Thinkware Dashcam Draining Battery

Why don't use you an multimeter to figure out the draw on the Thinkware after the car is locked? To me it sounds like you've got a extremely weak battery or something else is at play here, what's the amperage draw on that camera when in parking mode? .2 amps? So let's do some math here.

Let's say your battery is 50ah, divide that by .02 and you've got 2500 hours until the battery if half full...

You've got another draw on the system if we're making the assumption that you were at 100% lastnight and you woke up and it's now at 85%....

I did put a multimeter in series with the constant fuse and found it to be 0.12A with the dashcam on continuous recording. When it shuts off, the reading is at zero. I didn't take a reading with parking mode on as I'm trying to find the problem with it even when it's off.
Maybe big brother is turning on my dashcam at night?

I don't know what the other draw (besides factory radio and car key detection) would be as I don't have any other aftermarket accessories. The battery is almost 4 years old, but short trips were made on this car during the last year and especially this year.

BTW, I took another reading just now. Still at 12.6V and 85%.

rngun wrote: ↑ The battery is almost 4 years old, but short trips were made on this car during the last year and especially this year.

I think that’s OP’s real problem.

rngun wrote: ↑ I did put a multimeter in series with the constant fuse and found it to be 0.12A with the dashcam on continuous recording. When it shuts off, the reading is at zero. I didn't take a reading with parking mode on as I'm trying to find the problem with it even when it's off.
Maybe big brother is turning on my dashcam at night?

I don't know what the other draw (besides factory radio and car key detection) would be as I don't have any other aftermarket accessories. The battery is almost 4 years old, but short trips were made on this car during the last year and especially this year.

BTW, I took another reading just now. Still at 12.6V and 85%.

Perhaps the camera battery is failing and I wonder if there's extra power draw trying to charge/maintain the camera battery overnight?

engineered wrote: ↑ Perhaps the camera battery is failing and I wonder if there's extra power draw trying to charge/maintain the camera battery overnight?

From quick googling, sounds like it's capacitor instead of battery.

One should stay away from battery based dashcam anyway due to extreme temp on dash.

engineered wrote: ↑ Perhaps the camera battery is failing and I wonder if there's extra power draw trying to charge/maintain the camera battery overnight?

Xtrema wrote: ↑ From quick googling, sounds like it's capacitor instead of battery.

One should stay away from battery based dashcam anyway due to extreme temp on dash.

Thinkware F70 doesn't have a built in battery it uses a capacitor. OP is using the car's battery.

My guess would be either incorrect install or car's battery is likely at the end of life and dashcam strain is just the straw that's breaking the camels back.

Xtrema wrote: ↑ From quick googling, sounds like it's capacitor instead of battery.

One should stay away from battery based dashcam anyway due to extreme temp on dash.

It's possible the capacitor could be drawing excessive power.

Capacitor is nice, but I've been using cheap battery based cameras for 15+ years with no problem. Eventually they die, but battery isn't critical to me as I don't use parking mode, and if I did it would be short so I'd use the car battery.

Ecsta wrote: ↑ Thinkware F70 doesn't have a built in battery it uses a capacitor. OP is using the car's battery.

My guess would be either incorrect install or car's battery is likely at the end of life and dashcam strain is just the straw that's breaking the camels back.

But I have the parking mode turned to OFF at the moment and it's still draining the battery.

mrweather wrote: ↑ I think that’s OP’s real problem.

I do charge the battery every 2 or 3 weeks

rngun wrote: ↑ I do charge the battery every 2 or 3 weeks

Get the battery tested.

Yes, I realize that you are measuring the voltage and using that reading to equate to some approx. of what the condition of the battery is. Unfortunately, voltage is not a true indication of the absolute condition of the battery... it's a relative one. The voltage at no-load will give you an approximation of how full the battery is at its current available capacity NOT the original capacity.

For example, I could have two identical 50 Ah batteries that have been charged fully and read the same voltage but one is brand new and the other has been abused. Since both read the same voltage after fully charging them and letting them sit overnight, one would assume that they hold the same amount of charge. While it is possible, it's probably not plausible. The brand new battery probably holds a bit more than 50 Ah while the abused battery may hold substantially fewer Ah however both would be considered full relative to the current capacity of the battery due to their condition.

Not that I've had problems but after a few months I got my first dash cam for my CivicX (BlackVue 650 2CH), I didn't see the point of having it on all night on my driveway. Besides we have Rogers Home Monitoring.

I got the ThinkWare Q100 for my Q3P and I turn it off when I get home.

rngun wrote: ↑ I did put a multimeter in series with the constant fuse and found it to be 0.12A with the dashcam on continuous recording. When it shuts off, the reading is at zero. I didn't take a reading with parking mode on as I'm trying to find the problem with it even when it's off.
Maybe big brother is turning on my dashcam at night?

I don't know what the other draw (besides factory radio and car key detection) would be as I don't have any other aftermarket accessories. The battery is almost 4 years old, but short trips were made on this car during the last year and especially this year.

BTW, I took another reading just now. Still at 12.6V and 85%.

Why do you still insist the problem is with the dashcam (at least directly)? The dashcam would have to use at least 1 amp ( 2 amps @ 5v) for 15 hours to reduce a 4 year-old battery's capacity by 40%. That dashcam should get extremely hot and possibly set on fire.

why don't you unplug the camera for a day to see if the problem goes away?

rngun wrote: ↑ But I have the parking mode turned to OFF at the moment and it's still draining the battery.

If you are using parking mode, isn't there a voltage cut off circuit in place so it shouldn't be an issue?

If not, why not?

Also, are there different parking modes/options with this dash cam where it may drain less?

Are you parking in a private garage or public places that you need parking mode on at all?

https://www.thedashcamstore.com/content ... h%20US.pdf
You may want to check out section 5.3.6-5.3.8.

If all those settings are on, and cam still turn off on you, your battery is just too weak.

Jigsaw wrote: ↑ why don't you unplug the camera for a day to see if the problem goes away?

Try this. I have a feeling it may not be the camera. I also have a Thinkware cam but use a backup battery for parking mode.

I find if you let the car sit and the battery drains 5-10 times, your battery is pretty much dead and require replacing.

I use Thinkware's own brand, iVolt Mini. Never had a battery issue since.

Jigsaw wrote: ↑ why don't you unplug the camera for a day to see if the problem goes away?

He did, the battery still dropped 15% overnight. Dash cam isn't the problem.

If parking mode is disabled, dashcam should not be draining battery when car is off, correct? I'm getting a Thinkware U1000 installed but will be disabling parking mode unless parked at a mall, since I drive so little it would kill my battery (I already have home security video cameras at my house)

rngun wrote: ↑ I did put a multimeter in series with the constant fuse and found it to be 0.12A with the dashcam on continuous recording. When it shuts off, the reading is at zero...

Okay. Now put the multimeter in series with the negative battery terminal and the negative battery cable with the key off. This will tell you the parasitic draw of the ENTIRE vehicle and all its circuits. Should be less than 0.1A.

If it's significantly above, you need to find the draw.
If it's below, you probably need to replace the battery.

rngun wrote: ↑ The two wires going to the switched and constant on fuses are correct because if I switch them around, the parking mode does not work, or if the parking mode is off, you do not hear the chime when the dashcam turns off....it just turns off.

Have you tried leaving it like this, and see if it still drains the battery? Or just hook up both constant and switched both to a switched fuse.