522GW Parking mode not working

[richardwg]

Hi Millie,

I tried the dashcam overnight using the CLC and it worked fine. One problem I had when I took it out of the car and connected it to my laptop to check it was that the device did not turn on. Both LEDs, blue and red, were lit but nothing appeared on the screen even when I pressed the on button. I left it to charge up for a while and tried again later with more success. Is that because the internal battery had completely run down?

I have put the unit back in the car and reattached it to the hard wire kit and will check it again tomorrow.

Thanks for your help,

Richard

 

[Nextbase Support]

Hi Richard,

Yes, it sounds like the battery was completely dead. When you checked the footage back, was there continuous footage, or just a few clips?

As the Cigarette Lighter Charger is letting the camera function correctly, the issue is with the Hard Wire Kit. Please give us a call on 02920 866429 (UK) and we'll run through all the Hard Wire Kit troubleshooting with you and help resolve the issue.

Once resolved, if you can come onto this forum and post the solution, it could help other users looking for assistance in the future.

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support

 

[richardwg]

Hi Millie,

I tried the dashcam overnight using the CLC and it worked fine. One problem I had when I took it out of the car and connected it to my laptop to check it was that the device did not turn on. Both LEDs, blue and red, were lit but nothing appeared on the screen even when I pressed the on button. I left it to charge up for a while and tried again later with more success. Is that because the internal battery had completely run down?

I have put the unit back in the car and reattached it to the hard wire kit and will check it again tomorrow.

Thanks for your help,

Richard

Hi Millie,

I repeated the test with the unit hard-wired again and it seems to have worked perfectly. I do not know what has changed but there were only the video files I expected to see. I am happy that the problem seems have resolved itself but a bit concerned that I don't understand why. I will continue to monitor the situation to see if the issue comes back.

Anyway, thanks for you help.

Richard

 

[stuart.macintyre@hotmai]

Hello, new here, but wanted to post an update to this thread as I have followed it for some time. I had the exact same issue with my 522GW, i was waiting on the next FW update that I applied last week - didn't resolve the same issue already detailed by the OP.
I was however using an eBay sourced 'wired in kit'. Bought a NextBase wire in kit and my parking mode is working as it should, from a perm feed. I have P mode enabled, G sensor set to low and auto off set to yes, I also have a rearview cam fitted to the rear windscreen. It records a protected clip after a G sensor trigger. Goes into normal recording mode when driving (after an initial 30 sec protected clip). It no longer records endless Protected clips from false G sensor triggers, I spotted that the blue LED power light sometimes flickered, that's why I changed the wire in kit.

So in my situation, it looks like the eBay, generic wire in kit was not sending out a clean voltage.

 

[-MONKEY-]

Hi Richard,

To answer the questions above:

1. No. if the battery is fluctuating at a certain point, the camera thinks the car is being turned on, so is being trigger to turn on. The voltage then drops and the camera thinks the car has been turned off, and so turns off too.
2. The Hard Wire Kit has an in-built voltage cut off which protects the car's battery from being drained below 11.2V.
3. Yes, the CLC has a voltage cut off. Unless your Cigarette Lighter Socket on your vehicle is permanently live (unlikely) then the Cigarette Lighter Socket will only use your car's battery when the car is on. The above is a test to see functionality, and not designed to be a long term fix. We need to ascertain whether the behaviour is in the car, whatever the power supply, or whether it's the Hard Wire Kit.

Finally, yes we have tried to replicate this issue. However when we have had a camera sent to us to test, the camera was found to be without fault.
We do not know of the issue occurring on certain car makes and having a rear camera does not seem to affect the setup.

If you can try the test previously specified, I can help further.

Regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support

Hi Millie (or whoever else from NB may now be picking up on this old thread, or anyone else who would know),

I'm a bit confused by your comment above...

3. Yes, the CLC has a voltage cut off. ...

This is news to me. I didn't know the Cigarette Lighter Cable power supply also includes voltage cut off protection (as per the HWK's power supply?)!

So, do I take this to mean that if my cig lighter socket is permanently powered on (as some are), then I can just use my CLC with Parking Mode enabled without fear of my battery going flat?

Or, by "voltage cut off", were you meaning that the CLC is simply "cut off" because the lighter socket no longer supplies power to it when the ignition is switched off (if it's an ignition-only lighter socket)?

"has a Voltage cut off" to me means it automatically cuts off the battery when its charge falls below the set cut off value (e.g. 11.2V). This after all is the term widely used for such equipped power supplies. When I pull out the plug, perhaps I should also call my finger & thumb a 'voltage cut off', by the same token?

I ask because when considering a HWK, my main interest has been to tap into a permanent live fuse yet prevent the battery draining while using Parking Mode. Unlike many others, I don't care about hiding the plug & cable - normally the other reason to use a HWK.

Can you please clarify?

 

[Nextbase Support]

Hello,

Great question! There's an actual voltage cut off on the cigarette lighter cable at 11.2V (e.g. the same as the old HWK cut off- but that's now changed to 11.8V). This is to protect any vehicles with dying batteries from being run down during usage.
If you're looking to use Parking Mode on the camera, we always recommend using the hard wire kit instead.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support

 

[howardl]

Hello,

Great question! There's an actual voltage cut off on the cigarette lighter cable at 11.2V (e.g. the same as the old HWK cut off- but that's now changed to 11.8V). This is to protect any vehicles with dying batteries from being run down during usage.
If you're looking to use Parking Mode on the camera, we always recommend using the hard wire kit instead.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support

Millie,
So the HWK has 11.2 v cut off only or is it now 11.8v?

