[Icarium81]

We bought a dashcam, because people can't drive here, literally Canada's worst drivers for many years running.
Plugged it in and then went and washed and detailed the car, guessing 90 to 120 minutes, we get back in the car, and it barely starts. Says "high battery drain while off", drive around the wash bays no problem, go to pull out into traffic, and it stutters the whole time, as if only half the cylinders are firing.
We drive around the lot a few times, no repeat of that, go for an hour of driving, still shows the message when we stop or start the car, but the message goes away overnight. Dashcam NOT plugged in overnight
Did some research and the message pops up when the battery goes below 85% charge.
Returned that dashcam and got another, more expensive one on sale. (Had it one day now, no message, but also not leaving it plugged in yet when stopped)

So, long story long, do these cars not like dashcams?
The guy at the store said he's hd so many BMW and audi owners bring dashcams back because of this exact reason.

[Elvisfan]

I have a dashcam plugged in all the time. If it’s plugged in to the socket by the cup holders. The power goes out after about 8 minutes. Even if I open the door to get something,that turns on the power for 8 minutes.
I have never had a low power message. I’m sure different dashcams use different amounts of power.

[Icarium81]

Originally Posted by Elvisfan

I have a dashcam plugged in all the time. If it’s plugged in to the socket by the cup holders. The power goes out after about 8 minutes. Even if I open the door to get something,that turns on the power for 8 minutes.
I have never had a low power message. I’m sure different dashcams use different amounts of power.

Couldn't tell you what brand the first one was, but the 2nd guy knew where we got it and said it was common for all the ones sold there to cause the issue.
New one is Relapse, I believe.

[s55jesus]

Ironic that you posted this. I have the Vantrue N1 pro with the OBD2 "hardwire" kit (it just gets power from the OBD2 port) and due to the ongoing pandemic, my car was sitting there for about the past 2 weeks and in the morning, when I tried to go get groceries, my car was completely dead. There's a small draw of current throughout the car just sitting there. (I tested this overnight) Vantrue says that this hardwire cable it supposed to kill the camera once it detects the battery is below 11v or something but it failed to do so. Not sure if this is an issue with all hardwired dash cams or if it is just specific to my unit but decided to share since it just happened.

[im_an_alien]

I have a thinkware f800 dual channel hardwired to the fusebox, the dashcam is on with ignition obviously and when parked it goes into standby mode unless it detects impact. No problems with battery drain even when I left the car for a month over the holidays. Quality over price when it comes to these things, brands like thinkware and blackvue cost a lot but you will avoid such problems. Same thing with remote starters... My truck also has thinkware f200 dual channel and no issues with battery drain.

[Icarium81]

The explanation I was given was that some, draw full power all the time, others, draw the tiniest bit when the car is off, just enough to use the infrared/motion sensors, and then snap however many photos or video.
I wasn't aware that any would monitor the battery and shut off per say, when the battery got low. I'll check around online for info about that for the one we got

[im_an_alien]

If it is hardwired or plugged in to a cigarette socket that's live with the car off then it will draw power, whether it's recording or not. A good cam should have voltage monitoring either built in or as an accessory. Note that motion sensing in parking mode will use more energy than impact detection. When in parking mode most cams record short clips only as needed, either from motion or impact. Yours may be recording continuously...

[AlmondJayRoM3]

Dash cams can draw a decent amount of power. Even just a moderate current draw will trigger the high discharge warning. When hardwiring a dash cam the best way to go is with a battery pack. I’ve been using an older cellink lifepo4 pack with my blackvue 750 2 channel for a few years now. Gets me about 24 hours of time with the car shutoff. The newer batteries supposedly can do better.

If you don’t want a battery pack use something like the Blackvue power magic pro where you can set a cutoff voltage. The vantrue obd connected that someone mentioned above does something similar but it’s cutoff voltage is 11.5 volts. That‘a way too low.

[cfm56d7b]

I suggest a dedicated battery such as Cellink NEO to power the dash cam when vehicle is parked.

[PichaDis11]

It is good to note that our cars are practically power hungry pigs. That being said Either your car's battery health may be on the decline or you do not drive long enough to charge it. amperage is also important factor to starting the engine not just voltage.

[upsidedownfunnel]

I always wire dashcams in BMWs to the mirror power wiring. I've never had an issue with a few different models I've used. If you don't need the dashcam to be on while you're not driving, you should be wiring it to a power line that turns off.

Who/how was your dashcam wired in to the car?

[Icarium81]

Not wired in at all, just plugged in next to the cup holders.
New cam was plugged in overnight and no warning

[Ace320]

If you plug dashcam to lighter socket it shouldn't drain battery, cos car shuts power from lighter sockets within cca 10 mins.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by Ace320

If you plug dashcam to lighter socket it shouldn't drain battery, cos car shuts power from lighter sockets within cca 10 mins.

Only if you lock the car. I have my LED auxiliary DRLs connected to the fuse that goes to the lighter socket, and if I don't lock the car they stay on a long time. I never leave the car overnight without locking it, so I can't say for how long.

[Elvisfan]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Only if you lock the car. I have my LED auxiliary DRLs connected to the fuse that goes to the lighter socket, and if I don't lock the car they stay on a long time. I never leave the car overnight without locking it, so I can't say for how long.

I don’t lock my car in the garage. The socket goes off after about 8 min. The fact that the fuse doesn’t has no relevance. I think the socket has power the same amount of time the radio stays on if you don’t lock the car.

[Billfitz]

Maybe yours is different from mine, but I've seen stuff powered by the socket stay on for well over an hour when I turned off the ignition but didn't lock the car. My radio does go off after ten minutes or so, but not the power to the socket.

[Ace320]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Only if you lock the car. I have my LED auxiliary DRLs connected to the fuse that goes to the lighter socket, and if I don't lock the car they stay on a long time. I never leave the car overnight without locking it, so I can't say for how long.

Interesting, bcs when I'am washing the car I notice how the car shuts idrive and all power in about 15 mins without locking.
I've also tested this in garage. Leave the car without locking and when I came back after 15 mins, dashcam is off. (There is no more green light that signs dashcam is record and also when I check gallery, there is no any footage recorded in that time when car shut down power)

[Billfitz]

As I said before my aftermarket DRL LEDs are wired to the dash socket. That makes it very easy to see if the power to the socket is on or off. When I lock the car it goes off within ten minutes. If not it stays on for at least an hour, maybe more. That's with my '15 F34. I can't say if it's the same with other models.

[Elvisfan]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

As I said before my aftermarket DRL LEDs are wired to the dash socket. That makes it very easy to see if the power to the socket is on or off. When I lock the car it goes off within ten minutes. If not it stays on for at least an hour, maybe more. That's with my '15 F34. I can't say if it's the same with other models.

I verified it once again. Between 8 to 10 minutes, the power goes out.

[Billfitz]

And once again I'll repeat that while that may be the case with your car it's not with mine. I may be old and my eyesight may not be what it once was but I can still tell time and know the difference between lights that are on and lights that are off. In any case the OP has to verify if his dash cam is turning off or not for himself.