LiFePO4 and LTO power bank for dash camera fully manufactured in the UK (Europe)

[Nigel]

only "mistake" i might have made, was to buy 2 main units, instead of just one + 3 extensions,
as apparently you can hook up several dashcams at once

I think 2 main units = half the charging time, so unless you drive a lot, 2 main units is a big advantage for recording time?

 

[TonyM]

I'm finding that I don't drive enough to run 2x 2CH dashcams from a single unit. However these are not cheap batteries, so buying two is a big investment alongside the cameras.

I leave both 2CH setups running for short stops. When I'm parked all day, I usually turn off one camera depending on where I've parked.

 

[Nigel]

I leave both 2CH setups running for short stops. When I'm parked all day, I usually turn off one camera depending on where I've parked.

You could set the parking duration timer on your Viofo A229 / A119 Mini rather than turn it off completely, it should run for weeks on one of these batteries in impact protection mode after the timer has timed out.

 

[TonyM]

on your Viofo A229 / A119 Mini

I could, if I had an A229 or A119 Mini...

It is one of a number of reasons I'm considering buying an A229 to replace the A139.

 

[egonvdv]

I think 2 main units = half the charging time, so unless you drive a lot, 2 main units is a big advantage for recording time?

ah yes, so i'm no so stupid after all
and i might even add a 3rd extension in the future so ...

 

[egonvdv]

I'm finding that I don't drive enough to run 2x 2CH dashcams from a single unit. However these are not cheap batteries, so buying two is a big investment alongside the cameras.

I leave both 2CH setups running for short stops. When I'm parked all day, I usually turn off one camera depending on where I've parked.

i drive 90 mns total each day for work, so for me it's not an issue.
even if i don't use the car on the weekend, it will fully recharge in a few days after the weekend
(for 2 batteries it takes 3hrs from empty)

 

[mj1985]

I just replaced my trusty Viofo A129 Duo with the A229 Duo and fitted the HK4 Hardwire-Kit. Somehow I don't trust the hardwire-kit (Start/Stop isn't working after the first "recording"-night; Switch at 12,4V) and I was thinking about to buy the battery pack.

@egonvdv Are you still happy with your choice?

This inactive ebay-listing confuses me:

Power Core 6200lfp Smart LiFePo 4 Powerbank für Dashcam (wie Cellink, b-124x) | eBay

Entdecken Sie Power Core 6200lfp Smart LiFePo 4 Powerbank für Dashcam (wie Cellink, b-124x) in der großen Auswahl bei eBay. Kostenlose Lieferung für viele Artikel!

www.ebay.de

Shipping costs to Germany £10,00 (from Stoke-On-Trent, UK)
In the description:
(Shipping from Germany by DHL Priority international courier 3-5 business days).

Anyone in the EU ordered through their website with EU shipping? I don't want to pay tax

 

[mentadent]

In my experience, Stop-Start on your car won't work if you even do an hour of parking mode, even with a new car battery.

Can you buy it direct from https://power-core.co.uk/ ? Their support is friendly.

 

[mj1985]

Thanks for the hint - my car is only 1 1/2 years old - so fairly new.

Of course I can buy direct on their website; maybe I should leave them a message, before buying.

 

[Nigel]

Somehow I don't trust the hardwire-kit (Start/Stop isn't working after the first "recording"-night; Switch at 12,4V) and I was thinking about to buy the battery pack.

Stop-Start on any car will only work if the car battery is full and doesn't need any charging. If you use some battery power to run the dashcam then it needs to charge the battery again. This is perfectly normal.

Yes, it will cost you a little extra fuel, but electricity doesn't come for free!

 

[mj1985]

Thanks @Nigel - yes, I know the battery needs to charge. But after a long drive S/S should work fine again and it doesn't. S/S is working in my car if the battery is above 80%. With the hardwire-switch at 12.4 the cam should shut-off after some time - but it was happily recording after more than 12 hours, which worries me a little bit.

