7500 mAh / 96 Wh - BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8 / BlackVue B-130X / Thinkware iVolt Xtra BAB-95

[Panzer Platform]

Thanks for catching that! I sent that chart to all three companies for review/comfirmation and nobody noticed that issue.

Whenever I send feedback to a manufacturer, I feel they only read 10%. lol

 

[rcg530]

I believe I have my battery pack discharge tests and charging tests charts finalized. I used a VIOFO A139 Pro 3-channel dash camera as the "load" on the battery pack for the discharge tests and for the charging tests. For the discharge tests, I had the A139 Pro 3-channel in low bitrate parking mode.

When I first ran the charging tests, I had the 14 AWG and 16 AWG hardwire cables coiled up just like they were shipped in the box. That configuration didn't allow the cable to dissipate heat as efficiently as when the charging cables were uncoiled. That's why you see "coiled" and "uncoiled" in the charging test chart. My tests of a 12 AWG homemade charging cable showed better results than the 14/16 AWG tests. The 12 AWG cable was "coiled" up in a 10" diameter circle so it was sort of "uncoiled". I would be nice to see the cigarette lighter adapter (CLA) cables have their wire gauge changed from 16 AWG to at least 14 AWG. The hardwire cables (16 AWG - PowerCell 8 / 14 AWG BlackVue B-130X & Thinkware BAB-95) should be changed to a 12 AWG cable to reduce the amount of heat generated during the charging cycle and for the PowerCell 8 it appeared to reduce the max amps during the charging cycle.

 

[rcg530]

I finished my review video for the BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8, BlackVue B-130X and Thinkware BAB-95 dash camera battery packs. It's a long video, but most viewers only watch the sections of video with the info they're interested in to make their purchase decision. I have a video chapter list in the video and the video description section to let you pick which video chapter you want to watch.

 

[Vortex Radar]

I finished my review video for the BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8, BlackVue B-130X and Thinkware BAB-95 dash camera battery packs. It's a long video, but most viewers only watch the sections of video with the info they're interested in to make their purchase decision. I have a video chapter list in the video and the video description section to let you pick which video chapter you want to watch.

Great work with the video! I started checking it out now, and then my kids started waking up from their naps, lol, so I'll finish it later. I've still got my batteries sitting here next to me and plan on getting my comparison done after finishing with the Starvis 2 and A139 Pro stuff. (Still trying to play catchup after the holidays...)

I like you touched on the different gauge input wires and I know you've mentioned that here on the forums. I don't plan on covering that so I'll refer people to your video to cover some details that I plan on skipping over. The note about the Thinkware batteries being able to be wired together in parallel, I wasn't aware of that. I just stopped at "no expansion battery packs are supported," heh.

 

[Panzer Platform]

The note about the Thinkware batteries being able to be wired together in parallel, I wasn't aware of that.

The thing I'm most excited to learn about is the Thinkware specific "communication" cable for use with future Thinkware dash cams.
I'm hoping it can give the battery pack a "voice" just like how Viofo implemented voice notifications on the A139 & A229 & A119 Mini etc.
It would be nice to hear what's actually going on instead of hearing the same tone beeps, like when it achieves fully charged status.
And of course volume control, and the ability to disable all together for @kamkar
He dislikes the sound of bossy, female announcements in his car. lol
I don't have anyone at Thinkware to tug on their shirt with a question.
Maybe you can get more insight on the future implementation of the communication cable.
-Chuck

 

[Dashmellow]

He dislikes the sound of bossy, female announcements in his car. lol

I'm not so sure I like that either. I once had a dash cam that had a female voice speaking in English with a Chinese accent. It wasn't notifications, instead it was just a welcome announcement with the manufacturer's name instead of a chime each time you booted up the camera. The problem was that she had a very stern and abrupt sounding demeanor that made you feel like you were standing in the meal line at the prison cafeteria and she had just plopped a ladle full of gruel onto your stainless steel plate and told you to keep moving. I won't mention the brand.

 

[Vortex Radar]

The thing I'm most excited to learn about is the Thinkware specific "communication" cable for use with future Thinkware dash cams.
I'm hoping it can give the battery pack a "voice" just like how Viofo implemented voice notifications on the A139 & A229 & A119 Mini etc.
It would be nice to hear what's actually going on instead of hearing the same tone beeps, like when it achieves fully charged status.
And of course volume control, and the ability to disable all together for @kamkar
He dislikes the sound of bossy, female announcements in his car. lol
I don't have anyone at Thinkware to tug on their shirt with a question.
Maybe you can get more insight on the future implementation of the communication cable.
-Chuck

They don’t wanna publicly discuss that yet, especially since some aspects are still in development. They had an early demo of it at SEMA, but there was still discussion at the time regarding what was gonna make the final release so I intentionally left that out of the Thinkware video.

 

[Panzer Platform]

I won't mention the brand.

Say no more.

 

[rcg530]

I was asked this question in a comment on my YouTube video. I thought it would be helpful here too.

• Q: Are all these hardwire cables using copper wire or are they CCA (Copper Clad Aluminum)?
• A: All of the hardwire charging cables have tinned copper stranded wire.
  • PowerCell 8: AWM 1015 16 AWG VW-1 105°C 600V E214500
  • B-130X/BAB-95: AWM 2468 14 AWG VW-1 80°C 300V E358766 XIONGXIN

 

[Dashmellow]

Say no more.

