The Viofo A139 has the most unreliable cable connectors

[DashCamUser123]

It has already been covered in his forum but the Viofo A139 has the most unreliable, fidgety cable connectors on any Viofo dashcam. They are annoying as heck. The A139 design is likely to never be repeated by Viofo. Most likely a one-off design. All dashcams that followed it are back to the old A119, A129 design where it is small format and reliable USB cable connectors to the camera. Look at the A229 models for proof. I think Viofo designed the big chunky A139 to compete with other brands which looked like hat.

I had no such issue with the A129 Duo cable to camera connectors as it has USB connectors. I bet the same with the A229 Plus. I hate the constant issues with the A139 cable to camera connectors. When the ball-end of the cable plops into the camera connector hole, it is loose enough that any jitter / bump can affect the connection with the slightest movemnet of the cable itself. It is an unreliable design for use in a moving vehicle.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

I agree.
If I just look at my A139 Pro’s rear & interior cables sometimes the camera will give voice notification of dropped channels.
This is why they made the original A229 Duo (2022) Coax rear camera cable much beefier, and more secure.
And now the A329 has returned to this type of Coax connector, thank goodness.

 

[Nath]

...

Have you actually checked this forum? Because USB cable was always much bigger sh*tshow than just some defective units with coax connectors (those were just some cheap chinese quality)

...

Out of curiosity what do you mean by "returned"? I though that A139 was the first coax cable based Viofo dashcam.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Out of curiosity what do you mean by "returned"? I though that A139 was the first coax cable based Viofo dashcam.

Correct.
The all-new A329 is an evolution of the original A229 Duo (2022).
The A229 Pro & A229 Plus (2023) lost Coax, and used USB.
So now the A329 has “returned” to Coax.

 

[Nigel]

It has already been covered in his forum but the Viofo A139 has the most unreliable, fidgety cable connectors on any Viofo dashcam.

The old Mini USB ones were the worst, they used to wear out, even if they didn't get unplugged much.
The USB-C ones are good, but they are very large compared to the A139 cables.
I have had no issues with the A139 cables, really nice and small. Fiddly might be an appropriate word, but I've really not had any difficulties.

I suspect they may be a bit more susceptible to cable damage than USB-C cables, if people are not careful with them, or if they are installed so that there is strain put on the connector from opening and closing the hatchback, mine are installed so that as the hatch opens, the connector turns in its socket, and there is no bending of the cable. Also, it is important to push the connectors on straight, if you push them into the sockets at an angle then you can damage the central pin.

Although you may have had problems with yours, I don't see much evidence that they are unreliable in general, most people like them and complain about the newer A229 having USB-C.

The reasons the A229 has USB-C is not that the A139 cables are unreliable, it is because the A139 cables were more expensive, while the A229 Plus is a cheaper dashcam, and also because the A229 encodes the video in the rear camera instead of in the front camera.

The A139 connectors do seem to have been a bit too small for some people, hence the A329 using the larger size coax connectors, and I expect the premium dashcams will continue to use those.

 

[DashCamUser123]

The old Mini USB ones were the worst, they used to wear out, even if they didn't get unplugged much.
The USB-C ones are good, but they are very large compared to the A139 cables.
I have had no issues with the A139 cables, really nice and small. Fiddly might be an appropriate word, but I've really not had any difficulties.

I suspect they may be a bit more susceptible to cable damage than USB-C cables, if people are not careful with them, or if they are installed so that there is strain put on the connector from opening and closing the hatchback, mine are installed so that as the hatch opens, the connector turns in its socket, and there is no bending of the cable. Also, it is important to push the connectors on straight, if you push them into the sockets at an angle then you can damage the central pin.

Although you may have had problems with yours, I don't see much evidence that they are unreliable in general, most people like them and complain about the newer A229 having USB-C.

The reasons the A229 has USB-C is not that the A139 cables are unreliable, it is because the A139 cables were more expensive, while the A229 Plus is a cheaper dashcam, and also because the A229 encodes the video in the rear camera instead of in the front camera.

The A139 connectors do seem to have been a bit too small for some people, hence the A329 using the larger size coax connectors, and I expect the premium dashcams will continue to use those.

I appreciate your thoughts and point of view on this. I do tend to disconnect and reconnect the rear camera cable from time to time. Right now, I think the cables are too taut in my current setup. I realize there is always some user error involved but the way it has to be connecteed is finicky. Do you folks think it will be easy for Viofo (maybe for future cameras via the firmware) to enable and disable the rear camera through a button or voice-command? As you already know, on the A139 3-Ch I can disbale and re-enable the interior cam by pressing the yellow "!" button.

