BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8 Test & Review PP

[Lothar]

In a previous life, among my responsibilities were maintaining mainframe level comms and software equipment, I also had responsibility for DC power systems that exceed 1500 amps and powered several floors of equipment. So, I know a little something about power, but not everything. I do know where to find good information and I know what specs to sweat or not sweat. Below is a link, with some basic info about lithium batteries and cold weather. Very basic and very quick read. Cold weather is a detriment as is excessively hot weather...regardless of charging or discharging. I mentioned in a previous post about 1C charging. When charging in cold you adjust the "C" charge factor down for the temperature. I did not mention that earlier because a ton of people, who have very little knowledge of power, would instantly deem the PC8 "not worthy". That simply is not the case, the PC8 is worthy but one must be aware of the environment, and be aware that any of these power cells are consumer grade packages.

Perhaps EGEN has a therm sensor built in and the FW to lower the charge based on temp but, as they do not mention that I seriously doubt the sensor is there, but maybe it is. If it is, you can bet that it will add to the cost of the product.

Even if there is a low temp sensor that cuts power to the camera...then on cold days you might as well pull the battery pack from the car and leave it in the house. Well, if the car is being left all day in a parking lot anyway. A low temp sensor will indeed help to protect the battery cells but it also at some point, will render the parking mode feature of a dashcam useless. One has to weigh the odds and the needs.

Relion Cold Weather Charging

If they have it, then it would be a part of their marketing. I see no reason for them not to mention it if they have it.

The last thing I want is for me to get into my car in the morning for work during freezing temperature, start my car, and this product to start charging immediately upon ignition thereby losing capacity/efficiency rather than a few minutes later after my vehicle climate control has heated the cabin to an appropriate temperature suitable enough for charging.
Similarly, if my car is already at an appropriate temperature (I set the climate control in my car to 70F) while driving on my commute to my job or the store, and I park which enables parking mode at my job or the grocery store, the temperature of unit itself will take sometime to come down. Remember that when it is discharging, there will be some heat generated from the battery, just like there is heat generated using your phone while it is not connected to a charger.

If one plans to exceed the parking mode limit for the battery device(~24 hours based on what was tested by @Panzer Platform ), then yes...take it inside.
On my driveway or in my garage at my house, pulling the battery is not necessary because I don't use parking mode in my driveway or garage anyway so there will be no discharging from the dashcam.

 

[Lothar]

I guess the other thing @Panzer Platform can do for us is to toss this unit in a Ziploc bag and put it in the freezer in his house for a few hours, measure the temperature to confirm that the unit has reached below freezing, and then plug it to see if it will start charging immediately and how fast it charges.
If it takes around the same amount of minutes to charge or if he measures the charge current and it does not reduce to compensate, then we will know.

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Deleted member 64174]

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[Panzer Platform]

I guess the other thing @Panzer Platform can do for us is to toss this unit in a Ziploc bag and put it in the freezer in his house for a few hours, measure the temperature to confirm that the unit has reached below freezing, and then plug it to see if it will start charging immediately and how fast it charges.
If it takes around the same amount of minutes to charge or if he measures the charge current and it does not reduce to compensate, then we will know.

I just might do this later tonight.
Right now I'm running a parking mode run time test with the A229 Duo.

 

[Panzer Platform]

A229 Duo Run Time Test

I was curious how long the A229 Duo would run on the PC8 in using the same method I used for the A129 Pro Duo.

Using the PC8’s Output Cable with CLA Socket, and Viofo original car charger, and USB Type-C cable, the A229 Duo had a “normal recording mode” runtime of;
21 Hours 23 Minutes

Using the PC8’s Output Cable “unspliced” with Viofo Hardwire Kit HK4, the A229 Duo had a “Low Bitrate Parking Mode” run time of;
21 Hours 25 Minutes

For reference the the A129 Pro Duo ran for
21 Hours 13 Minutes (normal recording mode)
23 Hours 26 Minutes (low bitrate parking mode)

