Micro SD Card won't latch

[PaekSukis]

Hai. I just came back from work and my A139 beeps saying there's no sd card in the slot. The sd card was ejected from it's slot. Luckily I was able to find it.

The first time it happened I think was a year ago. I went to the distributor and they exchange it to a new unit. Now it happened again.

Have any of you encounter this kind of problem? Is it because the camera got really hot because of parking mode?

 

[Panzer Platform]

Even though your A139 may be out of warranty, Viofo still might be able to help.
It won’t hurt to submit a ticket and requests assistance;
Discount on a replacement?
Discount on a newer model?
Etc.
“You don’t get what you don’t ask for” lol

Submit a ticket

support.viofo.com

 

[Nigel]

How often do you take the SD card out?
If it is only when it self ejects, once a year, maybe take it out and reinsert it a couple of times a year...

I've not heard of other people having similar issues, sometimes people get it stuck, or can't get it to latch in, but I've not heard of self ejecting before. Temperature may have something to do with it, I'm sure the metal holder expands more with heat then the card does, so it may gradually work itself out over a year.

 

[PaekSukis]

Even though your A139 may be out of warranty, Viofo still might be able to help.
It won’t hurt to submit a ticket and requests assistance;
Discount on a replacement?
Discount on a newer model?
Etc.
“You don’t get what you don’t ask for” lol

Submit a ticket

support.viofo.com

Alright. I'll try send them a ticket. Maybe this is a new issue for this unit. Hopefully can use it to improve their upcoming model.

 

[PaekSukis]

How often do you take the SD card out?
If it is only when it self ejects, once a year, maybe take it out and reinsert it a couple of times a year...

I've not heard of other people having similar issues, sometimes people get it stuck, or can't get it to latch in, but I've not heard of self ejecting before. Temperature may have something to do with it, I'm sure the metal holder expands more with heat then the card does, so it may gradually work itself out over a year.

I only took it out when there's a new firmware updates released. So, it's not that often.

I did some googling, there are other dashcam brand and raspberry pie that have this issue. So, on their newer model, they didn't use spring loaded mechanism, but use friction instead.

I might want to try fixing it, but I could find a teardown version of A139. Already tried to fix my A129 pro and it didn't end up well.

 

[Nigel]

I might want to try fixing it, but I could find a teardown version of A139. Already tried to fix my A129 pro and it didn't end up well.

If you are not extracting the card regularly, maybe put some tape over the slot, then if it does try to escape, it is not going to go flying.
Not sure if tape will cause heat issues, I suspect not, but since you are in a hot place, don't use more than necessary.

there are other dashcam brand and raspberry pie that have this issue. So, on their newer model, they didn't use spring loaded mechanism, but use friction instead.

Maybe most people here remove their cards too often for this to happen, but I'm not surprised that it can happen on the raspberry pie.
Not sure that friction locking is good for a dashcam, there are a lot of vibrations in a car, and heat could still work it out of position over time, a door over the slot seems a better idea, there are some dashcams that cover the slot with doors or rubber bungs.

 

[PaekSukis]

Hey. I already fixed it. Just tear the camera open. It's fairly easy and not messy like A129 pro because the heatsink are glued with the board.



But accessing the sd card slot is limited due to heatsink being on top of the card slot. So I have to go from the side. I raised a piece of J shaped metal holding the locking mechanism, put the sd card in and jammed a piece of plastic zip ties to hold the card in locking position.



Then, just put back all of the components but make sure to put the board at an angle because the sd card is in the slot.

Now the camera is working fine. The only downside is I can't take out the sd card anymore. Hahah.

On the other hand, it is much easier to just put the card and just tape it without disassembling the camera. But I just want to make sure the card doesn't move due to vibration or impact.

 

[Nigel]

The only downside is I can't take out the sd card anymore. Hahah

Can you still pull it out with some small pliers? Or is it now locked in place?

 

[PaekSukis]

Can you still pull it out with some small pliers? Or is it now locked in place?

Yes I can pull it out if I want to. But if I want to put it back, I have to disassemble the whole camera again