U3000 Pro voltage settings for hybrid help

[Chuck McCoy]

My car is not driven on the daily, when it is. It’s local driving with short trips ranging 10-30 minutes or possibly more.

Car can sit between 1-3 days at a time.

If I can’t charge that battery pack often enough doing the appropriate longer trips to charge it properly, what am I doing here then?

Especially when it’s charging through 12v power in my car

Q: How do I charge my dash cam battery pack if I don’t drive often enough, or long enough?
A: Here are four options.

Option #1 Plug & Play $55 BlackboxMyCar Power Inverter
Option #2 Plug & Play $60 Pyramid Fixed Power Supply
Option #3 Almost Plug & Play $47 NANKADF Variable Power Supply
Option #4 Plug & Play $13 (NOT RECOMMENDED)

Q: Why is Option 1,2,3 WAY MORE EXPENSIVE than Option 4?
A: Voltage / Amperage Specification
Option #1 14.6 Volt @ 8 Amp
Option #2 13.8 Volt @ 12 Amp
Option #3 30 Volt @ 10 Amp (adjustable)
Option #4 12 Volt @ 10 Amp

Q: Why does the Voltage / Amperage specification matter?
Why can’t I use the cheap one for $13?
A: It might work, it might not work, it also might burn your house down.
“Some” Dash Cam Battery Packs may malfunction when being charged at only 12.0 Volts.
To test this, I bought a $13 one from Amazon.
It kind of worked, but it weighed less than half my BBMC unit.
The guts felt hollow, and the 110V & 12V wiring were only 18AWG, (very thin wire).
I used it one time to charge up a dash cam battery pack, and it got so hot I could not touch it for more than a few seconds.
It also smelled like burning plastic when it got hot.
I returned it.

Q: Why do I have to buy these specialized / expensive power supplies that will only be used with one device, (dash cam battery pack)?
Why can’t I charge it with a Type-C fast charger I already own.
Are there any dash cam battery packs on the market that can be charged with a Type-C fast charger?
A: Coming Soon

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Q: How do I charge my dash cam battery pack if I don’t drive often enough, or long enough?
A: Here are four options.

Option #1 Plug & Play $55 BlackboxMyCar Power Inverter
Option #2 Plug & Play $60 Pyramid Fixed Power Supply
Option #3 Almost Plug & Play $47 NANKADF Variable Power Supply
Option #4 Plug & Play $13 (NOT RECOMMENDED)

Q: Why is Option 1,2,3 WAY MORE EXPENSIVE than Option 4?
A: Voltage / Amperage Specification
Option #1 14.6 Volt @ 8 Amp
Option #2 13.8 Volt @ 12 Amp
Option #3 30 Volt @ 10 Amp (adjustable)
Option #4 12 Volt @ 10 Amp

Q: Why does the Voltage / Amperage specification matter?
Why can’t I use the cheap one for $13?
A: It might work, it might not work, it also might burn your house down.
“Some” Dash Cam Battery Packs may malfunction when being charged at only 12.0 Volts.
To test this, I bought a $13 one from Amazon.
It kind of worked, but it weighed less than half my BBMC unit.
The guts felt hollow, and the 110V & 12V wiring were only 18AWG, (very thin wire).
I used it one time to charge up a dash cam battery pack, and it got so hot I could not touch it for more than a few seconds.
It also smelled like burning plastic when it got hot.
I returned it.

Q: Why do I have to buy these specialized / expensive power supplies that will only be used with one device, (dash cam battery pack)?
Why can’t I charge it with a Type-C fast charger I already own.
Are there any dash cam battery packs on the market that can be charged with a Type-C fast charger?
A: Coming Soon

Well, those are quite the solutions for my little problem. Me being older nowadays and where the battery pack would be going under the seat. Can’t imagine myself or wanting to do that often. Still appreciated though and know what to do now in that regard. Let me ask you this, being relatively safe where I’m at. With cameras as well btw and neighbor having one. I even have a garage but sadly it’s manual. If I turn the camera off when home manually, how does that change the game now with parking mode? In theory with runs not being long, I could get a whole lot of time on the battery pack? Depending how long I’m parked at a time in public. Then it’s leaning on risk vs reward using the obd 2 cable to cutting down unnecessary cost if not needed? The mental gymnastics are real with me on all of this. I have until Tuesday to commit. I do have everything I need for install right now including a bigger 256gb sd card. Thought the 64gb card was to small it came with. 🤷

 

[rcg530]

Picking the "right" equipment for the your planned use of a dash camera is a part of any dash camera purchase decision.

