If you have just had your dash cam professionally installed and hardwired, there’s a simple and effective way to reduce the strain on your car battery – simply by adjusting your dash cam settings. In this section, we’ll delve into the essential steps you can take to ensure your dash cam provides the security you need without draining your car battery.
Thanks to the capabilities of the alternator, it charges your car battery while you drive. This means that your car battery can effortlessly power your dash cam without any problems when driving since the car battery is continually being charged. So, in summary, generally the more frequent you drive, the more opportunities your car has to recharge the battery.
When your vehicle is parked, the alternator is inactive, which means that it cannot recharge your car battery, and your dash cam will simply use what is left of your car battery to operate. Even though your dash cam does come with an inbuilt internal battery, it does not power for that long. The reason you would hardwire a dash cam, or in this case have it professionally installed, is so that it will draw power from your car battery since a dash cam typically does not have a battery and if it did, very little capacity.
You may want to consider an external battery if
1) You do not drive often, eg. consecutive days – because without driving, you are not giving your car the chance to recharge the battery
2) You are setting your dash cam parking mode to high sensitivity – meaning it will record even on the slightest nearby movements = more battery consumption/requirement
3) You are using other electrical appliances often – eg. fridge, DVD units and so on.
By hardwiring your dash cam, you can activate parking mode, which preserves your car’s battery by going into standby mode when it is parked. Enabling parking mode allows for your car to switch on and record when it detects nearby movement. Let’s face it, not all car incidents occur whilst you are driving eg. Car theft, vandalism and so on. This is the major benefit of having a hardwired dash cam professionally installed, it helps you have all day surveillance (when needed/detected).
For this reason, you will want to ensure that you encounter minimal car battery drainage during parking mode, which can be achieved through your dash cam settings.
By making a few strategic adjustments to your dash cam settings, you can significantly reduce the risk of draining your car battery. Here’s how:
Motion Detection Activation – Adjust the sensitivity level
Dash cams equipped with motion detection technology can be your best friend when it comes to battery preservation. Rather than continuously recording when parked, motion detection mode allows the camera to start recording only when it senses movement around your vehicle. This means the camera remains off during extended periods of inactivity, minimising power consumption, only recording when you need it to. Most dash cams will allow you to adjust the level of sensitivity. Increasing the level of sensitivity, will mean it would take lighter nearby movements to trigger your dash cam to switch on, which could result in more frequent recordings and therefore battery consumption. You can toggle this setting to a lower sensitivity for better battery management.
Some dash cams will have a toggle/voltage cutoff threshold that you can set, however this will vary from car to car, we recommend you reach out to the dash cam brand manufacturer for advice by providing your car make and model.
Timed Parking Mode
Certain dash cams provide a remarkable feature called timed parking mode. With this function, the camera can capture footage for a designated period of time once your vehicle’s engine has been turned off. By properly adjusting the parking mode timer, you can find the perfect balance between capturing possible incidents and conserving battery power. You can set the timer to a lower duration to reduce battery consumption.
Lowering Video Quality
While high-resolution videos are appealing, they consume more power due to increased processing demands. You can consider adjusting your dash cam to record at a slightly lower resolution. The difference in video quality might be negligible, but the positive impact on your battery life can be significant.
Screen Brightness and Sleep Mode
Some dash cams feature built-in screens that display real-time footage. Adjust the screen brightness to an optimal level, reducing the drain on your battery. Additionally, enable the sleep mode function, which turns off the screen after a certain period of inactivity, further conserving power.
Voltage Setting Cut-off
The voltage cut-off setting on dash cam hardwiring kits determines the minimum voltage threshold at which the kit stops drawing power from your car’s battery. So, if your car battery is running low to a certain level of voltage, it will switch off the dash cam so that it stops drawing power from the car battery until it recharges to a reasonable level again.
Your dash cam is an essential tool for ensuring your safety and security on the road. By implementing these thoughtful adjustments to your dash cam settings, you can enjoy the benefits of continuous recording without worrying about draining your car battery. Remember, a little optimisation goes a long way in preserving both your peace of mind and your vehicle’s battery life.
However, as much as these optimisations can assist in preserving your car’s battery usage, always do consider the trade-offs such as reduced recording times due to reduced motion sensitivity or timed parking mode or reduced video quality when decreasing to a slightly lower resolution. One of the simplest, yet overlooked suggestions, is simply driving. Driving will allow the alternator to constantly charge the car battery, reducing the likelihood of a battery drain. Of course, these recommendations will vary from dash cam to dash cam, so always seek the manufacturer’s product manual or support line for assistance on these settings and compatibility with your car model.
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author, Automotive Service writer
As a seasoned author on our team, Chester also known as ‘Gadget’, for his love for all things mechanical, brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the table, particularly when it comes to automotive topics.
