New f800 parking mode problem

anb369

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Hi,

I've recently had a f800 pro professionally hardwired to my car. Everything is working great apart from the parking mode.

It only seems to record for just under 1 hour before it goes dead.

I've tried setting the battery cut off to 11.9 but its not made a difference. It looks like it cuts off around 12.1v looking through the recorded videos.

I've tried both motion and timelapse and its still the same.

I'm running a 32gb memory card and currently when i check there's 20gb left so i'm sure its not that.

I'm going give thinkware a call tomorrow and see what they say.

The camera has been great for everything else so far so I'm really disappointed by under an hour for parking mode.

What record time are you guys getting from your batteries in parking mode?

My car is a brand new 2019 c43 AMG Mercedes.

Thanks,
Adam
 
I used the buy/fit service from RACshop amd they used a company hameleon code wiring. They did it mobile at my address.

I think this is there blog. They are pretty knowledgeable with the thinkwares.

http://www.chameleondirect.co.uk/wordpress/
 
they may be knowledgeable with the Thinkware but you need to check how it is installed, it may be a Mercedes issue rather than a Thinkware one, if they haven't taken the permanent power directly from the battery and have it on a circuit in the fuse panel the cars computer will shut the circuit off if it detects a current draw that doesn't belong, that would explain why it powers off at a voltage higher than what you have set in the camera
 
Thank you that's really helpful.

So the dash cam needs to have a cable going directly into the battery in the boot and we suspect they may have just wired it to a circuit in the fuse?

This sounds like it might be the issue. I will give them a call tomorrow.
 
not sure how they have wired it obviously, it is a common issue on a lot of late model euro cars though as they can control circuits even when the vehicle is off, if they are seeing a load that the computer decides shouldn't be there it will disable the circuit, something to be aware of
 
Try disabling battery voltage protection but change your timer to say.... just 6hrs to see if it works.

This is to troubleshoot if it's voltage issue or car is stopping the cam.
 
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Having been a victim of vehicle crime twice within 2 months at the close of 2018, I took the plunge and ordered the Thinkware F800 Pro, along with a Samsung 128GB MicroSD card and a Cellink Neo6 auxiliary battery.

The oversized battery was to ensure that I will never reasonably run out of power in parking mode again.
I can also select the most high quality recording for parking mode IF I desire, and not have the F800 Pro shutdown on me in the middle of the night - or indeed whenever.

The last, and probably most primary reason for going with this setup was the type of vehicle I drive.
It’s a Prius Hybrid with 2 x batteries. A giant high voltage traction battery which powers the vehicle only when the vehicle has been “booted up” and is operational;
And a much smaller 12 volt battery (about the size of a motorcycle battery) which maintains power to the alarm, and “boots up” the vehicle when you press the start button on any Prius.
It’s a tiny battery and is never involved in generating power for turning the engine; the massive (201.6 volts nominal) HV battery takes care of that, once the propulsion system has been booted up. With such low power drainage, this tiny battery has been known to last an average of about 6 years in operation before being replaced.

So, the tiny 12v battery would never power my Thinkware F800 Pro satisfactorily, hence the inclusion of the best Cellink Neo 6 auxiliary battery I could purchase at the time.

Advantages are being able to run my dash cam in parking mode the cold of winter (day to day) without worrying about my vehicle’s 12v battery being depleted, service life shortened or equally important, loosing recording capability when parked.

Just thought I’d pass on experience with my choice of auxiliary battery built into my vehicle, for powering my F800 Pro when the propulsion system is offline.

Anyone with a modern "premium" vehicle fitting an F800 Pro 2 channel should really be adding an auxiliary battery due to the way these vehicles monitor any drain on their battery powered fuse circuits as correctly pointed out by Jokiin.

So far, I’m very happy with the whole setup.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 
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Thank you that's really helpful.

So the dash cam needs to have a cable going directly into the battery in the boot and we suspect they may have just wired it to a circuit in the fuse?

This sounds like it might be the issue. I will give them a call tomorrow.

