I purchased 2 Innovv K2 units last year and installed them on my Ducati Monster 1200s and my wife's 1299 Panigale S. And boy was I ever disappointed. They down right sucked. Neither unit would stay on for longer than 15 mins before overheating. First thought it was the power module, so Innovv replaced them with their updated power cubes. Again same issue. They die and quickly. Moved them from under the seat to where they get direct air, and same... Didn't change a thing. I then tried to use direct USB to power the DVR's. Again works for 15 mins and then the DVR units themselves would get so hot that it was uncomfortable to hold the DVR units - CLEARLY an overheating issue with the units.
Almost $700 spent and wasted on a substandard product... CRAP product actually. SUPREMELY disappointed in these units. I could understand one unit being bad, but both doing EXACTLY the same thing? - Design is $&*%!!!
Innovv advised installing the bottom of the units against a metal surface, basically so the bike itself acted like a qazi heatsink.... REALLY?!?! Where is this even possible on a sports bike or naked like my Ducati Monster? There's no metal surfaces to attach it to - thats not also a heat source.
So I did the next best thing. I moved the DVR's out from under the seats to an area where they would get direct airflow. On my Monster, thats directly on top of my dash. Bottom side down, overheats still. Bottom side up with extreme airflow passing over it... Same story. It overheated in about 15 mins (or less) depending on the time of the year. For my wife's 1299, I relocated both the DVR and the power cube to the air damns in her tail section. EXTREME airflow... Still overheated. USB power... Still overheated just like my Monster, in almost exactly the same timeframe.
Granted I live in Bahrain where temps here reach 120 degrees fahrenheit. But shouldn't the units be rated for 140? Innovv claims they are, and swears up and down they passed their "testing", but I think that's total BS to be honest. Im sure these units are probably pretty good in Europe or some other place where temps never get super hot. But here in the Middle East, they're absolute rubbish! Reading through the forums, Im not the only one thats had similar issues with theirs. One chap even cut his bottom case and installed a 12v fan over the DVR's CPU to keep it cool. --- Whats the bloody point of purchasing a supposedly high-end DVR for your motorcycle when it wont work unless you mod the crap out of it? Either Innovv's quality control in manufacturing sucks, or Innovv is out right lying about their DVR's ratings.....
My unit on my bike the rear camera even went out. It's not the camera, I switched it to the front input on the DVR and the video was acceptable. However the rear is a total pink color (when it's actually on and recording which isn't very long).
Verdict? I de-installed them both and they now live in my junk drawers. What an utter and complete waste of money!
Now that the K5 is released, I see Innovv has addressed many of the concerns of their previous units, and I REALLY REALLY want DVR on my motorcycles!!! But before I pull the trigger and potentially give this company any more of my money (wastefully), I would like to know from real people, who actually use the K5, if they've experienced any heat issues or their DVR's ceasing to record video, or reports of anything overheating?
Can someone please help me here? I don't mind spending money on quality kit. I just want to be dang sure that Innovv has fixed their overheating issues before I shell out for the K5. It looks like they're still using the same DVR body design for the K5 as they did for the K2, and if this is truly the case, Im VERY concerned the overheat issue will persist.
Full disclosure: I never tried returning the K2's. I was (and still am) way to pissed off with the company to deal with them anymore. But if the K5 is promised to be better I'm maybe willing to give them one more shot.
Thanks for your help and input! I look forward to reading the replies!
THanks for the feedback. I really am interested in real world use in austere environments, not just a bench test. I REALLY want DVR on my motorcycles. If this K5 could truly address and solve the heat issues, I would purchase 4 of them. One for each of our motorcycles. However that's nearly $2,000 on a gamble.
I might pick up one and install it to see, but I will be supremely upset if I end up wasting almost $400 again.
Hi Douglas,
regarding the K2, I did some temperature tests in the past and got to nearly the same result as you. At temperatures of around 55°C / 130°F, the K2 (at least my test device) failed to write to the SD Card. Testing the SD Card itself, it handled 70°C without any problems. So I is/was a problem of my test K2.
Please see here
https://www.innovv.com/forum/main/comment/5f01f660206f5a002d87b9b0
Regarding the K5.
I was one of the K5 Reviewers and because of the above mentioned experiences with the K2, I also tested the K5 at higher temperatures of around 60-65°C for aprox. 45 minutes. And it did not show any issues during the test.