I was planning to upgrade to the A229 Plus 3-Ch (for the Starvis 2) but you've given me some concerns to mull over about why users are complaining about the USB-C. I will search the A229 Plus forum and Youtube.

PS. I just remembered that the USB port on my A129 duo rear camera came loose.

 

[Nigel]

I was planning to upgrade to the A229 Plus 3-Ch (for the Starvis 2) but you've given me some concerns to mull over about why users are complaining about the USB-C. I will search the A229 Plus forum and Youtube.

The A229 plus cables are reliable as far as I know, and the USB-C connectors appear to be well designed. The complaints are only about the size of the cables and connectors, which makes them significantly harder to install, especially trying to get right angle connecters through car trunking.

Do you folks think it will be easy for Viofo (maybe for future cameras via the firmware) to enable and disable the rear camera through a button or voice-command?

I think they may be out of buttons! Seem to be quite a few functions hidden on the buttons these days. Maybe it could be one of the configurable buttons on the 3 button remote control.

Why do people want to enable/disable the rear camera? I can't think of a reason other than to obtain maximum image quality, but that issue does not occur on the A229 Pro/Plus...

PS. I just remembered that the USB port on my A129 duo rear camera came loose.

Mini USB were definitely the most unreliable, although they could normally be repaired, while micro USB couldn't! USB-C is much better than those two,

My guess is that you have a broken conductor on your coax cable, maybe from it being strained at the connector too often.

 

[DashCamUser123]

The A229 plus cables are reliable as far as I know, and the USB-C connectors appear to be well designed. The complaints are only about the size of the cables and connectors, which makes them significantly harder to install, especially trying to get right angle connecters through car trunking.


I think they may be out of buttons! Seem to be quite a few functions hidden on the buttons these days. Maybe it could be one of the configurable buttons on the 3 button remote control.

Why do people want to enable/disable the rear camera? I can't think of a reason other than to obtain maximum image quality, but that issue does not occur on the A229 Pro/Plus...


Mini USB were definitely the most unreliable, although they could normally be repaired, while micro USB couldn't! USB-C is much better than those two,

My guess is that you have a broken conductor on your coax cable, maybe from it being strained at the connector too often.

Thanks for your enlightening feedback. Good to see your perspective due to your experience. Here is the reason I was disabling the rear camera in Parking Mode. I found that using the Front and Interior camera used less power versus Front and Rear in Parking Mode.

I am using the BBMyCar Powercell 8 + 2 Neo extension batteries. I use the app to see how much recording time the batteries have in Parking Mode and F+I used less power than F+R.

 

[mentadent]

The cables on my A139 and A139 Pro have never been unreliable. Awkward to connect but not unreliable.

 

[Penguin573]

My partner bought me a 3ch A139 pro from Viofo Au. The connectors were so bad I couldn't get them to stay electrically connected long enough to even get it set up so never installed it. Unfortunately she threw away the receipt so couldn't return it.
I'm a reasonably handy guy and checked it wasn't an error on my part. The connectors were pushed in all the way but the slightest touch on a connector would cause it to lose contact. I tried supporting the connectors with blutack (just for trialing during setup) but no joy. Also during trialing the main unit ran pretty warm 45-50 deg C.
Glad to hear others have had some success. Happy to take on (helpful) suggestions. Otherwise I have a cheap A139 for sale, lol.

 

[Nigel]

The connectors were pushed in all the way but the slightest touch on a connector would cause it to lose contact.

To me, that sounds like you didn't push them fully in to the sockets, the last bit involves them clicking into place quite firmly, they definitely don't need Blu Tack to hold them in...

50°C is normal temperature for a dashcam in cool conditions.

 

[Penguin573]

To me, that sounds like you didn't push them fully in to the sockets, the last bit involves them clicking into place quite firmly, they definitely don't need Blu Tack to hold them in...

50°C is normal temperature for a dashcam in cool conditions.

Thanks for your reply. Yeah I really pushed them in very very hard. There was a click and they seemed like a snug fit but a little bit of micro movement when the cord flexes was enough to break electrical connection even while the cord is still clicked in. The blutack wasn't to hold the connector against the unit, it was just to try and stop the connector rocking and breaking contact while testing. Thanks for the note about the temp, that's good to know.