In response to our review of the Garmin Dash Cam 45 (shown above, left) it was drawn to our attention that we had missed a rather significant problem; in particular, the units suffer from premature thermal shutdown. In simple terms, if they get hot, they turn off and/or show warnings that a user has to dismiss, which could be dangerous while driving.
Of course, neither Garmin nor anyone else would recommend interacting with your Dash Cam while driving, as that would be silly. However, the whole idea of a dash camera is to record what’s going on, and if it shuts down, it’s not much good.
We read a number of poor reviews on Amazon, and while some referred to cases of user error (“It doesn’t stay powered on after I’ve just unpacked it from the box” — yes, it’s not charged yet), others referred to finding the camera shutting down while driving. Less than ideal.
We reached out to Garmin and asked about the issue. Unsurprisingly, they’re aware of it, and have already released a software update to address the issue. We downloaded and installed it this morning, and it was a fairly easy affair.
- Download the Garmin Webupdater from their website.
- Plug in your Dash Cam 45 / 55 and load the app.
- Follow the steps to download and install the update.
In all, the update process took about 5 minutes, and that includes fetching the camera from the car. It’s not difficult, and though (being winter in Sydney) we’ve not had a chance to test whether the update actually works, we’re assured by Garmin that it resolves the issue.
Here’s hoping we get some warm days soon (ha)!
Just bought a Dash Cam 45 and after a week, it shut down today while driving. This thing is junk.
I’ve had mine for well over 12 months with no issues whatsoever despite it being one of the hottest summers on record. The only issue I have had was the power plug coming out of the car socket – not the camera’s fault
I have updated my Garmin Dash Cam 55 to Software version 2.7. Since the upgrade I’ve got the following issues: – SD card intermittently becomes unreadable: I get error message saying that SD card (SanDisk Ultra 64Gb) is not supported by the camera! – “Ghost” voice commands get recognized while playing music or talk radio: Cam randomly starts Travel lapse recording, takes a picture or anything on the voice menu – Red LED indicator (that is always on when recording) turns off intermittently. At that stage, I have no idea if recording is working – File transfers via app/Wi-Fi a… Read more »
Hey Tom. Thanks for the feedback here. Running the same version on my Dash Cam 55 as well. I haven’t experienced any SD card issues as yet. I’ve got a 32GB SanDisk Class 10 card in there, if memory serves. Ghost voice commands I had before the update as well, and when I’ve paid close attention, I’ve heard things that are somewhat similar to “OK Garmin” when it’s activated. However, I agree — the voice feature is very jumpy. Haven’t noticed issues with the red LED indicator. As for file transfers, that’s a real sore point — they are simply… Read more »
Hi Tom
Did you hear back from Garmin and were they able to solve your issue? I was about to nuy the 55 but saw very bad reviews/comments about Garmin’s dashcam overheating and/or dying after few Months…
Thanks
Phil