Many consumers will ask me "whether to use my vehicle's battery or external battery pack to power up my car camera"?
Firstly, you will have to decide which recording option you would like to have? Option1 or 2? See below:
1) Records only while engine is turn On (driving)
-To record only when driving (vehicle engine turn on). When engine turn off = Not recording.
Having your dash camera wire's cigar jack charger plugged into the cigar jack port of your car (1) or a professional to properly connect the dash camera to power up your camera only while driving (2) will not give you any issues. As the vehicle engine is turn on (running) and the battery is charging, it is perfectly safe to draw power.
2) records when both engine is turn On (driving) + turn Off (Parking)
-To record when driving (vehicle engine turn on) and even record in parking (vehicle engine turn off).
Engine turn on (Driving recording) will not be an issue, as the battery is being charged and would not be drain out. The only concern you should have is the parking recording and:
The minimum you must do is to get a battery drainage device to shut down the dash camera when your car battery is detected low during parking recording (vehicle engine off). Else, it is likely that you experience battery flat issue.
Pros of a Battery Drainage Device
1. Cheaper -cost less than a quarter of a dash camera battery pack.
However, there is some limitation for battery drainage device:
1. Not all vehicle model is suitable to install battery drainage. Especially for "highly computerise" cars example some continental car brands.
2. Shorten the lifespan of your car battery.
3. Can't 100% guarantee your car battery would not go flat.
4. Short parking recording duration before your battery goes low and the camera gets shutdown automatically. Generally, the short parking duration is only below 6 hours for most car with a smaller car battery. Due to this reason alone, we think that the parking recording feature shouldn’t be labelled as the well-known term “24hours recording” feature, as it creates many confusion.
Hence, the best solution is to get a dash camera battery pack.
· The dash camera battery pack will only be charged when the vehicle engine turn off. At the same time, the external battery will also supply power to the dash camera.
· When the vehicle engine is turn off, the external battery will not be charged, but it will continue to supply power to the dash camera using the electricity stored earlier.
This means the dash camera will not use the car's battery at all while the engine is switched off. You can have a peace of mind!!
Pros of Dash Camera Battery Pack
1. Suitable for all car makes and models.
2. Does not decrease the lifespan of the car's battery.
3. Does not affect the car's battery performances while engine is switched off.
4. Super extended hours of parking recording compared to battery drainage device. An average battery capacity external dash camera battery with 6,000mAH would allow the 2-channel camera to record up to an approximate of 24 hours (Varies for the different dash camera and battery).
5. Quick charging - store power faster (vehicle engine turn on)
Cons of Dash Camera Battery Pack
1. Higher cost than the battery drainage device.
In summary, the dash camera battery is worth to long term investment with the many benefits it provides. Furthermore, the dash camera battery is transferable to any car makes and models, if you decide to upgrade or change a new car any day.
