70mai Dash Cam Battery Pack - Test & Review PP

Panzer Platform said:
It’s not an issue of quality.
Both connectors are made my Amass, (top brand name).
The issue is the MR30 connector only accepts 16AWG wire, (too thin);
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0CB6JTF9J
The XT60 connector accepts 12AWG wire, (bigger);
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B074PN6N4K
Click to expand...
I guess it would be easy to cut two (black and red) out of three original 16AWG wires about 2 inches off the MR30 and splice the MR30 to custom 14 or 12AWG wires, depending on length, using quick splicing connectors rated at 20A:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0BZ5XHW23
 
Panzer Platform said:
If the BBMC PowerCell 8 was $150 instead of $350 would you have bothered making your own DIY battery pack, or would you have just bit the bullet for $150?
Click to expand...
Interesting question.

I am fortunate enough, and I can afford batteries at any price point.
But I am originally from the former USSR, specifically from republic of Georgia, where $350 is roughly half of the average monthly income, and about double of average pension for retirees.
I actually learned about dashcams from that region, by watching a YouTube video of a Siberian meteorite shot by a dash cam.

So, my initial thought was for the people who can’t afford such expensive batteries.
And having previous experience with portable power stations, I was curious why such a high price for a simple parking battery compere to much more sophisticated and capable power stations at a much more affordable price.
Hence the journey started, gradually evolving in to another hobby, and I spent probably north of $1500 to satisfy my curiosity and to show possible alternatives.

Back to your question, would I buy $150 battery instead of building my own batteries? – the answer is Yes, I would buy $150 battery.
At this price point, I would probably never pay attention to the not so significant price difference.
 
Are there any known issues of external batteries like this burning in very hot climate areas like Arizona? I guess the better question is it safe to use in areas with extreme hot weather?
 
lukeap69 said:
Are there any known issues of external batteries like this burning in very hot climate areas like Arizona? I guess the better question is it safe to use in areas with extreme hot weather?
Click to expand...
Extreme heat conditions are the whole reason LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells are used for dedicated dash cam battery packs.
And not;
Li-Ion Lithium Ion
Li-Po Lithium Polymer
When Li-Ion, and Li-Po are damaged from heat, puncture, over-charging, short circuit, etc. they explode in a ball of fire.
LiFePO4 are almost guaranteed to never explode into a fireball.
Q:
If LiFePO4 cells are safer than Li-Ion, and Li-Po how come we don’t use them in everything like cell phones, power banks, e-bikes, e-scooters, etc?

A:
1.) LiFePO4 cells cost more.
2.) LiFePO4 cells are less energy dense, (they need to be bigger).

All of the explosions in this video are from Li-Ion, and LiPo;


Here’s an example of how safe LiFePO4 batteries are;

 
Thank you for the detailed and very informative response. Now onto pressing the order button.
 
lukeap69 said:
Are there any known issues of external batteries like this burning in very hot climate areas like Arizona?
Click to expand...

In addition to the excellent safety related videos that @Panzer Platform posted above, the hot climate in AZ demands circuit components inside the battery pack that can also withstand the extreme temperatures. This is the trouble I ran into with my first battery pack. It was not intended for automotive use and the upper temp limit is 45c/113F. Turns out, they meant it. Who'd have known... The voltage regulators/DC-DC converters that provided the 5v output fried when consecutive days of summer temps hit 95-97F outside of the car. It had a cooling fan built in, but the fan only activates while the batteries are actively charinging. I disassembled that battery pack and discovered that the temp monitoring point was on the batteries themselves, not on the circuitry that provided the 5v output that powered my dashcam. Voltage regulation circuity, by its inherent nature, will consume power which causes its temperature to rise above the ambient temp. My guess is that the ambient "battery temp" was not hot enough to cause the battery pack's protection mode to shut things down, but it was hot enough to cause the electronics to heat up beyond their safe operating area and they fried. Oops...

Some time ago, my wife and I lived in Tuscon, AZ. She worked in a lab and out of curiosity one day, she put a lab-grade thermocouple in the car to see how high temps rose during the midday sun. Within 10mins, she was seeing temps in excess of 160F (71c). It was still climbing when they decided it was too hot to stand in the sun just to watch the numbers continue to increase.

There aren't too many commercial products that tolerate temps that high, so you need to choose carefully for both physical/fire saftey as demonstrated above and for overall circuit reliability as I discovered. This is why I decided to go DIY. My timing was somewhat less than ideal - I found the DIY battery building threads from @GPak after I had already picked up an external battery back, so I ended up buying and killing a commercial product (got it repaired under warranty, though!) before starting the journey of building my own. Now I have two excellent DIY parking mode batteries installed in our cars and two nice, but unused, battery packs laying around the house looking for an excuse to be used ;).
 
