Innovv K7 Issue

[fatbloke]

Hi, I feel ur pain mate. I’ve been trying for 2 years now to get mine working (Z900rs), I’ve replaced every component & rewired it twice. I’ve also spent a fortune on every variation of sd cards, following the correct procedure every time and yet it will not work. I have the same issues as yourself in that on initial switch on it works as it should but within seconds of pulling away the green light starts to flash slowly. There are no files recorded or saved.

If you find an answer, pass it on…

[Hans]

Hi Aaron,

It is possible that the K7 wiring is picking up an interference signal from the engine wiring somewhere. This can happen if wiring runs parallel to engine wiring that carries more power when the engine is running. For example, wiring for the alternator, ignition, etc.

It is also possible that if you have twisted the K7 wiring into a loop, it can act as an antenna and receive an interference signal from your engine.

What is the battery voltage when the engine is idling? Is it too low? Or is there a large peak/dip in the voltage during starting?

Perhaps you are able to power the K7 from a separate battery while leaving the K7 on your motorcycle. If the problem does not occur, you need to investigate the power supply to find the cause.

[Aaron]

Hi Hans,

Thank you for getting back to me. So tonight I carried out as many checks and tests as I could. Which has resulted in me stripping down the motorbike and re-tracking the camera wiring to avoid any electrical interference and well as re-doing power wiring, testing the system using an external power supply, and trying a few more SD cards just to be double sure of everything.

The conclusion of all these test are as follows:

If I have one camera connected to the Innovv K7 system (doesn’t matter if it is the front or the rear camera) once I start the engine the green LED on the remote control stays solid and the camera can be viewed on the Innovv app. Everything seems to work correctly. I would need to take the bike for a test ride to check if this single camera setup works over a long period of time but it works longer than 5 minutes with the engine running.

As soon as I connect a second camera (either the front or the rear camera) the green LED on remote starts to flash and both the camera views on the Innovv app goes black. With both cameras connected during engine start up the fault takes the usual 10-30 seconds to happen. If I connect the second camera with the engine running already the green LED starts blinking almost straight away.

Have you any ideas what this could be?

Thanks

Aaron

[Hans]

Hi Aaron,
So it looks like one of the cameras is defective.
If you swap both cameras one by one, front and back, and you can be certain that one of the cameras is defective, you might be able to claim it under warranty if the warranty period has not yet expired.

[Aaron]

Hi Hans,

I bought the system in September so it should still be covered by the warranty. Do you think that the 5v supply to one or both of the cameras is breaking down under load? It’s strange that the camera only goes faulty when they are both connected. Each camera works fine individually and both seem to work fine together when the engine isn’t running. Once the engine starts and the voltage goes up to 13.6v the camera system seems to fault. Does the Innovv system have any issues with lithium-Ion batteries? My bike has a lightweight battery from BMW.

Thanks

Aaron

[Hans]

Hi Aaron,

It could be the power module, but you will only find that out if you replace it.
However, after reading back your findings and what you have tested, I am leaning more towards a problem with the K7.

In principle, a lithium-ion battery should not be a problem. The type of battery does not matter. What is important is the voltage and power that can be delivered. But even with a lightweight BMW battery, that shouldn’t be a problem.

You may be able to claim a new K7 under warranty. Should the same problem occur with this new K7, it is clear that the malfunction is being caused by your motorcycle, and you will have to look for a solution there.

[treborbmw]

I had a problem similar to this. I’ve had the K7 fitted for nearly a year with no issues, then one day, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed the slow flashing green light a few minutes after riding the bike.

I ended up removing the SD card so I could see what was happening with the files.

It looked like everything had been recording normally up until about 3 or 4 weeks early, since then it would normally produce a normal file after setting off of about 3 minutes long (or was it 5 minutes, I can’t remember what I set it to), thereafter the files were shortened to a few seconds. Further investigations made me think this started happening once the SD card was full, and it had started overwriting the old files.

I reformatted the card, and so far it appears to be working normally again. I’ll now monitor it and see what happens when the SD card is full again. If it occurs again at this time, then there is an issue with the overwriting process.

[Hans]

Hi Robert,
It is possible that if you have inserted the SD card into your computer once, it can no longer be processed correctly by the K7. Sometimes, changes may occur in the file management settings, resulting in the existing files being handled differently.

Therefore, my advice is that if the SD card has been read in a computer, you should reformat it using the Innovv app when placing it back into the Innovv camera. This ensures that the file configuration is set up correctly for the Innovv camera.

If loop duration is set, the oldest recording should be overwritten to make room for the newest recording. If loop duration is not set, recording stops when the SD card is full. In that case, no old recordings will be overwritten.

[treborbmw]

Hi Hans,
Thanks for your response.
I thought I’d sorted the issue, but I noticed the other day that the green light is back to a 2 second flash.
I tried reformatting the card using the K7 setting menu, but still no joy, when I look at the recorded files see that they are only recording for a minute or so, then stopping. Then a few minutes later may start recording again. I removed the card and had a look at it in my computer, although I formatted it in the K7 it shows that it is exFAT.
I have a feeling the card that INNOVV supplied (a Samsung 512GB card) is faulty. I’ve just fitted a spare SanDisk 64GB card and formatted it in the K7, I will try it tomorrow to see if it works.

