 14.3 are 16-17-18, which is too much and so it switches its output off for not to fry the dashcam? Maybe it starts to think that 14.3 is not good 12V, but bad 24V?

Does it make sense if I get some parts and measure the voltage at the output of the power supply at different conditions? If I understand it correctly, there must be two +5V wires going from the power supply to the dashcam and one of them should be on when the battery voltage is above the threshold set by the power supply switch, while another one must be on when the car's accessories are on.


I've also discovered the following software issues after upgrade:

1. WDR. I did not drive during the dark time yet, but at normal lighting it seems to make the picture worse. Less contrast and less colorful.
2. Seems like the size of video files doubled in comparison to SGGCX2PRO. I compare apples to apples - best quality at 1080p and 60 FPS in both cases.
 
Maybe the problem is with the power supply?
possibly, contact @Street Guardian USA and we can arrange a new one for you, if you have battery issues this can also cause problems

I've also discovered the following software issues after upgrade:

1. WDR. I did not drive during the dark time yet, but at normal lighting it seems to make the picture worse. Less contrast and less colorful.
2. Seems like the size of video files doubled in comparison to SGGCX2PRO. I compare apples to apples - best quality at 1080p and 60 FPS in both cases.
1. what's the exact version you're using now, WDR has been enabled in the latest firmware so that we can do some adjustments, the adjustments for WDR haven't been released yet though
2. yes the PRO+ firmware support higher bitrates than the PRO version does when using 60fps
 
1. what's the exact version you're using now, WDR has been enabled in the latest firmware so that we can do some adjustments, the adjustments for WDR haven't been released yet though
Current firmware version is X2PRO+200805V1.32

Bringing the power module indoors would have taken dismounting the A-pillar and other hassle. So I took a heat gun and warmed it up in a cold morning. I was careful and did not overheat it. Now the camera started when I cranked up the engine!

So, it seems like it the power supply's fault.
 
Current firmware version is X2PRO+200805V1.32
make sure you're using the most recent version from the beta thread, the version prior has some image quality issues (the version number is unchanged)

is your hardwire kit grounded to the factory ground point (there will be several grounds together) for the fuse panel?
 
make sure you're using the most recent version from the beta thread, the version prior has some image quality issues (the version number is unchanged)
I did update the firmware to the FWGCPX2P.BIN file from archive named SGGCX2PRO_Plus_v1.32 - MOD v4.zip.
The file size is 2,811,040, the file date is 2020-09-29.

is your hardwire kit grounded to the factory ground point (there will be several grounds together) for the fuse panel?
I have grounded the power supply to the solid unpainted metal bolt which mounts the fuse box to the chassis. I could not find the list of factory ground points for my car and I am not sure if it is a factory ground point, but it looks like a good reliable ground point. Stable voltage metering confirms it.
I did not find any better bolt around the fuse box to ground the power supply to.
 
I did update the firmware to the FWGCPX2P.BIN file from archive named SGGCX2PRO_Plus_v1.32 - MOD v4.zip.
The file size is 2,811,040, the file date is 2020-09-29.


I have grounded the power supply to the solid unpainted metal bolt which mounts the fuse box to the chassis. I could not find the list of factory ground points for my car and I am not sure if it is a factory ground point, but it looks like a good reliable ground point. Stable voltage metering confirms it.
I did not find any better bolt around the fuse box to ground the power supply to.
check the MD5 sum of the file you used, this is the most recent version 22eb24273145611b8501a13cf36d5e7a

ground should be ok
 
WDR adjustments are not complete so you may prefer to run with WDR off for the time being
That's precisely what I did. I turned it off.
I plan to try to turn it on the next time I will be driving during the nighttime. Seems like this is the scenario which WDR mode is the most advantageous at.
Maybe it would be a good idea to add an option for turning WDR on or off depending on the level of lighting.
 
@Street Guardian USA
I received the power supply. Thank you! That's an exemplary customer service. (y)

@jokiin
But things are getting curiouser and curiouser.

The dashcam is working correctly now. It does start in the cold weather. It started to work after I heated up the power supply and replaced the battery. Unfortunately, I did it "simultaneously". After my experiment with the heat gun, I never cranked up this car until I replaced the battery. That's my mistake. I wish I had the old battery so I could put it back and check if it would start now.

So, it works fine now because either
1. The battery is a brand new one.
or
2. The heat-up somehow fixed the power supply.

1. You said that a poor battery might cause power supply malfunctioning. This makes sense for parking mode, but a poor (or even completely dead) battery should not cause the observed power supply failure while alternator yields the honest 14+ volts.
Is it possible that poor voltage from the battery causes the power supply to malfunction even after both lines get 14+ volts? This would have been a bug, but is it possible?
If that's the case, then it is strange that my complaint is the first one of such type. A lot of people drive with batteries worse than mine was and in temperatures lower than mine.

2. I can imagine something got fixed after I applied the heat gun. If that's the case, then the power supply probably would exhibit the same failure again sooner or later.
Do you guys have an idea about the nature of this failure if we suppose that a heat gun has fixed it?

I plan to keep the old power supply in the car so far and check how it would behave during the rest of the winter. If you want, I can install the new power supply and send you the old one so you can inspect it.
 
Cold mornings are over and I am reporting about the results. I have not replaced the power supply with the one you've sent me so far.

The dashcam starts correctly now. Not a single failure since I heated up the power supply. But sometimes it does not go into the parking mode after the first engine shutdown in a cold morning.

I start the engine, the camera turns on.
I am driving, the camera is working fine.
I park and shut the engine off - the camera stops recording.
I start the car again, the camera is working fine.
I park and turn the engine off the next time - the camera correctly switches to the parking mode.

Seems like the power supply is still malfunctioning a little bit until it gets warmer.

I plan to keep using the camera with this power supply, but once it starts malfunctioning more seriously again, I will replace it.
 
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