How can it be the A229 Parking Mode run time is only 2 minutes longer than normal recording mode. I don’t know but, I offer this observation. During the last few hours of the run time test start around the 20 hour mark, I used the Cell Link Neo Plus App to check the PC8’s battery life percentage, and the estimated time left, (because I’m too lazy to go out in the garage, and visually check the camera). At the 20 hour mark the reported battery life was 0%, however the Output Voltage / Amperage was 12.0 Volts / 0.4 Amps. This tells me the camera is still operating. After that I checked the APP every 15-30 minutes, and the reported Output was fluctuating between 11.6 - 11.7 Volts until 23 Hours 47 Minutes had elapse since the start of the test, at this point the APP was no longer able to connect indicating the PC8 had shut off.

I pulled the SD Card from the A229 to review the footage, and last time stamped file. The last file indicated the A229 shut down at the 21 Hours 25 Minute mark. So this means even though the PC8 had sufficient power to operate for an additional 2 Hours 12 Minutes, the Viofo Hardwire Kit low voltage shut off powered down the A229. I had the Viofo Hardwire Kit set at the lowest possible cut off point of 11.8 Volts. So this tells me the Viofo Hardwire Kit is “leaving money on the table” because the cut off voltage is “too high” and it prevents my PC8 from giving me its full available capacity. Maybe Viofo needs to add one more selection range of 11.6 Volts, or add a selection to completely disable voltage cut off so it can operate properly with dash cam battery packs. What do you guys think, did I screw this one up too?
-Chuck

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Panzer Platform]

Included Velcro Mounting Strips

In this post I would like to discuss the PC8’s included two Velcro Strips with self adhesive backing. It’s a nice afterthought to include these Velcro strips to prevent the PC8 from sliding around when placed under the driver / front passenger car seat, or similar. However, I would like to offer a suggestion for the PC8 Gen 2 Model.

Harking back to my 30 years of installing car stereo equipment in my personal vehicles the PC8 reminds me of a car stereo amplifier. Ever since day one I have never liked mounting car amplifiers under the driver / passenger seat. Usually this is where all the dust, debris, muck, and worse case scenario water / moisture will collect. I have always preferred to mount my car amplifiers on the subwoofer enclosure box, or an a separate mountain board in a vertical, (standing up) position. Mainly for a few reasons; to aid, or help in cooling, and to avoid the previous disliked reasons, and lastly to show it off. Usually a car amplifier is one of the most expensive, and complex things in a custom set up to install & wire up “cleanly” so having it prominent displayed where you can see it adds to the pleasure of all the hard work put into a custom stereo system.

So for these reasons I would like to see the Gen 2 PC8 have a redesigned chassis with either built in screw holes, or extended flanges with mounting feet with screw holes. I don’t see this adding to much material or cost to the chassis case given the added flexibility in ways to mount the PC8. See attached photos.
-Chuck

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Panzer Platform]

Cold Temperature Charge Test

At the genius request on my man @Lothar I decided to perform another one of my useless experiments is the name of Doc Brown.

I discharged the PC8 to 0% and recorded it’s “standing room temperature” at 61℉ (16℃). I then placed the PC8 in my freezer which is -11℉ (-23℃), (don’t tell my wife I used two of her good freezer bags).

After one hour on my wife’s hamhock I measured the temperature of the PC8 at 12℉ (-11℃). This is below the PC8’s listed operating specification 14°F - 158°F (-10°C - 70°C) however I only wanted to do this test once, so I let it be for another hour.

After two hours in the freezer I measured the PC8’s temp at 5℉ (-15℃) this is approximately a few degrees warmer than the blank stare of disbelief I received from my wife when she caught me red handed putting electronics in the freezer next to her leftovers. Satisfied this would be cold enough to perform my charge test I narrowly escaped her clutches on my way to the sanctuary of my garage.

