Viofo HK3 kit fails!

bobcat said:
I don't think this is the cause to be honest (live in the south and experienced these issues all the time). I think it's just glitched chips they used on some of these hardware kits and it is a matter of luck or something, I don't know. I went through 3 of those and they all had the same issue. Even when I tied both power and signal wire to run on engine start I still have occasional issues when the camera does not turn on right away but would later start-up after 15-20 minutes of driving (my car is new and definitely does not have any battery or voltages issues).

At this point I'm thinking to design my own circuit and just replace the board, but I need to beat my laziness for that to happen lol.
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I figured it wasn’t as easy as blaming the weather lol. Hopefully the new kit they send me works because I don’t feel like re-running the wires again lol.
 
Since it was hard to find decent info in google searches, I too had 2 failed units from Viofo and wanted to share my findings. I have since switched to the

REDTIGER F7N Dash Cam Hardwire Kit​

to power my A139 Pro Starvis 2 with the rear cam and it has worked well. I have not had success with the always on battery connection, so parking mode is on first attempt a no-go, but otherwise it's functioning as expected. I was lucky enough to have open fuse slots so I didn't have to snip, but it would be very easy to do. I also, in case anyone thinks I just didn't know how to deploy the Hk3-c, verified that all fuses worked with the taps I used by verifying functionality with existing runs and with another dashcam, so this wasn't user error as far as I can tell.

If I get parking mode functional I'll let everyone know.
 
xflapx said:
Since it was hard to find decent info in google searches, I too had 2 failed units from Viofo and wanted to share my findings. I have since switched to the

REDTIGER F7N Dash Cam Hardwire Kit​

to power my A139 Pro Starvis 2 with the rear cam and it has worked well. I have not had success with the always on battery connection, so parking mode is on first attempt a no-go, but otherwise it's functioning as expected. I was lucky enough to have open fuse slots so I didn't have to snip, but it would be very easy to do. I also, in case anyone thinks I just didn't know how to deploy the Hk3-c, verified that all fuses worked with the taps I used by verifying functionality with existing runs and with another dashcam, so this wasn't user error as far as I can tell.

If I get parking mode functional I'll let everyone know.
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Redtiger uses yellow as the battery wire and red as the accessory wire. Viofo uses the opposite. Maybe this is your parking mode issue?
 
Ty07allstar said:
I figured it wasn’t as easy as blaming the weather lol. Hopefully the new kit they send me works because I don’t feel like re-running the wires again lol.
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Great suggestion! I did see that in the diagram so I knew it going in but for the sake of double checking my work I’ll absolutely take a look.
 
Interestingly enough I checked and the fuse slot wasn’t hot so I switched to another and now I have power at all times but it’s not bouncing to parking mode. Anyways I know this is now hijacking a bit so for anyone that wanted something more reliable this *could* be an option. I realize my experience is anecdotal so take it as you will.
 
I just tried to connect my A129 duo, and it keeps shutting off with my older non hk3 kit, could this mean it's not getting enough power? When use the cigarette power, it doesn't seem to shut off? I'm thinking getting the hk3 kit, hopes it would give it enough power but I'm not entirely sure but I running out of options.
 
MoneyT8 said:
I just tried to connect my A129 duo, and it keeps shutting off with my older non hk3 kit, could this mean it's not getting enough power? When use the cigarette power, it doesn't seem to shut off? I'm thinking getting the hk3 kit, hopes it would give it enough power but I'm not entirely sure but I running out of options.
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If the camera can work well with the car charger, then the issue is related to the HK3 kit. If you can confirm it has been installed correctly, then your kit may be defective now. It is better to get a new one.
 
Thank you guys, my camera is finally working after buying the hk3 kit. My question is now is, how do I know if/when parking mode is working? Does it show the red recording light when my car is off? Do I have set hk3 to a certain voltage?

Is it safe to set my dashcam to record 24/7? I can assume it would drain my car battery faster.
 
My HK3 has over the last 2 weeks started to drain the battery so the cut off appears not to be working. Have the cam setup with auto event detection so nothing too fancy. Have it set to 12.2v which in the past would cut off at 12.0v which was perfect as if the battery goes any lower the car would start to complain.

I've tried pulling the power to it to "reset" it but that doesn't resolve the issue. Is there anything that people can suggest I try please?

Bit disappointed to be honest that its developed a fault within 6 months as I got it just last Xmas especially as it now looks like I'll need to pull it out and get it replaced.
 
IAmATeaf said:
My HK3 has over the last 2 weeks started to drain the battery so the cut off appears not to be working. Have the cam setup with auto event detection so nothing too fancy. Have it set to 12.2v which in the past would cut off at 12.0v which was perfect as if the battery goes any lower the car would start to complain.

I've tried pulling the power to it to "reset" it but that doesn't resolve the issue. Is there anything that people can suggest I try please?

Bit disappointed to be honest that its developed a fault within 6 months as I got it just last Xmas especially as it now looks like I'll need to pull it out and get it replaced.
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I did some testing on my work bench when they first came out and found an odd problem where the voltage level would affect the way the kit behaved.

The odd behaviour happens when the car battery is floating below the voltage cut off of the hk. The kit didn't shut off. The other odd thing was the kit i tested seemed to draw current all the time so if the car is left standing for days the voltage of the battery will decrease.
Many don't seem to experience this because they drive their car everyday so the battery never gets low.

While i only have antidotal results it might help give you some things to consider.

I was working on a circuit to completely disconnect the kit when the battery voltage level goes low. That got put on the back burner.

Cheers
 
IAmATeaf said:
My HK3 has over the last 2 weeks started to drain the battery so the cut off appears not to be working. Have the cam setup with auto event detection so nothing too fancy. Have it set to 12.2v which in the past would cut off at 12.0v which was perfect as if the battery goes any lower the car would start to complain.

I've tried pulling the power to it to "reset" it but that doesn't resolve the issue. Is there anything that people can suggest I try please?

Bit disappointed to be honest that its developed a fault within 6 months as I got it just last Xmas especially as it now looks like I'll need to pull it out and get it replaced.
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If your battery is close to End of Life, i.e. you had it for 2-3+ years I'd suggest setting a voltage cut off to higher range as otherwise it might degrade the battery even faster (of course assuming hk kit is not from the faulty batch)
 
bobcat said:
If your battery is close to End of Life, i.e. you had it for 2-3+ years I'd suggest setting a voltage cut off to higher range as otherwise it might degrade the battery even faster (of course assuming hk kit is not from the faulty batch)
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This could be your (first) customer. :)

Normally i agree setting the voltage level high but if the kit is like the one i tested it will drain the battery.

Cheers
 
bobcat said:
If your battery is close to End of Life, i.e. you had it for 2-3+ years I'd suggest setting a voltage cut off to higher range as otherwise it might degrade the battery even faster (of course assuming hk kit is not from the faulty batch)
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I've tried this as one of the first things but it seems it never cuts the power to the dashcam, so resulting in a low voltage battery which the car then complains about.

As I said I've tried resetting it and also left it disconnected for hours in case it might have been something heat related but there's no real change that I've seen.
 
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