Has anyone hard wired a car cam from the battery to the ignition switch?

[Don Mega]

yep a switch works fine, until you forget to turn it off and discover your car has a flat battery.

It may be a satisfactory solution for you, but it sure is not for most.

[richard_smith237]

common sense would be to use a device that will the camera to continue recording but shut it down once the car battery level has reached predetermined level of discharge.

Power banks are expensive and imho unnecessary when a simple on/off switch

can be used to power the camera which would give you full control in operation

whereas a power bank does not.

As i mentioned earlier in my posts, it's down to personal preference, for short term

parking in public areas a power bank isn't necessary and for long term parking a

power bank will just switch the camera off eventually anyway.

However, if you are 'long term' parking and wish to leave the Dash-Cam running you'll have trouble starting the car unless you have a dedicated power source (i.e. a second 12v battery, or as IMHO mentioned, a USB power-bank which can also be linked to the ignition to charge the battery when the engine is running but linked to an 'ignition off' circuit).

It's all down to personal preference: Mine would be to rely on the power-saver device and not a switch. My reasoning: I'd forget to turn the switch on, or forget to turn it off when parking and return to the car a day later and not be able to start it. I don't always know if I'm going to use the car again the same day, thus planning how long it will be parked for and making the choice to use the switch or not seems a little too much - human error will always forget to turn it on or off - the idea seems flawed.

For those who wish to use 'Parked mode' recording (i.e. with a cam which has motion sensor and records movement) the Power Magic (divide to prevent battery drain) remains the best option.

Perhaps we're taking things a little too far: No system is perfect - Hard Wiring into the 12v Power Supply with a Power-Magic (or equivalent) and a cam which works with a Parking mode is perhaps the best option. Something which 'just works' without having to remember to turn it on or off.

[Sayonarax]

Wire it the accessories line. Not a hard job and can be done by a car audio installer.

[thailandforumaddict]

Expensive ? Less than 1000 thb for 30000 mha...

Are you sure you know what is a powerbank ?

common sense would be to use a device that will the camera to continue recording but shut it down once the car battery level has reached predetermined level of discharge.

Power banks are expensive and imho unnecessary when a simple on/off switch

can be used to power the camera which would give you full control in operation

whereas a power bank does not.

As i mentioned earlier in my posts, it's down to personal preference, for short term

parking in public areas a power bank isn't necessary and for long term parking a

power bank will just switch the camera off eventually anyway.

[sotsira]

Expensive ? Less than 1000 thb for 30000 mha...

Are you sure you know what is a powerbank ?

common sense would be to use a device that will the camera to continue recording but shut it down once the car battery level has reached predetermined level of discharge.

Power banks are expensive and imho unnecessary when a simple on/off switch

can be used to power the camera which would give you full control in operation

whereas a power bank does not.

As i mentioned earlier in my posts, it's down to personal preference, for short term

parking in public areas a power bank isn't necessary and for long term parking a

power bank will just switch the camera off eventually anyway.

Yes, i do know what a power bank is, but it is also a word used in broad term for any type of

power device that holds current independently, so my point is, that there are thousands of variations

to what a power bank can be.

For one to work for a dash cam in a car, it would need to be compatible for 12v DC input to keep it's

charge while the engine is running and have an output of 5V usb to power the camera.

My question to you is, would the 1000bt 30,000mha power bank that you mentioned have the specifications i mentioned above, and if so, could you be so kind to post us a link to see where

we can obtain one.

[Don Mega]

pretty much all of the telephone charging compatible "power banks" will run a car cam.

there will be thousands of links on google, how many do you want ?

1000b is getting into power magic pro cost though so not sure why you would when a simple switch is adequate.

[IMHO]

Expensive ? Less than 1000 thb for 30000 mha...

Are you sure you know what is a powerbank ?

common sense would be to use a device that will the camera to continue recording but shut it down once the car battery level has reached predetermined level of discharge.

Power banks are expensive and imho unnecessary when a simple on/off switch

can be used to power the camera which would give you full control in operation

whereas a power bank does not.

As i mentioned earlier in my posts, it's down to personal preference, for short term

parking in public areas a power bank isn't necessary and for long term parking a

power bank will just switch the camera off eventually anyway.

Yes, i do know what a power bank is, but it is also a word used in broad term for any type of

power device that holds current independently, so my point is, that there are thousands of variations

to what a power bank can be.

For one to work for a dash cam in a car, it would need to be compatible for 12v DC input to keep it's

charge while the engine is running and have an output of 5V usb to power the camera.

My question to you is, would the 1000bt 30,000mha power bank that you mentioned have the specifications i mentioned above, and if so, could you be so kind to post us a link to see where

we can obtain one.

If you have a car cam, you already have a 12vdc to 5vdc converter - it's what powers it right now..

Just plug that into the power bank, then use another mini-usb cable to the cam - done

[sotsira]

pretty much all of the telephone charging compatible "power banks" will run a car cam.

there will be thousands of links on google, how many do you want ?

