70mai Dash Cam Battery Pack - Test & Review PP

[kamkar]

Okay just looked at my power pack and it was indeed flat, what i think happened is my car was so cold on my last longer drive ( home ) and so i was probably half way home before the power pack was warm enough in the glove box that it wanted to charge.

Today in -2 deg C all of the LED just flashed like 3-4-5 minutes after i started the car and scraped ice of it outside, drove across town and after a visit at the car wast the power pack was now charging but just 1 LED flashing.
So pretty sure i will get a low voltage warning before i get out of bed in 10 hours or so ( and tonight minus 10 deg C is forecast for my area.

I am thinking move the power pack to a place where it is hit by the hot air CUZ by the time the glove box was warm enough to start charging all of the cabin was nice and comfortable.

 

[Nigel]

I am thinking move the power pack to a place where it is hit by the hot air CUZ by the time the glove box was warm enough to start charging all of the cabin was nice and comfortable.

Not sure that is a good idea, it takes some time for the heat to get through to the centre of the battery cells, if you blast the case with hot air then the thermometer will probably warm up too fast compared to the centre of the cells, since it will be on the outside of the cells.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

pretty sure i will get a low voltage warning

Where are you getting this warning from?

 

[kamkar]

On the phone. ( Testing A810 and A510 with 4G hardwire kit )

It do say vehicle battery, but i am not connected to that i am connected to the power pack. there is no way it seem to just say to hell with low voltage and let the power pack just do its own thing, so i am set to 11.8 volts.
Using G sensor parking guard, and the camera are for sure not off, CUZ it have melted the light sprinkle of snow.

Lemme me grab a picture from my home CCTV,,, BRB

CCTV from the time of the MSG on the phone.

 

[GPak]

Okay just looked at my power pack and it was indeed flat, what i think happened is my car was so cold on my last longer drive ( home ) and so i was probably half way home before the power pack was warm enough in the glove box that it wanted to charge.

Today in -2 deg C all of the LED just flashed like 3-4-5 minutes after i started the car and scraped ice of it outside, drove across town and after a visit at the car wast the power pack was now charging but just 1 LED flashing.
So pretty sure i will get a low voltage warning before i get out of bed in 10 hours or so ( and tonight minus 10 deg C is forecast for my area.

I am thinking move the power pack to a place where it is hit by the hot air CUZ by the time the glove box was warm enough to start charging all of the cabin was nice and comfortable.

Due to sub-zero C° temperatures:

1. When the battery was not charging but still had a charge, did the camera operate in normal recording mode while driving and switch to parking mode when parking?

2. When the battery was not charging and was completely discharged, did the camera operate in normal recording mode while driving?

 

[Chuck McCoy]

On the phone. ( Testing A810 and A510 with 4G hardwire kit )

Oh, OK I didn’t know you had cloud.
I’m guessing each camera uses 5 Watts in parking mode.
96Wh ÷ 10 Watts = 9.6 Hours Parking Mode
Does that sound reasonable?

 

[kamkar]

1: yes it operated normally on my way home, but only got a little charge on the drive that is otherwise enough to charge the system, or at least put it very close to full charge, but not when the system need to warm up first.
2: yes on my drive today it seemed to work just fine ( run 2 systems on the power pack, one with the 4G hardwire kit and one off the USB port on the power pack )
Only use parking guard on the 4G hardwired camera ATM the A510 go out when i turn off the car,,,, or there would have been 2 melted areas on my windscreen in the pic above,,, well i assume.

Both performed as they always have

 

[kamkar]

Funny thing the 4G modem lie in the bottom L corner, granted a inch or so from the glass, but it do not seem to get hot enough to melt snow..
I can see the LED on my CCTV at night on days where the glass are not obscured.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Okay just looked at my power pack and it was indeed flat, what i think happened is my car was so cold on my last longer drive ( home ) and so i was probably half way home before the power pack was warm enough in the glove box that it wanted to charge.

Can you send an email to your 70mai Rep that sent you the battery pack and ask these questions, (I want to get their official response);
1.) My battery pack is not getting fully charged because I don’t drive long enough.
How do I charge the battery pack outside the car?
2.) Do you sell a “home charger” for the battery pack in this situation.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

4G modem

What was your total cost to activate the 70mai 4G modem / cloud to get these notifications?
1.) Did you have to buy a sim card?
2.) Do you have to pay a monthly fee for the sim card service?
3.) Do you have to pay 70mai a monthly fee?

 

[kamkar]

the cloud thing is free as i understand, but mind you not able to store a whole lot up there
Yes got SIM card, carbon copy of the plan i have on my phone
Not paying anyone but the Danish state a dime, and only CUZ there is no way for me to weasel out from under that behemoth

Regarding home charging, i assume i could do that on the power supply from my HAM radio days, but to do that it would have to be even more plug and play in regard to the wires in/out of the device.
Not that it is complicated, but i could not be bothered with home charging.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Regarding home charging, i assume i could do that on the power supply from my HAM radio days,

Can you send the email anyways?
We need an official answer for paying customers.

