Lukas LK-530 Battery Duration

Imran123

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I would like to know what users are getting from this device on a full charge with their 1CH dashcams?
I am thinking about buying one but I'm curious what the battery life would be like. I will be using this with my Blackvue DR600.
 
The LK-530-12V comes in two battery sizes, standard 2600mAh and + 3000mAh.
With a camera load of 200mA, Lukas claims:
8-9hrs with the 2600mAh battery
10-11hrs with the 3000mAh battery
It needs 2-2.5hrs to recharge

I don't know the Blackvue DR600's spec's and current drain.
It looks like it rises to max. 480mA with the WiFi on, which means 4-5hrs if you are remote-streaming.
 
The LK-530-12V comes in two battery sizes, standard 2600mAh and + 3000mAh.
With a camera load of 200mA, Lukas claims:
8-9hrs with the 2600mAh battery
10-11hrs with the 3000mAh battery
It needs 2-2.5hrs to recharge

I don't know the Blackvue DR600's spec's and current drain.
It looks like it rises to max. 480mA with the WiFi on, which means 4-5hrs if you are remote-streaming.

Thank you Ken for your response.
Am a right to assume you have the product? Can you confirm that pass-through charging works with this product?
 
I had one and found the LK-530 has oddball logistics... it's a neat idea but a bit silly. I switched to a LK-350-12VT (in timer mode) and use the car's battery to keep the cam running in Parking Mode (can't store an entire night's worth on my SD card anyhow).

In winter, lithium-ion batteries need above freezing temperature to recharge and that is when it crapped out.

Connected to switched (ignition) power, it takes ~2hrs to fully recharge- it never recovered on my short drive to work etc.

Connected to permanent power, the LK-530 "sponges" off the car battery until the low-voltage cut-off.
So your cam is powered from the car battery (also charging the Li-ion cell) until your car battery is at about 70% (<12.4V) but number varies in a car battery with age and temperature. It seemed I was running off the car battery all the time, as 30% of a car battery will easily power a cam for several days. So what was the point of the lithium battery in the first place...
 
I had one and found the LK-530 has oddball logistics... it's a neat idea but a bit silly. I switched to a LK-350-12VT (in timer mode) and use the car's battery to keep the cam running in Parking Mode (can't store an entire night's worth on my SD card anyhow).

In winter, lithium-ion batteries need above freezing temperature to recharge and that is when it crapped out.

Connected to switched (ignition) power, it takes ~2hrs to fully recharge- it never recovered on my short drive to work etc.

Connected to permanent power, the LK-530 "sponges" off the car battery until the low-voltage cut-off.
So your cam is powered from the car battery (also charging the Li-ion cell) until your car battery is at about 70% (<12.4V) but number varies in a car battery with age and temperature. It seemed I was running off the car battery all the time, as 30% of a car battery will easily power a cam for several days. So what was the point of the lithium battery in the first place...

What are the differences between the 530 and the 550?

I cannot hard-wire my system because BMW's monitor the battery and I do not want constant battery error messages every time I start the car, hence why I'm looking for a battery solution.. one that will be simply powered by a cigarette lighter when the car is turned on.
I am curious to know what the battery capacity is on the 550 and how long it would take to charge while passing through power to the dashcam at the same time?
 
You mean the LK-350? I don't know of a 550. There is no battery inside a LK-350. Again, the problems I had is no fast-charging (to recover from overnight) and no winter use.

You might want to look at using a BlackVue T-Power UPS. I haven't used one but they have much larger batteries: 15,600mAh compared to Lukas' tiny 3,000mAh... and they have faster charging.
 
You mean the LK-350? I don't know of a 550. There is no battery inside a LK-350. Again, the problems I had is no fast-charging (to recover from overnight) and no winter use.

You might want to look at using a BlackVue T-Power UPS. I haven't used one but they have much larger batteries: 15,600mAh compared to Lukas' tiny 3,000mAh... and they have faster charging.
Sorry yes I meant the LK-350.

I did initially look at the BlackVue UPS, however I am unable to find any UK supplier for the product and importing it from another country would push the cost of the device out of my budget, the Lukas product however is less than half the price so even importing it would be cheaper in total and within my budget.
What I need to figure out is whether there is enough power to not only pass-through power but also charge the Lukas UPS while the car is ON, because the only time power will go through the UPS is when the car is ON.
 
There are a few ways to architect an UPS. I don't know the circuit details in the LK-530, the manual is vague so I emailed Lukas to find out. I will update here when I get a response.

The question is
How much it charges:
LK-530 power (output) is for charging the battery and running the camera. Owner's manual rates it at 1A.
If your cam is off, it charges faster. If your cam draws 400mA then the charge time goes up?

Power consumption : 200mA base / 3.0Ah battery) = 11 hrs run, and ~2.5hrs to recharge (from the manual)
Power consumption : 400mA base / 3.0Ah battery) = 5.5 hrs run, and ? hrs to recharge (the question at hand)

This is good to know if you are running two cameras or a higher-current drain camera from the UPS.
 
Quick reply from Mr. Hyon at Lukas about LK-530 power question: "Current consumption capacity and charging time is not related".

This means there is enough power in pass-through mode to recharge the battery and run the cam.
Power consumption : 200mA base / 3.0Ah battery) = 11 hrs run, and ~2.5hrs to recharge (from the manual)
Power consumption : 400mA base / 3.0Ah battery) = 5.5 hrs run, and ~2.5hrs to recharge

You can have the LK-530 pass-through/charge with the key off. By setting its cutoff voltage high, like 12.4V this is about a 30% take from your car battery though. It takes >12.7V to initiate charging.
 
Thank you Ken for your help!

I'm gonna bite the bullet and buy the product.
 
Hello,

Could you please help me troubleshoot following issue.
I have a problem with Battery pack LK-530-12V.
When car is running and battery pack connected, output power is 14.4, when I stop the car, output power drops to 11.5 right away , even if battery charged FULL. is it by design or problem with battery pack?
I use Winycam X100FHD connected to LK-530-12V, and full battery pack can power camera only 7 min.

Thank you
Alex
 
Only 7 minutes run time means the battery is shot, or you are not driving long enough for it to recharge.
The 11.5V is okay, I think there is a boost converter to step up 3.7V lithium to 12V.
 
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