 

[egonvdv]

my car battery (for some reason) is at 12.2v for the 1st 30 minutes of a drive,
but the battery pack only charges when car battery is over 12.5v.

So as my commute is 40mns x2, this is not enough to charge fully.

but power-core changed the limit to 11v for me, free of charge.
Batteries are on the way back now to me.

Something to consider (check with them) before buying

But besides this little problem i'm very happy with the batteries (2x main + 4 extensions)

 

[Nigel]

Thanks @Nigel - yes, I know the battery needs to charge. But after a long drive S/S should work fine again and it doesn't. S/S is working in my car if the battery is above 80%. With the hardwire-switch at 12.4 the cam should shut-off after some time - but it was happily recording after more than 12 hours, which worries me a little bit.

Above 80%, lead acid batteries charge charge slowly, very slowly above 95%.
It is also necessary to charge them to 100% occasionally, otherwise they become damaged, your car may have decided to do a 100% charge.

I remember my Dad had a Ford that took about 4 hours drive to get S/S working again, and he didn't have a dashcam, just didn't use it for long journeys, so the S/S stopped working after a while.

So it may be that everything was working normally.
Of course it is also possible that there was a problem!

 

[joe384]

I remember my Dad had a Ford that took about 4 hours drive to get S/S working again, and he didn't have a dashcam, just didn't use it for long journeys, so the S/S stopped working after a while.

So it may be that everything was working normally.
Of course it is also possible that there was a problem!

The stop / start stopped engaging on my mums ford as well. In the last year I don't remember it engaging, probably had a low battery and short journeys meant it never got up to temperature.

 

[mj1985]

Above 80%, lead acid batteries charge charge slowly, very slowly above 95%.
It is also necessary to charge them to 100% occasionally, otherwise they become damaged, your car may have decided to do a 100% charge.

Thanks for the explanation, this might be the reason - normally S/S is working fine in my car since I bought it (a good mix of long and medium drives).

After contacting power-core, I just ordered a battery pack (cigar lighter-version).

 

[joe384]

You could set the parking duration timer on your Viofo A229 / A119 Mini rather than turn it off completely, it should run for weeks on one of these batteries in impact protection mode after the timer has timed out.

Just spotted this while perusing this thread, what do you mean by impact protection mode? Do you mean the Auto Event Detection? Or are there some new options on these cameras?

 

[Nigel]

Just spotted this while perusing this thread, what do you mean by impact protection mode? Do you mean the Auto Event Detection? Or are there some new options on these cameras?

When I tested these cameras, after the parking duration timer had expired, they would shut down into a sleep mode with the impact detection still on, so if the car was hit by another car, they would wake up again and start recording.

When the firmware was updated, this feature disappeared!

I'm not sure what the current status of this feature is, so if you think it is a useful or important feature then say so, and maybe it will return...

 

[egonvdv]

but with such feature it would never actually record the impact right ?

 

[Nigel]

but with such feature it would never actually record the impact right ?

It would if the impact occurred before the parking mode duration timer expired, after that it would miss the impact, but quite likely catch the result, and if the other vehicle drove off, with its plates still attached, there is some chance of catching them, if the plates fall off or if the other vehicle doesn't leave then there is no need to record the plates, but recording the aftermath, actions of the other driver, and the locations of the vehicles before they get rearranged, can be important.

To use it, you need to set the parking duration timer to less than the time to low voltage cutoff, but it doesn't have to be a lot less, and doing so does give you a lot of extra "impact protection coverage", far more than you would have if you just let it reach the low voltage cutoff. The only thing I didn't like about it was the wake up time, which seemed excessive to me, about 10 seconds, but that seems to be standard with Novatek SoCs.

 

[mj1985]

@egonvdv That's true. I tested Auto Event Detection on my A229 and the cam started filming, after the car in front of me was already in the parking spot - which is too slow.