Hardwiring - but don't want parking mode, can I leave the constant fuse hanging?

[Loyalbased]

Hi all.

I want to get the Viofo A119 V3 and the hardwire kit that works with it. It comes with the ground, the ACC and the constant 12v fuse I believe. If I don't want parking mode, do I just hook up the ground and the ACC? I just want the camera to turn on when I turn the car on. I don't want to risk draining my battery as I don't drive everyday, regardless of the voltage cutoff that comes with the kit. Or do all 3 cables need to be connected for the camera to work and I'll have to just unplug the camera whenever I leave?

Thanks!

 

[jokiin]

ACC is only a trigger, it won't power the camera, if you only want it running when the car is on they also have a two wire kit

 

[relive]

The HK3 kit requires all three wires to be connected. Otherwise, it won't provide a 5V power output. However, parking mode is enabled on the camera, and not by the kit, so it's not a requirement that you use parking mode with the HK3.

By default, parking mode is disabled and the camera will turn off once you turn off the ignition.

 

[Nigel]

You can connect the yellow and red wires to the same fuse tap and connect that to an on with ignition fuse, eg the ACCessory fuse.
Or you can connect all three wires as per instructions and just leave the parking mode off in the camera settings menu.

 

[Loyalbased]

ACC is only a trigger, it won't power the camera, if you only want it running when the car is on they also have a two wire kit

I see. Unfortunately I can't find the two wire kit but I can make do with the three wire kit.

The HK3 kit requires all three wires to be connected. Otherwise, it won't provide a 5V power output. However, parking mode is enabled on the camera, and not by the kit, so it's not a requirement that you use parking mode with the HK3.

By default, parking mode is disabled and the camera will turn off once you turn off the ignition.

So as long as parking mode is disabled on the camera, it won't draw any power at all while the car is off?

You can connect the yellow and red wires to the same fuse tap and connect that to an on with ignition fuse, eg the ACCessory fuse.
Or you can connect all three wires as per instructions and just leave the parking mode off in the camera settings menu.

Oh, great. I wasn't aware simply turning parking mode off will prevent it from drawing any power from the battery. I'll wire it that way in case I decide I want to enable parking mode later on.

Thanks everyone!

 

[relive]

So as long as parking mode is disabled on the camera, it won't draw any power at all while the car is off?

The camera won't draw any power, but the hardwire kit has an LED, and there is always some parasitic power draw from any device. I haven't measured the standby power usage, but I'm sure it's well under 1W and insignificant compared to what your car already uses during standby. My car sits for weeks sometimes and I have no issues starting up.

 

[jokiin]

The camera won't draw any power, but the hardwire kit has an LED, and there is always some parasitic power draw from any device. I haven't measured the standby power usage, but I'm sure it's well under 1W and insignificant compared to what your car already uses during standby. My car sits for weeks sometimes and I have no issues starting up.

it will draw a little bit of power (about 8mAh from memory) but the low battery cutout will still cut in when it gets down to that level and then it is completely off

 

[Nigel]

it will draw a little bit of power (about 8mAh from memory) but the low battery cutout will still cut in when it gets down to that level and then it is completely off

8mAh over what time period?

I think you mean 8mA without the "hour" on the end.
This seems to be an increasingly common mistake which might be spreading because you keep getting it wrong!

mAh is a quantity, eg how much power is stored in a battery, time is not involved.
mA is a rate, the longer this is being used the more power is lost, 1mA will use 1mAh of power over a period of 1 hour, and will use 24mAh of power over a day.

8mA is not enough to worry about, unless you are storing your car for a month or more.

 

[jokiin]

current draw is about 8mA (from a lab power supply) when the camera is off, once you get down to the cutoff point it goes to zero

 

[Loyalbased]

The camera won't draw any power, but the hardwire kit has an LED, and there is always some parasitic power draw from any device. I haven't measured the standby power usage, but I'm sure it's well under 1W and insignificant compared to what your car already uses during standby. My car sits for weeks sometimes and I have no issues starting up.

Ah, I see. You also have parking mode turned off but have it hardwired? Glad to find someone else who does it! Thanks for your response.

it will draw a little bit of power (about 8mAh from memory) but the low battery cutout will still cut in when it gets down to that level and then it is completely off

Is there a difference to having parking mode turned off vs just unplugging the camera before I leave the car? Does turning off parking mode literally turn off every feature that requires the battery (i.e. impact detection, motion detection, etc.)? Thanks a bunch!

 

[Nigel]

Is there a difference to having parking mode turned off vs just unplugging the camera before I leave the car? Does turning off parking mode literally turn off every feature that requires the battery (i.e. impact detection, motion detection, etc.)? Thanks a bunch!

Only thing it doesn't turn off is the power button, so if you then decide that you do want parking mode because you are parked somewhere unsafe, you can turn it back on again. Monitoring the button takes a few micro amps, virtually zero.

 

[relive]

Ah, I see. You also have parking mode turned off but have it hardwired? Glad to find someone else who does it! Thanks for your response.

I use parking mode. I just manually turn off the camera (long hold the left button) when I am in my garage.

If you're this worried about your car not starting up, perhaps it's a good idea to get a new battery or buy a battery charger. The amount of power that we're talking about is in the single digit milliamps, which is 100mW. Any modern car is going to consume many multiples of this with things that are always on.

 

[Loyalbased]

Only thing it doesn't turn off is the power button, so if you then decide that you do want parking mode because you are parked somewhere unsafe, you can turn it back on again. Monitoring the button takes a few micro amps, virtually zero.

