BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8 Test & Review PP

[Panzer Platform]

Hey guys once again I’m late to the party, but it still feels good to be invited.
For the past couple months I’ve been begging Joseph from @BlackboxMyCar to send me a PowerCell 8 for test & review.
I think I finally wore him down. Lol
What can I say about the PC8 that’s already been reviewed by six professional dash cam testers on YouTube;
RetroCarGuy530
BlackboxMyCar
USDashCamera
Dial2Fast
Everyday Reviews
EastCoastJeepSRT
Btw, @rcg530 has the best review by far, and brings up a very good point how to wire this unit for power.

BlackVue, and Thinkware recently announced they will be releasing new battery packs in the coming weeks that have increased capacity to match the PowerCell 8’s 96Wh.
I’ve been playing with the PC8 for 2 weeks, and I’ve already got a wish list of improvements for the Gen 2 model to keep it competitive against the upcoming BlackVue, and Thinkware units.
Here’s a sneak peek of my future YouTube full review.
-Chuck

 

[BlackboxMyCar]

"Begging" seems like a strong word but we obviously love what you bring to the community Chuck, so we couldn't say no! Keep up the good work!

 

[kamkar]

It would take a dedicated dashcam battery for me to try any longer duration parking guard, even if i dont really feel like i need it.
With geofencing, or something like that, so i could tell my system to not go into parking guard when i am at home and have CCTV, it would be nicer to have a longer duration other places.
That would be nice CUZ some days i drive 1/2 mile do some shopping and drive home again, so a camera to go to long time parking guard then would be hard to keep charge on what ever battery.
Though it is also rare i park for long somewhere else.
Okay my friends place in the summer / good weather season when we do field work and i spend the night as i am too knackered to drive home, or just good summer days where i sit and shoot for 8 hours or so , but otherwise most times / places i am in and out the door in a few hours.

 

[Panzer Platform]

"Begging" seems like a strong word but we obviously love what you bring to the community Chuck, so we couldn't say no! Keep up the good work!

You're right, begging was oversell. lol
Btw, in preparation for my review I re-watched all the dash cam battery pack videos on YouTube from the past 3 years.
And I found this gem.
I'll leave a time stamped link for it to start playing at 12:19.
I couldn't stop laughing. LMAO
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

It would take a dedicated dashcam battery for me to try any longer duration parking guard, even if i dont really feel like i need it.

Right on Brian,
Just between me, you, and the fence post for my application I'm not a fan of parking mode in general.
However it does have a lot of Pros that a lot of people want like;
"only recording the important stuff" (motion / impacts)
power conservation
SD card memory conservation
automatically locking the file to prevent overwriting
placing the locked file in a separate folder for quicker locating etc.

For my application I never want to degrade, or lower image quality, bitrate, etc.
So in the rare instance I need "parking protection" I don't have a problem leaving my cameras running in normal recording mode, and getting a bigger SD card, and manually searching videos files looking for that important moment.
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

Welcome to my first “testing” post of the PC8. I should probably mention I do not have a degree in Engineering, Electronics, or Computers. I’m just a regular guy in his garage with some basic tools. I plan on making a lot of mistakes, and everything I say should be confirmed & verified.

However, I grew up in the 80’s which I consider to be the golden age, and pinnacle of quality consumer electronics made in Japan by brands like Sony, Kenwood, Pioneer, etc. Back then no matter what gadget, or gizmo you needed you could pick one from up made by Sony Japan, and all of the R&D, and quality control was complete, and the product would last 20+ years. I’m talking about the Walkman, Boom Boxes, TV’s, VCR’s, Home & Car stereo equipment, Answering Machines, Typewriters, Keyboards, Cameras, etc.

Nowadays consumer electronics are mostly disposable, and it’s up to the consumer to be their own quality control, and R&D. Why am I ranting about how good things use to be in the 80’s? Well after a visual inspection, and getting my grubby hands on the PC8, and using it for a few weeks it reminds me of the bygone era of quality Japanese made electronics from the 80’s & 90’s. On the other hand all included wiring are on the opposite end of the spectrum. It’s almost like 99.9% of the product development budget was spent on designing, and manufacturing the PC8, and then they realized, they needed to include wiring. The wiring is not a deal breaker though, because it’s easily replaceable with better quality, and most importantly thicker gauge, (more on that later).

