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

[kamkar]

Yes that mesh are long gone, also opened up some existing holes today and made more new ones.
The top row of venting holes are more or less useless, right on the other side of the plastic are the cabin camera, so if it is venting there in is not doing it as good as it could.

I have also removed the plastic foam i had pressing down on the heat sink, it was not the slightest melted or anything, but i still removed it as that give 2.5 Sq cm or so more open space inside.

Anyone installed that FW that popped up on the zenfox page yesterday ?

 

[EGS]

I just installed the new fw a few minutes ago, reset to factory settings and then reconfigured my own. Now I will have a little bit later to see what happens. Fingers crossed.

Would be nice if you could share some pics after the extra venting holes.

 

[kamkar]

I can do that, hang on

 

[kamkar]

It aint nice, had to use my dremel clone for it all, as i forgot my power drill are at my sisters place, otherwise i would have drilled nicer looking larger holes.
BUT ! i am not here for the looks.

 

[EGS]

That should definitely provide better ventilation by what you did. You can even add more in this area... right on top side of the heatsink end.

 

[kamkar]

Yeah.
This will do for now, but i left my tools at my sisters place, cuz then i have a excuse to go get them, and push her into making food for me.
And she are just about 1 week into her 4 week summer break.

Also been thinking if i could open the hole the cabin camera sit in, wide you cant do anything of course, but maybe up and down i can enlarge it to make more air escape around that lens

 

[HonestReview]

Well the "Promising Results" are not so promising. Car been sitting outside a few hours. Interior Camera has disabled, but the Front and Rear Camera are still recording as of now. This is on the new firmware.

I am going to let T3 run and see how long before it quits. And this is a fair comparison since the Viofo and T3 are both on suction mounts. So if the T3 quits and Viofo Still runs, we've got our answer.

Honestly, I don't see this camera as "fixable". Bandaid Solutions, Yes. Fixable, No.

Once I complete this test, I'll reopen the T3 and remove the meshing for "better airflow" if anyone thinks that'll help.

 

[kamkar]

I have been thinking if this housing are suited for hardware like this.

But hard to tell, you really need a more scientific approach to this, with the environment and measuring tools that come with that.
What we are doing are just swatting at flies.
Maybe Zenfox is quiet as they are hard at work with more substantial solutions. ( been a while since he was on this forum )

3X remote system, and with a substantial sized main unit, 2 - 3 X of what you see in current remote systems.

 

[Nigel]

So if the T3 quits and Viofo Still runs, we've got our answer.

What was the question?

We are not expecting a 3ch 2K camera to cope with heat as well as a 2ch 1080 camera.
If you want to record 3ch 2K in any conditions then I suggest installing 3x Viofo A119 V3...

 

[HonestReview]

So the limitation appears to be my car battery with 2 cameras running for 3.5 hours as I have been doing these tests and not driven enough to recharge battery. Anyway, I came out and both cameras were shut off with the Low Battery Message on my console. Meaning voltage shut them off.

1. Viofo A129 Duo on Suction Cup
2. T3 (Melted Guinea Pig) mounted on Suction Cup + Modded with Copper Shims + Mx-4 Thermal Paste

Outside temperature: 31C
Temperature on Digital Car Gauge in Sun: 40.5C

Results from Today:

1. T3 was on for 3 hrs 30 mins Running. Interior disappeared after 2 hours and 10 minutes of running. Front and Rear Camera ran for another 1 hr and 20 before car battery shut it off.

2. Front + Rear Viofo A129 Duo ran for 3hrs 30 Mins before shutting off due to battery.

What I need to do now is retest without modded camera on suction cup to see how the results look. That'll be another day. Must drive car some to recharge battery.

 

[kamkar]

just did a drive, with some idling too so the T3 got to record some, and after formatting the memory card, and the sun setting and temperature down 2 degrees to 21 deg C, well again the T3 decided to work flawless.
Or that is, i have not looked at the memory card as it is in the camera in the car, but no beeping indicating a stop of recording so i am confident.
Pretty sure the again functioning T3 have nothing to do with the holes i made in it, or for that matter the lower temperature, i think its to do with the memory card being wiped before the drive.

