Dashcam is hardwired and turns off when car is off. Battery died (after one month). Coincidence?

[thethreegs]

It has been probably 3-5 years since I replaced the car battery so I am wondering if this is coincidence.

I have a Viofo a119v3. I have the constant on fuse tapped to power seats. I have the acc fuse tapped to the AC. My Viofo makes the on noise when car is started. It makes the off noise when car is turned off. Parking mode is off. If I touch the power button on the dashcam while the car is off, the dash cam will turn on.

So I am assuming I installed it correctly. I installed a month ago and my battery is drained. Is this mere coincidence? I am partially considering fuse tapping the constant on to an ACC fuse but I notice if I do that, the dash cam doesn't turn off properly, the power is cut and it just shuts off and not power off. I also notice that if the constant on is not attached, the power does not go to the dashcam meaning it HAS to be plugged in.

 

[kamkar]

Damn that was indeed a short life battery.
If the camera are on and recording none the less, that should then be on the memory card.
I cant recall hearing about anyone's hard wire kit doing something, and even if it was wired up wrong ( the two +12 V wires ) that should not have any effect on the car battery as i understand it, only camera operation.
And it do sound like yours work as it is supposed to with the on and off chimes.
TBH i was not aware you could turn on the camera by pressing the power button, i will have to try that in my car tomorrow before i go for a drive, but it sort of make sense if you are there and get a sudden urge to record something manually, but i will have to test this on my A139 test camera, i think its hard wire kit are much like the old one just with a USB C plug for the camera.

 

[kamkar]

If you are getting a new battery, if you have the option to see battery voltage in the car with the key turned to ACC i would pay attention to voltages.
I replaced the okay feeling battery in my 2012 car last summer, and that did fix a strange issue i was having with a Street Guardian camera, i dident expect that as the factory battery felt good and voltages looked okay too, but it did make the issue go bye bye.

 

[kamkar]

I did also read about some guy in here getting a new battery for his car, and it only lasted months, so it seem even a fairly simple thing like a lead acid battery can also be faulty, so that is of course also a option.
Have you checked the battery and how its fluid levels are ASO ?

 

[thethreegs]

Damn that was indeed a short life battery.
If the camera are on and recording none the less, that should then be on the memory card.
I cant recall hearing about anyone's hard wire kit doing something, and even if it was wired up wrong ( the two +12 V wires ) that should not have any effect on the car battery as i understand it, only camera operation.
And it do sound like yours work as it is supposed to with the on and off chimes.
TBH i was not aware you could turn on the camera by pressing the power button, i will have to try that in my car tomorrow before i go for a drive, but it sort of make sense if you are there and get a sudden urge to record something manually, but i will have to test this on my A139 test camera, i think its hard wire kit are much like the old one just with a USB C plug for the camera.

Let me know if your camera turns on by pressing the on button even if the ignition is off. Curious if that is normal. Makes me paranoid that it may drain the batteries by simply being able to turn on (even with parking mode off)

 

[kamkar]

will do, about midnight here in Denmark, so in 10 hours or so i am up and about again.

 

[Nigel]

Let me know if your camera turns on by pressing the on button even if the ignition is off. Curious if that is normal. Makes me paranoid that it may drain the batteries by simply being able to turn on (even with parking mode off)

Yes, that is normal if the hardwire is wired correctly.

The camera when off is monitoring the on button, but that uses virtually zero power. There is however some power use by the GPS module if you have it, that doesn't turn off. It is a very small amount though, so unless you only drive a few miles once a week, it is not going to be the cause of the problem, and even then, the HWK should cut the power once the battery is half empty (or whatever you have it set to). It will contribute a little to the discharge, so could be why you have noticed the problem now, but with a new battery will not be an issue.

 

[Nigel]

It has been probably 3-5 years since I replaced the car battery so I am wondering if this is coincidence.

Car battery life is very random, 3-5 years is not unusual, even though some last 12 or 14!

 

[SawMaster]

Battery life varies greatly based on a number of factors. With the mid-grade battery I use, the hotter climate I live in, the 5.8L gas engine in my old van, it's relatively weak charging (which isn't enough to cover headlights at idle), and the fact that I'm usually running 1 or 2 cams 24/7 adds up to me getting about 4 1/2 to 5 years from my largish 80A battery. Using no cams I may get 5 1/2 to 6 years life. Using a cheap battery it won't exceed 4 years cams or not.

