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

[HonestReview]

@EGS had solder on his EMI plate. Mine did not. Problem is that would hold the plate in place but not the copper heatsink pad I ordered..

 

[jokiin]

@EGS had solder on his EMI plate. Mine did not. Problem is that would hold the plate in place but not the copper heatsink pad I ordered..

EMI shields are normally soldered in place, not unusual

 

[HonestReview]

EMI shields are normally soldered in place, not unusual

One solution I'm thinking about is maybe get Artic Thermal Epoxy and Permanently adhere the Copper Plate to the EMI shield. Then could just apply thermal paste to the actual SOC. Put dab solder on EMI shield to keep in place. Same with dab solder on Heatsink to keep in place on EMI Shield?

Just trying to think aloud.

 

[jokiin]

the shields are normally soldered to the PCB

 

[HonestReview]

the shields are normally soldered to the PCB

I don't see any possible room to use clips. Maybe others are seeing something I'm not. I wonder if using Artic Silver epoxy to glue the copper plate to the emi shield would be an issue? And simply apply Thermal paste to the SOC? Could solder down the emi shield with a dab of solder. Far as heatsink goes, could tape in place or dab of solder on emi shield to heatsink, too.

Thoughts? I didn't calculate this issue grrrr.

 

[HonestReview]

Thinking I might go this route. Not as efficient as thermal paste, but pretty sufficient.

Conductive Silicone Pads with 6.0 W/mk Thermal Conductivity

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07X82MNF2

Thoughts @jokiin?

 

[jokiin]

Thoughts

not a product I have any experience with

 

[Nigel]

Thinking I might go this route. Not as efficient as thermal paste, but pretty sufficient.

Conductive Silicone Pads with 6.0 W/mk Thermal Conductivity

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07X82MNF2

Thoughts @jokiin?

Not sure that is any better than the pink goo?
It is too thick to replace paste.

I think you are best off with normal thermal paste and go with EGS's idea to use epoxy on the corners, for both copper plate and heatsink. Solder instead of the epoxy would be good but I don't expect you would succeed.

My suggestion is to put the heat sink in place and once it is well seated, mix a bit of epoxy and put a tiny drop on each corner. Once it sets it won't go anywhere but will be fairly easy to remove if nece

I still think that clamping the sandwich together with a couple of carefully positioned pop rivets would work well, but HonestReview's copper plate is not big enough to use two, and one seems a bad idea.

 

[Nigel]

Thoughts? I didn't calculate this issue grrrr.

So far, the only person to come up with a working answer is Zenfox
Maybe the criticism of their answer was premature?

 

[jokiin]

So far, the only person to come up with a working answer is Zenfox
Maybe the criticism of their answer was premature?

What was the answer?

 

[CaptureYourAction]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dashcam/comments/hohr02

This is a post on reddit. Maybe he hasn't actually tried the camera yet. Not sure why the link posted like this.

 

[jokiin]

This is a post on reddit. Maybe he hasn't actually tried the camera yet. Not sure why the link posted like this.

same user going by the OSD text https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/zenfox-t3-3h-review-triple-dashcam-for-ride-sharing.42484/

 

[jokiin]

clicked the first link in the 'review' to get to the page and you get a nice popup

 

[Nigel]

This is a post on reddit. Maybe he hasn't actually tried the camera yet.

Maybe he tried it not at midday on midsummer's day, and used a compatible memory card, not everyone lives in Arizona and needs water cooling for their dashcam to run in parking mode

 

[SawMaster]

Certainly not the depth found here. Won't comment on whether that may have been intentional or not. Lots of folks go jumping into the deep end of the pool before they can swim well To me anyway, it does seem more a promo thing than wanting to better the product

Phil

 

[kamkar]

I have just put my T3 back together in its somewhat altered state, and it seem to be working just fine with the 2 internal cameras at least.
I will have to go for a short test drive later as my friend have pushed my visit to his place back until tomorrow.

Still have a few "issues"
1: putting the caps in the lower part are a no go as the front camera take up too much space there, so for now i have put the caps over the the heat sink behind the T3 print on the front of the unit.
2: I have put a piece of fairly hard foam in between the back of the LCD and the heatsink, just to make sure there are good contact between the heat generating and transferring surfaces.
This might hamper airflow so i might have to downsize that solution

I have soldered the heat sink to the EMI shield, which was not easy as a thick big thing like the heat sink you really need a more beefy soldering iron than mine ( soldered at the edges, there are of course still thermal compound in between the 2.

Zenfox might be able to fully solder the heat sink and EMI shield together just like they have soldered heat spreaders on CPUs to the actual processors.

VS

Between SOC and EMI you of course still need a regular thing like thermal paste, but soldering the EMI shield and heat sink together i think are a usable solution, that might not be all that expensive to implement.
Assuming you can do it sort of like you do spot welding, but instead of melting the 2 parts in a small place ( spot ) instead melt the tin to solder the 2 parts together over a larger surface ( entire heat sink )

 

[kamkar]

BTW that shielding on the ribbons to the 2 cameras, well i have not connected those to the EMI shield,,,,,, at least not yet.

 

[HonestReview]

Maybe he tried it not at midday on midsummer's day, and used a compatible memory card, not everyone lives in Arizona and needs water cooling for their dashcam to run in parking mode

No one used water cooling. He was comparing the manual to that of a pur water filter he bought. FYI: 2/3rds of the world get hot in summer. You've been ignoring this fact time and time again. The camera malfunctions for almost everyone but you. Congrats for living in the other 1/3rd of the world that never sees more than 20C.

 

[HonestReview]

I think what I'm going to do is wait for the Copper Pad to arrive on Tuesday. Assess the situation and see if there's a way to Solder that Copper pad to the EMI shield. If so, I'll order thermal paste. If not, then I'll return the copper pad and reassess the situation.

Every scenario I run through my mind leads me back to putting solder joints.

 

[HonestReview]

I have just put my T3 back together in its somewhat altered state, and it seem to be working just fine with the 2 internal cameras at least.
I will have to go for a short test drive later as my friend have pushed my visit to his place back until tomorrow.

Still have a few "issues"
1: putting the caps in the lower part are a no go as the front camera take up too much space there, so for now i have put the caps over the the heat sink behind the T3 print on the front of the unit.
2: I have put a piece of fairly hard foam in between the back of the LCD and the heatsink, just to make sure there are good contact between the heat generating and transferring surfaces.
This might hamper airflow so i might have to downsize that solution

I have soldered the heat sink to the EMI shield, which was not easy as a thick big thing like the heat sink you really need a more beefy soldering iron than mine ( soldered at the edges, there are of course still thermal compound in between the 2.

Zenfox might be able to fully solder the heat sink and EMI shield together just like they have soldered heat spreaders on CPUs to the actual processors.


VS


Between SOC and EMI you of course still need a regular thing like thermal paste, but soldering the EMI shield and heat sink together i think are a usable solution, that might not be all that expensive to implement.
Assuming you can do it sort of like you do spot welding, but instead of melting the 2 parts in a small place ( spot ) instead melt the tin to solder the 2 parts together over a larger surface ( entire heat sink )

I'm confused by your pictures. You show a computer processor.