Parking Mode Draining Battery

[Mochachiino]

I have been troubleshooting my dashcam parking mode and would like to see everyone's thoughts on the matter. I am currently on the latest beta, 20200724 v2.1 and use Auto-Detection parking mode with the official 3-wire hardwire kit. I have been experimenting with 12.4 and 12.2 setting on the hardwire kit. I have already received a new hardwire kit to rule out a faulty hardwire kit. I also do not use the Viofo App to set my settings for the dashcam and I have already reformatted my memory card and defaulted my settings.

What I am currently experiencing is that my dashcam when I am plugged in is that it will drain my battery and leave me with a dead battery. I originally did not have a problem before on maybe 1.3 firmware. But when I updated my firmware I would experience a dead battery frequently. The places I am tapped into for my yellow wire is my "accessory" while my red is "door locks." I am tinkering around with the parking mode timer duration and I found inconsistent results. I have used so far 1hr, 2 hr, 3 hr, and 6hr and it will shut off the dashcam after 1-1.5 hr of recording, with the 6hr setting giving me minimum of 3 hr of recording. Not bad since it has not killed my battery, but is not giving me the duration that I would like. This weekend I tried the "On" duration and I came back 3 days later to a car that would not start. I measured my battery and it was at 10v. Once I jumpstart my car later I will look at my recordings and see what the recordings look like and how long it recorded until my battery died. I have not seen anyone post issues with their hardwire kit, so it makes me wonder if I am doing something incorrectly.

Also to note, I know most users like to use low bitrate recording, and I may try troubleshooting with that to see if I still get a drained battery.

 

[IAmATeaf]

Isn’t there an issue where if your voltage is already below your cut off then it will keep recording until your battery dies? I’m sure read something along these lines in a thread here?

 

[Mochachiino]

Oh really, I did not know that was an issue. Is that an issue with the camera or the current firmware?

 

[ElDorado]

Check that you have connected your hardwire kit right.
Yellow wire marked as ACC should be connected to +12 volt ONLY when you have ignition on. Measure it with multimeter. In case it is connected to constant +12v (even with ignition off) hardwire kit wont switch off letting your battery drain to 0.

 

[Mochachiino]

Yes I have verified that the yellow wire is connected a +12 volt only on ignition. To further my troubleshooting, I have switched my parking mode duration to 12 hours and so far my dashcam has not killed my battery, which rules out if the wires are incorrectly wired. Looking at the recordings it also stayed on to what I assume is 12 hours and then shut off, which I verified by the red light being off on the dashcam. I say I am assuming its 12 hours since it is on "auto detection" and it only recorded things that triggered it to record.

 

[ElDorado]

Normally HK3 should switch off automatically if:

1) No power on ACC;
2) Power on BAT is below set limit.

Both this conditions should meet to power off HK3 (at least it was true for mine when I have tested it with lab power supply). Normally HK3 powers off after 1-2 min if BAT voltage is below limit and not immediately.
If you are sure that HK3 is connected correctly and nevertheless it drains your battery - than I guess it is malfunctioning and you should replace it. Or at least try to test it somehow (but I have no idea how without lab power supply).

I don't believe that problem is with camera itself because HK3 is responsible for not draining you battery, not camera (and not it's firmware). With limiting to 12 hours you have just turned the camera off before your battery drained. You have avoided the problem rather than solved it. But it still persist and can occur again any moment.

 

[LateralNW]

Yes I have verified that the yellow wire is connected a +12 volt only on ignition. To further my troubleshooting, I have switched my parking mode duration to 12 hours and so far my dashcam has not killed my battery, which rules out if the wires are incorrectly wired. Looking at the recordings it also stayed on to what I assume is 12 hours and then shut off, which I verified by the red light being off on the dashcam. I say I am assuming its 12 hours since it is on "auto detection" and it only recorded things that triggered it to record.

Have a look at this link and a bit further down the page I also mention another link regarding the 3 wire kit.

Can someone explain in detail what and how the Accessory Cable (3 wire) works?

From memory, I believe the voltage on the ID pin (4) reflects the on/off state of the ACC input to the 3-wire hardwire kit. Red is power (+5 volts), black is ground (0 volts). YUP. I bet that is the secret switch circuit how it know or not. Thanks

dashcamtalk.com

Cheers.