I quickly set up the PC8 for a charge cycle by selecting the HIGH charge profile, and connected it to my Variable Power Supply and adjusted it to 14.6 Volts / 10 Amps to give it full beans. All ready to go the PC8 warmed up to 7℉ (-13℃), as I engaged the Variable Power Supply. Under normal temp conditions the current / amperage starts around 8 Amps, and climbs to 9 Amps. But this time something different happened. The amperage was rapidly fluctuating between 0.8 Amps to 1.6 Amps. I filmed a 60 second video showing this. I’ll put a link to the video at the bottom.

I checked in with the Cellink Neo Plus APP to see what the indicated temp of the PC8 was. At the start of the charge cycle it reported -4℉ (-20℃). After two minutes of charging it reported 6℉ (-14℃). After obtaining these test results I discontinued the charge cycle to let it reach thermal equilibrium with my garage ambient temp.

So what can we takeaway from this poorly created, and unscientific experiment? It appears the PC8 has a low temperature charging strategy that prevents it from charging at full amperage when it’s below the listed operating temp specifications.

I am currently banned from performing future PC8 experiments with my wife’s kitchen appliances. If anyone asks me to perform a high temp charge test by baking the PC8 in the oven at 350℉ for 45 minutes you will have to wait until my wife leaves to visit her mother for Thanksgiving.
-Chuck

 

[Deleted member 64174]

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[Deleted member 64174]

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[Panzer Platform]

I found the screws.
But I don't know what any of this means. lol
Can someone tell me what all this stuff does?
See attached photos.
-Chuck

 

[Panzer Platform]

A119 Mini Run Time Test

I was curious how long the A119 Mini would run on the PC8 in using the same method I used for the A129 Pro Duo & A229 Duo.

Using the PC8’s Output Cable with CLA Socket, and Viofo original car charger, and USB Type-C cable, the A119 Mini had a “normal recording mode” runtime of;
28 Hours 17 Minutes

Using the PC8’s Output Cable “unspliced” with Viofo Hardwire Kit HK4, the A119 Mini had a “Low Bitrate Parking Mode” run time of;
40 Hours 2 Minutes

For reference the the A129 Pro Duo ran for;
21 Hours 13 Minutes (normal recording mode)
23 Hours 26 Minutes (low bitrate parking mode)

For reference the the A229 Duo ran for;
21 Hours 23 Minutes (normal recording mode)
21 Hours 25 Minutes (low bitrate parking mode)

I noticed during the last 2 hours of the A119 Mini’s run time test in NORMAL recording mode using the CLA socket, the Cellink Neo Plus APP indicated Output voltage at 11.5 Volts, (see attached screenshot).
In PARKING MODE the PC8 remained powered up for 1 Hour 29 Minutes after the A119 Mini was powered down by the Hardwire Kit’s low voltage cut off set at 11.8 Volts.

 

[Lothar]

Cold Temperature Charge Test

At the genius request on my man @Lothar I decided to perform another one of my useless experiments is the name of Doc Brown.

I discharged the PC8 to 0% and recorded it’s “standing room temperature” at 61℉ (16℃). I then placed the PC8 in my freezer which is -11℉ (-23℃), (don’t tell my wife I used two of her good freezer bags).

After one hour on my wife’s hamhock I measured the temperature of the PC8 at 12℉ (-11℃). This is below the PC8’s listed operating specification 14°F - 158°F (-10°C - 70°C) however I only wanted to do this test once, so I let it be for another hour.

After two hours in the freezer I measured the PC8’s temp at 5℉ (-15℃) this is approximately a few degrees warmer than the blank stare of disbelief I received from my wife when she caught me red handed putting electronics in the freezer next to her leftovers. Satisfied this would be cold enough to perform my charge test I narrowly escaped her clutches on my way to the sanctuary of my garage.

I quickly set up the PC8 for a charge cycle by selecting the HIGH charge profile, and connected it to my Variable Power Supply and adjusted it to 14.6 Volts / 10 Amps to give it full beans. All ready to go the PC8 warmed up to 7℉ (-13℃), as I engaged the Variable Power Supply. Under normal temp conditions the current / amperage starts around 8 Amps, and climbs to 9 Amps. But this time something different happened. The amperage was rapidly fluctuating between 0.8 Amps to 1.6 Amps. I filmed a 60 second video showing this. I’ll put a link to the video at the bottom.