Hi. Did you manage to get it sorted. I too am having the same issue.
 
I've got the same camera installed in a 2016 BMW 3 series F30
I had issues with the parking mode in that the camera would boot up and work normally, on parking it would enter parking mode and seemingly work not sure for how long though.
It was hard wired in by the recognised fitter as I believe that parking mode will only work if hard wired or at least has a permanent feed which a lot of 12v adapter plugs aren't
on starting the car again it would give the message continuous recording will now start etc etc and all the led's would illuminate but it didn't actually record anything at all

I had discussion with Chameleon Codewing (Steve I think it was) who are the UK distributor and sent the camera back
he tested it and said everything was working so couldn't find my problem
out of generosity I was sent a new unit but this problem persists

Turn off the parking mode and all works fine so not sure what the problem is
Maybe it needs a backup power supply as opposed to just the cars battery.

I am just having to live without parking mode which is disappointing for such a premium model camera
 
I've got the same camera installed in a 2016 BMW 3 series F30
I had issues with the parking mode in that the camera would boot up and work normally, on parking it would enter parking mode and seemingly work not sure for how long though.
It was hard wired in by the recognised fitter as I believe that parking mode will only work if hard wired or at least has a permanent feed which a lot of 12v adapter plugs aren't
on starting the car again it would give the message continuous recording will now start etc etc and all the led's would illuminate but it didn't actually record anything at all

I had discussion with Chameleon Codewing (Steve I think it was) who are the UK distributor and sent the camera back
he tested it and said everything was working so couldn't find my problem
out of generosity I was sent a new unit but this problem persists

Turn off the parking mode and all works fine so not sure what the problem is
Maybe it needs a backup power supply as opposed to just the cars battery.

I am just having to live without parking mode which is disappointing for such a premium model camera

This sounds like an installation error. Especially if Chameleon Codewing sent you a new unit. Have you taken it back to the installer and told them your issue? Since the dash cam is not going into parking mode it's likely an issue with the ACC fuse.
 
I've got the same camera installed in a 2016 BMW 3 series F30
I had issues with the parking mode in that the camera would boot up and work normally, on parking it would enter parking mode and seemingly work not sure for how long though.
It was hard wired in by the recognised fitter as I believe that parking mode will only work if hard wired or at least has a permanent feed which a lot of 12v adapter plugs aren't
on starting the car again it would give the message continuous recording will now start etc etc and all the led's would illuminate but it didn't actually record anything at all

I had discussion with Chameleon Codewing (Steve I think it was) who are the UK distributor and sent the camera back
he tested it and said everything was working so couldn't find my problem
out of generosity I was sent a new unit but this problem persists

Turn off the parking mode and all works fine so not sure what the problem is
Maybe it needs a backup power supply as opposed to just the cars battery.

I am just having to live without parking mode which is disappointing for such a premium model camera

Sounds like an install isssue and not something wrong with the dash cam itself. I would contact the installer to fix the problem.

Keep in mind that BMW electronics are very finiky and it is best not to tap into it unless it is necessary. With that in mind, I would recomend a backup battey instead of using the car's battery to power parking mode.
 
Hi all, just a quick update with regards to the original question. I was having the same issue. Had it installed according to the manual and with the same issue as above. The installer said that I'll need an extra battery as backup but that's the £200+ option. I asked him to re-wire directly to the front battery (not the rear auxiliary one) but he was a bit apprehensive on that idea. Had to explain the Mercedes fuse box issue and that a direct connection with an inline 10amp fuse nearer to the battery would solve this issue. He completed it and hey presto, it all works as it should. Happy days.
 
they may be knowledgeable with the Thinkware but you need to check how it is installed, it may be a Mercedes issue rather than a Thinkware one, if they haven't taken the permanent power directly from the battery and have it on a circuit in the fuse panel the cars computer will shut the circuit off if it detects a current draw that doesn't belong, that would explain why it powers off at a voltage higher than what you have set in the camera

Thank you very much. You solved this issue and saved me £££.
 
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