Can you send an email to your 70mai Rep that sent you the battery pack and ask these questions, (I want to get their official response);
1.) My battery pack is not getting fully charged because I don’t drive long enough.
How do I charge the battery pack outside the car?
2.) Do you sell a “home charger” for the battery pack in this situation.

 

[kamkar]

I dont think they have a home charger, they would have mentioned that when i asked about the possibility to charge via the USB port which you can not do.
So the only way to home charge is to use a PSU and also do your own charge cable with the plug the pack use.

 

[bhb]

Can you send the email anyways?
We need an official answer for paying customers.

Can you send an email to your 70mai Rep that sent you the battery pack and ask these questions, (I want to get their official response);
1.) My battery pack is not getting fully charged because I don’t drive long enough.
How do I charge the battery pack outside the car?
2.) Do you sell a “home charger” for the battery pack in this situation.

I see no home charger for the 70mai battery pack in their store. In my opnion a missed changed for 70mai. For what it is worth, this is mentioned in the manual:

Page 01:
Precautions:
Only charge the product using the standard charging methods outlined in this manual. Using non-standard charging methods may lead to product malfunction or permanent damage.

And in the seperate leaflet:

Do not charge the product outside a vehicle

Standard charging methods in the manual are the vehicle cigarette lighter option or the hardwire cable fuse box option.
So if you want to charge the battery at home they do not want buyers to do that.

But if I'm going to charge the battery outside the car for sure I'm going to make adapter cables to not have to pull out the connectors of the battery pack. I find the tiny MR30 connectors fragile and difficult to disconnect, and probably wear out when disconnected multiple times.

 

[bhb]

Can you send the email anyways?
We need an official answer for paying customers.

Can you send an email to your 70mai Rep that sent you the battery pack and ask these questions, (I want to get their official response);
1.) My battery pack is not getting fully charged because I don’t drive long enough.
How do I charge the battery pack outside the car?
2.) Do you sell a “home charger” for the battery pack in this situation.

I am curious what 70mai will say, so I have sent your two questions via email (I have the same questions as you because I don't drive every day and also some short rides). I will wait for their response and let you know as soon as they answer.

 

[bhb]

I am curious what 70mai will say, so I have sent your two questions via email (I have the same questions as you because I don't drive every day and also some short rides). I will wait for their response and let you know as soon as they answer.

@Panzer Platform: Quick respons from the Custumor Support of 70mai. And their answer is:

"Thank you for reaching out to us.
Kindly note the battery pack only get power from the car fuse box or the cigarette lighter.
Charging through the fuse box takes 60 mins to fully charge. Charging through the cigarette lighter takes 90 mins.
We don't have home chargers for sale.
We appreciate your understanding."

The answer "only get power from the car fuse box or the cigarette lighter" is confirming what I thought: they want customers to use only this method to charge and not use other ways to charge. Of course there are other ways to charge the battery pack, inside or outside the car.

 

[GPak]

This set will work with included cigar cable, similar to charging from the car's CLA:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0CKR6F7PC
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B08CT911LT
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0CHD7HJN5

EDIT: see Post # 139
Thanks to @Panzer Platform

 

[Chuck McCoy]

This set will work with included cigar cable, similar to charging from the car's CLA:

I disagree GPak.
Myself, and rcg530 tested the previous 14.6V @ 5A "home charger" for the BBMC PowerCell 8.
We found the charger would overheat, and begin an endless boot loop after around 40 minutes 60% charge.
The reason is the pack would spike, and ask for too much amperage than the charger could provide.
We submitted our testing results, and BBMC switched to selling an 8 Amp version.
We tested the 8 Amp version, and it "fixed" the overheating & boot looping issue.
I have the test results posted in my B-130X, and PC8 testing thread.
So I would say a suitable home charger needs to be minimum 8 Amp to charge the 70mai on LOW 5.6 Amp.
And minimum 10 Amp to charge the 70mai in HIGH 8.6 Amp.
-Chuck

 

[GPak]

My bad, I forgot the battery pack has it's own charger.
Even better, all we need is AC to 12VDC converter, not a charger!!! battery pack will limit the current to 5.6A when using supplied cigar cable.
Here is one for only about $18:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B0CRPBFSCK

 

[Chuck McCoy]

Here is one for only about $18:

I kind of disagree again GPak. lol
Both 5 Amp & 8 Amp “home chargers” from BBMC are rated at 14.6V.
I don’t have any proof but, I think they are 14.6 Volt because EGEN made a recommendation.
I also think these 14.6V units are “specially made” just for BBMC, and just for dash cam battery backs.
Because when I tested the PC8 I went looking for cheaper alternatives on Amazon to no avail.
I think that’s why the BBMC units are so expensive, (because they are 14.6V).
Q: Will the 12.0V @ 10A Amazon version charge a dash cam battery back, and everything will be OK?
A: We need to test that to confirm & verify.
I’m sure some folks are doing just that, and will never experience an issue.
But part of me thinks there is good reason for the 14.6V units.
Maybe @BlackboxMyCar can clarify.

My bad, I forgot the battery pack has it's own charger.

Also, I don’t know what you mean by this.
What battery pack has it’s own charger?