How to identify if my Viofo HK3 hardware kit is draining my battery?

[Arese]

Hi everyone,

After purchasing my dashcam I also replaced my battery with a brand new Supercharge Gold Plus - 750cca
Since I had my dashcam, my car batterie get drained below 12v in 5 days (without driving) (Note that my car sleeps in the garage and I manually turn them dashcam off during the week)

At first, I thought it was my battery but my battery seems healthy at it charges up to 12.77v after driving the car. Here are dooe measurements I've done.

Right after turning off the car: 12.77v
24h later: 12.33v
48 later: 12.27v
3 days later: 12.22v
4 days later: 12.17v
5 days later: 12.15
6 days later: 12.14

When I turn the ignition on, on the 6th days and when all the instruments power on (AC, headlights, radio) the battery voltages sometimes even drop around 11.9v

It's not my alternator as when the engine is running, the battery measures 14.6v. Also, the alternztoe recharges my battery in 10 mins.

Then I performed a parasitic draw test by measuring with a multimeter each fuse when the car is locked looking for a draw. Couldn't find any draw.

However, I noticed something today. When the dashcam is on, the hardwire kit is emitting a red light from the inside (from the module where you set your cutout voltage)

When I turn off my car, the dashcam switch to parking mode and the red light is still on the cutout voltage module, which is normal.

However when I manually turn off the cam by pressing and holding the menu button, the dashcam turns off, but the red lights is still on inside the hardware kit. When I disconnect the red (BATT) wire from my fuse box, the light goes off.

Does anyone know if that light is still supposed to be on when the dashcam is turned off? I think that's what's been draining my battery.

This week, I'm going to leave the car sleep and disconnect the BATT wire. If my battery is not drained in 5 days it means it's the hardware kit.

 

[jokiin]

the kit will draw about 10mA when you turn the camera off whilever it's above the selected cuttoff voltage

 

[Arese]

Is it a possibility that the kit is faulty and doesn't tun off when the selected cut-out voltage is reached?

I set my cut-out voltage to 12.2v but my battery continues to be drained well below 12.2v

Ok to help me troubleshoot, can someone confirm whether the red light is supposed to be off when the kit cut off power (when the battery hit the selected cut-out voltage)?

If I know that the light is supposed to be off. I can monitor my battery voltage everyday and check on the light. If the light is still on below the cut-out voltage it means the kit is faulty.

Is my reasoning correct?

 

[jokiin]

light will go off once it cuts off due to low power, yes there's always the possibility that you have a faulty one, install problems can cause the same if you have a vehicle that uses CAN-BUS

 

[Nigel]

I would expect your car electronics to be using more than the camera, alarm, ECU, radio, clock, etc.
Also a lead acid battery will loose some power over time even if it is unplugged.
Your numbers are OK, no need to worry, if you are leaving your car not driven for over a month then you should unplug the battery, even if not using a camera.

 

[Velvetfoot]

I think someone noted in another thread, and I verified, that the GPS unit also consumes a little even when the unit is off. But that was on an A119V3.

 

[Arese]

light will go off once it cuts off due to low power, yes there's always the possibility that you have a faulty one, install problems can cause the same if you have a vehicle that uses CAN-BUS

Thanks for your reply.
So this week I decided to test if my hardware kit powers off (red light turns off in the kit) at the selected cutout voltage.

How I ran the test.

- Last Sunday I parked the car, turned off the engine and measured my battery at 12.77v
- I manually turned off the dashcam (press and hold down menu button on the dashcam), dashcam is off, but the hardware kit red light is still on.
- I verified the cut-out voltage on the hk kit at 12.2v.
- Today Friday I went downstairs to measure my battery which measured 12.02.v.
- I check the hardware kit and the red light is still on!

The hardware kit is therefore not cutting off power as intended correct?

I guess I have no other choice but to replace my HK kit? (such a pain I'll have to redo all the wiring)

 

[jokiin]

If voltage measured was below the cutoff voltage selected the light should be off and zero power draw

 

[Arese]

This is my luck.
I'm going to order a new hardware kit and replace the faulty one then

Thank you for you help, appreciate it.

 

[Arese]

Quick update, I ordered a new Viofo 3 wire hardware kit directly from Viofo.
Just replaced the old one with the new kit. Turns out it wasn't as much of a hassle as I initially thought.
My 2nd time installing a hardware kit went definitely much faster than my first time. I didn't have to test all my fuse slots to find a battery and accessory slot this time around so it wasn't that bad. Got it done in 20min.

The cut-out out voltage I selected is 12.4v. I hope this time the hardware kit fully shuts off when my battery hits 12.4v.

I'll keep you guys posted

 

[Arese]

I must be the unlikeliest guy on the planet.

The new Viofo HK3 kit purchased directly from Viofo Australia turned out to be faulty.

Long story short, after I replaced my hardware kit with the new one, the dashcam would switch to parking mode automatically while driving. The most obvious reason that came to mind was I didn't correctly connect the yellow wire to the fuse tap going to my ACC fuse slot. No big deal, I cut off the butt connector and reconnected both wires.
At this point, I thought the fuse tap was faulty so I purchased a new fuse tap, connected the ACC wire but the issue would still be there. At this point I was like it's impossible it's a poor connection between the 2 wire but to be 100% I decided not to use a butt connector to connect both wires together and to physically intertwine them together and protect them with electrical tape. This is the most reliable way to connect 2 wires together
The dashcam would again switch to parking mode when driving. At that point, I was convinced the Hardware kit was faulty.