• How you plan to drive your vehicle / protect your vehicle
  • What type of driving trips [short, long]?
  • How long do you usually park your vehicle when you're away from home?
  • How long do you usually park your vehicle at home?
  • How many channels [cameras] must your dash camera have to properly monitor/protect your vehicle while driving and parked?
• Base on the answers to first group of questions, that will give you insight into the following
  • How large of a memory card is required
    • I won't use a memory with a capacity below 128 GB.
    • I tend to use 256 GB cards, but it can range up to 512 GB depending on the dash camera use requirements
  • Do you require monitoring while parked [parking mode support]?
    • Figure out the various parking mode types/length you need to support for your use pattern
    • What type of parking mode monitoring and/or recording do you need while parked?
      • Motion detection, time-lapse, energy saving [Thinkware's version of low power impact detection], radar motion detection
      • Each parking mode type consumes a different amount of power
        • That can help determine how you want to power the dash camera [vehicle battery [fuse taps, OBD-II power adapter], dash camera battery pack]
        • That can also help determine if you must perform supplemental charges of dash camera battery pack at home
          • If your driving patterns will not support the charging requirements for the battery pack and how you plan to use it for parking mode.
    • If I turn off the dash camera [use the power button on the dash camera to turn it off] how much power does it still consume?
      • Turning off a dash camera does not necessarily mean the dash camera consumes 0 mA. Many will still consume up to 20 mA and some as little as 1 mA.
      • In the U3000 Pro case, using the power button to turn it "off" and when the vehicle accessory power is also "off", the U3000 Pro consumes only 1 mA of power.

When I first received the U3000 Pro for testing, I almost immediately installed it into my vehicle. I usually perform a series of power consumption tests before installing any dash camera in my vehicle, but this is one that I skipped that step because I wanted to see how "good" the U3000 Pro's HDR feature was implemented. I have not removed the U3000 Pro from my vehicle to gather my full power consumption stats, but I do have them for the older U3000 [not Pro] dash camera. The U3000 power consumption data should give a good indication of how much power the U3000 Pro consumes in parking mode. I did monitor the U3000 Pro with the Thinkware LTE module connected to it [while in my car], so I do have a few data points for the U3000 Pro.

U3000 Pro Parking Modes:

The "Energy Saving" and "RADAR" parking modes consume the least amount of power for this dash camera.

The reason "Energy Saving" parking mode only consumes a small amount of power is that the dash camera effectively goes to sleep monitoring only for impact events. When an impact event occurs, the U3000 Pro awakens and starts recording creating unbuffered recordings [no video/audio content from before the impact].

"RADAR" parking mode utilizes the radar feature in the front and rear cameras to monitor for motion [does not depend on the ambient light level]. Using "RADAR" parking mode consumes far less power than the standard "Motion Detection" [visible motion]. "RADAR" parking mode only consumes a small amount of additional power compared to the "Energy Saving" parking mode while monitoring for qualifying triggering motion or impact events. There is a slight negative to "RADAR" parking mode over "Energy Saving" parking mode. "RADAR" parking mode will awaken the U3000 Pro to record radar detected motion videos. Awakening the dash camera for those events will draw more power on a repetitive basis [depending on the amount of motion around your vehicle] and it will consume additional memory card space as well. Personally, "RADAR" parking mode is my choice since the radar feature will awaken the dash camera to start recording and if that motion results in an impact event as well, there will be more footage of what led up to the impact event.

