Don’t you just love kids and neighbours...Not! We only have one left in the last couple years of school, but thankfully no school runs needed as catches bus.
Hope all goes well, sounds a unsavoury thing to deal with!
Don’t you just love kids and neighbours...Not! We only have one left in the last couple years of school, but thankfully no school runs needed as catches bus.
Hope all goes well, sounds a unsavoury thing to deal with!
I don't wish to get my hopes up, but it's still working now for the longest time ever since I originally had it installed. The weekend will be the real test though as the car doesn't normally get used...
Ok the dashcam has just sent a disconnected message, which means it's off thus I can no longer access it. I have only driven the car a short distance today, a round trip of 9 miles and with the headlamps on, so the battery has probably dropped below 12v. Obviously I don't wish to drain the battery too low, which is why I have the powermagic pro, but this means, as I won't be using the car until monday, the camera will be out of action all weekend.
Ideas?
Ideas?
That doesn’t sound very good to me, given you also have the extra battery, which I assume is what the power magic pro is?
Hi q5man, no the powermagic is only a device that turns off power to the camera when the battery voltage drops below a certain level. A strongly worded email has been sent to the supplier referencing this, and the motion sensor issues, stating if they cannot be resolved then I will reject it as being unfit for purpose and probably go for the f800...
I had a power magic pro fitted when I had an XF, it did it's job which was to cut off the power before the car battery was flat. The battery was always down at 12v so on the plus side the start stop never worked. It would take quite a long run to get the battery fully charged.
I never used it on the B8, I bought a Cellink B to run the camera when parked. It works better for me as the car battery is not constantly discharged.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
I never used it on the B8, I bought a Cellink B to run the camera when parked. It works better for me as the car battery is not constantly discharged.
Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
Yes I need to be realistic, my journey distances are hardly long, only completed 11400 in the two years I've had the car, and the powermagic is probably only doing the job it's intended to do in protecting the battery. Certainly this time it lasted longer than previously and I may need to look at a battery pack. But these are another £200 at least and the one you mention is no longer available according to Amazon. I think I could accept the voltage issues, as they are particular to my use of the car, but I need the motion sensor to work..
Definitely won’t be going for the blackvue if it cuts out after some time. Pointless for me I want to be able to log in remotely for eg when the car parked at station. If someone bumps into the car can go back and check thanks for the update
I wouldn't write off the blackvue, see my comments in post #88. If you do more mileage then it probably would not be an issue. I doubt if I would have the same problems in the summer...
Then you may have the same issues that I am having, or a flat battery. I would be interested to know what would happen if I removed the powermagic pro, would the battery on the car then run down to the point where I would be unable to start it. I am no expert on the start stop technology but I understand that these absorbent glass mat, or maybe efb, not sure which, batteries can go below 12v without any issues. But as I say, I am no expert and I have to trust in others to give there advice...
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Isn’t the power magic pro just there to prevent battery discharge? Probably better off getting a external battery, but they do seem pricey. Looking at the Thinkware one it is £179. Need to decide quickly as all being installed by @DJAlix on Wednesday
Isn’t the power magic pro just there to prevent battery discharge? Probably better off getting a external battery, but they do seem pricey. Looking at the Thinkware one it is £179. Need to decide quickly as all being installed by @DJAlix on Wednesday
Gives you (on Thinkware) 16 hours on 2 channels or 20 hours on one. Charge time is 45mins when hardwired, so needs decent drive to fully charge!
Yes this is what I understand it to be doing, thus preventing the battery from going to a level where I might not be able to start up the car. I let the car idle for some 10 mins this morning, whilst preparing to wash my partners car, then the camera went into parking mode after 5 mins, as it is designed to if the car isn't moving, and has remained so some two hours later.Isn’t the power magic pro just there to prevent battery discharge? Probably better off getting a external battery, but they do seem pricey. Looking at the Thinkware one it is £179. Need to decide quickly as all being installed by @DJAlix on Wednesday
I was looking at batteries but then they would need charging when the car is on the move and I wonder if I would do enough of a journey time to keep one actually fully charged up.