This morning I re-installed my old hardware kit and everything is back to normal. Dashcam stays in driving mode when driving and switches to parking mode when turning off the engine. That's a relief I was really annoyed that the dashcam no longer worked correctly not mentioning was dangerous it is that it switches to parking mode while driving missing few seconds here and there of camera footage.

So to sum up 2 Viofo hardware kits and both faulty but for different reasons

1st one is working fine, it's just that it's not completely shutting off when it hits the selected cut out voltage (the red light in the hardware kit)

2nd unit is totally damaged, the ACC circuit is not working and sending the signal that I turned off my car when I actually didn't, prompting the dashcam to switch to parking mode. Also noticed another issue with this hardware kit. I manually turn off the dashcam at night by pressing and holding the menu button. Normally the dashcam turns back on automatically when I start the car the next day but not with this hardware kit. I'm assuming the ACC circuit wasn't sending the signal to the dashcam when I was turning on the car. With my old hardware kit, the dashcam turns on automatically when I start the car even after I manually shut down the dashcam.

The 2nd unit is unusable since it's not doing what it's supposed to. The 1st unit is usable because the only issue is that it doesn't turn off at the selected cut-out voltage but I can live with that, I'll just have to go for a quick ride mid-week every week to avoid depleting my car battery to 12V after 5 days without driving.

At this point I don't even want to try a 3rd hardware kit and will stay with the first one and ask for a refund for the faulty 2nd kit.

 

[Milo123]

I must be the unlikeliest guy on the planet.

The new Viofo HK3 kit purchased directly from Viofo Australia turned out to be faulty.

Long story short, after I replaced my hardware kit with the new one, the dashcam would switch to parking mode automatically while driving. The most obvious reason that came to mind was I didn't correctly connect the yellow wire to the fuse tap going to my ACC fuse slot. No big deal, I cut off the butt connector and reconnected both wires.
At this point, I thought the fuse tap was faulty so I purchased a new fuse tap, connected the ACC wire but the issue would still be there. At this point I was like it's impossible it's a poor connection between the 2 wire but to be 100% I decided not to use a butt connector to connect both wires together and to physically intertwine them together and protect them with electrical tape. This is the most reliable way to connect 2 wires together
The dashcam would again switch to parking mode when driving. At that point, I was convinced the Hardware kit was faulty.

This morning I re-installed my old hardware kit and everything is back to normal. Dashcam stays in driving mode when driving and switches to parking mode when turning off the engine. That's a relief I was really annoyed that the dashcam no longer worked correctly not mentioning was dangerous it is that it switches to parking mode while driving missing few seconds here and there of camera footage.

So to sum up 2 Viofo hardware kits and both faulty but for different reasons

1st one is working fine, it's just that it's not completely shutting off when it hits the selected cut out voltage (the red light in the hardware kit)

2nd unit is totally damaged, the ACC circuit is not working and sending the signal that I turned off my car when I actually didn't, prompting the dashcam to switch to parking mode. Also noticed another issue with this hardware kit. I manually turn off the dashcam at night by pressing and holding the menu button. Normally the dashcam turns back on automatically when I start the car the next day but not with this hardware kit. I'm assuming the ACC circuit wasn't sending the signal to the dashcam when I was turning on the car. With my old hardware kit, the dashcam turns on automatically when I start the car even after I manually shut down the dashcam.

The 2nd unit is unusable since it's not doing what it's supposed to. The 1st unit is usable because the only issue is that it doesn't turn off at the selected cut-out voltage but I can live with that, I'll just have to go for a quick ride mid-week every week to avoid depleting my car battery to 12V after 5 days without driving.

At this point I don't even want to try a 3rd hardware kit and will stay with the first one and ask for a refund for the faulty 2nd kit.

Hi,

Could you please tell me whether the red light inside the kit is meant to be on non-stop? I have connected my A129 Pro Duo to the HK3 hardware kit. The very first time I plug the fuses into their spots, the little red light inside the kit is OFF. As soon as I turn the key to ACC or ON, the red light inside the kit turns ON and the dashcam starts up. However, when I switch the ignition off, the dashcam stays ON and the little red light inside the kit stays ON forever regardless how many time I turn the ignition of and on. When I try to again unplug the power fuse to the kit, the red light inside the kit turns off. Untill the next time I turn the ignition on.
When I connect the dashcam directly to the cigarette lighter, it works as it should. Turns on and off with ignition.
So, is the red light inside the kit is meant to be on non-stop?

Thanks

Milo

 

[CaptureYourAction]

Hi,

Could you please tell me whether the red light inside the kit is meant to be on non-stop? I have connected my A129 Pro Duo to the HK3 hardware kit. The very first time I plug the fuses into their spots, the little red light inside the kit is OFF. As soon as I turn the key to ACC or ON, the red light inside the kit turns ON and the dashcam starts up. However, when I switch the ignition off, the dashcam stays ON and the little red light inside the kit stays ON forever regardless how many time I turn the ignition of and on. When I try to again unplug the power fuse to the kit, the red light inside the kit turns off. Untill the next time I turn the ignition on.
So, is the red light inside the kit is meant to be on non-stop?

Thanks

Milo

That red led should be on. If it is off, then there is no power to the red wire or the low voltage cutoff has been reached.