Parking mode and battery voltage even without a hardwire kit?

[grichter24]

Hello everyone,

I bought an A119 Mini 2. I ordered the hardware kit for it.

The wiring is a bit tricky for me as a novice. However, I have a lighter socket in the center console that has a permanent power supply.
I could connect the camera there and use parking mode. Unfortunately, without the hardwire kit, I have no way to set the residual battery voltage at which the camera should shut down.
Can I specify the voltage somewhere without the hardware kit?

It would be silly if I had to connect a lighter plug to the hardware kit...

Thanks.

Best regards, Gordon

 

[kamkar]

Herzlich willkommen bei Forum Gordon

I am not familiar with this particular model, but many dashcams when they sense no movement ( GPS / G-sensor ) after 5 minutes they will change to parking mode, you can test this out at home powering the system with a USB charger, then just leave it be and it should change to parking mode after a little while.

Mind you doing it this way, you will not have the low voltage protection in the hard wire kit, but something akin to that might be in the car, at least if it is a newer one.

you can maybe limit parkig guard duration if there is a timer in this model, i prefer to use that myself as otherwise i have CCTV on my car so only need parking guard when out on town shopping, so if there is one i use a 3 hour timer, and then low bitrate parking mode which is my personal favorite and work just fine for shorter durations.
You do not want to use motion detect as every little movement will trigger it and so the camera will record all the time more or less.

 

[Nigel]

Welcome to the forum 😀

As kamkar suggests, the A119 Mini 2 should enter parking mode after 5 minutes of no movement, if plugged into the cigar lighter socket, and the adaptor does not have a low voltage cut off, so it will drain your battery if you leave it overnight, unless your car has a low voltage cutoff on the lighter socket.

Unfortunately the camera only receives 5 volts USB, so it doesn't know what the battery voltage is, so no, you can't ask it to shut down on low voltage. That is what the hardwire kit is for.

Wiring a hardwire kit using fuse taps is not too difficult, there are a number of guides to doing it if you use google, and you can ask questions if you are not sure what you are doing, that is the best solution, there are only 3 wires to plug in...

 

[kamkar]

Also just FYI even if this mean more wires and connections to do, there is dedicated dashcam power packs from quite a few brands, that will leave your car battery safe.
Hard wired these will charge at +10 A and so fairly fast, if connected to a cigarette plug the power bank will only charge with 7 A

Thread 'Ultimate Dash Cam Battery Pack Comparison'

Jul 14, 2025

This thread will be dedicated to testing 6 Dash Camera battery packs
- @70mai_Official 7500mAh
- @Thinkware Dash Cam IVOLT Xtra 7500mAh
- @BlackboxMyCar Powercell 8 7500mAh
- @viofo battery pack 7650mAh
- IROAD powerpack Max 8 8000mAh
-IROAD powerpack pro 12 12000mAh

• SafeDriveSolutions
• Replies: 142
• Forum: Dash Cam Discussion

• 

The 70mai power pack i use, i have to drive about 1 hour for it to be fully charged from 0, these have their own build in battery protection, but the cameras hard wire kit will still do the cut off at what it is set to so i just use the lowest 11.8 volts which is too low for lead acid battery but should be fine for power pack.
The 70mai pack also have a USB out, which i use for powering a #2 camera, but as this is always on and i supposed also protected from over draining the power pack, it should be useable, but of course then you are already connecting and adding wires to the car so might as well do the full hard wire.

If you go up here to Denmark on holliday i might be able to help you with the install, but otherwise a too long drive for me down into Germany / Berlin area

 

[cf18]

Does any Viofo enter parking mode via no motion? I can't find it on any feature description or manual, and searched their FAQ. The only possible way I found is via the remote, not even the body button can force it into parking mode.

 

[VIOFO-Support]

Does any Viofo enter parking mode via no motion? I can't find it on any feature description or manual, and searched their FAQ. The only possible way I found is via the remote, not even the body button can force it into parking mode.

The Bluetooth button can cannot let the camera enter parking mode. With the original charger cable, if you supply constant power to the camera, it can enter parking mode after five minutes of inactivity. But it is not stable, so we always suggest installing hardwire kit for parking mode.

 

[Nigel]

Does any Viofo enter parking mode via no motion? I can't find it on any feature description or manual, and searched their FAQ. The only possible way I found is via the remote, not even the body button can force it into parking mode.

I believe all the current models do.

What Viofo-Support means by "not stable" is that if it continuously sees traffic moving then it may not detect "no movement", so sometimes doesn't enter parking mode when you want it to - it is not always reliable, depending on circumstances.

 

[Chuck McCoy]

The wiring is a bit tricky for me as a novice.

we always suggest installing hardwire kit for parking mode.

Hello,
Welcome to the club.

This is exactly why I’m feverishly awaiting the Viofo OBD2 Power Cable.
Once they have mastered the technology to 100% accurately switch the camera from Normal Recording to Parking Mode, and back to Normal Recording based on voltage, and or motion, they will have the potential to “bake” this technology into a new optional accessory;

CLA Charger capable of parking mode, and low voltage cutoff.
This will be an attractive solution for customer vehicles with;
1.) Constant Hot CLA Power Outputs
2.) Fusebox / OBD2 Port inaccessibility
3.) Or the customer is unwilling / unable to install the traditional hardwire kit
-Chuck