Turns on and off constantly

annoyedwithNextbase

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I was bought a 312GW for Christmas, I hard wired it with the genuine Next Base hardwire kit and the camera was working ok, well apart from always recording even with parking mode switched off, got round that by disconnecting it and taking inside with me every night.

Anyway, last weekend it started turning itself off whilst driving then turning itself back on, on and off constantly. I took it off and charged it from the mains for two hours as I initially thought it was the battery. However this didn't help, as it carried on constantly turning on and off.

Last night I returned it to the store it was purchased from who offered me a refund or a replacement, as I have hardwired it I opted for the replacement. They gave me a brand new one.

This morning as I drove to work the brand new one started doing the same thing as the last one, this time at faster intervals than the old one, what is going on?

Is there a known fault with these?

Do I return it to the store tonight and ask for a refund and steer well clear of anything made by Next Base in the future?
 
Two most common causes of problems with any dashcam are memory card and the power supply, if you changed cameras and still have the same problem and you're still using the same memory card then that would be the first logical thing to check, trying a different (known good) card can help you to rule that out as the issue or not
 
Two most common causes of problems with any dashcam are memory card and the power supply, if you changed cameras and still have the same problem and you're still using the same memory card then that would be the first logical thing to check, trying a different (known good) card can help you to rule that out as the issue or not

What would be a good known card then, to be honest I'm not really willing to spend more money, my colleague has a £10 camera from Ebay with no issues at all in over a year regardless of SD card etc.

I'll just take it back tonight and get a refund to buy a reliable brand. I'm annoyed at Which voting this model best buy when it's clearly not fit for purpose.
 
Which? compared recorded footage side by side with a load of other dashcams. In their expert opinion Nextbase recorded the best footage. One of the criteria was reading number plates.

One of the things with superior recording is that you need to have a superior medium to record it to. Most Nextbase units now require a Class 10 card with a minimum of about 50Mbps write speed.
 
I cant add more in regard to the issue than already said here, but chancing a buy on a 10 pound camera in China are a big gamble, by that i mean you can get lucky and get something that's worth the money, but in general the cheap cameras you often buy grief in camera form you can put on the windscreen.

There are very good reasons at to why some things ( from China or elsewhere ) are so cheap, mostly it go against the prime directives of dashcams which are 1: good image quality - 2: something you can depend on.
In a good camera the memory card are always the weak link, i had expensive top line brand / models go bad on me even before they filled up 1 time, and i had others i had to RMA 2 times before the 3 card which then after that have worked flawless.

When it come to it i look at dashcams like putting new seatbelts in a car.
1: you can have a good one that will work.
2: you can have a cheap one made of old nylon stockings, that look just like the factory one, but it have a load capacity of 100 kg.
 
Dont get me wrong there are reasonable priced dashcams that can do a good job. but mostly those are more than 10 £

personally i dont bother much with plate capture in day to day driving, but testing i know its hard to compare cameras unless you have then all in the windscreen at the same time.
I cant tell how often i have looked at footage and gone WTF why cant it capture plates today it did so just fine yesterday and the weather was the same, just as well some times i go WTF how the hell do it capture plates in this crappy weather.
To a degree i now suspect that dashcams are able to some times use less than favorable automatic settings, so comparing i always record with all the cameras at the same time, its the only right thing to do, at least if you do not have a LUX meter and be 100% sure the light levels are actually the same, cuz it seem to me you can not rely on human eyes to determine that.
 
Hi again @annoyedwithNextbase

I've only just come across this thread after responding on the other one, sorry for missing it.

With this exact fault happening with two separate units, I recommend calling us on 02920 866 429 to discuss this with us. Its extremely strange to see the same fault with two units and we can help identify it.

As above, the SD card choice can have a dramatic and strange effect on a Dash Cams performance.

If you aren't able to call please email: support@nextbase.co.uk or Live Chat www.nextbase.co.uk
 
Hi again @annoyedwithNextbase

I've only just come across this thread after responding on the other one, sorry for missing it.

With this exact fault happening with two separate units, I recommend calling us on 02920 866 429 to discuss this with us. Its extremely strange to see the same fault with two units and we can help identify it.

As above, the SD card choice can have a dramatic and strange effect on a Dash Cams performance.

If you aren't able to call please email: support@nextbase.co.uk or Live Chat www.nextbase.co.uk

Hi,

Just went out at lunch tried without the SD card same thing happened so nothing to do with the SD card, tried with power direct to camera still happening.

Are you open on Saturdays to call?

The only thing I can think is either I've had two faulty cameras or the fuse has blown on the hard wire kit, but that I can't check until I am at home with my toolbox though, however the blue charging light is on so whilst it is on, so there's still power in the cable I'd have thought.
 
OK - thank you for checking @annoyedwithNextbase

Yes we're open everyday: M-F 9-8, Sa 9-6 and Su 10-5, I can chat here outside of those hours if needs be too.

We can check through everything with you whenever you call, there is the possibility it isn't providing enough power through the mount to charge.

There are lots of possibilities and we'll get to the bottom of it Saturday with you.
 
