Why?
Why can't a camera be plugged in 24/7 and last longer than 18m?
I need 24/7 recording because my car has been hit in the middle of the night before.
SD card was fine but replaced it as suggested anyway to rule that out.
Hello,
If the camera is always recording, then it's constantly being supplied with power.
This can either be because the cigarette lighter port is a permanent live fuse (always powered) or the hard wire kit is on a permanent live fuse.
If you're using a cigarette lighter cable, then you can either unplug the socket every time you leave the vehicle which will stop your battery from draining, or you can use a Hard Wire Kit instead. Please be aware that the cigarette lighter cable could drain your battery if left connected to a permanent live cigarette lighter socket.
If you require your camera to be powered when the car is off, then I'd suggest a Hard Wire Kit instead.
The Series 2 Cameras have an internal lithium ion battery for emergency uses, such as the loss of power during an incident. This will allow the camera to continue recording to the end of the clip before switching off.
This internal battery has around 10-15 minutes of battery life. However with the Rear Camera added, the battery life is drastically reduced due to the additional power draw. This is usually 1-3 minutes if fully charged.
If you intend on using Parking Mode on your camera, then we'd instead recommend using a Hard Wire Kit, not the Cigarette Lighter Cable. The Hard Wire Kit will allow the camera to draw nominal current from the car's battery, preventing the cam's battery from being drained. The Hard Wire Kit has an in-built voltage cut off which protects the car's battery from being drained below 11.2V. We'd recommend using a Permanent Live fuse and enabling Parking Mode on the camera.
For Parking Mode, if the camera is completely still for five minutes (the car is parked), then the camera will 'hibernate' in Parking Mode.
If your car is bumped and the G Force sensor registers movement then the dash cam will automatically turn on, record for 30 seconds and then shut back down again. If you are unlucky enough to be hit twice in a row then the dash cam would automatically record again and capture both events.
Here's some more information about Parking Mode:
https://www.nextbase.com/en-gb/dash-cam-features/parking-mode/
Regarding the recording lengths, the camera will record continuously in small segments (1,2, or 3 minutes). It will record these segments consecutively until the SD card is full. Then the oldest piece of footage will be deleted and the newest will be saved in it's place. This will continue looping and is called Continuous Overwriting. The Dash Cam does this automatically to allow for more footage to be recorded and the old, unnecessary footage to be deleted without manual intervention.
However Protected Files are not overwritten in the same way as normal files. If you do not format regularly, these files can build up and reduce the capacity of storage available for normal footage. It is essential to format every two weeks to delete any protected files and clear the card ready for continued usage.
If you leave the camera on recording 24/7 by the time you come to look at footage, the majority of the period will already have been overwritten. However by using Parking Mode, only the required footage will be recorded when the vehicle is parked.
Kind regards,
Millie
Nextbase Technical Support