Newbie - what’s the most feasible battery solution?

[Wagonmeister]

Hi all,

Stepping into the dashcam world after putting it off for many years. Recently involved a non fault accident which wasn’t too much hassle to sort out but a friend wasn’t so lucky and is currently battling liability. Anyway I digress.

So I’m looking at grabbing the Viofo A139 Pro 2CH. The main issue I’m trying to navigate is prolonging the duration of the parking mode.

I tend to use the car maybe twice a week with a few days in between of it being sat. The car does benefit from a large battery from factory but would rather not constantly bring the charge state down.

How feasible would it be to use a battery power bank with the above mentioned dash cam? I’ve seen some of the more dedicated battery solutions but they seem a tad rich for what I want to invest into the whole system. I’m thinking something along the lines of a 20,000mah power bank which I could probably hot swap as and when it needs to changed. Having a second one fully charged wouldn’t be too much hassle.

Open to other suggestions/to hear the thoughts of others. If the above isn’t a wise idea I may just bin off parking mode completely.

Kind regards.

WM.

 

[Nigel]

I tend to use the car maybe twice a week

How long do you drive for on these two occasions?

Batteries of all types take time to charge up, so if you don't drive enough then you will not get much out of a dashcam battery and might as well stick to the car battery which can charge a lot faster.

The Viofo cameras do have a parking duration setting, set to 3 hours it will record your shopping trips without emptying your battery, whatever sort of battery you are using. Do you need overnight recording?

 

[Wagonmeister]

How long do you drive for on these two occasions?

Batteries of all types take time to charge up, so if you don't drive enough then you will not get much out of a dashcam battery and might as well stick to the car battery which can charge a lot faster.

The Viofo cameras do have a parking duration setting, set to 3 hours it will record your shopping trips without emptying your battery, whatever sort of battery you are using. Do you need overnight recording?

1-2 hours per trip.

Was trying to cover off the power contingency when it’s parked up more than the parking mode when out and about so yeah - looking to see what could be done to power the dash cam overnight in parking mode.

Though upon reflection it may be something I’ll have to comprise on…

 

[laknox]

The =simple=, and least expensive solution, would be to get a decent battery charger and add a dedicated plug from the battery terminals to the tender. Think something similar to a block heater; just tuck it out of the way behind the grill when not being used. Just plug the car in when you're not driving it. Just make sure to get a big red "REMOVE BEFORE FLIGHT" flag and put it somewhere that's in your way when you get in the car, as a reminder to unplug.

Lyle

 

[Wagonmeister]

Guess this may turn into a bit of experimentation. Awaiting arrival of the A139 which will be hardwired in to start off with. Once I have an idea of real world power consumption with where the car is kept, I’ll look to see how I can best try to power the parking mode long term.

Wish me luck

 

[Nigel]

Though upon reflection it may be something I’ll have to comprise on…

Yes, you will not get 24/7 coverage without charging powerbanks in the house and swapping them daily. You need to decide what compromises are acceptable. Maybe cover it overnight using a webcam connected to house power if that is feasible?

 

[DT MI]

...I’m thinking something along the lines of a 20,000mah power bank which I could probably hot swap as and when it needs to changed. Having a second one fully charged wouldn’t be too much hassle.

That may be a viable option.

As a basis for how that might work for you some years back I had need for parking mode as a one time requirement. My cameras at time were 2 SG9665GCs that were not hard wired. I used a 10,000mah power bank to run both cameras in full recording mode for about 5 hours. At the end the power bank still was still at 50-75% capacity (2 of 4 LEDs on).