First let me introduce my meager test equipment, and other things I’ll use for this test & review;

Fluke 115 Multimeter
UNI-T UT210e Pro Amp Clamp
WANTEK 3010H Variable Power Supply 30 Volt / 10 Amp
ETEKCITY 774 Infrared Thermometer
iPhone SE 2020 (for Cellink Neo Plus App)
iPhone SE 2016 (for Cellink Neo Plus App)
Officially Licensed @rcg530 Dash Cam Hardwire Current Measuring Harness
VIOFO A129 Pro Duo “Test Mule” Received October 15, 2022 current firmware is V2.9 20220902 (full disclosure, the A129 Pro Duo was sent by Viofo for future comparison with the A139 Pro 3-Channel). It’s also the only dash cam I currently don’t have installed in my car so that makes it easier for this bench test.

The first things I would like to confirm & verify with the PC8’s claimed specifications are the capacity, and charge times, (HIGH 9 Amp & LOW 5 Amp). In order to do this I’ll need to measure the power consumption of my test mule, (A129 Pro Duo) in normal recording mode, and parking mode. For parking mode I prefer to use Low Bitrate because I’ve found that to be more consistent for testing purposes because Motion & Impact Event Detection can change power fluctuations significantly based on how many times the camera “wakes up” to start recording, and Time Lapse does not record audio.

The approximate power consumption of the A129 Pro Duo with screen & Wi-Fi OFF is;
Normal Mode: 392mA @ 12.6 Volts = 4.9392 Watts
Parking Mode: 336mA @ 12.6 Volts = 4.2336 Watts

I power cycled the PC8 by fully discharging it to 0%, and fully charging it to 100% ten times over two weeks before performing these final run time tests.
The following tests were performed in my garage at 60℉ / 15℃ during night time, and 72℉ / 22℃ during the day.

Using the PC8’s Output Cable with CLA Socket, and Viofo original car charger, and Mini USB cable, the A129 Pro had a “normal recording mode” runtime of;
Test #1: 20 Hours 58 Minutes
Test #2: 21 Hours 3 Minutes
Test #3: 21 Hours 38 Minutes
Average: 21 Hours 13 Minutes

Using the PC8’s Output Cable “unspliced” with Viofo Hardwire Kit HK3, the A129 Pro Duo had a “Low Bitrate Parking Mode” run time of;
Test #1: 23 Hours 16 Minutes
Test #2: 23 Hours 36 Minutes
Average: 23 Hours 26 Minutes

Just for kicks because there’s always some guy like me, I also tested the USB Output Port intended for a Wi-Fi hotspot, or similar by plugging the Viofo supplied USB power cable in, and running the A129 Pro Duo in normal recording mode. I discovered two things.
1.) The run time is approximately 1.5 hours less compared to using the PC8’s Output Cable with CLA Socket at 19 Hours 57 Minutes
2.) The Cellink Neo Plus App does not to provide battery life percentage when only the USB port is being used.
=( Sad face. Hopefully this can be fixed with a firmware update either to the App, or the PC8, or maybe fixed in the PC8 Gen 2 model.

Side Note: My run times surpass @BlackboxMyCar own test of the A129 Pro Duo of 19 Hours 10 Minutes. I believe my observed increased run times are because BBMC performed their testing when the PC8 was released September 2021, and my current day A129 Pro Duo is using a newer “optimized” firmware version.

Based on these tests it appears the PC8 meets the claimed 96Wh minimum, and the actual true capacity may be closer to 99Wh, but not more than 100Wh.
That’s it for this post, the next update will be about charging times, (LOW 5 Amp & HIGH 9 Amp).
Stay tuned for more testing, I’m having a blast. lol
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

Welcome back, in this post I would like to confirm & verify the PC8’s claimed charge times. The PC8 has two different charging profiles, (HIGH 9 Amps / LOW 5 Amps).

