Viofo A139 Pro 2 channel. stops and starts recording in < 20 deg Fahrenheit weather

aldusj99

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Hi, anyone experiencing sporadic stop-and-start recording on the Viofo A139 Pro 2 channel cameras? I've only seen this happen when the weather is < 20 deg F. weather.
Other times, it seems to be okay. thanks!
 
Have you checked that the remote camera connection is secure? That was the cause of stop-start recording on both my A139 and A139 Pro.
 
What do you mean by "remote camera connection"? Do you mean the connector to the rear camera, from the dashcam, is not loose?
 
What do you mean by "remote camera connection"? Do you mean the connector to the rear camera, from the dashcam, is not loose?
Yes, sorry that wasn't clear. I didn't know if you had either the interior or rear 'remote' camera.

I've found the connections into the camera to be difficult to push in enough that they click. It's worth unplugging and re-plugging as a first test.
 
Erratic behavior on 2 channel cameras can often be a flaky connection to the rear camera, so trying to disconnect that from the main camera to see if it work are a good idea.

I have always had a wire holder very near to my rear cameras so i dont have too much slack there.
 
The thing is, it works fine when the temperature is above 20 deg F or so. Just wondering if the dashcam isn't working properly in the colder temperatures.
 
The thing is, it works fine when the temperature is above 20 deg F or so. Just wondering if the dashcam isn't working properly in the colder temperatures.
That could well be an issue of expansion and contraction from temperture changes of metal connectors that are just barely making contact due to not being seated properly.
 
You can also try and wipe the contacts of the memory card, i have some times experienced a card would not work after copying footage off the card, but then a quick card wipe on a sleeve fixed that.

Also testing another brand camera i had issues with it booting in the "morning" in just under freezing temperatures, but then a few days later it was 2 X colder and now it worked fine, and a little later again just below freezing and then the damn thing worked just fine..
And it have been so ever since, though now it also seem like winter are over for Denmark, not even freezing temperatures at night these days.

Regarding rear camera issue, it is something easy to test just pull its plug out of the front camera and do a few tests / drives / days to see if the front camera alone are fine, it is most often a wire issue, happen much more often than i have heard of faulty rear cameras.

You could also run a test on the memory card on a computer with the card in a card reader, i have lately experienced a brand new card that was supposed to have a 80 MB/s write speed only be like 20 MB/s, doing a full format with sdfoamatter restored the cards speeds, though it was still not working in any dash cameras, only now months later have a found a dash camera that card work in aside for my DJI Osmo action camera.
Cards dying fast i have also experienced a few times, even before the Damn thing filled up 1 time, and this was back when 64 GB was a huge card,,,,, and expensive. i got both of those cards replaced just fine.

You could of course also have a defective camera, but trying all the obvious things will it make it more easy for Viofo to do a RMA for you, and if it is something simple you do not have to go thru the hassle of doing RMA / take system out of car.

SDformatter you can DL from the SD associations web page.
Another free little tool to test are H2testw, this little tool will fill your card with test files as it test read & write speeds

Formatting ( full ) or running H2testw will of course take its time, not least with a big memory card, fortunately you can do other stuff on the PC meanwhile, or do something more productive.


O and just to be on the safe side.
How are you powering the camera ? if you use anything out of the provided stuff, that might be a issue,,,,,, i have lost count how many times in the past 10 years people have come here with problems, and only after 3-4 pages of this, we found out the camera was plugged into some USB outlet in the car, and then changing to the provided source of power cured the problem.
 
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kamkar, thanks for the detailed response. I'll troubleshoot with the information that you provided.
The dashcam is powered with the provided cigarette lighter plug. Not sure if it's a power issue, as it cycles between "channel 1 recording", "channel 2 recording", "channel 1 recording.."
It hasn't happened since it was really cold one morning. I'll keep an eye out when it gets to be below 20 deg F here in NYC, and then see if I have this issue again.
 
If you use the provided 12 V plug you should be fine, it is rare i have heard of these break.
I do not have this particular model, but i did test the regular A139 and are currently beating on the A229 and A119 mini

When it fluctuate like that between 1 or 2 channels recording it is most likely a connection issue.

Funny thing i have tested multi channel systems for a long time now, and i have never personally experienced any of these issues with the rear camera, i do like the new coaxial plugs Viofo also use now, more easy to deal with VS the thicker and stiffer USB cables.
 
It’s been happening even in the warmer temperatures. It’s 50 degrees Fahrenheit today, and it’s beeping constantly and cycling between “1 channel recording” and “2 channel recording”

I am using SD card provided by Viofo, and cigarette lighter charger from Viofo.

I made sure to unplug the cable for the rear camera, and plug it back in on both ends of the cable. I made sure that the connector snapped into the connection. They weren’t loose or anything when I unplugged them.

I suspect it’s the cable.

Anything else that you recommend that I try? Thanks for your help so far!
 
It’s been happening even in the warmer temperatures. It’s 50 degrees Fahrenheit today, and it’s beeping constantly and cycling between “1 channel recording” and “2 channel recording”

I am using SD card provided by Viofo, and cigarette lighter charger from Viofo.

I made sure to unplug the cable for the rear camera, and plug it back in on both ends of the cable. I made sure that the connector snapped into the connection. They weren’t loose or anything when I unplugged them.

I suspect it’s the cable.

Anything else that you recommend that I try? Thanks for your help so far!
Have you tried reformatting the card in the camera?
 
Yes, I’ve tried reformatting the card, from the dash cam format option.
 
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