A129 3-wire kit

[Nigel]

Lol, good idea. Do you have a recommendation for the best automatic car charger for this exercise? Are CTEK chargers the best?

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CTEK are supposed to be the best, but you don't necessarily need the best, especially if you only use it once every 5 years.

I use one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192196902075Simple, cheap, and it still puts the same electricity into the battery! Works fine for me, and does have trickle charge if you want it to look after a battery long term.

Only real issue is that at 0.6A maximum charge rate, it can take over 24 hours to fully charge an empty battery, though it will charge a flat battery enough to start the engine in probably 10 minutes.

 

[RavenManiac]

I just got a CTEK, primarily because of the endorsement by Jay Leno, but my purchase was unrelated to the A129.

 

[kevindd992002]

CTEK are supposed to be the best, but you don't necessarily need the best, especially if you only use it once every 5 years.

I use one of these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192196902075Simple, cheap, and it still puts the same electricity into the battery! Works fine for me, and does have trickle charge if you want it to look after a battery long term.

Only real issue is that at 0.6A maximum charge rate, it can take over 24 hours to fully charge an empty battery, though it will charge a flat battery enough to start the engine in probably 10 minutes.

Yeah, well CTEK recommends doing a monthly charge and a yearly reconditioning of the baytery, if I read correctly. The MCS5 has 5A capacity. I also see a NOCO Genius 3500 as a competitor to CTEK. Would 3.5A be enough?

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[kevindd992002]

I just got a CTEK, primarily because of the endorsement by Jay Leno, but my purchase was unrelated to the A129.

Which one did you get and why?

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[RavenManiac]

Which one did you get and why?

My son just purchased a 2019 Mazda 3, which is an awesome car. Unfortunately, the battery kept dying the first week he owned it. The issue was ultimately resolved by resetting the car's computer, but in that week I read and learned a lot about car batteries.

I discovered that one of the worse things you can do to a car battery is to not adequately charge it on a regular basis. And, that's exactly what happens with our 2012 Honda CR-V. During the week, it only gets driven about 5 miles a day. Great for commuting. Bad for batteries. So, because of that, the fact that we only have one car, and that we don't have a way to jumpstart it should the battery go below around 11.5 volts, I purchased a CTEK MXS 5.0: https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00CD44RQO

I also got the wall mount and the extension cable.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00KS4PR6A
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00ADIHUVG

I'm looking forward to trying it out this week.

 

[Nigel]

Yeah, well CTEK recommends doing a monthly charge and a yearly reconditioning of the baytery, if I read correctly. The MCS5 has 5A capacity. I also see a NOCO Genius 3500 as a competitor to CTEK. Would 3.5A be enough?

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Yes, a monthly charge to 100.00% full is definitely recommended, or at least 3 monthly, and if you are using a dashcam on parking mode then the car alternator is quite likely not to ever achieve the 100.00% unless you do an 8 hour drive every month. But you don't need a rapid charge to achieve this, the cheap 0.5A charger I linked to will do the job perfectly well and I actually find it more convenient than my previous CTEK charger that died.

 

[RavenManiac]

But you don't need a rapid charge to achieve this, the cheap 0.5A charger I linked to will do the job perfectly well and I actually find it more convenient than my previous CTEK charger that died.

You're probably right Nigel. But, if the charger screws up my battery or my car, who is more likely to watch your back? A $100 million publicly traded company or the guy on eBay?

 

[RavenManiac]

I actually find it more convenient than my previous CTEK charger that died.

Hey Nigel, most CTEK chargers come with a 5-year warranty. Perhaps yours is still covered.

 

[Nigel]

You're probably right Nigel. But, if the charger screws up my battery or my car, who is more likely to watch your back? A $100 million publicly traded company or the guy on eBay?

Neither

Not sure which I trust most, the CTEK definitely has more features, and is faster, and is a good choice. I'm just making the point that all those features are not necessary and very likely not useful to a typical dashcam user, so if anyone wants to go for the cheaper option, there is nothing wrong with that.

Hey Nigel, most CTEK chargers come with a 5-year warranty. Perhaps yours is still covered.

No, it was older than that when it died.

 

[RavenManiac]

I'm just making the point that all those features are not necessary and very likely not useful to a typical dashcam user, so if anyone wants to go for the cheaper option, there is nothing wrong with that.

I know. I'm just poking fun at you.

 

[RavenManiac]

Also, will this switch work for my intended purpose? And yes, I know it's a SPDT. Unfortunately, it's hard to find a stylish SPST switch.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07D2CX76S

Okay, I just thought of a potential problem.

If I use a lighted switch that means the light will be on when the 12V constant circuit is activated, but the car is off. Since the A129 hardwire kit is after the switch, the switch light itself will still be powered regardless of the cutoff voltage that is set on the hardwire kit. Do you think the switch light could drain the battery if it's on for an extended period of time?

Perhaps I should use a standard non-lighted switch to avoid this possibility. Maybe go with a retro look?

 

[Nigel]

Okay, I just thought of a potential problem.