I've been running this type of vehicle for well over 30 years, batteries and charging are the same on all of the one's I've owned, so I think my figures are accurate. With a smaller battery you'll see shorter life overall, but the ratio should be about the same; maybe a 20% shorter service life from the average car battery when you constantly use parking modes. That should be around $0.50 to $0.75 per day with most cars, a figure I'll happily pay to have my recordings.

What you've experienced is pretty normal for a car battery nearing the end of it's life; any substantial draw when parked will run it down far more quickly than when it's newer. With a HWK you'll first notice that the recording time when parked gets shorter and shorter, and that you may have to adjust the low-voltage cutoff higher to avoid a dead battery. With a new battery a setting of 12.0V is as far as you should go, and actually that is a bit low- I generally recommend 12.2V or higher, but with a 12.4V setting your recording time will be quite short once the battery gets some wear on it. If you can switch over to an AGM type battery it will last a lot longer using dashcams while parked, but at least you should use a mid-grade battery- never the cheapest ones.

Phil

 

[kamkar]

I am able to turn on my camera by pressing the button ( never tried that before, so live and learn )

I think you have just been unlucky with your battery, but still good you latched on to a possible connection with your new dashcam.
With your new battery i would none the less be observant about battery voltages the first few days, maybe jog down the voltage on the battery when you stop the car ( engine not running ) and compare that to the day after when you go do do a drive, if the car have been sitting overnight and there is a leak of power somewhere, there should be a difference in voltages.

12.2 volts are generally seen as a 50% depleted charge on a car battery, so i would never go under that when using parking guard, this value should also not wear too bad on the car battery, which are not really meant to power things but more to just be there to start the car.
But of course any use of the car battery out of the factory stuff will eat some of the battery life, but with a sensible cut off voltage it is not like you cut your battery life in half or worse.

I only use parking guard in 1 of the 2 cameras i have wired up to that ( both front & rear cameras ) and i only use it for 1 hour on a timer in the camera, this cover all my shopping, and at home i have a CCTV camera zoomed in tight on the parked car so i am able to identify a vandal / thief.
On the + side my CCTV camera have smart motion detect meaning just human or vehicle shapes set off the motion alert, and this is nice as i get notifications on my tablet and phone on my bedside table.
And the CCTV camera have IR light for aid at night, something that up until recently was needed as the back yard i park in behind the apartment block are pitch black at night, but there now is a PIR activated LED light there.

As i recall in lead acid batteries, when they die it is often called a collapse in technical terms, which i think is why it might appear all of a sudden for some people.
Many batteries today claim to be maintenance free, but the term at least remind old timers about the days where you knew that your battery was also something to look out for just like oil on your motor ASO.

 

[Kremmen]

If you don't require parking mode then would it work if the red permanent power lead of the Viofo HWK wasn't connected ?

I'm using a Nextbase HWK on my A119 V3 which only has 2 wires, ACC and ground and it's never caused an issue.

 

[Nigel]

If you don't require parking mode then would it work if the red permanent power lead of the Viofo HWK wasn't connected ?

Red has to be connected, but you can connect both red and yellow to the ACC fuse so that it fully powers off when the ignition is off.

However that means that you can't press the camera power button to override the "parking mode off" setting when you park in a supermarket car park and want parking mode for an hour.

 

[peterhr]

I have a nextbase 422 with nextbase hardwire kit. With a permanent supply and parking mode it killed the battery after about 4 days under lockdown.

A side effect was the camera would occasionally hang and need the reset button pressed underneath to revive it.

For me the solution was to connect the hard wire kit via a switch in the glove box - two piggy fused piggy back connectors into the fuse box, one to a permanent feed, on on the ignition.

The switch has 3 positions, ignition (normal), off (car service), permanent (supermarket car oark). Parking mode is not enabled on the camera.

Works well.

 

[thethreegs]

Thanks everyone for your response. I never realised how much the dash cam takes from the battery so it sounds like putting in a new dash cam on a battery that was already about 5 years old isn't the dashcam but the battery. I don't really need parking mode and don't want the stress of it draining that extra amount unnecessarily.