I wish I had a more commanding knowledge of electronics and car systems to really understand what might be happening and whether I am just expecting too much..
I'm learning, just discovered that any device with a low voltage cutout function, ie PMP, will require an engine restart to get it back working again. According to what I have found the PMP feed needs around 13.5v. Also my dashcam draws around 200ma in recording mode, I assume a little less in park mode.
The cam is still on some 4 hours now after running the engine for 10 mins...
The cam is still on some 4 hours now after running the engine for 10 mins...
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Agree, as mentioned above a battery would need 45 mins to charge fully, but I suppose a lot less just to top up.
Going to not go for battery and see how Thinkware runs as Alex reckons he will configure to ensure it will shutdown without drawing too much
It's still going some 6 hours later. This https://www.blackvue.com/download/power-magic-ez-manual/ makes for a simple installation, plugs into the OBD port....
Just switched off but at 6 hours with the mileage I do am I just expecting too much? Be interested to know what would happen if I fired up the car again. However wineo'clock is fast approaching...
Moved the car to perform some repair work this morning, dashcam stayed powered up until 17:52, about seven hours later. I would say there is nothing wrong with the Blackvue dashcam, aside from the motion sensor being a tad too sensitive...
That is fair enough mate, and as you said you could get battery to extent that time if needed
I only do very short trips and on Friday it was a 3.4 miles in then, two hours later, the same back, on both journey's my headlamps were on all the time. So I would say my travelling is much shorter.
As I said before, don't blame the dashcam, I also have the Powermagic Pro which will turn off the power if the voltage of the car battery drops below 12v, which you do not. I would rather not run without the Powermagic and risk not being able to start the car in the morning because the dashcam has run it down over the weekend. Thus I may have to live with this unless I run a direct feed bypassing the Powermagic Pro, which is only really doing it's job.
I am no automotive electrician so I have to trust in what I am being told.
As I said before, don't blame the dashcam, I also have the Powermagic Pro which will turn off the power if the voltage of the car battery drops below 12v, which you do not. I would rather not run without the Powermagic and risk not being able to start the car in the morning because the dashcam has run it down over the weekend. Thus I may have to live with this unless I run a direct feed bypassing the Powermagic Pro, which is only really doing it's job.
I am no automotive electrician so I have to trust in what I am being told.
for my situation I leave my car at the station for over 15 hours a day 3-4 days a week
So say it if someone knocked my car after 18:00 it wouldn’t record anything as the magic pro cuts the recording?
The PMP would not prevent the recording if the dashcam is still powered.
But that would depend upon how long your journey times are when using the car and how much of a charge is in the car's battery. You could always not use the PMP at all. Or you might need an additional battery pack that would keep the dashcam powered.
Considering my car was only used twice for journey's of only 3.4 miles today, and that is since friday, I feel the dashcam lasting from 14.04, when I parked up, to just now at 19.07 is at all bad.
As I stated, I am no expert with modern start stop systems and it maybe safe to allow the car battery to go under 12v and then still start the engine up ok. In that case the PMP maybe behind the times with the lowest setting being 12v, or maybe I don't need one at all. But would I risk that?
I think given the different situations it is difficult to tell but I am sure that anyone who'd be using their cars on a daily basis for longer journey times wouldn't have an issue. Mine is slightly unique because I do not do the mileage, the reason why after 25 months of ownership my car has only just reached 11400 miles. However the times I have driven the car for longer has resulted in the dashcam being powered up for much longer.
One thing I have discovered, after trawling many forums, that the motion sensor works better for those who have their cars garaged. Blackvue it seems are aware, and have been for several months, that the sensor sensitivity seems to not to vary much from 1 to 8. However there is also the ability to turn off a number of zones in front of the camera so that any vegetation, bushes and branches for example, do not cause the sensor from triggering an event and constantly putting the cam into recording mode, which takes more of a current.
