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

You order MX-4 or Artic Silver 5? I've got MX-4 on order.
Btw, have you separated the emi lid from the heat sink yet? If so, how did the glue/paste look on yours after the separation?
 
Not only the pink chew gum was a problem, the white Oreo center stuff from the sandwich was/is bad too, in the manner they had assembled along with the nylon tape and air pockets in between. No wonder the pcb board was getting hotter that the heat sink and after 20 minutes later the heat sink will catch up and both maintaining the same temperature.
Now the heat sink seems to absorb the heat much faster.

I've got that hard white paste all over my floor. I scraped it off with a knife and that crap went everywhere. Still finding pieces. Should have done over a garbage can.

What I surmise is that the pink thermal paste, with it's low conductivity, didn't transfer heat from the SOC to the shield very well. Meaning the SOC got super hot. Made worse by the shield being lathered in a very low quality white thermal pad, making it hard from the heatsink to draw away heat. So pretty much, the camera was guaranteed to fail for almost anyone.

At this juncture, I'm dismayed @Zenfox_Official has all but disappeared from this thread. My goal now is to see what I can do to optimize the T3 and get a workable unit. As even if @Zenfox_Official and his product doesn't succeed, I think the camera is something I would continue to run in my vehicle. Hinging upon the fact I can make the T3 run semi reliably.
 
Btw, have you separated the emi lid from the heat sink yet? If so, how did the glue/paste look on yours after the separation?

Per above, it was a hard white paste from a thermal pad that I had to use a knife to scrape off. I didn't take any pictures of the white crud or pink paste. However, I wiped the pink paste off and cleaned the SOC and shield with isopropyl alcohol. I then got that white crap with a knife, and cleaned the EMI Shield and Heatsink with alcohol. Now, all my surfaces are prepped for when the copper plate and MX-4 paste arrives.

We'll see what happens. Estimated delivery on both isn't until Tuesday.

Both the pink paste and white thermal pad were very low quality. Zenfox's manufacturing facility or his design team screwed him over on the execution. Great Lenses, Solid Construction case, all hindered by small amounts of money on crappy cooling.
 
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Per above, it was a hard white paste from a thermal pad that I had to use a knife to scrape off. I didn't take any pictures of the white crud or pink paste. However, I wiped the pink paste off and cleaned the SOC and shield with isopropyl alcohol. I then got that white crap with a knife, and cleaned the EMI Shield and Heatsink with alcohol. Now, all my surfaces are prepped for when the copper plate and MX-4 paste arrives.

We'll see what happens. Estimated delivery on both isn't until Tuesday.

Both the pink paste and white thermal pad were very low quality. Zenfox's manufacturing facility or his design team screwed him over on the execution. Great Lenses, Solid Construction case, all hindered by small amounts of money on crappy cooling.
Mine will be in by Tuesday along with the fan.
I will try without the fan first to see how it will perform. If it fails, then I will figure out how to wire it.
 
Mine will be in by Tuesday along with the fan.
I will try without the fan first to see how it will perform. If it fails, then I will figure out how to wire it.

The fan has a plug that needs to go to the pcb board to operate. Where do you intend to draw power from for the mini fan?
 
I got a very thin coat of that compound and did some light testing last night I have noticed a faster heat transfer to the heat sink than before but it is not ready yet for a real life testing. I have ordered some of the arctic paste so I can replace it and hope for the best after that.
Yes, important to realise that the camera will still be the same temperature, but the processor will be cooler. Hard to measure that when it is reassembled, other that to see if it works in real life testing, a temperature display on the video would be useful for this.
 
The fan has a plug that needs to go to the pcb board to operate. Where do you intend to draw power from for the mini fan?
I have to determine that yet. I don't want to robe energy away from the capacitors. I have some tracing to do.
The plug that comes with the fan will be removed and soldered directly to the source.
 
Yes, important to realise that the camera will still be the same temperature, but the processor will be cooler. Hard to measure that when it is reassembled, other that to see if it works in real life testing, a temperature display on the video would be useful for this.
Yes, yes and yes. And about the temperature info on the video would be quite helpful now more than ever but I have the feeling Zenfox has abandoned us for good, there fore we can't count on that.
 
Both the pink paste and white thermal pad were very low quality. Zenfox's manufacturing facility or his design team screwed him over on the execution. Great Lenses, Solid Construction case, all hindered by small amounts of money on crappy cooling.
No need to keep repeating this nearly every post!

I suspect it passed the temperature tests and met the requirement specification, until the EMI shielding was "improved". Yes somebody did a bad job on that, but the camera is overall pretty good, as you said, great lenses, solid construction, good features, and one of the very first dashcams to provide 3 channel recording. Mistakes are made in most developments, so give them a chance to correct that one mistake and we will have a great camera.

The cameras were sent out for testing, the purpose of testing is to find the problems, problems are expected to be found, and then fixed. Nobody has been "screwed over", it is just part of the process, the end result is what matters.
 
but I have the feeling Zenfox has abandoned us for good, there fore we can't count on that.
No, Zenfox will be back, I suspect he/she is just a bit busy on other developments while the problems we have found on this one are sorted by the team.
 