Here is the parking mode types supported by the U3000 Pro from the user manual:

Here are my parking mode time estimates for the older U3000 2CH dash camera. The U3000 Pro power stats should be very similar to the U3000 power stats.

The iVolt Mini BAB-50 battery pack has a 57.6 Wh storage capacity. I've outlined in red the time estimates for that battery pack capacity. The 90% time estimates are likely to be closure to reality since no battery pack works at a full 100% efficiency level.

[monitoring] = That parking mode waiting for a qualifying event to trigger the [recording] state for that parking mode
[recording] = That parking mode is actively recording video files

Charging dash camera battery pack at home:

If you do need to charge your dash camera battery pack at home, you can use a variety of solutions for that purpose.

I use the Pyramid power supply. I use a 12V power port charging cable for the battery pack and plug that into the power port of the power supply. It's the simplest option if you have a cigarette lighter adapter [CLA] style charging cable for the battery pack. The options we discussed early in this thread implied you would have such a cable. You could leave the battery pack in the vehicle and simply switch the CLA cable from the vehicle's power port to the power supply's power port and charge it at home. You would also have to disconnect the 3-wire power cable that provides power from the battery pack to the dash camera since providing charging power in this manner would make the battery pack awaken the dash camera for driving recording mode.

This approach assumes that you can safely run an AC power extension cord to the vehicle's location and leave a window open enough for an extension cord to be placed into the vehicle to provide AC power to the power supply. Otherwise, you would need to remove the battery pack from the vehicle to perform the "at home" charges of the battery pack.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Picking the "right" equipment for the your planned use of a dash camera is a part of any dash camera purchase decision.

• How you plan to drive your vehicle / protect your vehicle
  • What type of driving trips [short, long]?
  • How long do you usually park your vehicle when you're away from home?
  • How long do you usually park your vehicle at home?
  • How many channels [cameras] must your dash camera have to properly monitor/protect your vehicle while driving and parked?
• Base on the answers to first group of questions, that will give you insight into the following
  • How large of a memory card is required
    • I won't use a memory with a capacity below 128 GB.
    • I tend to use 256 GB cards, but it can range up to 512 GB depending on the dash camera use requirements
  • Do you require monitoring while parked [parking mode support]?
    • Figure out the various parking mode types/length you need to support for your use pattern
    • What type of parking mode monitoring and/or recording do you need while parked?
      • Motion detection, time-lapse, energy saving [Thinkware's version of low power impact detection], radar motion detection
      • Each parking mode type consumes a different amount of power
        • That can help determine how you want to power the dash camera [vehicle battery [fuse taps, OBD-II power adapter], dash camera battery pack]
        • That can also help determine if you must perform supplemental charges of dash camera battery pack at home
          • If your driving patterns will not support the charging requirements for the battery pack and how you plan to use it for parking mode.
    • If I turn off the dash camera [use the power button on the dash camera to turn it off] how much power does it still consume?
      • Turning off a dash camera does not necessarily mean the dash camera consumes 0 mA. Many will still consume up to 20 mA and some as little as 1 mA.
      • In the U3000 Pro case, using the power button to turn it "off" and when the vehicle accessory power is also "off", the U3000 Pro consumes only 1 mA of power.

When I first received the U3000 Pro for testing, I almost immediately installed it into my vehicle. I usually perform a series of power consumption tests before installing any dash camera in my vehicle, but this is one that I skipped that step because I wanted to see how "good" the U3000 Pro's HDR feature was implemented. I have not removed the U3000 Pro from my vehicle to gather my full power consumption stats, but I do have them for the older U3000 [not Pro] dash camera. The U3000 power consumption data should give a good indication of how much power the U3000 Pro consumes in parking mode. I did monitor the U3000 Pro with the Thinkware LTE module connected to it [while in my car], so I do have a few data points for the U3000 Pro.

U3000 Pro Parking Modes:

The "Energy Saving" and "RADAR" parking modes consume the least amount of power for this dash camera.