 

[-MONKEY-]

Hello,

Great question! There's an actual voltage cut off on the cigarette lighter cable at 11.2V (e.g. the same as the old HWK cut off- but that's now changed to 11.8V). This is to protect any vehicles with dying batteries from being run down during usage.
If you're looking to use Parking Mode on the camera, we always recommend using the hard wire kit instead.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support

Thanks for clarifying Millie. I'd always thought that only the HWKs had a voltage cut off, not the CLCs also (I couldn't find any other mention about that in the cams manuals/specifications nor online at NB or anywhere else).

This now leads me to ask a few further questions if you wouldn't mind please...

1. Do all the NB camera models include voltage cut off in their supplied CLCs? (incl. all the Series I and II cams?).​

2. If yes to Q1, is it simply the case that the Series I cams had 11.2V cut off in their CLCs, and for Series II cams that's now 11.8V? Or otherwise?​

3. As you recommend "using the hard wire kit instead" for Parking Mode, is there some express reason for doing so, aside from the HWK's added advantages of concealing the cable, freeing up the lighter socket and optionally ensuring a permanent live connection (i.e. the other usual reasons for getting a HWK)?​

​

Otherwise, if the lighter socket just happens to be permanently powered, as some are (and mine is), is there any reason why I shouldn't just use the CLC in Parking Mode if I don't care about hiding the cable nor freeing up the lighter socket?​

Re the cut off voltage update, I can see the logic in NB changing the voltage from 11.2V to 11.8V, since a battery dropped to 11.2V would most likely fail to start the car! Arguably, even 11.8V is cutting it fine, especially if the battery etc aren't in the best condition to begin with. Apparently, a battery is only about 50% charged at 12V (?).

Sorry to bug you with these extra questions but they're especially important to me, for reasons I won't go into for now.

 

[Nextbase Support]

Millie,
So the HWK has 11.2 v cut off only or is it now 11.8v?

It depends when the hard wire kit was produced. It used to be 11.2V, then by user-request we increased it to 11.8V on the newly produced kits.

Thanks for clarifying Millie. I'd always thought that only the HWKs had a voltage cut off, not the CLCs also (I couldn't find any other mention about that in the cams manuals/specifications nor online at NB or anywhere else).

This now leads me to ask a few further questions if you wouldn't mind please...

1. Do all the NB camera models include voltage cut off in their supplied CLCs? (incl. all the Series I and II cams?).​

2. If yes to Q1, is it simply the case that the Series I cams had 11.2V cut off in their CLCs, and for Series II cams that's now 11.8V? Or otherwise?​

3. As you recommend "using the hard wire kit instead" for Parking Mode, is there some express reason for doing so, aside from the HWK's added advantages of concealing the cable, freeing up the lighter socket and optionally ensuring a permanent live connection (i.e. the other usual reasons for getting a HWK)?​

​

Otherwise, if the lighter socket just happens to be permanently powered, as some are (and mine is), is there any reason why I shouldn't just use the CLC in Parking Mode if I don't care about hiding the cable nor freeing up the lighter socket?​

Re the cut off voltage update, I can see the logic in NB changing the voltage from 11.2V to 11.8V, since a battery dropped to 11.2V would most likely fail to start the car! Arguably, even 11.8V is cutting it fine, especially if the battery etc aren't in the best condition to begin with. Apparently, a battery is only about 50% charged at 12V (?).

Sorry to bug you with these extra questions but they're especially important to me, for reasons I won't go into for now.

I'll answer your questions in the order posed:
1. The voltage cut off is only Series 2.
2. Series 2 CLC cut off is 11.2V, the new HWKs are 11.8V.
3. We have a cut off on the CLC as an emergency back up to ensure a battery can't be killed when someone is driving, the CLCs are not designed to be permanently live for long term. If you are intending on using a permanently live fuse for Parking Mode, then our hard wire kit has been specifically designed to do this long term and are likely to last for longer.

I hope this has helped!

Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support

 

[Lok]

I think I have found out the reason and a fix for, at least in my case, my 522GW on my Fiat 500. I’ve had the exact same issue as many mentioned here, the 522 almost non stop recording in parking mode, protected clip every 5 mins, which it works as intended once brought indoor and connected to USB power. I believe, at least on my Fiat 500, was with low car battery. Once I’ve drove it long enough, the 522 parking mode works completely as intended.

I first installed my 522 with Nextbase hard wire kit to a constant live fuse, and faced the exact issue of it non stop recording in parking mode. I had done research a lot about it online and tried every suggestions I could found with no success. Few days later I finally have time to installed the back camera, curiously after that the parking mode works as intended. Then I was away for 2 weeks, the 522 was removed from the car. On return I found two things: the 522 parking mode act up again with non stop recording, and the start/stop of my car didn’t work so it didn’t stop the engine at red lights without any warning lights on dashboard. I figured from research online that may be the car battery was low after 2 weeks thus the Start/stop was temporarily suspended to let the battery charge. Few days later I had a 2 hours drive, half way through the Start/stop worked again, also after that the 522 parking mode also works as intended again, up to this day.

Checking back to the day when I first installed the 522, surely I didn’t drive my car for over a week just before installing it. And between installing the main cam and the back camera, I did drive the car.

For now the longest time I didn’t drive my car was 1 week, and the camera parking mode had been working brilliantly.

I hope my experience help anyone at all!