Hello all, and here's my first query. :)

[Paul Iddon]

Hi everyone - my name is Paul and I am experimenting with a dashcam (low entry level) before making a decision if I am going to buy a really decent one...

So...

Just trying a cheap dashcam and I have charged the battery up full.

The power supply via the 12v outlet in the centre column of the Focus Ghia is where I have plugged it in, rather than the one on the dashboard.


Question is - when the engine is off, the little light on the plug remains illuminated suggesting it is live even when the engine is off, so if I leave it plugged in continuously (over night included) will this:


a) Always keep charging the Dashcam's battery thereby keeping it at near maximum charge?


b) Will this charging significantly drain power from the car battery (which is incidentally, brand new a fortnight ago when I bought the car (I changed it not knowing how old the original was was) or is it going to be OK to leave it in, as the draw from it would be tiny and not flatten the car battery at all?

c) Is the advice going to be for me to unplug the Dashcam power lead when it is not in use, or is it fine to simply leave it plugged in?
Thanks for looking and any advice.

 

[Rajagra]

If the camera is only on when it's getting power, then the battery should stay near fully charged anyway.
And if you do leave it charging there's always a slight risk of it starting a fire.
Too much risk for too little benefit IMO.

 

[DashLA]

Welcome to DCT,
A) keeping dashcam fully charge shouldnt be a prob. However, if u are in hot climate, battery might over heat.

B) car battery might be drained if you dont have a slow discharge on the fuse.

C) unless u use parking mode & your dashcam has parking mode. There is no reason to keep it plugged in.
I hope this help.

 

[kamkar]

Yes the small lipo batteries is far from optimal for a allways on / plugged in system, the battery is only a fjew 100 mah anyway, its not for recording in any way, it is just there to finalize the last file in case of a crash where power get cut to camera.

 

[DT MI]

...
a) Always keep charging the Dashcam's battery thereby keeping it at near maximum charge?


b) Will this charging significantly drain power from the car battery (which is incidentally, brand new a fortnight ago when I bought the car (I changed it not knowing how old the original was was) or is it going to be OK to leave it in, as the draw from it would be tiny and not flatten the car battery at all?....

You didn't say what camera you have but assuming it's battery based vs. capacitor 'general wisdom' is it's not a good idea to run battery based cameras 24/7. There are a number of posts in various sub-forums about this.

 

[niko]

Hi Paul,
welcome to forum !

If you leave battery based dashcam in car ( especially when it's connected to live power source ) - it has some risk.
Best if you unplug your dashcam from cigarette lighter socket when you leaving your car. Or you can buy special cigarette lighter adapter with the switch button, this way it will be more convenient without need of plug / unplug from cigarette lighter port.

 

[Paul Iddon]

Thank you all for reading and replying.


My bad for starting here and missing the welcome thread...


I think the best (simplest and safest) solution/answer, is to unplug it so there is no power from the car to the dashcam.

Cheers all for the suggestions/advice.

Paul.

 

[Deleted member 46308]

Welcome @Paul Iddon

 

[Module 79L]

Question is - when the engine is off, the little light on the plug remains illuminated suggesting it is live even when the engine is off, so if I leave it plugged in continuously (over night included) will:

Record continuously, fill the card, start to overwrite the old files... Battery charging would have to be the least of your concerns.

 

[simba86]

I wouldn't leave it plugged in overnight especially if it is a really cheap one due to the risk of fire
you don't need to keep the batteries fully charged anyway because they are just used to give the camera enough time to shut down and not corrupt thd data on many models anyway