It was a different brand and the voice sounded more austere and had a much thicker Chinese accent. I don't even know if the company is still in business although they once sold several camera models that were popular on the forum.

Anyway, I can see where voice notifications would actually make sense on a product like this as a battery pack is usually hidden away and out of sight and too many other devices beep these days.

 

[kamkar]

Well i have been called a Misogynist in here, so

I do actually prefer talking cameras over beeping cameras, but as with most things you get to a place where its just too much.
For instance i do not need to hear "GPS connected" I am satisfied assuming it do that CUZ after all it is not that important to a bit of evidence video.

It would also be funny to me if you could edit the voice announcements, i think if i could i would make my viofo cameras talk like a drunken Irishman.

 

[marcusb]

So... I just installed the powercell8 it in my truck. Battery is under the passenger seat.. wires tucked in the trim on a long the bottom of the doorway. How concerned should I be about the temperature? FWIW, I'm limiting charging to 7.5 amps right now.

 

[rcg530]

So... I just installed the powercell8 it in my truck. Battery is under the passenger seat.. wires tucked in the trim on a long the bottom of the doorway. How concerned should I be about the temperature? FWIW, I'm limiting charging to 7.5 amps right now.

The 16 AWG hardwire charging cable supplied with the PowerCell 8 does get warmer than the 14 AWG supplied with the BlackVue B-130X and Thinkware BAB-95. When the 16 AWG cable is uncoiled (as it is in your installation), it does run cooler than if the cable is coiled (like it is in the box). Dropping the high amp charging mode amps to a max of 7.5 amps, will also help reduce the temperature of the cable while charging the PowerCell 8. I believe your configuration should do okay (temp wise).

• Coiled 16 AWG charge cable
  • Max amps = 9.741
  • Max temp = 112.4F/44.6C
  • Charging Time = 1 hour 2 minutes
• Uncoiled 16 AWG charge cable
  • Max amps = 9.631
  • Max temp = 93.2F/34.0C
  • Charging Time = 1 hour 3 minutes
• 12 AWG charging cable
  • Max amps = 9.144
  • Max temp = 84.1F/28.9C
  • Charging Time = 1 hour 3 minutes

Our (mine and @Panzer Platform ) feedback to @BlackboxMyCar has been to have EGEN include at least a 14 AWG hardwire charging cable with the PowerCell 8. A 12 AWG charging cable would be even better.

 

[marcusb]

Hope they take it under consideration.

 

[BlackboxMyCar]

Interesting findings! I'll pass the feedback along, thank you.

 

[marcusb]

I finished my review video for the BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8, BlackVue B-130X and Thinkware BAB-95 dash camera battery packs. It's a long video, but most viewers only watch the sections of video with the info they're interested in to make their purchase decision. I have a video chapter list in the video and the video description section to let you pick which video chapter you want to watch.

Thank you so much for your review. I have only started getting into Dashcams and other than replacing a headunit, hadn't really modified a car's electronics before.

I think BlackBoxMyCar has some work to do here. I think the product could be great, but they need to include the lower gauge wire. Also, and I only realized this because of rcg530's video, the fusetap situation is not a good one to recommend at all! I realize it makes it easy... but now that I really understand what's going on, I'm going to lower my charging current to 4.5 amps until I install a relay per rcg530's video. I don't want to ruin my trucks wiring.

Eventually I am going to make my own 12 gauge cable as well.

Disappointing to have to spend more money to make it right after spending over $300 on the battery.

 

[marcusb]

So, this is a little surprising to me, though it may not be to more experienced dashcam battery users: Although the battery has a temperature sensor and reports it's temperature in the app, the battery will still attempt to charge when it is outside of the 0-45 degrees Celsius range listed as the charging temperature range. I'm a bit surprised this can't be managed in the firmware to not allow it to charge outside of the range.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Although the battery has a temperature sensor and reports it's temperature in the app, the battery will still attempt to charge when it is outside of the 0-45 degrees Celsius range listed as the charging temperature range. I'm a bit surprised this can't be managed in the firmware to not allow it to charge outside of the range.

BlackVue B-130X Test & Review PP

I would like to say thank you to @BlackVue for sending me the all new Power Magic Ultra Battery B-130X for test & review. They even sent me a DR900X Plus to test it with. Last month I tested the BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8 with an identical 96Wh capacity so I have that on hand to compare with. -...

dashcamtalk.com

 

[marcusb]

BlackVue B-130X Test & Review PP

I would like to say thank you to @BlackVue for sending me the all new Power Magic Ultra Battery B-130X for test & review. They even sent me a DR900X Plus to test it with. Last month I tested the BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8 with an identical 96Wh capacity so I have that on hand to compare with. -...

dashcamtalk.com

Interesting, I should've known someone would have tested this.

I don't understand why it just doesn't refuse to charge, though. You can manually disable charging in the app, which I did until it got a little warmer than 0c. You'd think kit would just flip that option if the temp is low... a bit disappointing, in my opinion.

 

[marcusb]

@rcg530 - In your video review of PC8 you show it drawing about 13.81 amps when set to 9. In your video about the heating of the coiled wire, it looks like it only hits a max of about 9.74 amps. Was there another change I'm missing?