Keeping the A119S inactive but "charged" when not in use

Len Dennis

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Location
Toronto
Country
Canada
Dash Cam
Viofo A119
Posted a year ago about the cam "battery" (RTC) losing it's ability to keep date/time when not used for a long time (ie over winter as car is in storage).

Not prepared to spend another $$$ to get a replacement cam and I'm not about to try disassembling it to replace parts. It works perfectly fine recording-wise except for non date/time retention.

It is not hardwired to battery so no charging possible (ciggy lighter power is off when car is not running as is the case these days).

What I have found is if I remove the cam from the car and plug it into a wall charger, all is good. It records while on the charge (taped over lens so it's blank --don't know if that's beneficial or not) but I thought there might be a better way.

I found that I can hook it up to a portable battery pack while still in the car (so I don't have to keep adding/removing it from the holder. Excessive wear and tear on the pins is to be avoided. Keeps it "charged" and the date/time retention is perfect.

The problem here is that overnight, the cam used up ~ half the charge in the pack (10,000 mA pack so used about 5000 mah) because it's still recording. That only gives me about a day storage capacity.

I can get a bigger pack but that would still only give me about 2 days before I have to charge again.

QUESTION:

Is there a way to 'put it to sleep' so it still stays charged but only using a trickle charge?
 
My old A119 V2 is permanently plugged into a spare USB slot on the back of the PC tower unit (as is my spare Garmin 2599) so they get a trickle charge for the few hours a day I use the PC. I do turn off the PC at the mains after each session so it's not on permanent charge.

Seems to do the job.
 
My old A119 V2 is permanently plugged into a spare USB slot on the back of the PC tower unit (as is my spare Garmin 2599) so they get a trickle charge for the few hours a day I use the PC. I do turn off the PC at the mains after each session so it's not on permanent charge.

Seems to do the job.
Agreed it would and using the wallwart does the same. I just don't want to keep removing it from the attachment point on the windshield. I want to leave it attached to the windshield and still be charging but not recording when not needed (the recording part is what uses too much power). I don't

I need to know if it can be turned off (ie not record) yet still be (trickle) charged. Trickle will use much less (portable battery) pack juice so will last longer an a day or two.

I have a feeling though that this power drain is not stoppable--maybe. I do not have motion detection turned on but if I did, manual says recording will stop if no motion is detected.

Hitting the power button just seems to turn the screen on and off. I'm going to try turning motion detection on and see what happens. REC light still stays on so I'll have to check later as to whether any recording has been done (on walwart right now).

This thread is not a total waste though as others may have the same issue and want to resolve it.

I should add--turning off the PC at the mains will have the same effect as leaving the cam "unplugged' (ie in storage).

There is a coin battery in the pc that does the same thing--maintains date and time AND most importantly, allows the pc to start normally. If it gets 'uncharged', you may get a blue screen--unable to start/install installation disk and retry--or very similar language.

A quick warm boot will get it going again. The ONLY reason I turn off the mains now is if a thunder/lighting storm is brewing. Lost an expensive GPU by not doing that. Never had a problem since. FYI.
 
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I've gone at least 1 month without having to provide any power to the dashcam. I've had no problems.

From what I understand, the dashcam uses a capacitor to store a little amount of power so that it can finish writing to the SD card in case power is interrupted to the dashcam while plugged into a usb power source. So you are correct that at some point the capacitor would naturally loose power over time.

Although I haven't tried leaving the dashcam unpowered for 3 months, I thought the dashcam automatically gets the date/time from the gps signals it receives ? After not using it for a while, have to tried powering it up in the car and waiting for it to get a gps lock (and subsequently the date/time) ? To be more specific, if you are trying your gps inside a garage or in your house, you might not be picking up the gps signal so you won't get a refresh of the date/time ? Try taking your car/dashcam out so it has a clear view of the sky and wait a few minutes to see if it automatically picks up the date/time ?
 
It does get the GPS as you say but left too long all settings will likely go back to default so the GPS time will be +/- 0 which is UK
 
It does get the GPS as you say but left too long all settings will likely go back to default so the GPS time will be +/- 0 which is UK
leave it long enough and the clock should reset, your menu settings though should remain, those are stored in ROM and do not need power to retain those settings
 
It does get the GPS as you say but left too long all settings will likely go back to default so the GPS time will be +/- 0 which is UK

That sounds like a pain. But it also sounds like you don't drive too much. So if you have the UK date/time coming up automatically, just make a mental note that the videos are +/- XX hours. Another option is what was suggested earlier, just keep it powered by a computer. Plug it into your computer once a month to keep the time zone active.
 
That sounds like a pain. But it also sounds like you don't drive too much. So if you have the UK date/time coming up automatically, just make a mental note that the videos are +/- XX hours. Another option is what was suggested earlier, just keep it powered by a computer. Plug it into your computer once a month to keep the time zone active.
time zone should not change from whatever you set it to regardless of how long it is without power, that setting is stored in ROM
 
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