DR900X-2CH Plus Parking Mode Voltage Issues

[tekcor]

I've been trying to figure out what's going on for a while and I'm running out of ideas. My issue is the parking mode shuts down far too quickly even when the cutoff is at the default 12.0V. I have a new 2023 Pathfinder, which according to what I've read, has an enhanced flooded battery. I'm not sure if the battery type matters for this conversation, so I mention it just in case. I suspected the battery might be bad, so I tested the voltage at the terminals after the car was sitting for about four hours, and I read 11.93V. I let the car run for about a minute, read 14.5V while the car was running, and once I shut down the car it only took about a minute for the voltage to drop to 11.99V before I stopped watching. At no point, even when I read the voltage at 11.93V, did the car feel hard to start.

So I took it to the dealer yesterday, which went exactly as I expected: they tested the battery, starter, and alternator and found no issues. Every test passed. So trying to narrow down the possibilities, I theorized that the ECO mode I keep the car in wasn't charging the battery more than absolutely minimum. I drove home from the dealer with eco mode off - about 15 a minute drive - and tested everything again. 14.6V running, stable 12.4V while off. Great, it must be the ECO mode! The parking mode ran for another 8 hours before it shut down. I did not measure voltage when I noticed the camera was off, I was satisfied with the result.

Until I pull into my garage again this evening and before I can even get out, I hear the "powering down" voice telling me it hit the voltage cutoff. I pulled out my multimeter again and measured 12.2V. Odd that it shut down at that voltage. But regardless, I'm getting pretty frustrated with this.

The camera is hard wired into the accessory connector near the fuse box. For those unfamiliar, many Nissan vehicles use an octopus cable under the dash for electrical accessories, rather than using fuse taps. I've wired the camera exactly like the instructions for Nissan's own rebranded camera: using grey-capped 20-22 AWG positaps, ground to ground, camera ACC to the ignition/white, and camera BATT to the battery/red.

BlackVue customer support says to reinstall firmware, so that's just their way of saying they have no idea. I'm thinking there is some sort of incompatibility between this car's electrical and the camera. Nissan's rebranded camera also does parking mode, and also has a voltage shutoff, but I don't know what the threshold is. I haven't been able to find that figure. I think it's a Thinkware camera. So given that they have their own dual camera system, I feel like this should work without issue. I just don't know what else to test. Nor do I have any idea why the camera ran for 8 hours yesterday. I'm guessing something that the dealer did during testing got some extra juice in the battery that normal driving isn't getting. I've had this issue even after hour long drives, which leads me back to the battery either not holding a charge, or the alternator not fully charging it.

Please, give me some sort of idea.

 

[rcg530]

An automotive battery voltage level of 11.93 volts is very low unless there are active vehicle control modules still consuming power after turning off the engine / charging system. A fully charged automotive battery should have a voltage level around 12.60 volts (6 cells x 2.1 volts per cell). A brand new battery tends to have a higher average voltage level (charging system off) nearing 12.6 volts, but as the battery ages (even a few months old) a common voltage level is 12.2 to 12.4 volts. I would measure the battery voltage level after the car has been off for at least 30 minutes (or longer) - which you did by waiting 4 hours. Be aware that opening anything on the car (doors for example) will likely wake up the modules to some degree and that will invalidate the voltage level reading you're trying to obtain with everything in sleep mode.

Just after turning off the engine, various modules in a car will continue to be "awake" and consume power for some amount of time until they are commanded by a gateway/monitoring module or their own programing has an idle timeout period. Some cars have modules that go to sleep within 5 to 10 minutes, but some Ford cars will take 40 to 50 minutes to have all modules go to sleep.

If the battery voltage level is constantly in the upper 11 volt range after allowing the modules to go to sleep, either there's some sort of parasitic power draw taking place, the vehicle's battery is not getting fully charged or holding a charge like it should. I would unplug the dash camera and check the voltage levels (at the battery) after 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours to see what the voltage level decay rate is for the battery. If it goes below 12.2 and stays below 12.2 after 1 hour or more then I would question the health of the battery.

 

[tekcor]

Ok, I can do that. This car has a ton of smart/convenience features, like proximity door locks, remote connect, digital dash, headlights that stay on for a bit after the car stops - basically a whole lot that will still draw from the battery. So what I'll do is unplug the camera, pop the hood, and leave it that way. That way when I measure again, I don't need to open the door or have the fob nearby waking things up.

Based on what you've said, I suspect all that post-stop draw is dropping the voltage low enough to cause the camera to shut down. It doesn't turn on again until the ignition line receives power, so it remains off even if the voltage comes back up. For my situation, it might make more sense to use a time-based shutdown, but I won't change anything until I have a chance to run that test.

 

[Bakertz]

Test the battery health yourself with an automotive battery tester, not just the multimeter.

My issue is the parking mode shuts down far too quickly

How long do you want parking mode to run for? Keep in mind that you have to drive your vehicle long enough to replace the charge lost from the camera operating in parking mode. A longer duration parking mode means a longer drive.

to the dealer yesterday, which went exactly as I expected: they tested the battery, starter, and alternator and found no issues. Every test passed.

Buy your own automotive battery tester (not just a multimeter) then test the battery yourself. They are cheap enough. Get one that supports your "enhanced flooded battery". Amazon is good.

BlackVue customer support says to reinstall firmware, so that's just their way of saying they have no idea.

Yeah pretty much

So given that they have their own dual camera system, I feel like this should work without issue.

There is some logic to that, but unless you know the exact specs, voltage thresholds and current draw etc it's fruitless. Forget about what the Nissan branded camera may or may not do. Just worry about what your Blackvue is doing.

pull into my garage again this evening and before I can even get out, I hear the "powering down" voice telling me it hit the voltage cutoff. I pulled out my multimeter again and measured 12.2V

That just screams "the battery did not recharge sufficiently". Whether it's a bad battery or bad alternator (or both!) it doesn't matter. Battery did not recharge.

This car has a ton of smart/convenience features

Your 900x is eating into the battery power "budget" the Nissan engineers allocated for those features.

Based on what you've said, I suspect all that post-stop draw is dropping the voltage low enough to cause the camera to shut down.

Yes.

So what I'll do is unplug the camera, pop the hood, and leave it that way.

Absolutely yes. Establish the baseline behaviour of your vehicle electrics without the 900x.

 

[nashvegasrr]

Same exact issue on my new Land Rover Defender 110. It has some variable voltage alternator and crazy battery / hybrid battery. I have no idea how the power is actually managed on this truck but it's very very different than any other vehicle I've owned to date.

Anyway - I have no answer for you whatsoever -- but this is I think the fault of the vehicle varying the voltage throughout it's system. Land Rover told me to pound sand. Mine never drops below 12.0 though. I have the Dashcam set for 12.2 to power off.