1000b is getting into power magic pro cost though so not sure why you would when a simple switch is adequate.

Only one.

The link that i would like to see is the 1000bt 30,000mha power bank that thailandforumaddict

mentioned in post 38.

The power magic pro is not a power bank and only serves as an automated switch to prevent

the car battery from discharging that's why i'm not interested in using one when a simple switch

can do the same thing.

[IMHO]

pretty much all of the telephone charging compatible "power banks" will run a car cam.

there will be thousands of links on google, how many do you want ?

1000b is getting into power magic pro cost though so not sure why you would when a simple switch is adequate.

Only one.

The link that i would like to see is the 1000bt 30,000mha power bank that thailandforumaddict

mentioned in post 38.

The power magic pro is not a power bank and only serves as an automated switch to prevent

the car battery from discharging that's why i'm not interested in using one when a simple switch

can do the same thing.

Here's one for 489 Baht:

http://www.lazada.co.th/m-and-n-power-bank-30000-mah-q2-black-1-1-usb-3in1-419045.html

Those are likely "Chinese" mAh's though

Here's another one for 299 Baht:

http://www.lazada.co.th/u-need-power-bank-30000-mah-with-3-output-port-red-free-3in1-bag-507046.html

[richard_smith237]

pretty much all of the telephone charging compatible "power banks" will run a car cam.

there will be thousands of links on google, how many do you want ?

1000b is getting into power magic pro cost though so not sure why you would when a simple switch is adequate.

Only one.

The link that i would like to see is the 1000bt 30,000mha power bank that thailandforumaddict

mentioned in post 38.

The power magic pro is not a power bank and only serves as an automated switch to prevent

the car battery from discharging that's why i'm not interested in using one when a simple switch

can do the same thing.

Until you forget to turn off the switch and come back to your car to find the battery drained - the switch does seem to rely too much on our infallibility. I know I'd forget to turn one off, or on for that matter.

Thinking about this a little more:

The Power Bank is a good idea, connected to an 'ignition on' circuit so that when the Car Ignition is turned on, the Power Bank can charge.

I'm wondering how much time this would give the Cam in parked mode.

Are there any issues leaving these Power-banks in your car? risks of overheating etc?

[IMHO]

Here's another one that can also jump-start your car

http://www.lazada.co.th/worldtech-wt-j888-power-bank-and-jump-starter-14000-mah-553410.html

This video seems to be of a lower/older model:

[IMHO]

Are there any issues leaving these Power-banks in your car? risks of overheating etc?

The batteries they're using are either Li-ion or Li-Po - I would be wary about ones with cheap, no-name cells in them. I also wouldn't do something like mount it under the roof liner, expose it to sunlight, or deprive it of at least some airflow.. That said, the same battery techs are using in phones, tablets etc, and they don't seem to have a problem dealing with the heat inside parked cars.

That last Worldtech brand one I linked to even comes with a cigarette lighter charge cord, so one would hope it's designed to cope with car interior temps

[sotsira]

Thinking about this a little more:

The Power Bank is a good idea, connected to an 'ignition on' circuit so that when the Car Ignition is turned on, the Power Bank can charge.

I'm wondering how much time this would give the Cam in parked mode.

Are there any issues leaving these Power-banks in your car? risks of overheating etc?

Yes, i agree, a good idea in principle, but like you mention, a few concerning issues

come to mind.

The power bank would need to be a good quality brand name with a very high mha rating

(30-50,000) when fully charged to allow a cam in parked mode over 12hrs of use.

I doubt that the cheap ones sold on Lazada would be efficient enough and actually hold

the ratings advertised.

But,

once the power bank has discharged, the problem arises in that it would need to be fully charged

again which takes a good few hours, the car's electrical charge would not have enough time to

do this unless you go on a very long drive.

I have read that large capacity power banks can take over 10 hours to fully charge once they

are drained.

Lastly, as you mentioned, there is the safety aspect of overheating, as they would be continuously

switched on whilst operating the car cam, which i don't think they were built or designed to do so.

[IMHO]

Thinking about this a little more:

The Power Bank is a good idea, connected to an 'ignition on' circuit so that when the Car Ignition is turned on, the Power Bank can charge.

I'm wondering how much time this would give the Cam in parked mode.

Are there any issues leaving these Power-banks in your car? risks of overheating etc?

Yes, i agree, a good idea in principle, but like you mention, a few concerning issues

come to mind.

The power bank would need to be a good quality brand name with a very high mha rating

(30-50,000) when fully charged to allow a cam in parked mode over 12hrs of use.

I doubt that the cheap ones sold on Lazada would be efficient enough and actually hold

the ratings advertised.

But,

once the power bank has discharged, the problem arises in that it would need to be fully charged

again which takes a good few hours, the car's electrical charge would not have enough time to

do this unless you go on a very long drive.

