DR900S-2CH draining batteries

[Major-OCD]

I’m having issues with my blackvue RD900S-2CH Running battery flat.
first they were fitted with a power magic EZ and they drained the battery in about 24 hours. Not completely flat but enough for a low battery warning from the car. The car is a 3 month old high spec car so I’d expect it to have a high capacity battery.
mot was then recommended that I have a blackvue B124-X to prevent draining the car battery. That was fitted and it didn’t work. The battery would be flat within 8 hours from a full charge. I contacted blackvue and they basically said it was faulty and told to return it to the seller (amazon uk) for a repair or replacement.
mat this point I was thinking maybe theB124-X just wasn’t up to the job. So I decided to go for a egen Cellink neo 9 due to it having a much higher capacity.
yet the issue remains. The neo 9 lasts longer but it still doesn’t last anywhere as long as it should! I’m now thinking that the dash cams are at fault. Out of the 3 battery’s they can’t all be faulty, so in my eyes it has to be the cameras.
I’ve spent a fortune on cameras to protect my vehicle but yet they are switched off at times wile it’s parked up. The time they are needed most!
can anybody shed any light on this issue or has anyone had the same problem with these dash cams?
Cheers

 

[Nath]

That sounds like the dashcam drains much more power than it should. My DR900S-2CH drained about 0.3-0.4A from B-124x (about 15 hours). (everything at max, Wifi turned on, rear-cam active) Are you sure the batterypacks were always charged up to 100% when you tested the times?

In other words, your dashcam seems indeed defective. (check the wiring to be sure)

 

[Major-OCD]

That sounds like the dashcam drains much more power than it should. My DR900S-2CH drained about 0.3-0.4A from B-124x (about 15 hours). (everything at max, Wifi turned on all the time) Are you sure the batterypacks were always charged up to 100% when you tested the times?

That’s exactly what I’m thinking. On the Cellink app for the neo 9 it is saying the cameras are using 13.2V/0.4A in parking mode, motion and impact with WiFi on. I live In a quiet street so there shouldn’t be many triggers wile parked at home. Something doesn’t seem quite right. Even more so when it’s done this with my car battery and both dash cam batteries.

 

[Nath]

Ok, if you see 0.4A in the app, you know what.., i have an idea. Let the batterypack charge to 100% and then disconnect it from your car. Then report back how long it lasted.

 

[Major-OCD]

Ok, if you see 0.4A in the app, you know what.., i have an idea. Let the batterypack charge to 100% and then disconnect it from your car. Then report back how long it lasted.

I forgot to put that info in my last reply!
the batteries are getting a full charge.
and I’m not talking about just what the app says I have driven for 3 hours trips with them fitted and they still don’t last.

 

[Nath]

Try what i've mentioned above (for example this night). The reason for that is i forgot to lock my car once (means it was turned on) and the car managed some kind to drain the power from the batterypack. Probably when the voltage of a car's battery dropped under a certain level there was a power leak back FROM the batterypack.

Punchline: Dashcam wasn't mounted during that time and it was connected to cig plug which turns off while parked...

 

[Major-OCD]

The car is a 3 month old merc and there were no issues until the dash cams were installed so I know 100% there’s no issue with the cars electrical system.

 

[Nath]

My car is BMW X5 (2015), and X7 2020 on the way, nice to meet you.

Anyway, the point isn't an issue with electrical system of your NEW car but the problem that these batterypacks probably don't have a proper protection for current to flow one-way only... If you have a bad connection for example of a ground to the batterypack(pretty easy to mess up) it can discharge itself via other in-/output...

I think it's pretty easy to test it, you just need to unplug one cable. But do what you want i was just trying to help you. (at least to investigate the issue)

 

[Major-OCD]

My car is BMW X5 (2015), and X7 2020 on the way, nice to meet you.

Anyway, the point isn't an issue with electrical system of your NEW car but the problem that these batterypacks probably don't have a proper protection for current to flow one-way only... If you have a bad connection for example of a ground to the batterypack(pretty easy to mess up) it can discharge itself via other in-/output...

I think it's pretty easy to test it, you just need to unplug one cable. But do what you want i was just trying to help you. (at least to investigate the issue)

I wasn’t trying to brag about that car I have hence why it was not mentioned in my first post! my point was it’s not a it’s not a old Renault Clio!
the battery packs have been installed by an auto electrician so I’d very much doubt that it’s a fitting issue!
If theses battery packs aren’t capable of doing what there supposed to then I might as well take the whole lot out and bin them!

 

[Nath]

The batterypack works for me. It failed only once in a non-standard situation. (btw: Blackvue/Cellink batterypacks are made by same manufacturer)

Ok, let's sumup the options:
1) Dashcam is defective and drains more power than it should / batterypack misleads by reporting of the lower current via dashcam output(but the value conveniently corresponds to normal operation) *
2) Two battery packs are defective* (probably capacity issue or it doesn't report a right value of the output current)
3) There is a power leak from batterypack from anything but dashcam output (capacity is alright, output report of the current is alright - probably bad ground or damaged input cable)
*The reason i haven't listed the discharged car battery is the PMP/PM-EZ module malfunction/wrong-setting is pretty common

If i missed something, let me know.

