Zenfox T3 Triple channel dash cams free test invitation, limited quantity

[kamkar]

These thermal paste tests also vary wildly, but i think i will go with thermal grizzly kryonaut when i put my hardware back together ( the hardware i am on now )

But it wont be anytime soon first i need to take a angle grinder to the new case, and then i need to buy materials to fill the gaps i have made,,,,,and then some.

 

[EGS]

If the EMI shield are too tall to make contact with the SOC i would rather take it to my friends house and use his bench disk grinder to take some off the EMI shield.

That was my initial thought, to shave down the edges to bring it down just enough to touch the top of the SOC, but then all the other components (sd card slot, ribbon connectors) are much higher, provably around .6mm, so the proper spacer should be used.

 

[EGS]

While a sound idea, the emi plate looks very thin. So I worry that any attempts to cut might distort the shape of the plate. Meaning it can't be mounted back on properly. @EGS can weigh in here on his thoughts.

Cutting the tin plate is not something I would do. Not unless other methods won't work

 

[kamkar]

Yeah you of course have to account for other stuff in the way of that idea, i am just throwing stuff out there CUZ i have not looked closely at my own camera, just opened it checked the GPS plug and then snapped a few pictures.

It seem like the EMI shield are a good ways larger than the SOC, i wonder if you can press that part of the EMI shield down to make contact, but that is probably going to take some setup to manually hammer parts of the EMI down and keep it flat in that area + as i can see the SOC are also offset in regard to the center of the EMI shield, so probably impossible to do anyways.

 

[SawMaster]

so the proper spacer should be used.

Best method which can easily and cheaply translate into the production line 👍 We're not going to see any better solutions implemented at this stage in the game as those will require too much redesigning and too much cost.

Hope @Zenfox_Official sees this and then realizes that his back-channel advisor isn't as smart as he thinks he is in giving workable cost-effective solutions like this one 🤣

Phil

 

[EGS]

Best method which can easily and cheaply translate into the production line 👍 We're not going to see any better solutions implemented at this stage in the game as those will require too much redesigning and too much cost.

Hope @Zenfox_Official sees this and then realizes that his back-channel advisor isn't as smart as he thinks he is in giving workable cost-effective solutions like this one 🤣

Phil

I can see that a lot of engineering and thought process went trough building this unit and it gets messed up almost at the end with a poor cooling system.

 

[HonestReview]

Best method which can easily and cheaply translate into the production line 👍 We're not going to see any better solutions implemented at this stage in the game as those will require too much redesigning and too much cost.

Hope @Zenfox_Official sees this and then realizes that his back-channel advisor isn't as smart as he thinks he is in giving workable cost-effective solutions like this one 🤣

Phil

Which is why I think using a copper plate with proper thermal paste might be a viable solution. It doesn't require a lot of extra work on Zenfox's part. I think any redesign or modification that isn't quick and easy to implement will simply be ignored.

Whomever is advising @Zenfox_Official has led him astray. A lot of thought went into the camera and seems like at the very end, someone decided to cut corners. The say the cheap often becomes expensive.

 

[EGS]

This is what I'm aiming for, once I get that copper spacer fitted successfully.
It will take me a few days though.

 

[HonestReview]

This is what I'm aiming for, once I get that copper spacer fitted successfully.
It will take me a few days though.

Did you order those copper plates / spacers from amazon or making your own?

 

[Leonauto]

Hopefully this are clear enough... Please give us your honestnthoughts.
View attachment 52501

Yes guys, this is some kind of nightmare. I was busy on the weekend and just starting to rethink what was happening here ...
Even if everything was calculated correctly in this dashcam, but this pink chewing gum is probably the first thing that spoiled everything.

Spoiler

I may be wrong, but here's what I found for pink thermal grease:
3pcs / lot HY530 PI pink thermal grease paste 10 grams for smartphone and other electrical products Heat transferring

38pcs/lot HY530 PI pink thermal grease paste compound 10 grams for smart phone and other electrical products thermal conductive|Fans & Cooling| - AliExpress

Cheap Fans & Cooling, Buy Quality Computer & Office Directly from China Suppliers:38pcs/lot HY530 PI pink thermal grease paste compound 10 grams for smart phone and other electrical products thermal conductive Enjoy ✓Free Shipping Worldwide! ✓Limited Time Sale ✓Easy Return.

www.aliexpress.com

Thermal conductivity: 2.5 W / mK
6.46 usd 😱 😡 and this is for 30 grams !!!

at the same time, the same company has another thermal grease:
13.4 W / m k HY-P13 Extreme Performance Thermal paste, 2g grease per bag

https://aliexpress.ru/item/4001157678758.html?spm=a2g0o.store_home.productList_12287765.subject_0

Thermal conductivity: 13.4 W / mK
7.74 usd for 2 grams. 🤔

Maybe this savings on a multi-layer cake and affected the overheating🙄 Although I could be wrong. Another point - a thick layer of thermal paste of several millimeters is not provided by manufacturers.