If I use a lighted switch that means the light will be on when the 12V constant circuit is activated, but the car is off. Since the A129 hardwire kit is after the switch, the switch light itself will still be powered regardless of the cutoff voltage that is set on the hardwire kit. Do you think the switch light could drain the battery if it's on for an extended period of time?

Perhaps I should use a standard non-lighted switch to avoid this possibility. Maybe go with a retro look?

I use one that looks exactly like that, except I think it is a genuine retro one, looks really good mounted on the overhead interior lamp panel, like you see in old airliner ****pits! Also very nice to use.

Mounted on a modern dashboard it would look a bit wrong.

The LED lamp would drain your battery slowly, so even if it is only on when the camera is on, it is still shortening your parking mode time and so undesirable, also, in the dark it may make your car interior glow!

 

[RavenManiac]

Thanks Nigel. I think I'm going to go with a more modern, non-lit circular rocker switch—just to be safe. It would really suck to go to start my car only to find out that battery had been drained by a switch light.

 

[Nigel]

Thanks Nigel. I think I'm going to go with a more modern, non-lit circular rocker switch—just to be safe. It would really suck to go to start my car only to find out that battery had been drained by a switch light.

The toggle switches are nice to use.

Another option might be to find an unused original switch on your vehicle and use that, many vehicles have options which have unused switches, although you may only have a blanking plate and have to buy the correct switch from a dealer/ebay, it is nice when a switch matches the vehicle perfectly.

 

[RavenManiac]

Another option might be to find an unused original switch on your vehicle and use that, many vehicles have options which have unused switches, although you may only have a blanking plate and have to buy the correct switch from a dealer/ebay, it is nice when a switch matches the vehicle perfectly.

Unfortunately, in the US, all I could find was a traction control switch to fit the extra blanks in a 2012 Honda CR-V. It seems that you guys in the UK and other countries often get more accessory switch options than we do.

 

[kevindd992002]

Not if you turn the headlights on

That might be too quick, might be better to use the sidelights and wait a few hours.

So I got my car back and was told that it already held charge "after a while". They initially told me that it didn't hold charge anymore. I didn't react anymore but they should me the result of the testing and that the CCA is already low at 170 CCA.

I tested the voltage when I got home and it was at around 12.5V. So I immediately used the CTEK MXS 5.0 charger that I just bought to fully charge it, and I had no problems in doing so.

The 3-wire hardwire kit threshold was also set at 12.2V so no one had accidentally moved the switch to 11.8V. Then I proceeded in testing if the threshold really works. I started at the 12.4V threshold setting while my Fluke voltmeter is connected to one of the fuses in the fuse box that is constant 12V. The reading went down to 12.2V but the camera never stopped recording in parking mode!

Does this automatically tell me that the hardwire kit is a dud?! If so, isn't Viofo responsible to the damage to my battery? I'm guessing my battery was discharged to 11.8V several times already since I installed my dashcams

 

[Nigel]

Does this automatically tell me that the hardwire kit is a dud?! If so, isn't Viofo responsible to the damage to my battery? I'm guessing my battery was discharged to 11.8V several times already since I installed my dashcams

Are you saying that it did turn off at 11.8V?

It probably doesn't turn off immediately the battery reaches 12.4V, because that might happen temporarily if someone locks the doors, it probably has to stay below 12.4V for some time, so from what you have said, I don't know if it is working or not, plus I wouldn't be surprised if the 12.4V is not exact, especially since it would be measured within the kit and not at the same place you measured it. If it was within 0.2V error then I would be perfectly happy.

As for Viofo being responsible for your battery, I think you were probably responsible for testing that the kit worked correctly on arrival and Viofo are only responsible for repairing any faults in the kit. In addition, although the battery will have lost a bit of life, it isn't necessarily dead, and I'm not sure how 170 CCA means anything if they don't give it a full charge first. 11.8V should not do much damage unless it happens regularly, 11.0V is when the battery is really empty and being seriously damaged.

 

[kevindd992002]

Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. What I'm saying is that the kit probably didn't apply any of its cutoff voltages until the battery didn't have enough juice to start the car.

I see. So what's a good test procedure to test this? How long should I wait for the cutoff to occur? I agree that it won't cutoff at exactly 12.4V as different measurement points provide different results but if the cutoff voltages choices that you have an interval of 0.2V, then an error tolerance of 0.2V would be too much, IMO.

Ok, I guess it won't hurt to bring this up with Viofo and see what they say. It's a lesson-learned for me at least and I'm glad the battery isn't completely dead.

 

[jokiin]

there is a +/- tolerance of 0.1v and the voltage has to reach the cutoff and be below the cutoff point for 100 seconds before it will turn off

 

[kevindd992002]

there is a +/- tolerance of 0.1v and the voltage has to reach the cutoff and be below the cutoff point for 100 seconds before it will turn off

Ok. The fuse box hot side is 12.2V and the battery terminals are at 12.3V for more than 100 seconds but the camera still kept running when I did the test twice.

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