Low battery warning after firmware update

Jonah

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Updated the dash cam to R15.8 firmware three days ago and every time I get in the car it is flashing up a “low battery” warning. I’ve not driven too far (max distance 30 miles) since the update but I have charged the battery using a USB wall charger twice since updating but the low battery warning still appears.

Parking mode is enabled with the G-Sensor set at medium. I was not getting this problem before the firmware update with the same settings.

The dash cam activates parking mode when I open or close the car doors. Activation on door closing I can understand due to the motion it creates but activation on door opening seems bizarre. The dashcam was also being switched on when I picked it up from my desk when it had finished charging as well. It seems the motion sensor is very, very sensitive.

I have now set the G-Sensor to low to see if it makes any difference but I suspect the firmware update is to blame.

Does anyone have any thoughts about this?
 
Hello @Jonah

The parking mode has been improved to make sure door scraps and so on are now caught on parking mode.

How many protected files are you getting over night? If there are quite a few the internal battery could be draining throughout the night due to parking mode.
 
@NextBase Tiffany Thanks for the reply. I will have to check on the number of files and post back.
 
Is there a new update for the 412gw yet Tiffany? The option to not have dual recording files on as that eats up the memory. As I was looking into getting a 128gb memory card when the new update comes out with this feature. Thanks
 
@NextBase Tiffany Right, I have now checked the files. Since wiping the SD card on Saturday 26th, there have been 61 protected files created. On the attached photo, the files marked in yellow are when I have been using the car (getting in or out) so I understand why they have been created. The ones marked in red look completely random and are recording nothing of any note. FYI the files not marked in any colour are when I have brought the dash cam into my house for charging.

So after the update there has been 29 instances of parking mode activating. The first 27 where when the G-Sensor was set to 'Medium'. I changed it to 'Low' yesterday (Monday) morning and since then parking mode has activated only twice in 24 hours. It appears to me that the update has made parking mode hypersensitive as I had previously had the G-Sensor set to 'Medium' before the update and didn't get anywhere near the amount of protected files being created.

This morning when I got in the car, I still got the low battery warning so I will charge the dash cam using a USB charger this evening. I assume an iPad or iPhone charger will suffice.


Protectedfiles.jpg
 
Wednesday morning and there wasn’t a low battery warning - battery icon was showing two bars. Checked overnight parking mode activations and there was only two so I was hoping the issue was resolved. As I had taken the camera out of the car to check the parking mode activations, I decided to charge the dash cam using a USB charger and after charging for well over two hours it was fully charged.

The dash cam was put back into the car just before 1pm and unfortunately it was giving me a low battery warning by 7pm. I can’t help but feel that the latest firmware has screwed something up badly.

Is there a way to downgrade to an older firmware version? The current one isn’t fit for purpose for me.
 
For everyone’s information.

I contacted NextBase Support via email and they sent me new firmware R17.9 to install. It made absolutely no difference to the issue. I have since updated to the latest version (to accommodate the rear cam) and that has made no difference as well.

Basically the front cam is nearly always on low battery in the morning. Looks like the changes NextBase made to make parking mode more sensitive are to blame and that I will have to live with it.
 
For everyone’s information.

I contacted NextBase Support via email and they sent me new firmware R17.9 to install. It made absolutely no difference to the issue. I have since updated to the latest version (to accommodate the rear cam) and that has made no difference as well.

Basically the front cam is nearly always on low battery in the morning. Looks like the changes NextBase made to make parking mode more sensitive are to blame and that I will have to live with it.
To be honest the batteries are not the best my first 302GW had to go back as the battery had swelled pushing the casing out on the front after about 6 months.

You are far better off having it wired with a hard wire kit to a permanent live. The hardwire kit has a voltage sensor circuit and won't power the camera if the battery voltage drops below a level to ensure you don't have a flat battery.

I would never rely on the battery being that good and rarely do they last the 30 mins as described.
 
To be honest the batteries are not the best my first 302GW had to go back as the battery had swelled pushing the casing out on the front after about 6 months.

You are far better off having it wired with a hard wire kit to a permanent live. The hardwire kit has a voltage sensor circuit and won't power the camera if the battery voltage drops below a level to ensure you don't have a flat battery.

I would never rely on the battery being that good and rarely do they last the 30 mins as described.
The dash cam is hardwired but it activates parking mode with the slightest movement. It's activated when people have walked past it even with the G-Sensor set to 'low'. That's why the camera is throwing up a low battery warning most of the time.
 
To be honest the batteries are not the best my first 302GW had to go back as the battery had swelled pushing the casing out on the front after about 6 months.

You are far better off having it wired with a hard wire kit to a permanent live. The hardwire kit has a voltage sensor circuit and won't power the camera if the battery voltage drops below a level to ensure you don't have a flat battery.

I would never rely on the battery being that good and rarely do they last the 30 mins as described.
The dash cam is hardwired but it activates parking mode with the slightest movement. It's activated when people have walked past it even with the G-Sensor set to 'low'. That's why the camera is throwing up a low battery warning most of the time.
Stick it on a permanent live rather than a switched live and you won't have that problem. Like I say if the voltage drops too low then it won't get any power and will use the battery in the camera for parking mode and that should be the only time you get a low battery warning.

I had my old 512G on a permanent live in my old focus and never had an issue with it don't think the battery voltage every dropped low enough on the car to be a problem.
 
Ok cheers, I will take a look at this.
 
Why not? What problems? Surely we are not talking NiCad memory here.
 
Stick it on a permanent live rather than a switched live and you won't have that problem..

true, you'll have a new set of problems, permanently powering a camera with an internal battery is not a good idea
The charging circuit in the camera should only charge the battery when needed. They are designed to be either on a permanent live or a switched live dependant on how you want to run it.

In my experience the batteries don't last very well anyway so it makes little difference.
 
the batteries are stable while being charged at temperatures up to 45°c, you'll easily exceed those temps in a parked car in the sun, it will just record constantly which also adds heat and it will potentially overwrite what you might want to save anyway
 
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