PS: Arctic Silver 5 has a thermal conductivity of about 8.7 W / mK

PPS: I got Zenfox T3 for testing three days ago (shipping with delivery lasted 33 days), and while I'm testing "on the table".
When the air temperature in the room is 29°C degrees, dashcam in the parking mode with a "Low bitrate" (other settings are default and I did not connect the rear camera), the temperature of the case in the area of the mounting platform is about 43°C, the display temperature is almost 46°C. Current consumption about 950 mA. This is a 24 hour long test.
I plan to post more detailed test results in a separate topic.

 

[Leonauto]

That was my initial thought, to shave down the edges to bring it down just enough to touch the top of the SOC, but then all the other components (sd card slot, ribbon connectors) are much higher, provably around .6mm, so the proper spacer should be used.

Cutting the tin plate is not something I would do. Not unless other methods won't work

I am a supporter of this idea:

Which is why I think using a copper plate with proper thermal paste might be a viable solution.

It is necessary to choose a copper plate according to the size of the processor, and also to select its thickness (by the size of the gap between the processor and the tin plate)

 

[HonestReview]

I am a supporter of this idea:

It is necessary to choose a copper plate according to the size of the processor, and also to select its thickness (by the size of the gap between the processor and the tin plate)

I truly think @Zenfox_Official supplier F*cked him hard. All that effort to design the product, and they cut corners where it mattered most, COOLING! From a low budget junk thermal paste to improper heat transfer from the heatsink to the CPU. Too much of a gap in the emi shield.

What a train wreck. If i were @Zenfox_Official i'd light up my supplier and make those A-holes fix their mistakes.

Nothing Zenfox does firmware wise will resolve these issues. He couldn't set the cutoff temperatures high enough cause this chip will hit ever TJ Max you throw at it under the current configuration. Only solution would be to allow user selectable cameras for park mode...but Camera even overheats when driving it seems.

 

[HonestReview]

I had to go back to my older pictures.
It is where the yellow circle is. Hopefully it is the only point on yours. Mine had only one at that corner.
View attachment 52517

Mine wasn't soldered. Just caked on with copious amounts of thermal paste... Sloppy.

 

[EGS]

Mine wasn't soldered. Just caked on with copious amounts of thermal paste... Sloppy.

So did you got the emi lid removed and soc/cpu exposed?

 

[HonestReview]

So did you got the emi lid removed and soc/cpu exposed?

Yes. Going to take some pictures. How big is the SOC / CPU? I see 15 x 15mm copper plates and 20x 20mm copper plates.

 

[Nigel]

Yes. Going to take some pictures. How big is the SOC / CPU? I see 15 x 15mm copper plates and 20x 20mm copper plates.

The bigger one has nearly twice the surface area, that is a significant increase in heat transfer, if you can fit it in somehow then you should go for the larger one, even if that means filing a little off to make it fit.

 

[EGS]

Yes. Going to take some pictures. How big is the SOC / CPU? I see 15 x 15mm copper plates and 20x 20mm copper plates.

The soc surface area is approximately 15mm x 19mm.

 

[EGS]

It would be nice to see how yours was put together. How much bubble gum put inside and how it looks after you separate the thin plate from the aluminum block.

 

[HonestReview]

Grabbing pictures off phone now

Got a bunch to post and we can decide together how to best proceed

 

[HonestReview]

It would be nice to see how yours was put together. How much bubble gum put inside and how it looks after you separate the thin plate from the aluminum block.

Show and Tell Time! .- Mine had no solder joint. Glued together. Had to pry it off. Thought I was going to break EMI shield.

I had a ton of pink bubble gum on there. Sorry Didn't take pictures of that crap. And I had to use a knife to scrape that white thermal crap from in between the heatsink and emi plate. It was hard as a rock and foamy. Went all over the place.

Cleaned SOC / CPU + Heatsink + EMI Shield with alcohol best I could.

The SOC is maybe ~18mm. Problem is those 20x20mm copper plates only come in one thickness per pack. And there are 4 or 5 different thicknesses. I dont have the cash I want to spend right now to go buy 4-5 different sets to see which thickness is right. So I'll go with the 15x15mm with different thicknesses included instead and order the Artic MX-4. I don't think we want a metal based thermal paste that like Artic Silver 5. It degrades and since heatsink is sitting on top of shield, not sure that is best idea. Thoughts?

Finally, I think it would be wise to pull back some of that shield tape (Shiny Area on EMI SHIELD), and give the heatsink a bit more surface area over the actual SOC.