70mai Dash Cam Battery Pack - Test & Review PP

[Panzer Platform]

In this post I will perform the fourth charge cycle with hardwire cable.
This time I will increase the connected loads to 15 Watts.
1st Load: A229 Duo 4.6 Watts connected to Hardwire Output Cable
2nd Load: DROK load tester adjusted to 10.4 Watts connected to USB Output
Specifications for charge time:
Hardwire Cable: 60 Minutes (up to 11 Amps)
Cigarette Lighter Cable: 90 minutes (up to 7 Amps)

0% Start
25% 18 Minutes
50% 17 Minutes
75% 17 Minutes
100% 17 Minutes
Total: 1 Hour 9 Minutes

Previously it only took 58 minutes to charge the pack with no loads attached.
With a 15 Watt load connected it added 9 minutes to the charge cycle.
The maximum amperage draw was 8.6 Amps @ 14.2 Volts (123 Watts).
Same high pitched whine during charging.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Why are there 3 pins for DC input unlike 2 pins for the Powercell 8?

The BBMC PowerCell 8, and BlackVue B-130X use a 2-Pin XT60 connector for power, and ground.
The power cable is connected to an ACC “switched” fuse.
When the switched fuse is energized current flows to the pack to begin charging.

The Thinkware BAB-95, and IROAD Power Pack Pro use a 3-Wire strategy.
The power cable is connected to constant battery voltage.
The 3rd ACC switched wire is connected to an ACC switched source.
Basically the Thinkware BAB-95, IROAD, and 70mai have a built-in relay inside the pack, and it only allows current flow when it gets “signal” from the 3rd wire even though the main power wire is connected to constant battery voltage.
This is part of the reason the 70mai is able to delay charging for 20 seconds, after getting an ignition signal.
I have a feeling I did a poor job explaining this.
@rcg530 @safedrivesolutions
Can you provide a better explanation?

 

[Panzer Platform]

My Viofo A229 Plus, 2ch, in normal recording consumes about 4.1W using viofo's CL adapter + UBC-A/C cable, and about 4.3W with HK4 hardwire cable.
The about 0.2W higher consumption with HK4 is due to voltage regulator.
If the same is true for the A229 Duo, then there should be about 0.2W difference in dash cam power consumption between HK4 and USBA/C, could you please check and verify this?
If so, your figures will need to be adjusted a little, but this does not change the conclusion that the battery provides a full 96Wh capacity.

So are you basically asking me to measure the difference between using the HK4, and Viofo CLA charger with Viofo 12ft USB power cable?
If so, added to shopping list.
Oh yeah, the HK4 hardwire kit I’m using for this testing is the prototype version where the 12.4V setting disables all low voltage protection shut off.
However, I’m not using it in 3-wire configuration.
Since I need to run the camera in normal recording mode I have the red & yellow wires connected so the camera is incapable of switching over to parking mode.