Cool! Thanks for your help!

I use parking mode. I just manually turn off the camera (long hold the left button) when I am in my garage.

If you're this worried about your car not starting up, perhaps it's a good idea to get a new battery or buy a battery charger. The amount of power that we're talking about is in the single digit milliamps, which is 100mW. Any modern car is going to consume many multiples of this with things that are always on.

Right, don't know why I thought you have parking mode turned off lol. Yeah I definitely need a new battery, getting it tested this weekend. It gets fairly cold in the middle of winter and it's already taking an extra second or two to start up and we only reached temps of 40s-50s.

 

[RGeB]

Has anyone contributing advice here actually measured current drain by the Viofo HK3 unit?

By my measurements, from a power supply at 12.8 V, the Viofo HK3 unit with no output load draws (via the red cable) 2.7 mA with LED off and 6.6 mA with LED on. To these current drains must be added 0.1 mA drawn from the yellow cable (when it has power).

A quality modern 12 V unit with adjustable cut-off and restore voltages, controlled through a Mofset transistor, and likely using periodic sampling, should draw no more than 0.9 mA in the off state and 1.4 mA in the on state (and that includes about 0.2 mA for Bluetooth communication in both states).

This makes sense to me, as I don't see how any unit can monitor anything at zero current drain. It may take a long time (more than 5 years for 50 mAh at 1 mA), but eventually it will drain the battery, even if you pull the plug at the dashcam. If your vehicle uses a regular cranking battery, you don't have anything like 50 mAh before permanent battery damage. Most manufacturers recommend using just a few percent of rated battery capacity. Suddenly we are down to a few weeks, especially if you have taken the battery to the safe limit by use of the HK3 with dashcam in parking mode.

I don't think 2.7 mA is trivial compared with the "parasitic" drain to the electronics in modern vehicles while parked. The price is higher (by about x2-3) for 'battery protection' units with lower current drain than the HK3. The difference is less than the first replacement battery for the vehicle, maybe worth it for those whose vehicles are parked for long periods.

 

[Nigel]

I don't think 2.7 mA is trivial compared with the "parasitic" drain to the electronics in modern vehicles while parked.

I haven't measured a very recent car, but mine uses more than that; you are not doubling the power use.
Some of it goes on the ultrasonic intruder detector which has to use more than 2.7mA, but the ECU is also always on, you can connect to the OBD socket and receive the current battery voltage at any time, not just when the ignition is on, and then of course the key fob receiver has to be powered and listening continuously.

Has anyone contributing advice here actually measured current drain by the Viofo HK3 unit?

The important thing is that once the low voltage cutoff operates, the power used drops to virtually zero, before that it is a small amount and insignificant in normal use where you drive the car once a week or more.

If you are going to park the car up for more than 3 weeks, you should disconnect the battery, doesn't matter if you have a HK3 fitted or not. I think this is still normal practice at car dealers.

 

[RGeB]

We will have to agree to differ on whether 2.7 mA = zero, virtually zero, insignificant etc. Other than the zero fallacy, these are just matters of opinion.

My 2019 rav4 hybrid drops through a series of power use states over time when parked (until a door is opened). After 30 min the current use is <5 mA (probably lower, I have only used a clamp meter in this case and not interrupted the circuit for a more accurate measurement). I do not use an "ultrasonic intruder detector" or an auto-opening / proximity key fob, but I do use a key fob to unlock. I am fairly certain that modern vehicles like this one save power by dropping back to periodic sampling in their "deep sleep mode". They only need to check most functions for a small fraction of each second to do their work. But I don't think cheapish units like the HK3 save power by periodic sampling. So they use "significantly" more power than is needed for the task.

Most people do not disconnect the battery when away for just a few weeks, because then they have to go through a process to restore all of the lost settings. The rav4 owner manual describes several of the steps required to restore some settings, but advises owners not to disconnect the battery until they have spoken with Toyota service!

At least those interested now have actual readings of current use to decide for themselves whether or not in their circumstances 2.7 mA is trivial to them.

 

[Nigel]

We will have to agree to differ on whether 2.7 mA = zero, virtually zero, insignificant etc. Other than the zero fallacy, these are just matters of opinion.

No, I am saying that after low voltage cutoff it is virtually zero - it does protect the battery from high discharge.
Until then it does use a little, although 2.7mA I think must be the total with camera and GPS unit off but still using some power.

 

[RGeB]

No Nigel, you are wrong. Measure it. As stated above 2.7 mA is the measured current draw of the HK3 unit with no load attached.

 

[SawMaster]

Having measured nothing all I can add is some thoughts based on empirical evidence.

All of today's cars have some parasitic draw when parked, so best practice when parking for longer periods is to use a 'battery maintainer' type float charger which can both keep the battery fully charged and provide those few mA needed by the car's computers while parked

You could also run a cam in parking mode doing this; if the charger has enough excess current it would stay active in that mode, and if not after some time the HWK would shut down from low voltage and the charger would then bring the battery up to float voltage again after awhile with little to no harm done to the battery

Even totally disconnected, a L/A car battery will eventually lose charge just sitting there; the amount and time involved being relative to the battery's condition and age. Best to never let a battery reach such a low state of charge

We will now return you to the ongoing nitpicking debate- Have a nice Day

Phil

 

[Nigel]

No Nigel, you are wrong. Measure it. As stated above 2.7 mA is the measured current draw of the HK3 unit with no load attached.

I have measured it after low voltage cutoff and saw 0mA.

I have not measured it with no load, but I have no reason to ever use it like that!

Are you measuring it with the LED on?