Power bank for a dashcam setup question

[GLK]

I want to setup a power bank to feed a dashcam in parking mode - don't want to risk the car battery running flat.

Really looking for a "fit and forget" setup, as I'm sure I will actually forget to switch it on, or off, etc, etc.

I understand it is not advisable to leave a power bank charging, whilst a consumer is connected to it (even though the manual appears to say otherwise)*, so looking for an auto switching setup between the car battery and a USB power bank.

I'd be really grateful for a diagram, and if possible, links to parts, or exact types/codes of relays and components?

* Trying to decipher this "manual" is absolutely hopeless:

 

[brucemillar]

Indirect answer here: Apologies in advance:

My Nextbase uses Parking Mode permanently and does not drain the battery at all (well not as you would notice). Believe me (ask Ted if unsure) I am anal about battery drain issues and use a cigarette lighter socket battery meter that is very accurate. Over a 48 hour window it records no voltage drop(s). This is because the camera uses some neat internal battery sensing and battery control to limit any drain to an absolute minimum.

 

[CowleyStJames]

I have a Blackvue Power Magic Pro wired into my car, S212 2011.
Takes a feed from an ignition source and permanent live.
Keeps cameras, front as back powered up when parked, but will shut them off of battery gets to a pre set voltage.
https://www.blackvue.com/power-magic-pro

 

[markmifsud]

I looked at doing something similar but after building it, I left it next to the sofa.

My setup was this.

I used a lithium cell charger that would charge the cells and supply current to the load whilst connected to 5v. Once the 5v dropped the power would then drain from the lithium cells.
Lithium Ion Battery Charger Board w/ Protection Module, 5V 1A, Micro USB, TC4056 | eBay

I used a regulated 12v to 5v board to supply the 5v to the charger.

 

[GLK]

brucemillar - Thanks Bruce, this is interesting, and I'll keep that in mind, for when time comes to replace the current dashcams

CowleyStJames, thanks - I have had a very bad experience with Power Magic Pro, albeit six years ago, and wouldn't want to risk it again, to be honest.

markmifsud - thank you, that sounds good, what regulated board did you use (I have a couple of CPT converters I normally use for 12V to 5V)?

 

[alanjm99]

Anker Powercore 26800mah £50
Usb to female cigarette socket £2.99 ebay

 

[markmifsud]

it was one of these, I had one on soak test for 3 months to check for stability

LM2596 DC-DC Buck Converter Adjustable Power Supply Step Down Module Multi | eBay

 

[GLK]

it was one of these, I had one on soak test for 3 months to check for stability

Now, that's a proper testing Thanks.

Anker Powercore 26800mah £50
Usb to female cigarette socket £2.99 ebay

Thanks, I actually already bought a 50,000 mAh power bank, and there's no way I can leave anything permanently plugged into a power socket in my car - I can't stand wires hanging around, or gadgets stuck to the windscreen on those horrible suction mounts. Everything will be hard-wired and hidden, as all the other devices I have in the car.

 

[CowleyStJames]

brucemillar - Thanks Bruce, this is interesting, and I'll keep that in mind, for when time comes to replace the current dashcams

CowleyStJames, thanks - I have had a very bad experience with Power Magic Pro, albeit six years ago, and wouldn't want to risk it again, to be honest.

markmifsud - thank you, that sounds good, what regulated board did you use (I have a couple of CPT converters I normally use for 12V to 5V)?