Cheers

Bob

[Hans]

Hi Robert,
I am curious to hear the further outcome.
It is possible that the SD card is the cause of the problem.
The 2-second blinking may be due to the G-sensor being set too sensitively. This results in unintended protected videos.

[treborbmw]

Well, it turned out the SD card isn’t the problem as it is happening with the replacement SD Card also.
The symptoms of this fault are that the DVR records both cameras initially, producing files of differing duration, i.e. I had the recordings set to 5 minute duration, but it would record about 3 pairs of files (1 pair being front and rear camera recordings), with each pair being of differing durations of 1 to 2 minutes, and then it would stop recording (green camera light flashing on the remote control) until it was switched off and on again, then the same would happen. Interestingly, on the last file recorded the video would freeze, but the sound would continue for anything from 3 seconds to 10 seconds before stopping.

Today, I was out with a friend who also has a K7, he also had problems with his in the early days. A totally different fault in that his would just not power on, or sometimes it would just suddenly power off (the fault turned out to be a faulty switched live wire). He contacted INNOVV Tech support and they led him through various tests, one of which was to reset the unit by holding down the button on the remote control until all the lights went off, the DVR would then reboot. Just after we set set off I waited until the Green Camera light started its 2 second flashing sequence, telling me it had stopped recording, and then I tried this reset. Lo and behold, it appeared to work, the green camera light came on and stayed on for the full hour we were riding.
Unfortunately, when we stopped for a break and set off again, the fault came back. No problem, I’ll carry out the same reset using the remote control. Again, it all appeared to work OK for the next hour. This became the pattern for the rest of the day. Every time we stopped, I had to reset the device to get it to work again.

At this point I was convinced that the fault had to be with the DVR as it was obviously working OK when the device was reset on the move.

It was only when I got home that I got a chance to have a look at what was actually recorded. I found that every time I did the moving reset, it did start to work, but only for the rear camera, there were no recordings from the front camera at all. From this I deduce that either the front camera is faulty, or the channel for the front camera in the DVR is faulty.
Sometime this week I will try swapping over the cameras and see if the fault follows the camera or if it stays with the DVR channel.
Hopefully, I am getting nearer to solving this!

[Hans]

Hi Robert,
Keep us posted. Thorough and systematic troubleshooting sometimes takes some time, but it can certainly pay off.

[Aaron]

Hi Hans,

So just to follow up this thread in case it helps anyone else. I took the bike out for a 2 hour ride and the K7 worked for the first time, recording everything from start to finish of the journey. I am not saying the problem is completely solved until I get a few more journeys done without incident but it would appear that the issue has been resolved.

I completely removed the system from the bike. Due to the way I mounted the front and rear cameras their location had to stay the same but I ran the wiring for them a different route around the bike. I looped the excess wiring for the cameras under the pillion seat away from any high voltage cables or consumers. I also looped the excess wiring loosely to prevent the antenna issue you mentioned. I moved the Innovv ECU from it’s location to under the pillion seat as far away from any high voltage cables or consumers as I could manage. I connected the earth supply to a different earth point on the bike frame to prevent any earth ripple interference from the alternator. Any of the wires that ran close to the battery or main battery cables I wrapped in faraday cloth tape to prevent interference.

I’m not sure which of these may have solved the issue but while I had the system de-installed I decided to do everything I could think off.

Fingers crossed it behaves itself from now on.

Thanks

Aaron

[Hans]

Hi Aaron,
Let us know if the K7 continues to work well. And should the malfunction occur again, let us know as well. Even though everything is connected correctly, a ‘high-voltage cable’ from the motor can cause problems.
And if the K7 continues to function well, we wish you lots of fun with the K7.

[treborbmw]

After a lot of faffing about I think I’ve isolated the fault to the front camera, it only fails to record when this camera is connected.
The rear camera works fine on either DVR channel when connected on it’s own.
The recordings fail every time whenever the front camera is fitted on it’s own to either channel.

I was surprised how hot the DVR gets!

Time to have a chat with Innovv.

• This reply was modified 1 week ago by  treborbmw.

[Hans]

Hi Robert,
Report the camera to Innovv for a warranty replacement.
It is possible that the DVR is getting warm. The housing also acts as a heat sink. Therefore, ensure that the DVR is not enclosed and can dissipate its heat properly. The DVR may get warm, but it should still be touchable. If the DVR is too hot to handle, something is wrong. It is possible that the DVR is getting warmer than normal due to the defective camera.

[treborbmw]

Hi Hans,

I sent an email to Innovv this morning, thanks. I believe they are in Asia (Hong Kong?) so not expecting anything until tomorrow morning at the earliest.

The DVR is located under the seat, there is air around it, but obviously no airflow. There are not many places to put it on a R1300GSA. It’s hot, but it is touchable.

Cheers
Bob

[treborbmw]

Innovv are sending me a new camera and a Remote Control.
(I mentioned during the fault report I sent them that I wasted several hours fault finding when the DVR kept rebooting itself, making me think I had a faulty switched +Ve of battery connection. It turned out the button on the Remote Control had stuck in, once released it all was fine, so I was surprised when they said they’d send a new one.)

So overall, a good result, but I’m not looking forward to stripping most of the front of the bike to replace them!