Can't get parking mode to work

[wtjax]

Hello all,

I have the A129 Pro Duo and HK3ACC hardwire kit but cannot get the parking mode to work. The camera turns on when I start the car, and works just fine when driving, but never records anything after I turn the engine off. I've had the camera set up for about 2 weeks now and not a single parking mode event has been recorded, even though I park in parking garages most of the time so the motion sensing should have gone off. I've double checked the fuses I've tapped into, on two separate occasions with two different multimeters, and the ones I've selected seem appropriate (1 constant power, 1 powered with the engine in the Acc state). I'm on the latest firmware, V1.1, and the parking mode seems to be configured correctly in the camera options. Any ideas?

 

[Capture Your Action]

What parking mode did you set it to? Auto Event Detection?

 

[wtjax]

What parking mode did you set it to? Auto Event Detection?

Yup should have mentioned that, sorry. Auto Event Detection is what it is set to.

 

[Capture Your Action]

When you shut off the car, does the REC button LED start to flash at some point or do all the lights turn off when you shut off the car? Do you hear any beeping as the camera transitions to parking mode? You should hear a beep or two within 3-6 seconds on the car turning off.
What do you have the voltage cutoff set to on the kit?

 

[wtjax]

When you shut off the car, does the REC button LED start to flash at some point or do all the lights turn off when you shut off the car? Do you hear any beeping as the camera transitions to parking mode? You should hear a beep or two within 3-6 seconds on the car turning off.
What do you have the voltage cutoff set to on the kit?

When I turn off the engine, there is no appreciable change in the camera - the lights stay on and don't blink, and the camera doesn't beep. After I get out of the car, the camera will record one more clip - the front camera showing whatever is in front of the car, and the rear camera showing me getting my bag out of the trunk.

The voltage cutoff is set to 12.4V, the most conservative setting. On a related topic, do you think the most conservative setting is necessary or are lower voltages typically okay?

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

 

[Capture Your Action]

What happens after the last clip of you getting stuff out of the trunk? Does the camera stay on or shut off?
It’s possible your reaching the cutoff point. Try move switch to 12V.
If the camera does not switch to parking mode after you shut off the car (no beeps), then it sounds like maybe you don’t have the yellow wire connected to an accessory fuse.
When the camera is recording normally, is there an icon of a car on the LCD screen on the top left?

 

[wtjax]

Just got back from doing some testing. To answer some of your questions:

I see what looks like a car in the upper left corner of the screen when the camera is recording normally, but it's kind of hard to tell:


After getting my belongings out of the trunk, the lights on the camera stay on for about 15 seconds, then the left one starts blinking, then after a few more (15 ish) seconds, both lights turn off.

After observing this, I turned the switch to 12V like you suggested and now I think it may be working - after turning the car off and exiting it, I went to the passenger side of the car to see what the camera was doing. After setting the switch to 12V, the left light stayed blinking and didn't turn off after 15 seconds like it did previously. It also recorded a clip of a car that drove by a short while later. After the car drove by, the left light was solid, then a short while later started blinking again. Does this sound like expected behavior for parking mode?

Lastly, do you think it's safe to leave on at 12V?

Thanks again.

 

[Capture Your Action]

Sounds like it’s working normally now.

I have my car set to 12V, but I also drive quite a bit, so I’m always giving my battery a good long charge. If your not It in a cold climate, you should be OK. If your in a cold climate and don’t drive enough to keep the battery topped off, then the battery may drain quickly.

 

[wtjax]

Great. Thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!

 

[NewbieOC]

Hello all,

I have the A129 Pro Duo and HK3ACC hardwire kit but cannot get the parking mode to work. The camera turns on when I start the car, and works just fine when driving, but never records anything after I turn the engine off. I've had the camera set up for about 2 weeks now and not a single parking mode event has been recorded, even though I park in parking garages most of the time so the motion sensing should have gone off. I've double checked the fuses I've tapped into, on two separate occasions with two different multimeters, and the ones I've selected seem appropriate (1 constant power, 1 powered with the engine in the Acc state). I'm on the latest firmware, V1.1, and the parking mode seems to be configured correctly in the camera options. Any ideas?