There is also an impact sensor with this dashcam, also with different sensitivity settings...
But that would depend upon how long your journey times are when using the car and how much of a charge is in the car's battery. You could always not use the PMP at all. Or you might need an additional battery pack that would keep the dashcam powered.
Considering my car was only used twice for journey's of only 3.4 miles today, and that is since friday, I feel the dashcam lasting from 14.04, when I parked up, to just now at 19.07 is at all bad.
As I stated, I am no expert with modern start stop systems and it maybe safe to allow the car battery to go under 12v and then still start the engine up ok. In that case the PMP maybe behind the times with the lowest setting being 12v, or maybe I don't need one at all. But would I risk that?
I think given the different situations it is difficult to tell but I am sure that anyone who'd be using their cars on a daily basis for longer journey times wouldn't have an issue. Mine is slightly unique because I do not do the mileage, the reason why after 25 months of ownership my car has only just reached 11400 miles. However the times I have driven the car for longer has resulted in the dashcam being powered up for much longer.
One thing I have discovered, after trawling many forums, that the motion sensor works better for those who have their cars garaged. Blackvue it seems are aware, and have been for several months, that the sensor sensitivity seems to not to vary much from 1 to 8. However there is also the ability to turn off a number of zones in front of the camera so that any vegetation, bushes and branches for example, do not cause the sensor from triggering an event and constantly putting the cam into recording mode, which takes more of a current.
There is also an impact sensor with this dashcam, also with different sensitivity settings...
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Yes I can see what you are getting at, however I would say that if anyone approached your car in that situation would be more than likely intending to do something to it. Thus the g-sensor set at a higher setting would be able to detect this. If you have a dashcam with motion sensors in a public car park you probably would find it being set off a considerable number of times by the movement of cars and people, birds etc. even if you were able to turn it down to its lowest sensitivity of, say, 2-5 feet...
I have had a reply from Blackvue and they are stating I am probably not driving the car for long enough to fully charge the battery. They have also suggested that the time lapse parking mode would be more a suitable setting to use and that I remove the sd card from the dashcam, plug it into a PC and make the sensitivity changes through the software. I set it to time lapse yesterday but didn't have time to test it.
https://www.blackvue.com/blackvue-d...-region-based-motion-detection-parking-modes/
https://www.blackvue.com/blackvue-d...-region-based-motion-detection-parking-modes/
That makes sense, I am planning on using time.lapse on mine, which is getting installed tomorrow
Having said that mine lasted yesterday from 12:55 until I unlocked the car this morning at 07:22, some 19 hours. The reason the dashcams powered down when I unlocked the car would be because the voltage was probably just above 12v and the act of unlocking dropped it below.
This was only after a few trips of only around 3-6 miles each on Tuesday..
This was only after a few trips of only around 3-6 miles each on Tuesday..
Time lapse definately the right setting if you are parked up for lengthy periods, and especially in public places as otherwise it would be detecting and recording all the time. Having set mine to this now it seems to work fine. I have also turn off the wifi indicator light in park mode which has extended the time the PMP is on for.That makes sense, I am planning on using time.lapse on mine, which is getting installed tomorrow
Generally I am quite happy with the purchase of the dashcam, the bonus being it didn't cost me anything as it was a birthday present...
Stayed powered up all weekend without using the car.
I, hopefully, seem to have cracked it...
I, hopefully, seem to have cracked it...
Good to hear. I have had my Thinkware F770 for a week now, and haven’t had it power off whilst parked yet, and only drive 3 odd miles each way into work. 
. Repacked the supplied 32gb microSD with a 64gb (only cost £8) and downloaded the recordings to laptop from 32gb card. Astonished at the quality of the footage! Will just swap these over from time to time
. Repacked the supplied 32gb microSD with a 64gb (only cost £8) and downloaded the recordings to laptop from 32gb card. Astonished at the quality of the footage! Will just swap these over from time to time