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Doesn't take much, especially if you have a dark color car... Phoenix, Arizona has had 113 consecutive days of temps in excess of 100F / 38c this year.
 
stephenjones said:
I ordered on 3rd , still no movement on the tracking.
Click to expand...
China was on holiday October 1 - October 8.
Contact 70mai customer service for questions about your order;

Contact Us

For Customer Service contactus@70mai.com For Business Cooperation globalsales@70mai.com For Media Inquiries globalmarketing@70mai.com
70mai.store 70mai.store
 
Cigarette Light Adapter - Charge Cable (CLA)

1.) Cigarette Lighter Cable .webp
0.) RED Status LED .jpg

Up until now all my charge tests have been with the Hardwire Charge Cable (High Amperage).
I received the CLA charge cable (Low Amperage) so now I’ll be testing this method.
Before we get started I would like to discuss how the BBMC PowerCell 8, and BlackVue B-130X are user configured for Low & High Amperage charging.
Low Amperage: CLA
High Amperage: Hardwire

The BBMC PowerCell 8 uses a three position switch to configure the BMS (battery management system) LOW - OFF - HIGH

2.) PC8 Low - Off - High .jpg

The BlackVue B-130X does not use a switch to configure Low & High Amperage charging.
It uses a 3-Pin XT60 connector.
The 3rd pin provides an additional ground.
When the B-130X receives ground on the 3rd pin it tells the BMS the CLA is in operation, and to lower charging amperage.

3.) B-130X On - Off.jpg
4.) XT60 2-Pin Left _ 3-Pin Right .jpg

Here’s where things get a little ****amaimie.
The 70mai battery pack does not use a switch, or a 3-Pin connector on the CLA to configure the BMS for Low Amperage charging.
Page 5 of the user manual describes an “unlocking” procedure to configure the pack for Low Amperage charging that is a combination of the Hokey Pokey, and the Konami Code, (up up down down left right left right B A select start).
Performing this procedure is doable for folks like us that actually read user manuals.
For the average consumer performing this procedure is going to be problematic to say the least.
I can already see the tech support inquiries now.

5.) MR30 _ Hardwire Left - CLA Right .jpg
6.) Stolen From rcg530 .png

Alrighty then, back to the task at hand.
I performed a charge cycle with the CLA charge cable.
No load is connected to the pack.
Specifications for charge time:
Hardwire Cable: 60 Minutes (up to 11 Amps)
Cigarette Lighter Cable: 90 minutes (up to 7 Amps)

0% Start
25% 22 Minutes
50% 22 Minutes
75% 21 Minutes
100% 18 Minutes
Total: 1 Hour 23 Minutes

Previously the hardwire charge cycle at 8.6 Amps with no load took 58 minutes.
It appears using the CLA increases the charge time by 25 minutes for a total of 83 minutes.
The maximum amperage draw was 5.7 Amps @ 14.2 Volts (82 Watts).

5.7 Amps .png
 
So with a brand new battery pack purchased with the cla, that hokey pokey shouldnt be needed, correct? My fuse box is next to the battery and not inside the vehicle so its a bit easier for me to us the CLA plus I drive alot daily. Did you notice if the CLA connection has the delayed charging when you first apply power to it? I have a blackvue Im thinking of connecting to it once I receive the battery pack.
 
G

Post in thread '70mai Dash Cam Battery Pack (7500 mAh) - Test / Review - RCG'

rcg530 said:
....
I can see this method of switching charging modes to use a CLA cable being a potential problem for some users. It requires somewhat precise timing of each step to successfully complete the switchover. ...
Click to expand...
This is not a potential problem but a real problem in my opinion, most people don't actually read the manuals when buying a new product, let alone read them 2 years later when for some reason they decide to move from a fuse box to a CLA.
They will most likely be passing a lot of current through the CLA, potentially burning CLA circuit/wiring.

The worst part is that this is...
 
GPak said:
G

Post in thread '70mai Dash Cam Battery Pack (7500 mAh) - Test / Review - RCG'

rcg530 said:
....
I can see this method of switching charging modes to use a CLA cable being a potential problem for some users. It requires somewhat precise timing of each step to successfully complete the switchover. ...
Click to expand...
This is not a potential problem but a real problem in my opinion, most people don't actually read the manuals when buying a new product, let alone read them 2 years later when for some reason they decide to move from a fuse box to a CLA.
They will most likely be passing a lot of current through the CLA, potentially burning CLA circuit/wiring.

The worst part is that this is...
Click to expand...
If the pack is in fuse box mode (high amperage), and the CLA is connected the pack will not charge, because there is to ACC trigger to begin the charge cycle.
 
Yes, I saw that,

Nevertheless, I don't understand why they choose such an inconvenient process?
Especially when they had 2 different and both better options implemented in competing batteries.
 
Seems I got tracking for mine now. I will be connecting a blackvue on mine. Any suggestions of which brand/type of connector would be recommended? I got the usb cable for my blackvue but it seems the usb port on this battery is only 5v and no PPS or PD and the blackvue is 12v.
 
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