A few YouTube videos on installation say that on the Duo, in order for Parkign Mode to work properly, the power cord needs to be plugged into the side USB port and NOT the top power port. It is tight with the rear camer cord being there as well but a few installers mentioned this when hardwiring the car.

 

[Capture Your Action]

A few YouTube videos on installation say that on the Duo, in order for Parkign Mode to work properly, the power cord needs to be plugged into the side USB port and NOT the top power port. It is tight with the rear camer cord being there as well but a few installers mentioned this when hardwiring the car.

This will depend on when the camera was manufactured. The newest ones can be powered through either port, but older ones need to be powered directly into the cameras side port for parking mode to work properly when using the Viofo 3-wire kit.

 

[NewbieOC]

This will depend on when the camera was manufactured. The newest ones can be powered through either port, but older ones need to be powered directly into the cameras side port for parking mode to work properly when using the Viofo 3-wire kit.

I bought mine in 2019... would it make a difference in battery drain? Recently I believe it drained my battery. Battery is new. Now Im questioning the install (by Best Buy) because they did not use the tap kit I gave them, just the wiring kit. Is the tap required for optimum power usage? I have a 2008 Lexus .I posted on it but nobody replied. I just switched it to the side port today not knowing if it's the issue or not. The strange this was that Parking MOde was off in my app but the cam still recorded all parking events.

 

[Capture Your Action]

It's unlikely that powering through the mount would make any difference as far as the battery drain would go. If the kit detected voltage at the red wire below the voltage cutoff setting, then it should have cut power to the camera no matter what port was used. What voltage cutoff did you use?

Did the camera enter parking mode as soon as the car was shut off or did it take about 5 minutes for the camera to enter parking mode?

Do your parking mode files have a P at the end of them?

 

[NewbieOC]

It's unlikely that powering through the mount would make any difference as far as the battery drain would go. If the kit detected voltage at the red wire below the voltage cutoff setting, then it should have cut power to the camera no matter what port was used. What voltage cutoff did you use?

Did the camera enter parking mode as soon as the car was shut off or did it take about 5 minutes for the camera to enter parking mode?

Do your parking mode files have a P at the end of them?

Im not sure on the voltage cut off.. I didnt wire it myself.... Do you mean the voltage setting? I think he set it at 12V.
The car seems to just stay in parking mode regardless of the setting. Even if the setting is off. But there have been times I have come out and the light was flashing and when I start driving, it starts to record. But it's random. Sometimes it stays on. Maybe that is when the battery just drained. I honestly don't know what to trouble shoot. The install or the cam. I know it's not the battery itself.
I just reformated the card and didnt notice any "p"'s on any files but wasn't really looking for them. Just labels as (F) and (R). I"ll look for the "p". What does that mean if they have a "P"in the extension? Just that they are recorded while in Parking Mode?

 

[Capture Your Action]

The P at the end of the file would indicate that it’s a parking mode file.

12V setting is a little low, but shouldn’t drain your battery so far it wouldn’t start the car, unless the battery had an issue. Are you in a cold climate?

Not sure what you mean when you say “the car seems to just stay in parking mode regardless of the setting”. What setting are you referring to?

Go into the settings and make sure parking mode is on. Do this on the camera itself, not through the app.

Is there an icon of a car in the top left corner of the LCD screen after you start your car?

Also make sure that motion detection, for normal driving (not the parking mode motion detection), is off.

 

[NewbieOC]

No. Im in Southern CA and my car is garaged. A few months ago I noticed my car having a hard time starting and my cam would do a full reboot start up at random times so I figured by battery was going..... it was probably time so I replaced it last month. Ok. fine.... went out the other day and it was fully dead. WTH. My husband charged it overnight and I was then good to go. The cam is the only thing pulling constant juice and Im just not confident that it was installed the right way. Should they have used the taps I provided? and if so, would that (over time) cause the battery to drain? My elec. system seems fine on the car itself. NO other issues.
The Car Icon was not on the upper screen even though it was ON in the app. It was a Running Man Icon. I tweaked the setting within the device and now the Car Icon shows up.
Motion Det. was already OFF.

 

[Capture Your Action]

If the camera reboots at random times, that usually indicates a power supply issue of memory card issue.

