Will having both a front and rear facing dashcam drain my car battery?

[DashCamJunkie]

Hi guys,

First time post so go easy on me I am having some troubles with my car battery (vauxhall zafira) draining. The car has permanent live feed so I assume by having two dash cams powered constantly this is the culprit? What I cant fathom out is why this has only happened twice - 4 weeks inbetween? Both times I went to start car in the morning and battery was dead. First time round I thought it was down to the fact my nextbase 522 had frozen with display screen on without me noticing until the next morning. However I took that back and got a Garmin 66W instead yet the same thing happened appx 4 weeks later. I have a Garmin Mini on the rear windshield. The Garmin 66w screen turns off after a few minutes so i dont think much current is being drawn when display in sleep mode. The Garmin Mini obviously doesnt have a display but does require external power as it has no internal battery.

Basically Im wanting advice if my set up is the issue or whether the car battery needs replacing and that a car battery shouldnt be drained overnight. I have replaced the battery as of yesterday but I am nervous I will get a flat battery again at some point so any advice you can offer would be appreciated. cheers

 

[SawMaster]

Two cams overnight on the average car battery is a bit much. If it's new, you might get away with it for awhile but on an older battery it's asking for trouble. Either way it's asking too much from your battery as they are not designed for a long-term low load (such as dashcams) and it's life will be shortened substantially. You'll be better off with using powerbanks for overnight cam power, at least for one of the two cams and ideally for both. Or perhaps use the "Cellink" powerbank device if that's in your budget range. At the very least you should use hardwire kits with adjustable low-voltage cut-off to ensure you'll not drain the car battery so much that the car won't start.

If your car battery is due for replacement, consider installing the largest AGM type you can fit- they handle the types of loads dashcams have much better than the usual lead-acid types. Not cheap but you're going to be paying for dashcam power somewhere, and coupled with hardwire kits this might be the most economic route in the long term.

Phil

 

[DashCamJunkie]

Two cams overnight on the average car battery is a bit much. If it's new, you might get away with it for awhile but on an older battery it's asking for trouble. Either way it's asking too much from your battery as they are not designed for a long-term low load (such as dashcams) and it's life will be shortened substantially. You'll be better off with using powerbanks for overnight cam power, at least for one of the two cams and ideally for both. Or perhaps use the "Cellink" powerbank device if that's in your budget range. At the very least you should use hardwire kits with adjustable low-voltage cut-off to ensure you'll not drain the car battery so much that the car won't start.

If your car battery is due for replacement, consider installing the largest AGM type you can fit- they handle the types of loads dashcams have much better than the usual lead-acid types. Not cheap but you're going to be paying for dashcam power somewhere, and coupled with hardwire kits this might be the most economic route in the long term.

Phil

Awesome thanks for the tip