EB1304 MOB low temp operation

[Scruit 0]

The EB1304MOB Mobile DVR has a configurable temperatur range that it will work withng - too hot or too cold and it will shut down to protect the hard drive.

 

Well, it can get down to -10C around here and I was looking at getting a Hitachi Endurastar hard drive (good down to -30C).

 

THEN I discover that I cannot configure the EB1304's low temp below 0C. Nor can I apparently turn off the temp sensing feature.

 

I have a ticket open with Aver for advice on the low temp operation...

 

What are my options here?

 

1) Disable the low temp sensing, if that option is available and approved by Aver.

2) Heat the DVR while the car is off (I've heard of camera heaters in enclosures?

3) Leave the DVR running 24x7 by using a second battery - the heat generated by operation would keep it warm.

 

 

 

 

I'm looking at swapping my small 'tank' battery (keeps the input voltage at 12v while the engien is cranking) for a 12v lawn tractor battery. The setup would be the same - the car charges the tank battery, and the battery powers the DVR. The DVR can run constantly (motion sensing instead of 24x7 recording) and in the event I don't drive the car for a few days the DVR will eventually flatten the tank battery, but the car's main battery is still fine. If I know I won't drive for days I can turn off the DVR manually.

 

With the DVR running 24x7 it will keep itself warm, hence no problems with temp settings. I will also record non-driving events like parking lot dings or break-ins.

[CollinR 0]

You can possibly hack the temp probe, you can possibly put a resistor in series, this way you can fool it into thinking it's 30* warmer then it really is. You would probably want a bypass for summer operation, just a toggle to bypass the resistor.

 

This depends on how they did the temp probing though.

 

I would also be concerned about other components, I kind doubt it's there to protect solely the harddrive.

[Scruit 0]

You can possibly hack the temp probe, you can possibly put a resistor in series, this way you can fool it into thinking it's 30* warmer then it really is. You would probably want a bypass for summer operation, just a toggle to bypass the resistor.

 

This depends on how they did the temp probing though.

 

I would also be concerned about other components, I kind doubt it's there to protect solely the harddrive.

 

The only moving parts are the hard drive and cooling fan(s). If the Hard drive is rated in kelvin I'm not worried about solid state devices running at -5C.

 

Having said that, I wouldn't want to void the warranty.

[Scruit 0]

Aver support said the DVR cannot be configured to run below freezing. This is a huge handicap for a mobile application in a counmtry like the US! It's only december and the temp this morning was -10C. This means the DVR cannot be relied upon for 4 months of the year.

 

I did notice that the DVR warmed up very quickly when it was powered up (has a temp readout on the front) and it went from -4C to 1C in about 2 minutes. I have a followup questin to Aver asking if the recording will automatically restart when the DVR warms up.

[Scruit 0]

Didn't hear back from Aver on the auto-restart question, but I did observe that my DVR started off at -1C after work, and it warmed up to 1C and started recording automatically after about one minute - no interaction was required from me.

 

Although I'd perfer that I can set the DVR to a lower cold temp, I do think their cold protect implementation is well executed.