K2 is heating up badly.

It's been quite a while since my last update. Happy to say the K2 is still working 100%.

I have kept the DVR "in the open," in front of my top case. With this location, it's easier to view the status lights, and to access the SD card for copying videos. No reason to move the DVR to under the seat.

I saw this post linked from somewhere else so excuse the late addition.

I was concerned about heat as well with my K2. I have the packet of owners manual for the bike and other paperwork in a pouch and such sit over it under the seat. My K2 sits in its own custom mount to keep it in place. I chose to rotate the K2 so the metal faces up (the metal is the heatsink for the processor on the K2). I then cut up some 40x40 self adhesive heat sinks to the back. This gives more surface area to keep it cool, but also keeps an air gap between my paperwork and anything else and the top of the K2. Also a perk is that nothing can easily bump into the power button when the bike is off... I've twice accidentally turned the system on when the bike was in my garage and caused my battery to drain...

I've used this mod it in the desert in 100F weather without issue, I think there is OK air flow under the seat on my '19 Yamaha Tracer 900GT but still wanted to add this as an option. You can get adhesive heatsinks for under $1 on amazon.

Months-later update: K2 made it through the rest of summer and fall, no more random shutdowns. Problem solved for sure.

HOw can I get INNOVV to send me two new style power cubes? Both of my K2's are brand new and newly installed, and BOTH overheat less than 25 mins into our rides with symptoms EXACTLY as described here in this thread. I just checked our cubes and both are the old style. I want INNOVV to send me two of the new styles and I'll send them back these old style units. As of right now neither of our DVR systems are functioning worth a crap and Im super not happy about it. These things are not cheap and seem to be of a poor design with all the issues we're having here... We are in Bahrain where temps get 37 to 41. Hot but still well inside the operating range of these units. Any help you could lend would be awesome. Thanks

It is possible that the overheating/random shutdown issue is sorted. As you may have read elsewhere, I removed all the old equipment last weekend. I also got my completely new K2 system (with revised power converter design) installed on the bike. I'm hesitant to say it's definitely fixed until I get in at least another week or two of rides, including extended ones in hot conditions, using the power converter instead of USB power. But, on Tuesday I did just that, without the DVR being shut off (yay!). Literally the first time since I bought the system, that I rode over an hour in really high temps (around 95-97 °F), using the power converter, and no random shutdown! This is exciting!

Not sure one ride means much, but I rode around town for about an hour after work today. Temps were in the mid- to high-90°F range.

I'm happy to say the K2 stayed on. Using the power converter, not USB power.

I'm unhappy to say GPS was logged almost at random. Didn't start until about halfway through my trip, then dropped out for a few minutes near the end. GPS logging is totally FUBAR with the v0.70 firmware. I think I'll just wait for Innovv to fix it with the next firmware update. Not sure I can be bothered to roll back to v0.57 or whatever.

Early results are promising. It looks as if the new power converter can indeed handle heat. By the way, here are the "old" (right) and "new" (left) power converters together:

You'll notice 2 big differences:

1) as Innovv mentioned above, orientation of label is flipped

2) wires come out differently, "vertical" orientation on new converter, as opposed to "horizontal" on old.

I am dealing with some other stuff right now but hope to have the new system installed & go for some rides next week.

I meant if I wanted to monitor power converter output while it's powering the DVR, then that would require cutting into the cable. While I could monitor the power converter output without it being connected tot he DVR, I'm not sure it would behave the same. The power converter may be looking for the load of the DVR for example. Might not be "happy" if connected only to a zero-resistance load (multimeter).

Even so, probably worth investigating. Trivial to set it up.

@ Frostie at Innovv's request, I uploaded the log files for analysis by their engineers.

I looked at the logs. While there is plain text in the header, a large portion of each file is binary. I’m told that the latter can only be interpreted by the Novatek SDK.

Unless the logs capture communication between the DVR and power converter, the info will likely not be helpful. According to my tests, the problem was with the power converter, not the DVR.

Measuring input voltage from converter would require cutting into its cable. I’d rather not do that. Innovv sent me a whole new system, and the vendor has requested return of the old equipment. I prefer to leave it intact, so they can do their own testing, if desired.

Speaking of the new system, I haven’t installed it yet. The power converter seems near-identical to the last 3. The only change is that the new one has “claw” terminals crimped to the black and red wires. That’s a welcome update, as the previous ones had bare wire ends - good move, Innovv!