And yes, I HAD to connect the constant on. I connected it to an ACC fuse and didn't like how it abruptly shuts off the camera the moment the car is turned off - I prefer hearing the off chimes - so I put it back on a constant on and will keep parking mode off. Hopefully I am not back on here in six months to report a dead battery.

 

[kamkar]

As you are not using the hard wire kit to do parking mode, you can set the low voltage cut off to the highest 12.4 V cut off value, that should shut things down fast if things suddenly decide to be out of the ordinary.
But ! Yeah i think you just have one of those really bad timing cases.

 

[Outbacknomad]

Lead acid batteries have a life of about 4 years. After that you are on borrowed time. Less time it the starter battery is simply in the engine bay. Heat is a killer. You probably will be able to start the car but they do lose their AH capacity at about 20% per year.

Cars these days have a complex shutdown process. Often shutting down an increasing number of things over weeks until they go into hibernation.

Also batteries are too small to save weight, so less AH.

Just do not connect accessories to the starter battery or you will be like the many people in outback Australia 1000km from help who needs a jump start. I have jump started too many cars. I have even added an Anderson plug to my car to help with jump starting from my perspective.

 

[SawMaster]

Excess heat or cold is tough on a L/A car starting battery, and the Aussie heat is well known. In mid-USA you get more like 5 years average from a car battery, but the other things still apply. If having to get your car jumped is a big issue, you'd be wise to carry a jumpbox so you can do that yourself. They're small and cheap now, and there's even ones based on supercaps so you can use your 'dead' battery to jump your own self off

Phil

 

[kamkar]

We use to drive around in winter and pull out peoples car using my buddy LR and the winch on it ( warn of course ) also fitted with old man emu parts here and there also of course.
And people could be quite generous.
But these days are long since gone, Denmark now get a few inches of snow in a winter.
Last person i pulled out, towing with my 2006 Gran vitara was in the winter same year as i recall, maybe the following year, but then the snow was plentiful, and knowing where the +1M high snow drifts was i told the guy " dont be scared when i floor it it is just to be able to make it thru, and you might not be able to see where you are, just follow my rear lights and if anything brake a little to keep the tow rope tight"
And it was also needed to get thru the massive drifts even if i and others had already been thru there a few times.
The following week the guy came to my house with a card box with 6 bottles of wine and some other treats.

The next day i was out on my 660 CCM Yamaha raptor quad bike,,,,,, that was even more fun, even if the not lightweight rear wheel quad did get stuck a few times and i had to manhandle it to get going again.
Highly illegal, but i drove around on the streets and at times i was around 10 KM from my house power drifting it past kids shoveling snow was popular, and they heard me coming thanks to the LOUD white brothers exhaust on it ( sounded like a Harley gone mad )

 

[Vanhalo]

It has been probably 3-5 years since I replaced the car battery so I am wondering if this is coincidence.

I have a Viofo a119v3. I have the constant on fuse tapped to power seats. I have the acc fuse tapped to the AC. My Viofo makes the on noise when car is started. It makes the off noise when car is turned off. Parking mode is off. If I touch the power button on the dashcam while the car is off, the dash cam will turn on.

So I am assuming I installed it correctly. I installed a month ago and my battery is drained. Is this mere coincidence? I am partially considering fuse tapping the constant on to an ACC fuse but I notice if I do that, the dash cam doesn't turn off properly, the power is cut and it just shuts off and not power off. I also notice that if the constant on is not attached, the power does not go to the dashcam meaning it HAS to be plugged in.

I brought my OEM jeep battery to its early demise @ the 4 year mark when i left a 12v fridge connected to the rear 12v power source.
The fridge had the same built in low voltage shut off feature.
Since then I do not connect any "low voltage shutoff" appliances to my get home battery.

 

[KANNINA 2.0]

Heat is brutal on batteries.

I live in southern AZ and I replace my car batteries at the 3.5 year mark whether they need it or not.

When they die, they die without warning. First (and last) time, drove to a remote location on a Sunday afternoon. Car was running fine, no danger signs. Came back 3 hours later, dead as a doornail.

Long wait for AAA and an overpriced battery...

Might be overkill, but worth every penny for the peace of mind.