The “HIGH” profile has a claimed charge time of 50 minutes using the included Hardwire Cable. It is 16AWG, and 10ft long. It has a two pin XT60 Male connector on one end, and bare wire on the other end, (negative / ground) wire has an O-ring terminal. When “HIGH” is selected on the PC8’s (LOW / OFF / HIGH) switch the default charging amperage is 7.5 Amps. However, utilizing the Cellink Neo Plus App you can select the desired charging amperage from 4.5 Amps to 9 Amps in increments of 0.5 Amps.

The “LOW” profile has a claimed charging time of 80 minutes using the included Cigarette Lighter Adapter. The CLA has an AGC glass fuse rated at 10 Amps 250 Volts, and is 5ft long. On the other end it has a two pin XT60 Male connector that utilizes a third “signal” pin. The PC8 uses the third signal pin to identify when the CLA is being used as opposed to the Hardwire Cable as identified in the Cellink Neo Plus App. When “LOW” is selected on the PC8’s (LOW / OFF / HIGH) switch charging amperage is fixed at 5 Amps.

I connected my Variable Power Supply to the PC8 using the included Hardwire Cable, and adjusted it to 14.60 Volts / 10 Amps. I monitored the charge cycle, and took screenshots of the battery life percentage displayed in the Cellink Neo Plus App at the start, every 15 minutes, and at the end of the completed charge cycle. Here are the results;
0% Start
31% 15 Minutes
62% 30 Minutes
93% 44 Minutes
100% 59 Minutes

Under these test conditions it appears the PC8 did not meet its claimed charge time of 50 minutes, and took an extra 9 minutes to reach 100%. But wait, there’s more. Here’s where it gets interesting.

After the first 15 minutes of the charge cycle I measured the temperature of the Hardwire Cable with my infrared thermometer, and found it had risen to 106℉ / 41℃. The starting temp of the Hardwire Cable was the ambient temp of my garage 72℉ / 22℃. The risen high temp of the cable stayed that way throughout the remainder of the charge cycle. Based on my experience, and in my opinion this is no bueno. Usually when wires get this hot it means one of three things; 1.) The wire gauge is too small 2.) The wire is too long 3.) Too much Amperage / Current is overloading the wire. Or a combination of all three. Since it would be inconvenient to reduce the length of the wire, or reduce charging amperage I think an acceptable solution would be to increase the gauge of the Hardwire Cable to the maximum gauge that an XT60 connector will accept, (which is 12AWG). I have performed an experiment testing this proposed solution, (more on that later in a future post).

That’s it for this post. Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel for my results of the LOW charging profile.
-Chuck

 

[kamkar]

XT 60 and XT 90, the plugs we use on our lipo batteries for our RC toys.
What i take from this post are mainly that if you run your battery down every day doing parking guard, well then you also need to drive 1 hour every day, or i assume two or more drive sessions that add up to at least 1 hour of daily driving.

It is my pet peeve when the talk fall on parking guard, as many often neglect to remember that you need power to record, and in general a car only power up its battery or additional batteries by driving it.

PS: in my model trains i use way smaller plugs, as for aesthetic reasons i can not have a huge XT plug sitting between the locomotive and the battery carrying wagon behind the train.
Fortunately the big trains dont use that much power, well at least not with the amount of rolling stock we pull around

 

[Panzer Platform]

Now let’s talk about the PC8’s “LOW” 5 AMP charge profile. This test was slightly less eventful than the previous but, I have two interesting tidbits of info for you. I tested the LOW 5 Amp charge profile two ways. Using the PC8’s included CLA adapter with my Variable Power Supply, and with the optional BBMC AC/DC Power Inverter that is rated at 14.60 Volts / 5.0 Amps.

The PC8’s claimed “LOW” charge time using the included CLA is 80 minutes. First I connected my Variable Power Supply to the PC8 using the CLA, and adjusted it to 14.6 Volts, and 5.0 Amps. I monitored the charge cycle, and took screenshots of the battery life percentage displayed in the Cellink Neo Plus App at the start, every 15 minutes, and at the end of the completed charge cycle. Here are the results;
0% Start
17% 15 Minutes
34% 30 Minutes
51% 45 Minutes
68% 60 Minutes
85% 75 Minutes
99% 90 Minutes
100% 102 Minutes

After discharging the PC8 to 0% I repeated the test using the BBMC Power Inverter, and it produced identical results. Under these test conditions it appears the PC8 did not meet its claimed charge time of 80 minutes, and took an extra 22 minutes to reach 100%.