Before I install the new system & remove the old one, I intend to test the new power converter. If it keeps working even when it gets hot, I’ll go ahead and install in the “usual” fashion.

Ran another experiment outdoors this afternoon. Installed the special logging firmware (v0.71) that Innovv has provided.

As with previous experiment, used a spare set of cameras, no GPS antenna, power converter (cube) for power, fed by a 12V wall wart.

The power cube malfunctioned and shut down the DVR non-gracefully within just a couple of minutes of exposure to direct sunlight. Wow. Wasn't expecting it to happen that fast, I thought I would get maybe 30-45 minutes of recording before a shutdown.

I manually powered the DVR back up (silver button) and it immediately shut down, just as I've previously seen with the system installed on the bike in warm to hot weather.

I saved the log files from both sudden shutdowns.

@Frostie I am now running your v0.70 with the higher bitrate front cam (20 Mbit/s front, 12 Mbit/s rear @ 1080P). I did some testing in the garage and guess what, I got the power module to malfunction by heating it.

I had the K2 hooked up in "bench" mode in my garage, using the power converter ("cube") plugged into a 12V "wall wart" supplying 12.25V.

It ran fine like that for 3 hours, in warm temperatures, I'd estimate the range at 80°F-90°F (27°-33°C or so).

Then I put the power converter on top of a thick moving blanket and pointed a hair dryer at it.

In less than 2 minutes, the DVR was shut down. Might try just hooking up the system in my backyard, this afternoon when it's very hot out. Bet I can get it to do the same thing. This would seem to confirm that the power module malfunctions are not due to some weird thing happening on my bike. Rather, the power module just does not handle heat very well.

Official v0.67 (10 April edition) did not fix the GPS problem. Here's yesterday:

15 minute ride to work - no GPS data until minute 13 (13th clip since I'm doing 1 minute clips).

15 minute ride home several hours later - no GPS data on any clip.

WTF.

System is still staying on, at least. USB power all the way.

Removed power cube from bike for off-bike testing. Using a wall wart. It supplies only 12.25 V but that's close enough for testing.

Flashed to v0.70 firmware (Frostie's w/boosted front camera quality) for more testing.

You mean this post? https://www.innovv.com/forum/innovv-k2/gps-is-not-gps-it-is-beidou

This can safely be dismissed as uninformed speculation. There were lots of reasons for Innovv to support GPS, almost none to support Beidou, zero reason to "fake" GPS support. Observed K2 behavior is not explained by reliance on the Beidou constellation vs. GPS.

If you really wanted to settle it, you could look for the GPS IC in the DVR. Should be identifiable.

Now that I have confirmed the K2's power supply problem, I will experiment with older firmwares. Rolling back to v0.57 today to see whether it helps with GPS logging.

I need to start noting which firmware I was running at what time, to track down this problem.

Went for a ride with both red and yellow wires connected to battery + terminal, bypassing accessory fuse panel.

Temperature was 95°F+. DVR was non-gracefully shut off ~45 min into ~1 hr 15 min. ride.

No GPS data was logged until ~15 minutes after system power-on. Weird. But, all clips had GPS data until shutdown. Last clip(s) was, as expected, corrupted due to non-graceful DVR shutdown.

It seems clear that the power cube cannot handle heat.

But, it is not as simple as the power cube shutting down entirely when it gets hot. I stopped and removed the seat some time after noticing the WiFi signal was gone (DVR shutoff). Power cube's blue LED was still on.

Went back to USB power for DVR. Dunno what's up with the GPS logging (or lack thereof). Guess I'll try a "hard" reset w/recessed switch on DVR.

Later today I'm planning to hook the DVR back up on the bike, behind (but not under) the seat, but run USB power from my 12V USB adapter in the front. 

So you copy your home test to your bike, what is a good idea. If the K2 runs there without shutdowns, I think we can be sure, that, in some way, the power module is the cause of your problems.

Nevertheless, I think you will have to repeat the home test using the power module as a countercheck.

I'll have to measure the wall wart's output.  Seems like the test will only be meaningful if my cube is getting fed 14.5V, as on my bike.

14.5V would be more realistic, but if this is not possible, I think 12V is better than nothing. If the power module fails at 12V, it will fail at 14,5V, too. If it does not fail at 12V, we have to think about how to get 14,5V for the test.

Do you know someone flying rc models? LiPo Charger can often be switched to a "power supply" mode with a freely adjustable voltage.

Or, If you want to spend some money for the test, you could also google for "step-up voltage regulators" like this one.