How well will this ACTUALLY hold up in the heat?

[Jc0187]

Before my wife bought this for me, I was looking at specs of many dashcams. This one stood out well. My wife bought this one and gave it to me on my recommendation. However, I live in Phoenix AZ. I will be mostly leaving the camera in my center console while parked. I was under the assumption that this camera had a capacitor but, I'm now finding out it does not. So, I'm curious to know how this will hold up to the blasting heat of summer? Outside temps reach around 114-120 degrees.

 

[SawMaster]

I have no experience with this cam, but generally the battery-equipped cams do not tolerate heat such as you see very well. The usual problem is early battery failure, often manifested through swelling which can damage some cameras. For best results, keep dashcams out of direct sunlight as much as possible. If the cam seems excessively hot after parking, let the car's A/C cool the ambient temps or the cam itself before powering it up. Storing it in the console is a good idea as that will go a long way toward keeping it cool Try to park in the shade or at least where the direct sun doesn't hit your storage location. Before you have problems (and you might not have any) find the source for a replacement battery and bookmark it, along with noting what is needed to do a replacement. Many batteries are soldered in and if you have those skills and tools changing it out is a pretty easy DIY job. If not, find someone locally who can do this such as TV repair shops, computer repair shops, or car audio installers. That will save you some time and grief should you need to replace the battery later on.

Please let us know how this works out for you; user-input is what makes this site the valuable resource it is
Phil

 

[dashcam_fan]

It's rated at 70C (158 F) operating temperature which is even higher than a lot of Capacitor-based cameras (A119 is only up to 65C by comparison), so I wouldn't be too concerned about it being a battery camera.

Do you plan on running the parking mode? That's the biggest concern. Obviously tinted windows and a nice reflective windshield sun visor makes a huge difference. Under normal driving the vehicle interior is nowhere near 158F after a few minutes with windows down and/or AC running.

This camera is very easy to remove, so if you're not using parking mode you can put it in a cooler part of your vehicle while it's parked (like the glove box), so you don't have to worry about cooling it off first. Also consider using a small patch of tint behind the rear-view mirror, my windshield already had this and it helps to avoid direct sunlight on dashcams and also helps with making them more discreet.

 

[Jc0187]

It's rated at 70C (158 F) operating temperature which is even higher than a lot of Capacitor-based cameras (A119 is only up to 65C by comparison), so I wouldn't be too concerned about it being a battery camera.

Do you plan on running the parking mode? That's the biggest concern. Obviously tinted windows and a nice reflective windshield sun visor makes a huge difference. Under normal driving the vehicle interior is nowhere near 158F after a few minutes with windows down and/or AC running.

This camera is very easy to remove, so if you're not using parking mode you can put it in a cooler part of your vehicle while it's parked (like the glove box), so you don't have to worry about cooling it off first. Also consider using a small patch of tint behind the rear-view mirror, my windshield already had this and it helps to avoid direct sunlight on dashcams and also helps with making them more discreet.

Generally, I'll only be using parking mode at work, while parked under shade. I usually take the camera off and hide it in the center console as I'm more worried someone will break in and take it.

 

[jokiin]

Generally, I'll only be using parking mode at work, while parked under shade. .

wrong product to be doing this with, run it while driving but running while parked is a mistake for a camera with a battery, LiPo batteries are only stable when powered up to 45°c, above that the risks increase

you don't want to come back to something like this

 

[Jc0187]

wrong product to be doing this with, run it while driving but running while parked is a mistake for a camera with a battery, LiPo batteries are only stable when powered up to 45°c, above that the risks increase

you don't want to come back to something like this

View attachment 29413

Oh wow. Maybe I'm not understanding how parking mode works.

 

[jokiin]

Oh wow. Maybe I'm not understanding how parking mode works.

parking mode requires a permanent power source, running while driving is never an issue as you're not going to drive with interior temps at uncomfortable levels but while parked you can easily get interior temps of 25°c to 35°c above ambient temps which can put the battery into temperature ranges that they're not stable at, they're reasonably safe at those types of temps if not powered but powered is a whole other issue

 

[SawMaster]

Parking mode is essentially the same as normal recording except the display screen powers down and no files are saved to the SD card unless triggered to do so On triggering a buffered cam will save from several seconds before the triggering to several seconds afterward. Un-buffered cams will take a few seconds to power-up then record for several seconds after that which can leave you without the pics you need if the person you want recorded leaves too quickly.

Phil

 

[Jc0187]

parking mode requires a permanent power source, running while driving is never an issue as you're not going to drive with interior temps at uncomfortable levels but while parked you can easily get interior temps of 25°c to 35°c above ambient temps which can put the battery into temperature ranges that they're not stable at, they're reasonably safe at those types of temps if not powered but powered is a whole other issue

Oh ok. Gotcha.

 

[Jc0187]

Parking mode is essentially the same as normal recording except the display screen powers down and no files are saved to the SD card unless triggered to do so On triggering a buffered cam will save from several seconds before the triggering to several seconds afterward. Un-buffered cams will take a few seconds to power-up then record for several seconds after that which can leave you without the pics you need if the person you want recorded leaves too quickly.

Phil

Hmm. Ok.

 

[Billaboard]

Parking mode is essentially the same as normal recording except the display screen powers down and no files are saved to the SD card unless triggered to do so On triggering a buffered cam will save from several seconds before the triggering to several seconds afterward. Un-buffered cams will take a few seconds to power-up then record for several seconds after that which can leave you without the pics you need if the person you want recorded leaves too quickly.

Phil

I'm not sure this applies at all to the M6+ camera. It has no screen, and parking mode is just time lapse one frame per second, so it's unlikely to power down and back up in that time.

 

[Jc0187]

I'm not sure this applies at all to the M6+ camera. It has no screen, and parking mode is just time lapse one frame per second, so it's unlikely to power down and back up in that time.

I was thinking about this too. I was a bit hung up on the screen issue. Being as the m6+ doesn't have one. I always assumed parking mode was used while the car is off and parked.

 

[SawMaster]

This is different than the usual "parking mode"operation of most cams (which is why I stated that I have no experience with this cam in my first reply here) While time-lapse recording will allow the processor and CMOS sensor to run cooler (since their use won't be continuous) it will still affect the battery which will still be connected to the charge circuit and charging when that is needed, which as Jokin mentions will be beyond the battery's specified limits. LiPo's rarely fail as badly as the melted cam shows but sometimes they do; it is something to be aware of with any LiPo-equipped device such as your phone or GPS.

This does not imply that you will have problems, only that it is quite possible here. I've personally found that some specifications err greatly on the conservative side and this could be your experience too. I'd say give it a try, just monitor the battery condition closely while doing all you can reasonably do to keep the cam cool during use. With some luck you might find all is OK- I certainly hope so

Phil