Dash Cam - Battery Drain in Parking Mode Does This Reduce Battery Life?

rhabdoviridae on 03/04/2021 - 15:07
Last edited 04/04/2021 - 17:14 by 1 other user

Hi

Looking to buy dashcams for our cars. Likely to buy the Viofo Duo 2 Channel dashcams.

Can people comment on what the go is with car battery drain and using dashcams while in parking mode? Is it true, that this can reduce the battery life of your cattery battery by up to 50%? Many different forums with people claiming many things so expect views to differ here. Would love to get some factual basis for whatever is claimed here.

Note: I haven't scowered the internet nor I have read in depth about this subject matter, hence my general query to the community.

Thanks.

Automotive Dash Camera

Comments

  • John Kimble on 03/04/2021 - 15:21
    +2

    😂 You actually had scoured spelled correctly the first time.

    • rhabdoviridae on 03/04/2021 - 16:10

      Haha that's what I thought as well, just changed it to the other spelling to see if anyone would notice.

  • pharkurnell on 03/04/2021 - 15:25
    +2

    … cattery battery… meeoooowwww?

  • Brucet on 03/04/2021 - 15:32
    -1

    LOL..,..,

  • TheSnyper on 03/04/2021 - 15:49

    I've been running a couple of Viofo a199 v3's with parking mode for a couple of years now with no concern about my battery. Sometimes the car has sat for a few days in this state. I also have some trees which blow in the wind opposite where I park. This means when I'm at home the parking mode is pretty much going off constantly.

    • rhabdoviridae on 03/04/2021 - 16:18

      Thanks, mate. Good to hear that feedback.

  • bobbified on 03/04/2021 - 15:51

    My battery was already there years old when I added a dashcam with parking mode (using a Power Magic Pro). It's been two years and my battery is still working fine. I also have auto start-stop (that i hate!). The Power Magic shuts off the camera once the battery drops to a certain voltage that's still enough to start the car.

    Five years is pretty good for a battery, so if it's shortened the life at all, it hasn't been noticeable.

    • rhabdoviridae on 03/04/2021 - 16:09

      Didn't know about the power magic pro. Do you use this in a Blackvue dashcam?
      Can it work on a viofo as well?

      • John Kimble on 03/04/2021 - 16:24

        Get the viofo one.

        • rhabdoviridae on 03/04/2021 - 17:06

          You mean hardwire kit or is there a power pro equivalent for it?

      • bobbified on 03/04/2021 - 16:44

        Yes, i do use the power magic with a blackvue setup. I'm not sure if it works with the viofo cam, but I can't see why not since it's just a voltage monitoring device.

  • jono1971 on 03/04/2021 - 17:54

    I’m using a Uniden Dashcam and I use a good sized 5v battery power bank to keep recording while the car is unattended. Never have to worry about battery drain on my car whilst using this option!

    • plmko on 03/04/2021 - 18:07

      What powerbank are you using? Many power banks stop charging when it thinks the camera has been fully charged; Xiaomi is an example.

      • jono1971 on 04/04/2021 - 21:33

        Just using a cheap chinese brand called Rapoo. Bought it from MSY I think ages ago and works just fine for continuous parked recording.

  • Deuce on 03/04/2021 - 18:13
    +1

    My dashcam is hardwired with a on/off switch. It only ever gets turned off when I am at home. Had the car hardwired for 2 years now and haven't noticed any issues, with some cameras you can place a voltage protection option so when i detected that voltage the camera will stop recording to preserve the battery for start up.

  • snoopster on 03/04/2021 - 19:57
    +1

    I'm using the Viofo official hardwire kit (essentially a cable), +1 for that.

    There is a little switch on the cable that has options 12V, 12.4V (recommended) (and one other voltage level I forget)

    I have it set to 12.4V - if the car battery drops below this in parking mode, the dash cam turns off to preserve voltage for the starting of the car. This regularly happens if my car sits in the garage for a few days without being started. Haven't had a dashcam for long, but I think this shut off mechanism is really good for parking mode. Sounds like the power magic others mentioned is a good solution too

  • samcro on 04/04/2021 - 12:19
    +1

    I also have a Viofo Duo dashcam. I purchased the hardware kit to go with it. No problems with battery life so far. I can't remember what I set the cutoff voltage to, but it works.

  • Euphemistic on 05/04/2021 - 05:32

    It shouldn’t affect the battery life if you only leave the car for a day or two between driving. If you are leaving it for a week or more turn the dashcam off before your holiday or you might return to a flat battery.

    Flattening a battery once or twice isn’t a problem, but it isn’t good to do repeatedly.

  • rhabdoviridae on 05/04/2021 - 08:41

    Thanks for all the replies. Great to hear that the 3 wire hardware kit that you can get with the a129 Duo would be enough in parking mode.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join