Interested to know what bad experience you had. It's all going well with my installation for the past year, but always like a bit of feedback for something I'm using

 

[Ted]

Right, I've been through this - trying exactly the same as yourself.
The 'average/ dashcam takes about 1/2 amp or so, so to get 12 hours (when new) you will need 6 amp hours or more.
The issue that I found was that the bigger powerbanks have a switch on them and they don't auto switch back on when drained - you have to physically switch them on. The lower capacity powerbanks just didn't stat charged for long enough.
This coupled with the fact that under normal use, my journey to work/home wasn't anywhere near enough to charge it all up led me to abandon this method.
So now (on my Jeep) I use a ddpai mini (at the rear) wired into a permanent live. This goes into 'parking mode' after about 15 minutes, and I have it set to record in this mode for 6 hours (you can set between minutes-24 hours).
This gives me the protection I need, and drains my battery by 3Ah - which I'm more than happy with. In the summer, I'll put it back to 24 hours. I'm just (like Bruce) a bit cautious over this.
FWIW Wilko (my favourite shop) have Kodak power banks at good prices - they had a 10Ah one (so theoretically good for 15-20 hours) at a discount of £15 (should have been £20) - It's not on the website but was in the shop, but it had the bloody switch.
Another good use for this is that because of the way I park, I can use it to keep an eye on the house - the ddpai has a wireless signal that is (just) strong enough for me to stream it from the front of the house (it is also stored on the local SD card)
Sorry if that's a bit vague, but ask if you have any questions, and I'll do my best to answer when I get home...

 

[Ted]

ATTACH=full]72932[/ATTACH] Here you go - my house is the two green doors. I deliberately keep my dashcams pointing pretty low so the captures don’t get washed out by the bright sky/sun. - ooops can't remove the first one which is a little shaky as I'd just closed the hatch, but you get the idea

 

[GLK]

Interested to know what bad experience you had. It's all going well with my installation for the past year, but always like a bit of feedback for something I'm using

I had one of the earliest PMP, and it let the battery go flat. Twice. It was a new Bosch S5 too. There was another culprit - an old Nokia phone system, and I suspect, if it wasn't for that, the Power Magic would've been alright, just as the Nokia kit on it's own was okay. Not much logic to it, as the PMP supposed to react to the remaining voltage, regardless of other consumers, but there we are. I removed the Nokia kit, and the PMP, and replaced the battery - never had a problem again.

 

[GLK]

Ted, thanks - that's an excellent image quality, by the way.
I didn't know the power bank won't switch back on - this present a problem. I shall bench-test the one I bought ...
My rear dashcam is an old Mini 0801 (5V) and my front one is even older BlackVue DR400G-HDII (12V), so I got a [budget] second one (5V) just for parking - will see, if it's any good.

 

[CowleyStJames]

I had one of the earliest PMP, and it let the battery go flat. Twice. It was a new Bosch S5 too. There was another culprit - an old Nokia phone system, and I suspect, if it wasn't for that, the Power Magic would've been alright, just as the Nokia kit on it's own was okay. Not much logic to it, as the PMP supposed to react to the remaining voltage, regardless of other consumers, but there we are. I removed the Nokia kit, and the PMP, and replaced the battery - never had a problem again.

Thanks for replying. Just my curiosity

 

[GLK]

Right, I've done some testing, and am rather pleased with the results.
The power bank I bought, appears to have a reasonably intelligent cycle handling:

• It turns off (stops charging) its consumers, as soon as it gets power from an external source to charge itself
• It then re-starts automatically charging the connected consumers, as soon as the power is cut off to its IN port

That's great news and basically means I can just stick it in, and let it handle the dedicated "parking" dashcam, for now at least - I'll look into bringing the rear one (which is a 5V Mini 0801) into the picture later on. The main front dashcam (12V BlackVue) will continue to operate as normal, on switched power only.

A long term / permanent solution will be to fit a split charging management system, and a 12Ah auxiliary battery (there's a space for it, where MB put one in, on later facelift BlueTech models), but for a time being, this power bank will do

 

[garycat]

Have you looked at this solution? Expensive, but designed for the job.

Techmoan - Techmoan - Dashcam Battery pack lets you record whilst parked


Or get a voltage monitoring power supply that cuts off if the battery voltage gets below 12v

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B06ZYJ5PGK/?tag=amazon0e9db-21

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01M06366W/?tag=amazon0e9db-21