Possible to run the cam without a battery?

[Shaken]

I'm considering A118/B40 cam but I would prefer to avoid the battery all together. Is it possible to run it directly off the car and nothing else?

 

[russ331]

I believe that @Pier28 will soon be selling a version of the SG9665GM with a capacitor instead of battery.

 

[Gibson99]

you could run without a battery but you'd lose time/ date and other settings, and if power is cut during a crash that last file (THE most important one) wil be corrupt and unreadable.

what's the problem with a battery? sure they eventually wear out but so does everything else.

 

[Street Guardian USA]

I believe that @Pier28 will soon be selling a version of the SG9665GM with a capacitor instead of battery.

He speaks the truth we expect it to be quite popular ;-)

 

[GaryDZ]

Also, without a battery, every time you shut off the car the file that is being written to will not close as it should and will be corrupt.

 

[mrebay10]

I'm sure I read somewhere that the capacitor version doesn't "Instantly" shut down but rather does so over a few seconds allowing the last file to be saved to the memory card correctly...

 

[GaryDZ]

Sorry, I was responding to the Gibson99 who wrote "you could run without a battery but you'd lose time/ date and other settings, and if power is cut during a crash that last file (THE most important one) wil be corrupt and unreadable."

Responding to a post with a quote is a bit different from other forums so I couldn't figure it out.

 

[Gibson99]

Sorry, I was responding to the Gibson99 who wrote "you could run without a battery but you'd lose time/ date and other settings, and if power is cut during a crash that last file (THE most important one) wil be corrupt and unreadable."

Responding to a post with a quote is a bit different from other forums so I couldn't figure it out.

yes, you have to click Reply on the post you want to quote. if you want to quote multiple posts, that's what the +Quote button is for. took me a bit to get used to as well but i much prefer this site's forum software over most others. mostly because it's still VERY good on mobile.

back on topic - yes, you're right in that if the camera didn't have a battery or capacitor, every time you turn off the car, it would leave that last file corrupt. so if you were in a minor crash and turned off the ignition before it finished writing the file it was using (which can be up to 1, 3 or 5 minutes, depending on how you have it set), it would corrupt that file and you'd lose the most important file. plus you'd have corrupt files from your normal drives, and they may not get deleted regularly because they're corrupt, and eventually may fill up the card.

the main point of the battery or capacitor is to allow the camera to properly shut down and close the last file when the car is turned off or power is otherwise cut. a capacitor works just like a very low-capacity battery in this respect - it stores JUST enough power to do a proper shutdown, and then a little more as a buffer. the battery also allows you to operate the camera without external power for short periods, such as recording outside the car or just changing settings. batteries wear out quicker due to heat, but caps don't, which is why people like caps. but you can't simply replace the battery with a cap because the camera has to have its software (firmware) written with a cap in mind so that the instant it sees power removed, it starts shutting down. most battery cameras don't shut down instantly since they expect to have plenty of time since they have a battery, so you'd either need huge capacitors or know how to rewrite the camera's firmware yourself.