After the first 15 minutes of the charge cycle I measured the temperature of the
CLA wires with my infrared thermometer, and found it had risen to 86℉ / 30℃. The starting temp of the CLA wires was the ambient temp of my garage 72℉ / 22℃. The risen high temp of the CLA wires stayed that way throughout the remainder of the charge cycle. Based on my experience, and in my opinion this is no bueno. Usually when wires get this hot it means one of three things; 1.) The wire gauge is too small 2.) The wire is too long 3.) Too much Amperage / Current is overloading the wire. Or a combination of all three. Since it would be inconvenient to reduce the length of the CLA wires, or reduce charging amperage I think an acceptable solution would be to increase the gauge of the CLA wires to the maximum gauge that an XT60 connector will accept, (which is 12AWG).

That’s it for this post. Stay tuned for my “apples to oranges” comparison test with a homemade 14AWG, 1ft charging wire.
-Chuck

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Panzer Platform]

What i take from this post are mainly that if you run your battery down every day doing parking guard, well then you also need to drive 1 hour every day, or i assume two or more drive sessions that add up to at least 1 hour of daily driving.

It is my pet peeve when the talk fall on parking guard, as many often neglect to remember that you need power to record, and in general a car only power up its battery or additional batteries by driving it.

I agree Brian.
The solution most people resort to is removing the battery pack from the car, and charging it in the house with an appropriate AC/DC converter.
These can be found on Amazon US for $15.

Again, you are preaching to the choir about parking mode.
In my personal application I do not use it, and in the rare event I want "parking protection" I just run the camera in normal recording mode because I prefer the highest possible image quality.
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

I would be interested in knowing what battery chemistry was used, number of cells in the PC 8 and the IR, Internal Resistance of the total unit.

Right on Lufo,
Thanks for stopping in.

Right now I'm slapping my forehead with the "DUH" sound. lol
I "assumed" everyone knew these dedicated dash cam battery packs only use LiFePO4 Lithium Iron Phosphate. Oops!
Also, I spent an hour trying to track down the FCC ID# for the PC8, and it's mysteriously absent from all available public internet sources.
The only one I could find was from a Cell Link Neo 6 from 2018.
The reason I want the FCC ID# is so I can view the internal photographs the manufacturer must submit to the FCC to obtain an FCC ID# so the product can be sold in the US.
Usually the internal photographs will tell you what you just asked "number of cells".
However, manufacturers can also request an exemption to publicly displaying the internal photos on the FCC website due to trade secrets, or sensitive info.

Also how do I measure the internal resistance of the total unit?
Can I just do that with my multimeter, and selecting Ohms?
And should I do that fully charged, or fully discharged?
-Chuck

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Panzer Platform]

There are reasonably inexpensive testers on Amazon that can be looked at.

I actually have an automotive electronic battery tester that provides Internal Resistance.
Let me go out in the garage and see what kind of sparks I get with the PC8. lol

 

[Panzer Platform]

Now I would like to expand on my provocative opinions, and reveal my inadequate knowledge of electrical theory. I wanted to test if increasing the gauge size of the Hardwire Cable from 16AWG to 12AWG would reduce the temperature of the wire when it’s under the full charging load of 9 Amps. I ransacked my kitchen junk drawer looking for my 12AWG wire to discover I already used it on another project. The only suitable remnant I had on hand was a 1ft length of 14AWG 100% pure copper speaker wire. Not ideal, but it will have to do for this “apples to oranges” experiment. lol

So to recap, I will be comparing how hot the PC8’s included 16AWG 10ft Hardwire Cable gets, to my homemade 14AWG 1ft cable under the full 9 Amp charge load.
Let’s get ready to rumble. The test conditions for this battle royal were in my garage at 60℉ / 15℃ and 54% humidity.

After discharging the PC8 to 0% I connect it to my Variable Power Supply, and adjusted it to 14.6 Volts / 10.0 Amps using my homemade 14AWG 1ft cable that I soldered Amass brand name XT60 connectors I found on Amazon for $9 (10 pack). I released the electrons, and off to the races we go.