 

[EGS]

I just came back fro my driving to the store and so far no issues with the new firmware and no heat shutdowns. Ambient temperature wasn't bad today (88F) and cloudy.

 

[runtohell121]

So no news from Zenfox...? Haven't been using it much as its too unreliable.

 

[EGS]

So no news from Zenfox...? Haven't been using it much as its too unreliable.

Not a single courtesy word from them in here for several weeks...

 

[HonestReview]

Removed the sticky mount off my windshield. Going to put the suction cup in its place today with the unmodded camera attached. Will run the test again with unmodded camera and see how long things last. I suspect the unmodded won't do nearly as well as the unit with the MX-4 and Copper plates. But we shall see how long I get before it goes suicidal and overheats. Will also install latest firmware on this camera, too.

I wish @Zenfox_Official didn't blow us off. Would be nice if @Zenfox_Official would send me out another unit, since the one I had melted. All in the name of trying to help find solutions.

O well, I guess we're being more brutally honest than he wanted to hear. I've always run by the motto, don't ask for someone's opinion unless you want to be told the truth.

 

[kuoh]

Let's be honest here, you got 2 units for free, took it upon yourself to modify and damage one, all the while constantly proclaiming it's unreliable, unusable and unfixable, yet you now want another one? Good luck with that.

KuoH

...Would be nice if Zenfox_Official would send me out another unit, since the one I had melted. All in the name of trying to help find solutions.

 

[HonestReview]

Let's be honest here, you got 2 units for free, took it upon yourself to modify and damage one, all the while constantly proclaiming it's unreliable, unusable and unfixable, yet you now want another one? Good luck with that.

KuoH

Well that unit was oddly assembled anyway. No solder to hold EMI shield. EMI shield wasn't snapped in place. Not a huge biggie but quality control was lacking. None the less, I am responsible for the rivets on the interior camera breaking. My fault 100%. The camera housing melting, well that was unintentional. Apparently the copper shim did TOO GOOD of a job dispersing heat, albeit in a single spot. Don't know until you try something.

Why a second unit? Well yes, I think the camera is "unfixable" in it's current design (factory). However, the unit I modified with two copper shims under the EMI shield + a copper shim base under heatsink, did pretty well today. When mounted on a suction instead of the glass, that unit held up 2 hours with interior camera and 3.5 hours with Front + Rear on a brutally hot day. My car battery gave out before the unit's Front + Rear Cameras. So much better results than before. Some mods and changes might increase that time frame.

I doubt there's anything we can do to make this camera fully functional, but our mods can at least give it the best chance of succeeding.

FYI: @Zenfox_Official gave up on us. I expect nothing from him. We gave our opinion, he didn't like it, and has gone elsewhere. No sweat off my back. I have no stake in his company's success or failure. We were all tasked with giving our opinions, and we came across major flaws.

Would you have preferred we all lie and saying everything works 100%?

 

[EGS]

Would be nice if @Zenfox_Official would send me out another unit

 

[SawMaster]

I just came back fro my driving to the store and so far no issues with the new firmware and no heat shutdowns. Ambient temperature wasn't bad today (88F) and cloudy.

I think that any cam would be functional; at that temp, but this does show that it's working and that has value


I think that @Zenfox_Official should at least publicly thank you all here for your extreme efforts with the testing even if he chooses to not implement any changes. You folks have gone far and above what usual "beta testing" does in not only discovering an issue but in also solving it in a way that could be implemented into production without much added cost if any. That is a lot more than he would get from anyone else anywhere else and I salute you even if he won't

Phil

 

[HonestReview]

I just came back fro my driving to the store and so far no issues with the new firmware and no heat shutdowns. Ambient temperature wasn't bad today (88F) and cloudy.

During regular driving, I rarely experienced shutdown issues. Leaving the car parked and outside is when most problems occur. Your vehicle is getting airflow either through AC or Windows down. So the car isn't "Hot Boxed" and the camera isn't going to overheat.

What you and I have both shown is that with modifications, things can work better. We'll never get acknowledgement here, but we have shown proof of concept. Your Copper shield probably covering and protecting the thermal sensor. My Design (2 shims side by side on the SOC) and copper shims under heatsink showed promise.

Either way, I think anything we're doing here is merely for our own benefit at this point.