No, Zenfox will be back, I suspect he/she is just a bit busy on other developments while the problems we have found on this one are sorted by the team.
I hope they do and provide us with more tools in firmware for more testing.
 
Yeah probably hard at work, seemingly some things went wrong here and need to be fixed.

Just read in the first F1 race of the season Mercedes have massive electrical noise issues with their gearbox getting worse and worse as the race went on.
So seem to me like EMI problems can hit just about anyone.
 
Just read in the first F1 race of the season Mercedes have massive electrical noise issues with their gearbox getting worse and worse as the race went on.
So seem to me like EMI problems can hit just about anyone.
Yes, but those were great EMI problems to have, made the racing far more exciting than the normal Mercedes disappear into the distance and the TV cameras only bother to look again as they cross the finishing line! Even brought some controversy and penalty points with Hamilton knocking Albon off the track! Hope they don't manage to fix them before the next race 😀 Formula 1 is one continuous test of the new hardware & software.
 
Yeah.
I dident catch the race, cuz how can i with no TV.
But "my boy" are not competitive so no need to get exited.
 
No need to keep repeating this nearly every post!

I suspect it passed the temperature tests and met the requirement specification, until the EMI shielding was "improved". Yes somebody did a bad job on that, but the camera is overall pretty good, as you said, great lenses, solid construction, good features, and one of the very first dashcams to provide 3 channel recording. Mistakes are made in most developments, so give them a chance to correct that one mistake and we will have a great camera.

@EGS asked me about it as have others. So I've repeated myself to answer their questions.

It's to be seen whether the EMI shield is the issue or not. I'll know next week. I'm first going to try SOC/CPU ---> Artic-MX4 --> Copper Plate. More Artic MX-4 to EMI Heat Shield. And then I've removed some of the tape on the EMI to allow the heatsink better contact over the shield and SOC/CPU. Course the heatsink will have thermal paste connecting it to the shield.

If the camera still fails, I'll try heatsink direct to copper plate.

I won't assume anything at this level. I know for a fact there's a design flaw and whether or not the simple fix is better cooling is to be determined.

one of the very first dashcams to provide 3 channel recording. Mistakes are made in most developments, so give them a chance to correct that one mistake and we will have a great camera.

The Vantrue N4 offers 3 channel recording, albeit the T3 is the first 3 channel with low bitrate parking mode. Unfortunately, the camera overheats during regular recording and parking mode. So we've got an issue. Design flaws happen. It's how the manufacturer reacts and corrects that matters. I'm a person that works on actions. Actions speak louder than words. @Zenfox_Official's absence is worrisome. If I just spent a large amount of money on a product and found there was a design flaw, I'd be gathering as much data and input as possible. You don't get second chances on first impressions!

The cameras were sent out for testing, the purpose of testing is to find the problems, problems are expected to be found, and then fixed. Nobody has been "screwed over", it is just part of the process, the end result is what matters.

Unfortunately, the camera was sent out for testing and offered for sale! I realize the urge to recoup one's investment is strong. No one likes being out a lot of money in the beginning stages of a business venture. Unfortunately, you have to crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. I would be less concerned if we were the only people who had their hands on the product, but we are not. I would also be less concerned if @Zenfox_Official was regularly here posting updates about what's being tested successfully or unsuccessfully to resolve the problem.

As we know by this stage, a firmware update may be needed, but it isn't going to provide a solution.
 
Yeah probably hard at work, seemingly some things went wrong here and need to be fixed.

Just read in the first F1 race of the season Mercedes have massive electrical noise issues with their gearbox getting worse and worse as the race went on.
So seem to me like EMI problems can hit just about anyone.

The difference is Mercedes has acknowledged the problem and is making it known their fixing. We're left in the dark, and now have resorted to our own bench tests. Whatever, I find it kind of fun to do a tear down and reassemble of the camera now that I have it in pieces. Inner geek in me has been neglected far too long.
 
No, Zenfox will be back, I suspect he/she is just a bit busy on other developments while the problems we have found on this one are sorted by the team.

Forever the eternal opportunist! Enjoy living to 100 😎. I'm a realist, I'll die young. I always base my judgement upon actions, as talk is cheap.
 
I have to determine that yet. I don't want to robe energy away from the capacitors. I have some tracing to do.
The plug that comes with the fan will be removed and soldered directly to the source.

Ah skills I would love to have, but lack. Never messed with replacing capacitors, rerouting circuits, or tapping into an existing circuit short of hardwiring cars with Dash Cameras. Meh, my technical skills could be far superior if only I have enough motivation. I lack that it seems.
 
I turn 54 in August, and the pension age in Denmark are 67 now, and i dont expect to see that.
Which is only good cuz the age pension are only half of the early retirement pension i get now ( for some reason ) and i cant see how i would be able to sustain a life at that amount.
 
I have soldered additional components to computer parts like motherboards and GFX cards,,,, all in order to supply a higher voltage to some parts.
Soldering a wire to 1 leg of a small IC, that do take a steady hand, good eyes, and a fine tipped soldering iron.
BUT ! i have to say electronics are not my strong side at all, Ohms law i just know by name.
 
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