After the first 15 minutes of the charge cycle I measured the temp of the 14AWG 1ft wire, and it had risen to 73℉ / 22℃, (an increase of 13℉ / 7℃ over ambient).

Next, I swapped into place the PC8’s included 16AWG 10ft Hardwire Cable, and resumed the charge cycle. After 15 minutes I measured the temp of the wire, and it had risen to 94℉ / 34℃, (an increase of 34℉ / 19℃ over ambient). Ay Caramba!

Next, I swapped into place the PC8’s included CLA, and selected the LOW charging profile (5 Amps). After 15 minutes I measured the temp of the CLA wire, and it had risen to 74℉ / 23℃, (an increase of 14℉ / 8℃ over ambient). Oy Vey!

So what can we take away from this poorly created, unscientific experiment. I don’t think I have definitively proven anything, but I still stand by my original recommendation of increasing the 16AWG wire of BOTH the Hardwire Cable, and the CLA Cable to the maximum 12AWG size the XT60 can accommodate. When I think about the included wiring provided with the PC8, “A chain is only as strong as its weakest link” is what comes to mind. The PC8 is designed with the highest quality materials, and construction, and it’s being dragged down by subpar, inadequate wiring. Once again, this is just my opinion.
-Chuck

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[kamkar]

Well i feel if given a chance ( a hard wire kit ) we should also test parking guard.
I do, though i often forget to test other than my preferred settings here ( low bitrate always recording and 3 hour timer )

There really are a lot to do, and i sort of wish the companies would help us to do a even better job,,,,, i think it is okay for them to ask for that giving us free stuff.
Personally i find it easy to get overwhelmed with many things in life, i am unsure if that is a result of my now advanced age, or it is simply just something i have become aware off but just ignored before.

 

[Panzer Platform]

Tests results look reasonable to me. It is good you are using the AMASS XT60 and not one of the knock-offs. The knock-offs are a lot cheaper but, they fit poorly and we have seen higher resistance in the connectors and loss. The original AMASS are worth the extra money in my view.

I am attaching a pic, at high risk of it being maybe not the batt in your unit, but the IEC is the same and specs are essentially the same. There is almost always some fudging in marketing numbers. A 1/c charge on your batt would have the charger set at 7.5, charging at 9 you are slightly fast charging the battery, which is probably OK to do. But, it will cause a bit more heat. You always know when you have too much heat because the wires will melt or the solder connection behaves like a fuse link.

I knew the decision to get the Amass connectors would pay off.
They were an extra $1. lol

There is definitely a BMS (battery management system) or micro-controller or whatever it’s called between the LiFePO4 battery, and the XT60 female connector.
I’ve been trying to outsmart it by presenting varying methods of charging, and have found it’s smart, but not wise. Lol

Sometimes the charging profile, and battery life percentage as reported by the App are simply working off a programmed timer, rather than sampling the incoming voltage / current and comparing it with how the battery is accepting the charge every few seconds.

I looked at my automotive electronic battery tester, and it tests every type of battery except lithium. lol
I also realized because of the BMS it would not work either. Shucks.

When I was looking for the FCC ID# of the PC8, it appears EGEN Inc. makes the majority, if not all the dash cam battery packs sold in the US, (thinkware, blackvue, cell link neo, etc.) The EGEN Inc. is the manufacturer but, it’s customers (thinkware, blackvue, BBMC, etc) specify exactly how they want their units to be designed & constructed with whatever features to best work with their dash cams.

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Panzer Platform]

I can only find the B124 by EGEN

Here is the FCC ID 2AQUV-B124-NEO6 info I found on what I thought was the Cell Link Neo from August 2018. It turns out the BlackVue B-124 are kissing cousins. lol

FCC ID 2AQUV-B124-NEO6 Rechargeable Li-ion Battery by EGEN Inc.

FCC ID application submitted by EGEN Inc. for Rechargeable Li-ion Battery for FCC ID 2AQUV-B124-NEO6. Approved Frequencies, User Manuals, Photos, and Wireless Reports.

fccid.io