The reason "Energy Saving" parking mode only consumes a small amount of power is that the dash camera effectively goes to sleep monitoring only for impact events. When an impact event occurs, the U3000 Pro awakens and starts recording creating unbuffered recordings [no video/audio content from before the impact].

"RADAR" parking mode utilizes the radar feature in the front and rear cameras to monitor for motion [does not depend on the ambient light level]. Using "RADAR" parking mode consumes far less power than the standard "Motion Detection" [visible motion]. "RADAR" parking mode only consumes a small amount of additional power compared to the "Energy Saving" parking mode while monitoring for qualifying triggering motion or impact events. There is a slight negative to "RADAR" parking mode over "Energy Saving" parking mode. "RADAR" parking mode will awaken the U3000 Pro to record radar detected motion videos. Awakening the dash camera for those events will draw more power on a repetitive basis [depending on the amount of motion around your vehicle] and it will consume additional memory card space as well. Personally, "RADAR" parking mode is my choice since the radar feature will awaken the dash camera to start recording and if that motion results in an impact event as well, there will be more footage of what led up to the impact event.

Here is the parking mode types supported by the U3000 Pro from the user manual:

View attachment 92289

Here are my parking mode time estimates for the older U3000 2CH dash camera. The U3000 Pro power stats should be very similar to the U3000 power stats.

The iVolt Mini BAB-50 battery pack has a 57.6 Wh storage capacity. I've outlined in red the time estimates for that battery pack capacity. The 90% time estimates are likely to be closure to reality since no battery pack works at a full 100% efficiency level.

[monitoring] = That parking mode waiting for a qualifying event to trigger the [recording] state for that parking mode
[recording] = That parking mode is actively recording video files

View attachment 92290

Charging dash camera battery pack at home:

If you do need to charge your dash camera battery pack at home, you can use a variety of solutions for that purpose.

I use the Pyramid power supply. I use a 12V power port charging cable for the battery pack and plug that into the power port of the power supply. It's the simplest option if you have a cigarette lighter adapter [CLA] style charging cable for the battery pack. The options we discussed early in this thread implied you would have such a cable. You could leave the battery pack in the vehicle and simply switch the CLA cable from the vehicle's power port to the power supply's power port and charge it at home. You would also have to disconnect the 3-wire power cable that provides power from the battery pack to the dash camera since providing charging power in this manner would make the battery pack awaken the dash camera for driving recording mode.

This approach assumes that you can safely run an AC power extension cord to the vehicle's location and leave a window open enough for an extension cord to be placed into the vehicle to provide AC power to the power supply. Otherwise, you would need to remove the battery pack from the vehicle to perform the "at home" charges of the battery pack.

Thank you kindly, so much to think about. What would you do in my case? Taking out charging the battery at home and just using parking mode in public? Thinkware representative even suggested rolling with the obd 2 cable and see how it works out. They did not think a battery pack was needed in my particular use case. 🤷 Still, I like other opinions and value them such as yours as well.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Is the camera and obd 2 cable smart enough to auto select hybrid without my input? Seeing on the obd 2 cable the switch will be set to E for electric/hybrid? The hybrid battery is under the rear seats that uses Ni-MH and 12v battery is in the trunk.

Hi there,

We do not recommend selecting a regular type vehicle under the dash cam setting, as the dash cam needs an accurate reading of the battery based on the vehicle type.

Your 12V battery might not be an Ni-MH; if you have Ni-MH, it's the large high voltage battery under the seat

Thinkware Dash Cam, Can you touch on rcg530 post? They are very knowledgeable and maybe you have internal testing results with Toyota hybrids? Thinkware should really provide more details when “deep diving” into this for other users know, yes? This thread and by knowledgeable members in here will be a treasure trove for Crown owners. There is little to nothing that exist with this model regarding these questions.