 

[Butterfly]

I’ve spent a fortune on cameras to protect my vehicle but yet they are switched off at times wile it’s parked up. The time they are needed most!

• So you're saying this Blackvue is also switching off at times when you're parked?
• Your issue is not common so we have to narrow down what's causing this.
• Seeing other posts, I don't think battery is an issue especially when you mentioned:

I’m having issues with my blackvue RD900S-2CH Running battery flat. first they were fitted with a power magic EZ and they drained the battery in about 24 hours. Not completely flat but enough for a low battery warning from the car.

• Can you check if your dash cam goes to parking mode after you turn off your vehicle? Your following comment sounds like your dash cam doesn't go into parking mode and is fully recording normal

The battery would be flat within 8 hours from a full charge. So I decided to go for a egen Cellink neo 9 due to it having a much higher capacity.
yet the issue remains. The neo 9 lasts longer but it still doesn’t last anywhere as long as it should!

Let us know if the dash cam switches to parking mode or not. That would narrow the problem by miles.

 

[Nath]

If the DR900s has everything turned on and uses motion-detection/G-sensor based parking mode it drains about same amount of power as in normal mode. So it actually doesn’t matter if it switches into PM or not (the difference is in storage space).

 

[Major-OCD]

I know the issue isn’t a fitting issue or a damaged cable. The guy that wired it in is very well trained and experienced. All wiring has been renewed when they have been fitted so I’d say that rules that out too.
the dash cams do go into parking mode.
I think you’d have to be pretty unlucky to have 2 defective dash cam battery’s and a car battery.
I think it points more to a faulty dash cam, even more so when it was draining the car battery with a plug and play setup.
Obviously they do have issues with them from time to time as blackvue sell B stock/refurbished ones, so they can’t say there’s never a faulty camera or battery.
Is it normal for the front dashcam to run hot?

 

[M8TJT]

the dash cams do go into parking mode.

Agreed. They do. But as pointed out above, they are still recording so that they can get the '10secs before' footage and because they do this, they take nearly as much current as when fully on. Check it out with an ammeter if you don't believe us.

In fact, get an ammeter on it anyway and check the cam current in full on and the various parking modes. That will prove conclusively whether the cam is drawing excess current and remove any room for doubt/debate/conjecture/guestimation from the 'debate'. A working cam takes less than 1A when fully recording.

Is it normal for the front dashcam to run hot?

Yes

 

[Nath]

I know the issue isn’t a fitting issue or a damaged cable. The guy that wired it in is very well trained and experienced. All wiring has been renewed when they have been fitted so I’d say that rules that out too.
the dash cams do go into parking mode.
I think you’d have to be pretty unlucky to have 2 defective dash cam battery’s and a car battery.
I think it points more to a faulty dash cam, even more so when it was draining the car battery with a plug and play setup.
Obviously they do have issues with them from time to time as blackvue sell B stock/refurbished ones, so they can’t say there’s never a faulty camera or battery.
Is it normal for the front dashcam to run hot?

So 1) is the winner

Ok, if it's faulty dashcam how it discharges the batteries more quickly when it drains 0.4A..? (FYI quickmafs: Blackvue has 6Ah/0.4Ah=15hours, Cellink has 9Ah/0.4Ah=22.5hours, obviously under ideal conditions) Is there any other cable to the dashcam which can provide non-monitored power..?

And yes, the front unit gets pretty damn hot (i had 3 RMAs heat related). I wonder how much heat the dashcam could provide if it really sucked about 0.8A which is necessary for mentioned 8 hours of worktime...

 

[Major-OCD]

Well I have a little bit of a update.
I contacted blackvue and they set up a test with DR900-S 2CH dash cams and a B124-X
According to there test the B124-X lasted 16 hours. Obviously my NEO 9 should last way longer due to its larger capacity.
so blackvue think the cameras are faulty.
they have advised me to return the cameras.
thanks for all the advice

 

[Nath]

They needed to test that? It was literally the first thing i mentioned above and few posts after i supplied you the maf formula how to know it theoretically. Oh my...

May i have a question? Why did you even ask here for an advice when you had been sure from the very first moment the dashcam is at fault? (at least clearly there wasn't a will to try anything)

 

[Major-OCD]

I fully explained the situation from the start.
I was looking to see if anyone had any information on this particular issue or had experience it them selves....?
I contacted blackvue with my questions to see if they had any answers and that’s what they’ve done.
if you fully read my first post I explained everything from the start. So what’s the problem?

 

[Nigel]

May i have a question? Why did you even ask here for an advice when you had been sure from the very first moment the dashcam is at fault? (at least clearly there wasn't a will to try anything)

Always good to ask for a second opinion, that is what the forum is here for!

Sometimes even the best of us miss the most obvious of explanations, or simply haven't experienced a similar issue before so don't understand the problem or know what to look for.

 

[Nath]

So what’s the problem?

The problem here is the dashcam doesn't suck the power which you're missing (according to the batterypack measurement) and you are unable to accept that.

Anyway, ok, take care. I hope it'll solve your issue.