I checked in with the Cellink Neo Plus APP to see what the indicated temp of the PC8 was. At the start of the charge cycle it reported -4℉ (-20℃). After two minutes of charging it reported 6℉ (-14℃). After obtaining these test results I discontinued the charge cycle to let it reach thermal equilibrium with my garage ambient temp.

So what can we takeaway from this poorly created, and unscientific experiment? It appears the PC8 has a low temperature charging strategy that prevents it from charging at full amperage when it’s below the listed operating temp specifications.

I am currently banned from performing future PC8 experiments with my wife’s kitchen appliances. If anyone asks me to perform a high temp charge test by baking the PC8 in the oven at 350℉ for 45 minutes you will have to wait until my wife leaves to visit her mother for Thanksgiving.
-Chuck

Thanks for testing.
I guess that I was expecting some kind of constant (or flat) reduced numbers rather than the erratic behavior (jumping from 0.79 to 1.67), but if it still stayed under then this erratic behavior may not be relevant.
Can't tell if this is how this protection mechanism is supposed to work, or if this is something else going on that our minds cannot explain?
I would still prefer something that does not charge at all if it is frozen rather than the manufacturer adjusting the algorithm via BMS because regardless of whatever charging adjustment that they do there is still likely to be some degradation from charging.

One thing to do note is that there are lots of Cellink products and it is possible that the newest versions have something similar and maybe the old Cellink version does not?
It all depends on which Cellink version this BlackboxMyCar model is a derivative off or is based on.

I would assume that the reason @BlackboxMyCar has not responded yet is that he is awaiting additional information from his supplier, EGEN?

 

[Panzer Platform]

Thanks for testing.

Thanks for the idea, this was fun to perform.
Did you see the internal photos I took?
I figured out how to take it apart.
The photos are 2-3 posts back.
-Chuck

 

[Lothar]

Thanks for the idea, this was fun to perform.
Did you see the internal photos I took?
I figured out how to take it apart.
The photos are 2-3 posts back.
-Chuck

Only watched the video. Didn't see a need click on the photos as the video provided everything I needed to know concerning charging. I'm also browsing from my phone's Chrome browser rather than my regular laptop so I don't necessarily click on everything that I see on my phone as I'm a bit more naturally more cautious about mistakenly downloading something vs being able to see everything on a big screen.

Now that you mention it, I just clicked on the photos and see that this is based on the "Neo8+S" which is the latest product in the Cellink lineup from Egen and therefore should have a checkbox on all the latest features.
Thanks for sharing.

 

[BlackboxMyCar]

Thanks for testing.
I guess that I was expecting some kind of constant (or flat) reduced numbers rather than the erratic behavior (jumping from 0.79 to 1.67), but if it still stayed under then this erratic behavior may not be relevant.
Can't tell if this is how this protection mechanism is supposed to work, or if this is something else going on that our minds cannot explain?
I would still prefer something that does not charge at all if it is frozen rather than the manufacturer adjusting the algorithm via BMS because regardless of whatever charging adjustment that they do there is still likely to be some degradation from charging.

One thing to do note is that there are lots of Cellink products and it is possible that the newest versions have something similar and maybe the old Cellink version does not?
It all depends on which Cellink version this BlackboxMyCar model is a derivative off or is based on.

I would assume that the reason @BlackboxMyCar has not responded yet is that he is awaiting additional information from his supplier, EGEN?

Hey all, sorry, we didn't realize you were waiting for a response from us. Black Friday has been keeping us plenty busy.
To confirm, yes, the BlackboxMyCar PowerCell 8 is a derivative of the Cellink Neo8+S like you mentioned.
We'll have to get back to your other questions later this week!

 

[Panzer Platform]

After a month of testing here's my thoughts on the PowerCell 8;

 

[Tatuatu]

I think I'll try a cheaper option with more storage capacity. BLUETTI EB3A Portable Power Station | 600W 268Wh