Freezing weather effect on dashcam

[91nitro]

Is it best to bring camera inside when the temperature is below freezing? What do they do in Russia?

 

[Sabe]

I believe that they are meant to work about -20 to +50 C
But i also think that if you change camera temperature daily in that scale maybe one day that one weak solder point breaks up.
I kept my previous 50$ camera in car all winter and nothing happened, but i like my current camera so much that i take it home with me every day.
I don't know about russia, but in finland we have winter temperature around -10 to -20.

 

[CheckYourLights]

The instructions with my DVR-027 say that the coldest operating temperature is 32F/0C, but says storage temperatures can be much lower (around the numbers Sabe mentioned I think but i don't have the instructions in front of me) and during the winter months in my area that is around what my car reads as the outside temperature. I left a knock off SD DVR-027 look a like in my car recording over night and the cold temperature forced the camera to stop working. I had to bring it in and warm it up before it would even turn on also the cold may have caused the plastic swivel mount lock washer that came with the knock off to break, but the camera still worked OK once warmed back up.

So with my newer real HD DVR-027 I did not want to take any chances. I bring it in at night.

Forgot to mention I have seen on YouTube where people that live in Apts have a dash cam fixed to there Apt window and pointed at there car parked on the street. You could buy something like a DVR-027 and put it on a house window where it would have your car in it's feild of vision and buy something like this.

Universal AC to DC Car Cigarette Lighter Socket Adapter

 

[DashCamMan]

Many Russians leave the dash cam in their car for winter. Sometimes there are issues where cams refuse to start due to the cold. Best to check the operating specs of the cam. If you are in an area that is getting more than -20 degrees C on a regular basis, it may make sense to remove the cam.

 

[Mikk36]

Did experience -25 for a few days but it didn't seem to have any effect on the camera. Still started right up upon receiving power and battery was shown as full (though, no clue on the effects of its endurance, it's just not needed for other than keeping time and stopping the recording).

 

[Mtz]

I am watching every day russian videos containing accidents on youtube. Regarding lens there is no problem. So if the camera starts, the record will be OK.
Maybe keeping it powered forever will be some little but vital heat inside the camera.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Tekno]

the car interior must be heated in any case in some way, driving is otherwise difficult due to misting and freezing windshield

 

[AmericanDriver]

The temperature has been below 32f for the last three weeks and my FineVu works perfect.

 

[Mikk36]

The temperature has been below 32f for the last three weeks and my FineVu works perfect.

Well, that's just 0 C. At least I was talking about -25 C, which is -13 F.

Usually the first thing to give up in cold is the lithium-based battery.

 

[Mtz]

Yes, but I think many cameras have capacitors instead of battery. Maybe this is one reason, even I think the main reason is because the battery will go dead after many recharging cycles.

enjoy,
Mtz

 

[Mikk36]

Yes, but I think many cameras have capacitors instead of battery. Maybe this is one reason, even I think the main reason is because the battery will go dead after many recharging cycles.

enjoy,
Mtz

Ok, reading on about Li-Ion batteries and cold temperatures, it appears that the battery performance is being affected only while the battery is cold, so that's not really an issue point.
The rest is the sensor being too numb in the cold or bad design of the power system, if it requires the battery to produce some power in order to boot up (if the temperature is cold enough and battery bad enough to lose all of its power output).