From rcg530,

“From my searches, the 2025 Toyota Crown is typical Toyota "Gas/Electric Hybrid" vehicle. It has a high-voltage battery pack used by the motor/generators for driving. That high-voltage system has a way to charge a [low voltage] 12-volt lead-acid or Absorbent Glass Mat [AGM] car battery. The accessories in the vehicle use the 12V system power from the low voltage battery.

Some hybrid and/or electric vehicles will power the vehicle accessories at somewhat higher voltage levels [13V to 14V] even when it's parked and the vehicle is "off". That type of vehicle may not even have a 12-volt battery in the vehicle. The vehicle has a power adapter to take the high-voltage battery pack power and reduce it to much lower voltage levels compatible with typical vehicle accessories [radios, dash cameras, etc]. I'm not aware of the 2025 Toyota Crown being one of those vehicles providing the higher vehicle accessory voltage levels. I've read a few posts from Crown owners that mentioned voltage levels in the 12.3V to 12.7V range.

I can't find a user manual for the Thinkware OBD-II power adapter on the Thinkware website, nor does the U3000 Pro user manual really explain the OBD-II power adapter's switch settings/features in depth. I looked at the "Installation Guide" card included with the Thinkware OBD-II power cable. It doesn't document anything more than to set the EV/F and D/P slide switches. There's also no mention of a low voltage cut-off feature in the OBD-II adapter itself.

It will come down to what voltage range your 2025 Toyota Crown's accessory [constant] power circuits are powered at. If you have a digital multimeter [DMM] to check the voltage level with the vehicle "off", you could check the voltage reading in an accessory power port [if it stays powered with the vehicle "off], at pin-16 of the OBD-II data link connector [lower right pin in the corner], at a fuse in the interior fuse box, or go straight to the low-voltage battery in the engine compartment and check there.

• With the vehicle "off" -
  • Push the start/stop button to turn off the vehicle
  • Open the front driver side door at least once to make certain retained accessory power circuits to turn off
  • If the vehicle voltage reading is:
    • In the 12.0V-to-12.7V range, then it would behave like a "gas/internal combustion engine" vehicle according to the Thinkware products.
    • In the 12.8V-to-13.9V [or higher] range, then it would behave like an "electric/hybrid" vehicle according to the Thinkware products.

If you select "EV" for the "Vehicle Type" on the OBD-II power adapter and vehicle's accessory power circuits operate at voltages like a typical "F" [internal combustion engine] vehicle, the dash camera may enter parking mode while driving. You may also see the U3000 Pro turn off almost immediately after entering parking mode when parked because the voltage threshold for an EV/Hybrid in the dash camera settings is much higher than the voltage level the OBD-II power adapter can provide.”

 

[rcg530]

Thank you kindly, so much to think about. What would you do in my case? Taking out charging the battery at home and just using parking mode in public? Thinkware representative even suggested rolling with the obd 2 cable and see how it works out. They did not think a battery pack was needed in my particular use case. 🤷 Still, I like other opinions and value them such as yours as well.

If you want to test the Thinkware OBD-II power adapter, it's worth a try. To make the correct OBD-II power adapter "EV/F" slide switch selection choice, you need to know what voltage levels your vehicle provides to the various "12-Volt accessories" in the vehicle while parked/off. My previous posts in this thread suggested the Toyota Crown will likely have "12-volt" voltage levels while parked/off rather than "13-volt" voltage levels while parked/off. I suggested to use a multimeter to measure the vehicle "off" voltage levels so you can make a valid selection for the "EV/F" slide switch.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

If you want to test the Thinkware OBD-II power adapter, it's worth a try. To make the correct OBD-II power adapter "EV/F" slide switch selection choice, you need to know what voltage levels your vehicle provides to the various "12-Volt accessories" in the vehicle while parked/off. My previous posts in this thread suggested the Toyota Crown will likely have "12-volt" voltage levels while parked/off rather than "13-volt" voltage levels while parked/off. I suggested to use a multimeter to measure the vehicle "off" voltage levels so you can make a valid selection for the "EV/F" slide switch.

