Constant power supply?

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Curious

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I am ordering the PanoramaII right away, to hopefully get it before a road trip. I am completely confused what the constant power option does. I found some old posts about it but it's not any clearer to me. Please explain so I can decide if I need it. Is it only if I want to record when the engine is off? Or if I want it hardwired instead of using cigarette lighter to power it on and off?
 
Curious said:
I am ordering the PanoramaII right away, to hopefully get it before a road trip. I am completely confused what the constant power option does. I found some old posts about it but it's not any clearer to me. Please explain so I can decide if I need it. Is it only if I want to record when the engine is off? Or if I want it hardwired instead of using cigarette lighter to power it on and off?
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The "multi-safer" will all the camera to continue to operate until the battery hits a certain voltage level or shutoff after a preset amount of time. The camera does have a motion sensor, so in theory if you park in areas where you want it to start recording when there is motion around your car it might be a good option. I bought the multi-safer but in the end didn't bother to install it, I just want the camera recording while I'm driving, I don't need it to record while parked.
 
Curious said:
I am ordering the PanoramaII right away, to hopefully get it before a road trip. I am completely confused what the constant power option does. I found some old posts about it but it's not any clearer to me. Please explain so I can decide if I need it. Is it only if I want to record when the engine is off? Or if I want it hardwired instead of using cigarette lighter to power it on and off?
Click to expand...

Constant power supply is different to battery discharge device. You can hardwire any dashcam without using any special device.
Battery discharge device is all on one: it provides hard-wire + prevention to discharge car battery.

1. more neat installation, hidden wires. Cigarette lighter is no in use, so you can use it for other devices ( phone charger etc. )
2. if car is parked and motion detection is enabled, or if you using constant recording when car is parked, then battery discharge device will cut-off power to dashcam if battery voltage goes below set value, this way preventing car battery going flat.
 
singlespeed said:
The "multi-safer" will all the camera to continue to operate until the battery hits a certain voltage level or shutoff after a preset amount of time. The camera does have a motion sensor, so in theory if you park in areas where you want it to start recording when there is motion around your car it might be a good option. I bought the multi-safer but in the end didn't bother to install it, I just want the camera recording while I'm driving, I don't need it to record while parked.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I could understand your explanation. Still hard to decide about spending the little extra now, just in case I want this later!
 
In my experience, if you drive your car regularly (I drive mine daily) then you don't need a battery discharge prevention device. My Panorama is hardwired and always-on without any battery discharge prevention device. The camera draws so little power that it's a little difficult for it to drain your car's battery. I've left my car for up to 4 days in the airport parking lot with constant movement activating the camera and I had no problem starting the car when I came back. If I ever come back to a drained battery, I'll be sure to come back and post exactly how may days went by...
 
Gabolinche said:
In my experience, if you drive your car regularly (I drive mine daily) then you don't need a battery discharge prevention device. My Panorama is hardwired and always-on without any battery discharge prevention device. The camera draws so little power that it's a little difficult for it to drain your car's battery. I've left my car for up to 4 days in the airport parking lot with constant movement activating the camera and I had no problem starting the car when I came back. If I ever come back to a drained battery, I'll be sure to come back and post exactly how may days went by...
Click to expand...

This is useful information, though I already placed my order with the "constant power supply" device.

Maybe an older car battery or smaller car could have issues. Through Google I found complaints how even with the discharge prevention device it was draining below a good voltage.
 
I drive a car that has a relatively undersized battery. There isn't room to install a larger one, so I was adamant on getting a power box. In saying that I have mine set to the highest cutoff voltage of 12.4V and my car has sat in motion detection mode from Friday afternoon to monday morning and it hasn't even hit the cutoff voltage yet.

Curious said:
Through Google I found complaints how even with the discharge prevention device it was draining below a good voltage.
Click to expand...
Which camera and which device are you talking about? I bought the Lukas LK-290 (http://lukashd.com/eng/product_info/power_lock_4.html) because it has the highest cutoff voltage of 12.4, but you can also go down to 12.2, 12.0 and 11.8 if you want to get more days usage out of the camera, but risk starting your vehicle.
 
lankyduke said:
I drive a car that has a relatively undersized battery. There isn't room to install a larger one, so I was adamant on getting a power box. In saying that I have mine set to the highest cutoff voltage of 12.4V and my car has sat in motion detection mode from Friday afternoon to monday morning and it hasn't even hit the cutoff voltage yet.


Which camera and which device are you talking about? I bought the Lukas LK-290 (http://lukashd.com/eng/product_info/power_lock_4.html) because it has the highest cutoff voltage of 12.4, but you can also go down to 12.2, 12.0 and 11.8 if you want to get more days usage out of the camera, but risk starting your vehicle.
Click to expand...

Different cars need different lowest battery voltage to start an engine, so there is no universal rule of the lowest cut-off voltage. To be on the safe side, 12.2 is the lowest I would go, or 12.4 as in your case. However it's also depend on battery health as well.
 
Yes that's true. Just highlighting that I have a battery that is just big enough to start the car, and I have no issues running the camera over a weekend. So the power drain is very good in the PanoII/S
 
lankyduke said:
the power drain is very good in the PanoII/S
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... only 160mAh in parking mode ( motion detection standby ), - this is The lowest power consumption from all known dash cams.
 
niko said:
... only 160mAh in parking mode ( motion detection standby ), - this is The lowest power consumption from all known dash cams.
Click to expand...

worth noting that is a power cutoff device was used the power consumption would be higher, if it's a daily driver than better off without one
 
jokiin said:
worth noting that is a power cutoff device was used the power consumption would be higher, if it's a daily driver than better off without one
Click to expand...

You right. A power cut-off device uses also some power ( not yet known how much exactly ).
 
i am probably missing something but can someone post a link to the device we are talking about here? TIA
 
This is the unit that came with mine. I bought it but did not install it. This camera uses so little power I've never had a problem so this is just kickin around. I used my cheap camera to take this pic thus it's a bit blurry.
 
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If you want to buy a BDP device, get the Lukas LK-290 that I linked earlier above. You can get it wired with a DC power jack that fits perfectly into the camera. No need to double up on cigarette sockets.
 
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