Why 11.6v?

pantss

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i know there's a dct article on voltage regulators and that ideally voltages should not go under 12.2-4v.

I can't wrap my head around something - why do most, if not all, Chinese voltage regulators cut at 11.6v? I'm pretty sure their domestic markets/users actually run it down till 11.6v and that it's not just for exports.
 
I can't wrap my head around something - why do most, if not all, Chinese voltage regulators cut at 11.6v?

there is no good reason, the only thing I would say is that the majority of users that would have this fitted in China don't have cars that sit around long enough for it to ever get that low anyway so they just don't understand why it's an issue
 
12.2-12.4 is the average for a fully charged resting 12volt car battery. So it would immediately shut off when you shut your vehicle off.
When you connect a dashcam that draws 400mA along with another 40mA for your alarm system, clock etc. the battery is no longer resting and the voltage will drop a little, when you disconnect the dashcam it will slowly climb back up to resting voltage. Thus if you want the dashcam to turn off when the battery reaches 12.2 resting voltage, it needs to turn off at maybe 11.9 loaded voltage. The amount of voltage drop on applying load to the battery is dependant on the total amount of load (including that drawn by the car alarm) and the new/nearly dead status of the battery so the actual turn off voltage is hard to predict.

The 11.6v loaded turn off voltage is probably the lowest possible turn off voltage where you would still have a chance of starting the car. However I guess not a very good chance and the battery will not last long if you frequently drain it that much. Below half empty is not good for the life of a lead-acid battery.
 
Hm, I purchased SpyTek-branded hardwire kits for our cars, which are set at a 11.6V cutoff (non-adjustable). I have yet to install them, though - my SD cards are still in the mail.

My intent was to hardwire into an always-on socket, to enable either time-lapse or motion detection with the dashcam.

From what has been stated above, if the cutoff was around 12.0, would I experience a reasonable amount of time-lapse or motion detection time for an A119S, perhaps? Wondering if it's even worth the effort to install the cutoff, unless at least a few hours of potential on/standby could be experienced.
 
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