I have read that large capacity power banks can take over 10 hours to fully charge once they

are drained.

Lastly, as you mentioned, there is the safety aspect of overheating, as they would be continuously

switched on whilst operating the car cam, which i don't think they were built or designed to do so.

Yep, there's absolutely no way those one's being advertised as 30,000mAh are actually making 150 watt hours (30A x 5V = 150Wh), but that said, my dash cams have a 5V 1A power supply - i.e. 5Wh, so in theory it should only take 60Wh to run them for 12 hours, and 120Wh for 24 hours. Recharge times are a potential problem though, as you state - if you're only driving an hour a day, you'd need to be charging it up at 10 Amps plus - which isn't going to happen.

I can't see any problems with them outputting 1A continuous - an iPad needs 2A continuous to charge, and they all seem to support that. Indeed, that last one I linked says it can do 200A, with 400A peak.

If you just want something that can keep recording for the hour or two you're in Tesco Lotus, they should do the job though.

[richard_smith237]

Thinking about this a little more:

The Power Bank is a good idea, connected to an 'ignition on' circuit so that when the Car Ignition is turned on, the Power Bank can charge.

I'm wondering how much time this would give the Cam in parked mode.

Are there any issues leaving these Power-banks in your car? risks of overheating etc?

Yes, i agree, a good idea in principle, but like you mention, a few concerning issues

come to mind.

The power bank would need to be a good quality brand name with a very high mha rating

(30-50,000) when fully charged to allow a cam in parked mode over 12hrs of use.

I doubt that the cheap ones sold on Lazada would be efficient enough and actually hold

the ratings advertised.

But,

once the power bank has discharged, the problem arises in that it would need to be fully charged

again which takes a good few hours, the car's electrical charge would not have enough time to

do this unless you go on a very long drive.

I have read that large capacity power banks can take over 10 hours to fully charge once they

are drained.

Lastly, as you mentioned, there is the safety aspect of overheating, as they would be continuously

switched on whilst operating the car cam, which i don't think they were built or designed to do so.

Yep, there's absolutely no way those one's being advertised as 30,000mAh are actually making 150 watt hours (30A x 5V = 150Wh), but that said, my dash cams have a 5V 1A power supply - i.e. 5Wh, so in theory it should only take 60Wh to run them for 12 hours, and 120Wh for 24 hours. Recharge times are a potential problem though, as you state - if you're only driving an hour a day, you'd need to be charging it up at 10 Amps plus - which isn't going to happen.

I can't see any problems with them outputting 1A continuous - an iPad needs 2A continuous to charge, and they all seem to support that. Indeed, that last one I linked says it can do 200A, with 400A peak.

If you just want something that can keep recording for the hour or two you're in Tesco Lotus, they should do the job though.

With all the discussion and information so far it seems to me that the 'Power Magic' is the best step forwards if we wish to use the Cam in Parked mode. Other options might just be a hashed up redesign of an already functional system.

Although I'm not sure what settings would be required:

i.e. at What voltage would you set the cutoff... 11.8v ? 10.8v... How much juice is required to start a car?

Additionally, how long would the cam operate for before the Power Magic disconnects the cam?

The Power Magic and similar products is what the industry has come up with (or for the BlackVue GR750LW-2CH an inbuilt cut off) - Perhaps the industry knows best after investigating the 'other' options we have been discussing.

Additionally: What do we really want the Dash-Cam for?... For me its to keep me out of prison should something tragic occur which clearly isn't my fault - evidence provided by the cam could remove any ambiguity.

[IMHO]

How much juice is required to start a car?

Just buy that last power bank I linked, and there's no need for the power magic - just jump start yourself

[sotsira]

Although I'm not sure what settings would be required:

i.e. at What voltage would you set the cutoff... 11.8v ? 10.8v... How much juice is required to start a car?

Additionally, how long would the cam operate for before the Power Magic disconnects the cam?

There are no exact figures that can be given to answer your questions due to the fact that

too many variants come in to play.

Most important though is the condition, age and amp/hrs rating of your battery.

Secondly, the engine type (petrol or diesel) and size cc.

Thirdly, the voltage isn't as important as the amperage required to crank an engine.

Also a cold engine requires more power to crank than a hot engine.

Now as a guideline to what is required to start an engine, you would need the battery to

have 12 - 12.8V sitting idle, BUT more importantly, the ability to send 300-500Amps to the starter motor to crank the engine for 3-5sec during which the voltage will instantaneously drop to 8-10V.

A battery that is old could still hold 12V but under the load required to crank the engine

could falter and not have the ability to send hundreds of amps to crank the engine.

That's why car batteries are tested by using a load tester.

Your last question again depends very much on what your battery Amp/hrs rating is?

While drawing approx 1 - 1.5 Amps discharge, and keeping within safe parameters for

a 50 amp/hrs battery i would say 5-10 hours and 10-15 hours for a 100amp/hrs battery.