Best settings for rarely driven truck

[cody0707]

Hello everyone. I have an A129 Duo kit installed in my truck. My truck is not a daily driver since I have a work vehicle. I have the A129 installed with the HK3 hardware kit and have the setting at 12.4v. I have still gone out to my truck after sitting for a week to find it dead. It is possible I have another parasitic drain somewhere else but to make sure I want to dial in the camera as much as possible. Assuming the HK3 kit is doing what it is supposed to then the camera shouldn't be the cause of the battery drain. While researching the topic, I see a lot of discussion regarding parking mode.

Since my truck is mainly sitting in my driveway and not in some busy parking lot what settings would be best for the parking mode?
Are there any other settings I should change?

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum Cody.

Back in the 90ties i had a German not that hot hatchback car made in 1986, it worked like a charm aside the the timing belt blowing now and then.
Anyway it also had a lot of car hifi in it though i also dont think that was the problem, but if i did not drive that car every day then it would also need a jump or a rolling start.
Clearly there was some kind of drain in it.

You can always try to disable the parking guard or maybe entirely the hard wire kit by removing the GND wire, and then for a little while use the provided 12 V plug when you do drive.
That i think should indicate if the hard wire kit / dashcam have anything to do with the drain you see.

I am PT using parking guard with the A229 system and using the HK3 hard wire kit for that, i have a 12.2 V cut off selected but i also use the parking guard timer set to just 3 hours to conserve the little 50 Ah battery in my now little Japanese very not hot at all hatchback car.

 

[cody0707]

Welcome to the forum Cody.

Back in the 90ties i had a German not that hot hatchback car made in 1986, it worked like a charm aside the the timing belt blowing now and then.
Anyway it also had a lot of car hifi in it though i also dont think that was the problem, but if i did not drive that car every day then it would also need a jump or a rolling start.
Clearly there was some kind of drain in it.

You can always try to disable the parking guard or maybe entirely the hard wire kit by removing the GND wire, and then for a little while use the provided 12 V plug when you do drive.
That i think should indicate if the hard wire kit / dashcam have anything to do with the drain you see.

I am PT using parking guard with the A229 system and using the HK3 hard wire kit for that, i have a 12.2 V cut off selected but i also use the parking guard timer set to just 3 hours to conserve the little 50 Ah battery in my now little Japanese very not hot at all hatchback car.

So with the 3-hour parking guard, the camera turns off automatically after 3 hours of being parked? I might have to switch to a setting like this. My plan is to use my multimeter and chase down a drain if I can identify one exists.

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Have you confirmed the camera is entering parking mode correctly? It should enter parking mode within a few seconds of the truck being shut off. If it takes about 5 minutes, then the kit isn't connected properly.

 

[cody0707]

Have you confirmed the camera is entering parking mode correctly? It should enter parking mode within a few seconds of the truck being shut off. If it takes about 5 minutes, then the kit isn't connected properly.

I guess I need to check this. What's the easiest way to ensure this?

 

[CaptureYourAction]

When parking mode is turned on in the settings, there will be an icon of a car in the top left corner of the LCD screen (this just means the setting is on, not that it's in parking mode). When you turn off the truck, the camera should enter parking mode within about 5 seconds. When it enters parking mode, the icon of the car will change to the icon of the chosen parking mode. So if you chose Low Bitrate, the icon will change to a video camera. Auto Event Mode will change to a stick figure.

 

[kamkar]

Yes the build in timer end my parking guard sessions after 3 hours, so i can conserve my puny little battery.
Also at home i have CCTV on my parked car, so not really a need for parking guard here, and as a retired fellow i do not park much out on the town like for work or something else.

I use to just have 1 hour on the timer, but then some months ago visiting my sister my car was hit while parked,,,, and of course 2 hours after i parked.
Fortunately a witness that took down the plate of the offender that did not leave any contact info,,,,, or she did but returned to remove it shortly there after.
So now i hope 3 hours are enough.
If paranoid one day i can always up the timer to a longer duration, or remove it and let low voltage cut off end the session, but in general i do not park such places.
Maximum timer duration on viofo cameras are 48 hours as i recall.

My newer model camera announce with a voice notification when the camera change mode, i use low bitrate myself as it record all the time, but i do also have G-sensor for parking on, just in case there is a major event.
So my camera say " parking guard enabled,,,,,, 2 channels recording" seconds after i turn off my car.
your older model as explained you will have to look for Icons on the LCD screen, these can vary some depending on what kind of parking guard mode you are using.

 

[wuckertrhea]

An symbol of a car will appear in the upper left corner of the LCD screen when parking mode is enabled in the settings (this merely indicates that the setting is on, not that parking mode is active). The camera should go into parking mode within 5 seconds of turning off the truck. The car's icon will switch to the icon for the selected parking mode when it enters parking mode. Therefore, if you selected Low Bitrate, a video camera will appear as the icon. A stick figure will appear in Auto Event Mode.

 

[hallm]

If it’s sitting in your driveway why not put a battery charger on it to keep the battery topped up.

 

[LMN]

There are also solar trickle chargers for autos. They are great if you don't have a nearby power source.