I understand, someone though like myself that is just an average consumer. Is that not a bit ridiculous and poor taste on Thinkware’s part? The whole point is plug and play without having to think about it. I can’t imagine run of the mill consumers such as myself asking these questions or even knowing. They are just going to plug it in, connect it to the app and go. I’m getting it installed at a shop and will show them the post. It’s beyond my understanding or capability. I’m doing the best I can as it is trying to understand it all. You have been beyond stellar at explaining and other members as well. It’s frustrating for me because I want to understand better checking voltages. I don’t even know how to use one of those meters. Not the brightest bulb here, especially using my Garmin cameras for a few years. Nothing to those at all and fail safe simple.

 

[rcg530]

There is a requirement for the installer [be that the vehicle owner or someone they hire] to understand how to properly configure the device(s) they're installing into the vehicle. The Thinkware OBD-II power adapter has a slide switch which selects "EV" for electric vehicles or "F" for vehicles with an internal combustion engine. Thinkware has logic in their OBD-II power adapter to try and account voltage levels it will be working with in the vehicle. Thinkware may be stating that a Toyota hybrid vehicle [HEV = Hybrid Electric Vehicle] would be more in the "EV" category, but Toyota HEVs [that I'm aware of] tend to operate with their low voltage power systems in the 12V-to-13V range when the vehicle is "off". Some newer hybrid or electric vehicles may have low voltage systems that operates in the 13V or higher range. That's why there is an EV/F slide switch on the Thinkware OBD-II power adapter.

Testing the vehicle voltage level with the vehicle turned off [parked] will identify which voltage grouping [12V-to-13V "F" or 13V-and-higher "EV"]. Armed with that info, the installer can set the EV/F switch on the Thinkware OBD-II power adapter with a high level of confidence that it should work with that vehicle.

There are plug-and-play voltage monitors that can tell you the voltage answer very easily. The INNOVA 3721 voltage monitor can be plugged into one of the cigarette lighter power [CLA] adapters. I believe you stated your vehicle has one of those CLA ports since you stated you might be plugging in an iVolt Mini battery pack into one.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

There is a requirement for the installer [be that the vehicle owner or someone they hire] to understand how to properly configure the device(s) they're installing into the vehicle. The Thinkware OBD-II power adapter has a slide switch which selects "EV" for electric vehicles or "F" for vehicles with an internal combustion engine. Thinkware has logic in their OBD-II power adapter to try and account voltage levels it will be working with in the vehicle. Thinkware may be stating that a Toyota hybrid vehicle [HEV = Hybrid Electric Vehicle] would be more in the "EV" category, but Toyota HEVs [that I'm aware of] tend to operate with their low voltage power systems in the 12V-to-13V range when the vehicle is "off". Some newer hybrid or electric vehicles may have low voltage systems that operates in the 13V or higher range. That's why there is an EV/F slide switch on the Thinkware OBD-II power adapter.

Testing the vehicle voltage level with the vehicle turned off [parked] will identify which voltage grouping [12V-to-13V "F" or 13V-and-higher "EV"]. Armed with that info, the installer can set the EV/F switch on the Thinkware OBD-II power adapter with a high level of confidence that it should work with that vehicle.

There are plug-and-play voltage monitors that can tell you the voltage answer very easily. The INNOVA 3721 voltage monitor can be plugged into one of the cigarette lighter power [CLA] adapters. I believe you stated your vehicle has one of those CLA ports since you stated you might be plugging in an iVolt Mini battery pack into one.

View attachment 92314

That’s perfect! I can’t get one delivered in time though as my install is set for tomorrow. I will get with the installer and ask them to get a reading with the car on/off. We will go from there. The battery pack is still not ruled out since I have everything in front of me for it. 50/50 chance going either way with obd 2 or battery pack. I will hunt around online as well about that resting voltage for my Crown hybrid. I have read other people talking about using 12.2v/12.4 cutoff. Maybe I can find a definite answer some time today before install tomorrow.

