First Cam - No parking mode - ODB? Nextbase? Viofo? Others?

[dctre]

Hello,

I have a 2018 VW Golf.

I don't need/care about parking mode as it's kept garaged/secured most times, don't want to hardwire/mod the car and don't want to use the 12v socket power (no dangling wires). That's a few "don't s"

I really need my car to start in the morning and don't want to risk a flat battery as I'm on a on-call doctor. The car is generally used moderately 5 days week (commuting 90 mins per day) but often left parked unused over the weekend 48 hours+ at a time. It's kept well serviced etc. of course.

Can I use an ODB adapter and have it control power via ignition only? I think from reading around the answer is generally "no" but I am not sure.

I am looking at Nextbase (e.g. 322GW) - their site says intelligent parking mode needs to be enabled to prevent battery drain but I am not sure if this can still kill the car or not given enough chance (posts on here suggest "yes it can").

Also looking at the highly recommend Viofo A119 Mini - but Viofo don't seem to have their own ODB kit (?) - this seems to have a "1 hour max" parking mode option, which is more sensible to me - does this stop it from ever possibly killing the car battery in practice?

If I go on holiday and leave the car at airport parking then I expect to just pull out the ODB completely (e.g. car parked for 1-2 weeks at a time) as a manual thing to do - that's fine with me if I need to.

Thanks in advance for all your help and recommendations!

 

[Nigel]

and don't want to use the 12v socket power (no dangling wires).

Can you use the power socket in the back?

Might be always on though, which would be inconvenient. Some dashcams, including Viofo, will go to sleep after a period of inactivity, but then you have to wake them up again.

Also looking at the highly recommend Viofo A119 Mini - but Viofo don't seem to have their own ODB kit (?)

Viofo did develop an OBD cable, not sure what the status is, maybe ask @VIOFO-Support ?

The A119 Mini is not too fussy on power supply, so it will probably work with almost any OBD cable that has a USB-C connector at the dashcam end.

this seems to have a "1 hour max" parking mode option, which is more sensible to me - does this stop it from ever possibly killing the car battery in practice?

Some OBD cables will turn the power off when the engine is off, so that wouldn't work.
I guess Viofo's cable does allow for parking mode and would work fine, though I'm not sure...

If you use the Viofo parking duration timer (with a Viofo hardwire kit, not sure about Viofo OBD cable) then yes, it puts the camera to sleep after the timer expires, and the power consumption is then minimal. A good idea to pull the cable for a 2 week park though, or disconnect the car battery.

Can I use an ODB adapter and have it control power via ignition only? I think from reading around the answer is generally "no" but I am not sure.

Most OBD adaptors turn on and off with voltage - on when the alternator is working, but not all.

There is a thread on the subject here:

Thread 'How To Make a VIOFO OBD2 Adaptor'

Sep 30, 2023

I show you how to make your own VIOFO OBD2 cable

• safedrivesolutions
• Replies: 43
• Forum: Hardwiring and Batteries

• 

 

[dctre]

Thank you @Nigel for a great detailed reploy - that's a big help and lots of useful information to fill the gaps in my knowledge.