When reviewing dashcams before I bought one, I saw that this had a motion sensor and was powered by capacitors. I assumed this meant that it would record when it detected motion even when it was not powered (ie the capacitors would act as a battery).
I installed the cam in my honda with a hard-wired kit and found that when the power was off, it would record as I expected when there was motion. I liked it so much that I bought another one and set it up within my Ford with the same kit except I found that it would not record unless the car was on. I tried different settings & tried charging it via different usb power but it would still only record when powered on.
I went back to my Honda and unplugged the cam to confirm it was working as I expected and it's not. It turns out the circuit I connected to is always on even though its the same circuit as the 12v lighter socket which is ONLY powered when the car is on. I guess the circuit is always on but the socket isn't.
Anyways, can someone confirm this cam only works when powered? Are the capacitors only used to store the settings? Do people recommend having it always powered and set to motion activated or on accessory power and motion off? How long should I expect it to record before it kills my battery? The hard wire kit is suposed to turn off at a certain voltage but I'm not sure I want to rely on that.
Thanks
I installed the cam in my honda with a hard-wired kit and found that when the power was off, it would record as I expected when there was motion. I liked it so much that I bought another one and set it up within my Ford with the same kit except I found that it would not record unless the car was on. I tried different settings & tried charging it via different usb power but it would still only record when powered on.
I went back to my Honda and unplugged the cam to confirm it was working as I expected and it's not. It turns out the circuit I connected to is always on even though its the same circuit as the 12v lighter socket which is ONLY powered when the car is on. I guess the circuit is always on but the socket isn't.
Anyways, can someone confirm this cam only works when powered? Are the capacitors only used to store the settings? Do people recommend having it always powered and set to motion activated or on accessory power and motion off? How long should I expect it to record before it kills my battery? The hard wire kit is suposed to turn off at a certain voltage but I'm not sure I want to rely on that.
Thanks