 

[CB91710]

If you want to test the Thinkware OBD-II power adapter, it's worth a try. To make the correct OBD-II power adapter "EV/F" slide switch selection choice, you need to know what voltage levels your vehicle provides to the various "12-Volt accessories" in the vehicle while parked/off. My previous posts in this thread suggested the Toyota Crown will likely have "12-volt" voltage levels while parked/off rather than "13-volt" voltage levels while parked/off. I suggested to use a multimeter to measure the vehicle "off" voltage levels so you can make a valid selection for the "EV/F" slide switch.

I tried the OBD adapter for my U1000 in my 2021 Avalon hybrid (same engine and hybrid design as the current Camry/Crown/Signia) and after shutdown, the camera would go into parking mode, but then after a minute or two, it would go back into normal driving mode, then after a few minutes, go back into parking mode, over and over.

If the OBD adapter for the U3000 is different, then this may not be a problem... if it works (and the U1000 has the same power connector as the U3000), then I'd certainly want to give that a try.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Per Thinkware setup instructions, can confirm when switch is set to E for hybrid and vehicle type set to hybrid in app. Vehicle goes into parking mode while on. Not good. Went no further than that and installed the battery pack. Further more, the Toyota Crown Platinum does not play nice with OBD 2 cables at all. It did not work right with Garmin and now Thinkware. Even set the switch to G (gas) and set voltage to 12.4v cutoff. It would not go into parking mode within time limits set inside app. 30 seconds for example, the cameras stay on still. The OBD 2 port seems to play by its own rules and goes off when it wants to. 🤷 I was not waiting to find out. Battery pack worked every time going into parking mode properly within 30 seconds or any time set every time. Crown Signia owners have said it plays nice and no problems. Something with the Crown Platinum that has much more to it then lower models and CS is my guess. 🤷 If anyone out there has a U3000 Pro and Toyota Crown Platinum using OBD 2 cable successfully. Please share how and even let Thinkware know.

 

[Thinkware Dash Cam]

Per Thinkware setup instructions, can confirm when switch is set to E for hybrid and vehicle type set to hybrid in app. Vehicle goes into parking mode while on. Not good. Went no further than that and installed the battery pack. Further more, the Toyota Crown Platinum does not play nice with OBD 2 cables at all. It did not work right with Garmin and now Thinkware. Even set the switch to G (gas) and set voltage to 12.4v cutoff. It would not go into parking mode within time limits set inside app. 30 seconds for example, the cameras stay on still. The OBD 2 port seems to play by its own rules and goes off when it wants to. 🤷 I was not waiting to find out. Battery pack worked every time going into parking mode properly within 30 seconds or any time set every time. Crown Signia owners have said it plays nice and no problems. Something with the Crown Platinum that has much more to it then lower models and CS is my guess. 🤷 If anyone out there has a U3000 Pro and Toyota Crown Platinum using OBD 2 cable successfully. Please share how and even let Thinkware know.

Hi there,

We do apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused you. We just wanted to extend assistance with your issue of not going into parking mode to further isolate.

We've seen your effort to troubleshoot it by yourself and we really appreciate it.

Please reach out to us to further assist you

• 1 (844) 865-9273
• Monday – Friday: 8am-8pm EST
• Saturday: 11am-8pm EST
• support@thinkware.com

 

[rcg530]

It would not go into parking mode within time limits set inside app. 30 seconds for example, the cameras stay on still.

The 30-seconds you're referencing in the dash camera settings, that's the amount of time the dash camera waits after losing the ACC power signal before the U3000 Pro decides to enter parking mode.

There's logic in the OBD-II power adapter based on vehicle movement and vehicle voltage levels that governs when the dash camera ACC power signal is turned off [enter parking mode] and on [exit parking mode].