I would set the Viofo 3-wire hardwire kit to 12.2V for now and see how things function. If the kit is wired correctly and working as it should, then the kit will cut power at about 12.1-12.2V (the value is usually not exact, but is usually lower than stated). Make sure it is not set to 11.8V.

Professional installers (Best Buy...etc) seem to have an aversion to the fuse taps for some reason. A lot of times they will splice into factory wiring, which I always hate to do/see when there is an alternative. Without looking at how they wired it I wouldn't know if what they did could be causing the battery drain. Make sure they have the red wire taped to an always on power source and the yellow wire taped to a power source that is only on when the car is on. Make sure the power cable is going directly into the camera, not the mount (at least for testing purposes).

So, when the camera is recording normally (your driving down the road), you should have a car icon on the LCD screen. When the camera is in parking mode (parked in a parking lot), then that car icon changes to the icon of the chosen parking mode. In the case of a stick man, that indicates you have Auto Event Detection mode enabled. If these icons change back and forth between parking mode and regular driving mode, then it would appear it's working correctly. In Auto Event Detection mode, when there is no motion sensed, then the REC button will flash. It will turn solid when motion is detected. During regular driving, the REC button should remain solid at all times.

For now, I would not rely on the app to adjust your camera settings. Make all settings in the camera menu itself. Also, be sure WiFi is off unless your actually using the app. Leaving WiFi will cut the bitrate in half, affecting the image quality and adding heat and stress to the cameras hardware.

Make sure the cameras firmware is up to date. For the A129 DUO, v1.9 is the latest.

 

[NewbieOC]

If the camera reboots at random times, that usually indicates a power supply issue of memory card issue.

I would set the Viofo 3-wire hardwire kit to 12.2V for now and see how things function. If the kit is wired correctly and working as it should, then the kit will cut power at about 12.1-12.2V (the value is usually not exact, but is usually lower than stated). Make sure it is not set to 11.8V.

Professional installers (Best Buy...etc) seem to have an aversion to the fuse taps for some reason. A lot of times they will splice into factory wiring, which I always hate to do/see when there is an alternative. Without looking at how they wired it I wouldn't know if what they did could be causing the battery drain. Make sure they have the red wire taped to an always on power source and the yellow wire taped to a power source that is only on when the car is on. Make sure the power cable is going directly into the camera, not the mount (at least for testing purposes).

So, when the camera is recording normally (your driving down the road), you should have a car icon on the LCD screen. When the camera is in parking mode (parked in a parking lot), then that car icon changes to the icon of the chosen parking mode. In the case of a stick man, that indicates you have Auto Event Detection mode enabled. If these icons change back and forth between parking mode and regular driving mode, then it would appear it's working correctly. In Auto Event Detection mode, when there is no motion sensed, then the REC button will flash. It will turn solid when motion is detected. During regular driving, the REC button should remain solid at all times.

For now, I would not rely on the app to adjust your camera settings. Make all settings in the camera menu itself. Also, be sure WiFi is off unless your actually using the app. Leaving WiFi will cut the bitrate in half, affecting the image quality and adding heat and stress to the cameras hardware.

Make sure the cameras firmware is up to date. For the A129 DUO, v1.9 is the latest.

Awesome...... Thank you soooo much for your help.... I cant even tell you....It is so hard to get a straight answer and they dont have the most accessible customer service. Yes, I do have the latest firmware and Im going to check the actual connections... from ground, accessory and battery. Thank you again! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

 

[Capture Your Action]

Awesome...... Thank you soooo much for your help.... I cant even tell you....It is so hard to get a straight answer and they dont have the most accessible customer service. Yes, I do have the latest firmware and Im going to check the actual connections... from ground, accessory and battery. Thank you again! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT!

No problem. I'm sure you'll get things sorted. Post any other questions.

 

[airflame]

I have a problem with VIOFO A129PRO-G DUO and HK3.

Camera is working fine recording with the car icon when driving, switching to parking mode when engine and door is locked changing to P icon. But working only about 30 minutes in that state. Then the HK3 turn off the camera or camera turn off. I have 1.1 version installed, camera is set up as low bitrate and HK3 is connected as it should. Yellow ACC only when engine is on, RED battery always power, black ground. When the camera is off when i check if there is a power in cable battery for HK3 and there is. I check if there is a power from HK3 to camera and there is. The camera is not working :/