Discreet Dash Cam with Long Battery Life

DanSpooner

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Hi All,

I'm looking in to buying a Dash Cam for my BMW 116i, the problem is that the cigarette lighters don't work in the car (fuse has been replaced and it still doesn't) and I have no USB ports.

I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a discreet Dash Cam with a long life battery included that could maybe be charged every night when I get home? I'm not a massive car/technical person so wouldn't know where to start in terms of wiring it to the car battery...

Ideally I'd like a discreet Dash Cam that could fit behind my rear view mirror. It doesn't need a screen or microphone.

Its just for short journeys (under an hour) and I just want one because I drive in South East London and you get a LOT of bad drivers around.

I know I'm probably asking too much, but any help would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,


Dan
 
the cameras don't have batteries large enough to run for any useful amount of time, better to either get your lighter fixed or have the camera hardwired, if it's a temporary solution maybe use a USB powerbank
 
Hi All,

I'm looking in to buying a Dash Cam for my BMW 116i, the problem is that the cigarette lighters don't work in the car (fuse has been replaced and it still doesn't) and I have no USB ports.

I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a discreet Dash Cam with a long life battery included that could maybe be charged every night when I get home? I'm not a massive car/technical person so wouldn't know where to start in terms of wiring it to the car battery...

Ideally I'd like a discreet Dash Cam that could fit behind my rear view mirror. It doesn't need a screen or microphone.

Its just for short journeys (under an hour) and I just want one because I drive in South East London and you get a LOT of bad drivers around.

I know I'm probably asking too much, but any help would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,


Dan

The Mobius could be adequate for a short period of time if you are prepared to do an occasional firmware update. I average around 2.25 hours of recording from a full charge, but don't expect it would continue like this if I were to start running it flat most days.

As jokiin said, better to hardwire or repair the lighter sockets. If hardwiring is a bit above your current skill level this thread mentions an installer who only charged £50 to hardwire a 2 channel cam, a single camera may be slightly cheaper. Essex might be a fit far though.

Even if you don't plan on using them, it might be an idea to find out why the lighters don't work, so that you at least know they won't cause any further problems.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a discreet Dash Cam with a long life battery included that could maybe be charged every night when I get home?

Ideally I'd like a discreet Dash Cam that could fit behind my rear view mirror. It doesn't need a screen or microphone.

Its just for short journeys (under an hour)

I agree that the Mobius would be an excellent choice for your application but the solution that would really make it work optimally considering your requirements would be to power it with an external USB battery bank that could potentially run the camera for many, many hours at a time if you wanted to or had the need. An external battery bank option would also be much more practical and convenient as it would allow you to keep the camera permanently installed and properly aimed while allowing you to bring the battery pack with you for charging when you leave your vehicle. If you only make short drives of an hour or two you wouldn't even need to charge the battery pack daily.

Another benefit of using an external USB battery pack is that it allows you to run the camera when you are away from your vehicle. For example, when you stop at a store or restaurant you can enjoy the confidence of knowing that the camera is keeping an eye on things wherever you've parked your car.

(If you should decide to chose a Mobius camera with a battery bank for your install it would be advisable (but not entirely necessary) to swap the internal camera battery for the available, inexpensive and easy to install super-capacitor option.)

See this LINK for further discussion and info about external battery banks used for powering dash cams.

Also be aware that a battery bank for powering a dash cam will work with virtually any 5V dash cam, not just the Mobius. For example, the Street Guardian SG9665GC would also be an excellent (but more costly) choice that would be discreet, reliable, has additional features, already includes the super-capacitor and easily runs well off a battery pack.

Edit: Battery bank solution or not, you really should get those 12V sockets looked at and fixed. ;)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Hi All,

I'm looking in to buying a Dash Cam for my BMW 116i, the problem is that the cigarette lighters don't work in the car (fuse has been replaced and it still doesn't) and I have no USB ports.
Did you take the car to a proper auto electrician's shop? I'm sure they'll fix it in a blink of an eye. Sometimes the cigarette lighters just need a bit of cleaning.
 
Hi All,

I'm looking in to buying a Dash Cam for my BMW 116i, the problem is that the cigarette lighters don't work in the car (fuse has been replaced and it still doesn't) and I have no USB ports.

I was wondering if anyone could advise me on a discreet Dash Cam with a long life battery included that could maybe be charged every night when I get home? I'm not a massive car/technical person so wouldn't know where to start in terms of wiring it to the car battery...

Ideally I'd like a discreet Dash Cam that could fit behind my rear view mirror. It doesn't need a screen or microphone.

Its just for short journeys (under an hour) and I just want one because I drive in South East London and you get a LOT of bad drivers around.

I know I'm probably asking too much, but any help would be very much appreciated!

Thanks,


Dan

Hi Dan, I've been using a Mobius action camera to record video footage all day continuously using an external TeckNet power bank 12000mAh external battery power bank which I purchased from Amazon a few months ago. I ran the cable down from the Mobius to the glove box in my car which is where the power bank sits, and recharge the battery pack every few days when I come home from work.

If you intend to record footage on a continuous basis then it might be a good idea to hardwire it in, but then you need to ensure you drive your car each day or you will end up with a flat battery, I say this from experience even though I had fitted a gizmo that was supposed to cut the power if the battery voltage dropped too low.
 
Yes and you will need to drive it a fair bit every day to maintain charge on your car battery, if you just drive 30 minutes to work and the same home, and otherwise have dashcam recording all the time, it might not be enuff charging time to keep up with power consumption.
This get even more pronounced if your generator on the car is not performing 100% or your car battery is on the way out.

In my little car that some times dont get driven for 2-3 days i would prefer a setup with 2 batteries, and a splitter/isolator that make sure the 2 battery for the dashcams get charged when i drive, and not least protect my car start battery from the rest of the setup.
Allso my small car have a small battery, so i wont get far if i hook up my 3 dashcams to that single battery, even 1 dashcam could kill off my charge on the battery pretty fast, and i have become too old and weak to push start a car alone, even a small one like the one i have.
 
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