The Thinkware OBD-II power adapter's internal logic decides when to turn the dash camera's ACC power signal on/off. That internal logic will vary between OBD-II power adapter manufacturers [Thinkware, VIOFO, Vantrue, etc]. It usually takes a few minutes for the OBD-II power adapter's internal logic to determine it's appropriate to turn off the dash camera ACC power signal to have the dash camera enter parking mode. In the U3000 Pro's case, whatever that amount of time is, it will be extended by a minimum of 30-seconds based on the U3000 Pro's own setting. I'm not a huge fan of OBD-II power adapters since they have to make educated guesses of when it's appropriate to turn the dash camera ACC power signal on/off. Those educated guesses may or may not align well with the conditions present in the vehicle.

When a dash camera battery pack is used to power the U3000 Pro, the battery pack will turn on/off the dash camera ACC power signal based on the vehicle's ignition system state [On / Off]. That's why it only takes 30-seconds for the U3000 Pro to enter parking mode after turning off the vehicle's ignition switch. There's no need for the dash camera battery pack to make educated guesses.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Could you recommend any settings that won’t record a fart in the wind? While of course still being effective in radar mode? I’m using the default settings currently. I’m guessing lowering the radar sensitivity from medium default to low could help?

 

[rcg530]

Could you recommend any settings that won’t record a fart in the wind? While of course still being effective in radar mode? I’m using the default settings currently. I’m guessing lowering the radar sensitivity from medium default to low could help?

Reducing the radar sensitivity setting reduces the distance from the vehicle that feature should be detecting physical movement. There's a front and rear camera radar sensitivity setting to adjust as well.

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Reducing the radar sensitivity setting reduces the distance from the vehicle that feature should be detecting physical movement. There's a front and rear camera radar sensitivity setting to adjust as well.

The motion setting is greyed out to mid when using radar. What do I need to adjust to tame it down a bit? Or do you suggest just using defaults?

 

[rcg530]

There are two radar specific sensitivity settings:

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Hi there,

We do not recommend selecting a regular type vehicle under the dash cam setting, as the dash cam needs an accurate reading of the battery based on the vehicle type.

Your 12V battery might not be an Ni-MH; if you have Ni-MH, it's the large high voltage battery under the seat

I know you said not to do that, what if the battery is resting in the 12v range while off? The E switch on the obd 2 would be wrong for hybrid and selecting hybrid in the app. It would need to be set to F for gas and set to regular under vehicle type in app for gas, yes?

 

[FattiesGoneWild]

Hi there,

We do not recommend selecting a regular type vehicle under the dash cam setting, as the dash cam needs an accurate reading of the battery based on the vehicle type.

Your 12V battery might not be an Ni-MH; if you have Ni-MH, it's the large high voltage battery under the seat

Since it’s no Ni-Mh and not under the seat. 12v battery being in the trunk. What is the recommendation then for other users know? This is where you folks need to be more clear and in depth with instructions. There is no clear path instruction wise in the manual or online. Can a mod or someone in contact tag @Thinkware again please to answer? Thanks!

 

[rcg530]

Since it’s no Ni-Mh and not under the seat. 12v battery being in the trunk. What is the recommendation then for other users know? This is where you folks need to be more clear and in depth with instructions. There is no clear path instruction wise in the manual or online. Can a mod or someone in contact tag @Thinkware again please to answer? Thanks!

I've reached out to Thinkware via my "tester" support person and asked Thinkware support to review your configuration and to provide info to help clarify this situation. He stated that I would get some info on the voltage level strategies used by the TOCK-100 OBD-II power adapter when you select "EV" and when you select "F".

Unfortunately, the question of what OBD-II voltage strategy is the correct one for the vehicle's low voltage system is not as simple as asking whether it's a hybrid/EV or fuel [gas/diesel] powered drive system. The high voltage system will, in some manner, be responsible for maintaining the charge state of the low voltage battery [if present - most of the time there is low voltage battery]. The low voltage battery type is what needs to be identified since that will directly govern the voltage levels present in the low voltage system. If the low voltage battery is a lead-acid battery or AGM battery, the voltage levels will be just like an older gas/diesel powered vehicle. If there's a lithium low voltage battery, the voltage levels may operate a level above the typical lead-acid/AGM battery type.

When I get more info from Thinkware, I'll let you know.