F770 parking mode help needed please

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Ali Naqvi

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Hi folks, got this installed a few days ago and set up the parking mode to time-lapse etc. I think the quality of the video is pretty good front and back. Just need to look into this collection thing for reflections.

Anyway on to parking mode. I was sitting in the car with it switched off waiting for my family to come out of a store waiting about 30 mins or so when I heard "recording stopped battery low". Can anyone tell me what this could mean? I have set up the parking mode. The front and rear kit comes with thinkware's own hardwire kit so I am sure the correct kit is installed.

Does this have an internal battery for parking mode operation? Is the hardware not properly done? If anyone can help out so I can call these guys out again so they can fix this.

Much appreciated.

Also a quick question regarding time lapse, on an event, does the timelapse disable and record on regular speed again or will all events also be recording in timelapse?

Thanks

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The F770 doesn't have a built-in battery. It uses your car's battery while it is in parking mode. In the phone app you can set the voltage cut off during parking mode. If you were in your car with the car off, if you have lights on and radio on, it would use up more battery. And if you battery is weak or your voltage cut off is set high, parking more may be turned of due to low battery voltage. For me I also installed a Cellink B battery that is connected between the car's fuse box and the F770 so the dashcam doesn't drain my car's battery while it is in parking mode.
 
Great advice. Can you tell em recommended cut off for the battery setting in the app?

Cell ink B is quote an expensive bit of kit.l isn't it?

Any help with the time-lapse question?

Also any

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Ali Naqvi said:
Great advice. Can you tell em recommended cut off for the battery setting in the app?

Cell ink B is quote an expensive bit of kit.l isn't it?

Any help with the time-lapse question?

Also any

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Click to expand...

Depends on the size and age of your car battery, also weather conditions.
Overall in summer it's fine to set around 11.9-12.0v, in winter 12.1-12.2v.
 
I actually have not used time lapse long enough to know what it does with an event. I suspect it doesn't record an incident video separately during if the g-sensor is triggered.

I use motion detection for parking mode. Time Lapse is cool but not very useful IMO. It is too fast to and it doesn't record sound.
 
Well are raving about the wrong thing then. If an event is triggered during time-lapse, what's the point if it doesn't stop the time lapse and go onto normal recording. The hit and run / crime / vandalism incident may occur and we may have only captured glimpses of the event which may not help us in any way.



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Last edited:
Ok that's it I am switching it to motion detection. I am sure this can fixed with a software update but until then, Thinkware, fix this thing.

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Ali, if your car has stop/start technology then the battery voltage might often be lower than expected. Although I struggled to find hard data, it seems that the special batteries used in such cars are designed to be in a perpetual state of part discharge. In your case I assume that during that 30 min wait there was other electrical equipment on such as radio? If so I wouldn't be surprised that the battery fell below the threshold. If you want to rely on parking mode lasting, then you might need to experiment with the cut-off threshold and find out how low it can be and the car still starts, especially in cold weather. Of course the downside of this is that you might actually find the voltage at which the car doesn't start.
 
Thanks Dippy. I have a Lexus RX450H with a number of batteries and numerous electronics in "always on" state even when the car is off. I don't believe there is a threshold that I can think of or try practically. I am not an expert with this sort of stuff at all but the car doesn't even have an ignition starter mechanism. I cannot imagine the battery getting a low voltage without an alarm sounding in the dashboard, the car is bloody smart. This leads me to believe that it might be something in the wiring which may be the issue?

In any case, I will try the recommended cut off as advised above to try it out.
 
Hi Ali, sorry I'm not being clear. It is indeed not the car that is switching off the dashcam but the dahscam itself. It has an internal mechanism to monitor the car's battery voltage and shut itself off if the voltage falls below a threshold. It is a safety mechanism to ensure that you don't come back to the car and it won't start.

If you use a tablet or smartphone to connect to the F770 (or you can take out the SD card and use it with the 'Viewer' software on a PC or Mac), then you can access the configuration. In the parking mode part there is a setting for what voltage the parking mode will automatically shut off. IIRC it can be set between about 11.8V and 12.4V in steps of 0.1V. For reference mine is set to 12.1V (a 2015 Audi S5). I did test it at 12.0V and parking mode ran for about 48 hours. I wasn't bothered enough to try setting it any lower as I don't really need parking mode to last any longer than that. I know for sure that the only way you can get anyway near the 2 weeks needed for say a vacation is to fit an intermediate battery such as a Cellink. Personally I discounted that idea due to the risk of heat problems (anyone heard about Samsung phones catching fire...?)
 
I hear ya Dippy. I will set it up with the cut-offs that you mention. I am voltage settings illiterate so will go with the crowd.

Lets see it if renders favourable results.
 
Just reduce it by 0.1V and then see what happens. It really depends on what you want it to achieve, but you can find out over time. Also remember that the voltage on your battery depends a lot on your driving style. For reference if I have done a long journey in my S5 then as parking mode starts it will be around 12.6V. However if I have done frequent short journeys with stop/start, then the battery will be down at around 12.3V. That makes a big difference to how long parking mode lasts.
 
This is what you want. https://dashcamtalk.com/battery-discharge-prevention/

There are tons of factors that affect voltage, including the age of your car battery. If you set it too low, then it won't turn off, but you'll wear out your car battery quickly and run the risk of completely draining the battery and not being able to start the car. I mistakenly assumed that setting it low to like 11.8V would give me more time, but someone quickly corrected me.

Getting it right is critical. You don't want it turning off too quickly potentially missing out on a parking incident. And you don't want it too aggressive where you are burning through car batteries either. With a proper car battery and driving it daily (not just super short trips), you should be able to have it record an entire weekend (48 hours).
 
The Lexus RX has a pretty small battery. 30 minutes at 12.2V is about what I got with my dad's Toyota Venza on both the factory battery and the AC Delco replacement after the factory one crapped out.
Most new Lexus vehicles have pretty weak 12V batteries (CT, IS, GS, RX) and they don't seem to last very long if you look around on Lexus forums
Not sure if the 450H will start if the 12V battery is run down but invested in a Cellink for my dad's Venza due to the constant need for jump starting with a traditional hardwire kit

P.S. the dashcam is not being powered by your hybrid system batteries.
 
I have my cut out set to 11.8V on my SQ5. I realise this is quite low, but so far no issues starting the car.
 
Sir Loin said:
The F770 doesn't have a built-in battery. It uses your car's battery while it is in parking mode. In the phone app you can set the voltage cut off during parking mode. If you were in your car with the car off, if you have lights on and radio on, it would use up more battery. And if you battery is weak or your voltage cut off is set high, parking more may be turned of due to low battery voltage. For me I also installed a Cellink B battery that is connected between the car's fuse box and the F770 so the dashcam doesn't drain my car's battery while it is in parking mode.
Click to expand...

Do you know, if the Cellink B ran out of power, would the dashcam continue to get power from the car?
 
LeedsJim82 said:
Do you know, if the Cellink B ran out of power, would the dashcam continue to get power from the car?
Click to expand...

No the Cellink is designed to hook up to an ignition switched fuse, it won't pull power from the car's battery while parked if hooked up correctly.
 
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