I cant add more in regard to the issue than already said here, but chancing a buy on a 10 pound camera in China are a big gamble, by that i mean you can get lucky and get something that's worth the money, but in general the cheap cameras you often buy grief in camera form you can put on the windscreen.

There are very good reasons at to why some things ( from China or elsewhere ) are so cheap, mostly it go against the prime directives of dashcams which are 1: good image quality - 2: something you can depend on.
In a good camera the memory card are always the weak link, i had expensive top line brand / models go bad on me even before they filled up 1 time, and i had others i had to RMA 2 times before the 3 card which then after that have worked flawless.

When it come to it i look at dashcams like putting new seatbelts in a car.
1: you can have a good one that will work.
2: you can have a cheap one made of old nylon stockings, that look just like the factory one, but it have a load capacity of 100 kg.


Next Base is supposed to be a good one, well is priced as if they are, so why all these problems with SD cards and power? Clearly not a good one.!

If you bought a video camera then afterwards the manufacturer said "oh it only works with certain SD cards" it would be on BBC watchdog so why the laxness with this industry. The camera should work regardless of SD card, we don't see these issues with mobile phones etc...
 
Mobile phones store the data many times slower than a Dash Cams, it's not comparable.

It isn't so much that only certain brands will work, the card needs to be sufficient in speed. Some brands put more emphasis on speed when manufacturing and designing the cards.

An analogy would be: purchasing a battery powered item, say a torch, the manufacturer recommends the spec of battery required but it's down to the customer to choose which one they want. If they choose newly designed fantastic Duracell batteries the torch will shine bright for longer periods of time. If an unbranded very very cheap battery is used it will likely die far sooner. The choice of battery chosen by the customer has no baring on the torch manufacturer.

We're here to help and advise were we can though, we also have our own SD card if a customer is really stuck and doesn't know which one to choose.
 
OK - thank you for checking @annoyedwithNextbase

Yes we're open everyday: M-F 9-8, Sa 9-6 and Su 10-5, I can chat here outside of those hours if needs be too.

We can check through everything with you whenever you call, there is the possibility it isn't providing enough power through the mount to charge.

There are lots of possibilities and we'll get to the bottom of it Saturday with you.

Thanks.
 
I agree with you on the memory card compatibility, to me too a memory card is a memory card and should work in anything if it can sustain the speeds of read / write that thing needed.

Personally i have quite a few different brands and models of memory cards i test with, and thank god it is rare with the things i have tested a find memory card issues.
I just did with the SJ7 Star action camera, apparently it do not like to work with the Trancend 400X memory cards of mine, though they should do that fine in regard tho the write speeds coming off the SJ7 camera.
Some brands appear to tweak their cameras so they just work with their own brand cards or at least a very few, and thats just BS to me so not something i will ever consider.
 
Mobile phones store the data many times slower than a Dash Cams, it's not comparable.

It isn't so much that only certain brands will work, the card needs to be sufficient in speed. Some brands put more emphasis on speed when manufacturing and designing the cards.

An analogy would be: purchasing a battery powered item, say a torch, the manufacturer recommends the spec of battery required but it's down to the customer to choose which one they want. If they choose newly designed fantastic Duracell batteries the torch will shine bright for longer periods of time. If an unbranded very very cheap battery is used it will likely die far sooner. The choice of battery chosen by the customer has no baring on the torch manufacturer.

We're here to help and advise were we can though, we also have our own SD card if a customer is really stuck and doesn't know which one to choose.

Sorry just frustrated as I had no issues until last week and then get it replaced and the same thing is happening. Have you not thought of selling the camera with a preinstalled NextBase SD card to stop all the SD issues?
 
I know the speed i get putting files onto the U3 card in my phone ( 40 MB/s write speed on the card ) well vi the USB 3.0 connection to my computer ot take +12 hours to transfer 3 Gb of photos, taking the card out of my phone and putting it in my USB 3.0 card reader i can do the same transfer in minutes.

Dunno if thats just the case with cheapo Chinese phones like my UMIDIGI Z
 
Yes of course - this has its own failings then though.

A customer (say me) who drives around 10 minutes to work would need 128Gb but if that was installed then I'd be paying more than necessary for the item.

Some brands appear to tweak their cameras so they just work with their own brand cards or at least a very few, and thats just BS to me so not something i will ever consider.

I agree, that sounds at best not fair.
 
did you try bypassing the hardwire kit and using the cig plug power lead and see if it still has issues?
 
it started turning itself off whilst driving then turning itself back on, on and off constantly
I am interested to see this thread as I have had the same symptoms with my 312GW, except this was with the the standard cig lighter power cable. After doing a number of tests I have definitely identified the source of the problem as the power cable. A replacement has been provided by Nextbase and this has cured it, for now at least, but my daughter who also has a similar-aged 312GW has just reported exactly the same symptoms on hers.

The problem seems to be a fault developing in the power cable making it unable to supply enough current to power the cam and charge its battery. I would be interested to hear from any other users who have experienced this type of failure as I believe it to be a basic design or manufacturing fault.

As a temporary fix it is possible to run it from a USB car phone charger. I measured the cam's current consumption at around 300mA so a 500mA charger would probably be ok but maybe safest to go for one with a 1Amp capability.
 
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