I’ve been running the BlackVue 750X 2Ch LTE and the Powercell8 for a year now. I’ve parked for my 12 hour shifts in below -30°C… this equipment performs exceptionally.
@@The10lfunk4 , the camera draws more power when you’re driving vs when your parked. I’ll typically get 20 hours. I don’t like recharging my battery in the car, my commutes aren’t long enough, so I bring it into the house every other day and recharge it with an adapter I bought from BBMC.
What about adding a smaller sized solar panel to help with charging a battery pack, in a vehicle that doesn't get driven so often? Can anyone recommend a proper sized solar panel (wattage) and how to wire it up to also allow the vehicle to charge the battery pack when it finally is driven?
Yo Broseph, Excellent comparison video. These things are expensive, but jam packed with value considering what you get in return. For folks who don’t understand the difference in battery chemistry composition it all comes down to safety, (LiFeP04 - Lithium Iron Phosphate). Depending on application, and climate location you may be able to get away with using a cheap Lithium-Ion / Lithium Polymer Power Bank. But what’s at risk is returning to a catastrophic car fire. I can see an insurance company refusing to payout a claim when a motorist left a cheap Power Bank running in a hot parked car. Imagine being on the hook for a $50K - $75K pile of ash. Maybe next time you could include some explosive, fiery, Power Bank testing failures to really drive the point home. Bring on the “Heat Fish Tank of Doom”. lol -Chuck
Thanks, I was wondering about this. I recently heard about a Tesla Uber driver having burned to death being trapped in his vehicle. (Very sad, condolences.) So I was wondering if these powerbanks could potentially start a car fire. I'm glad to hear they are different and it's safe to get one.
Tough one, we've had a few people stop by the store to try this. Yes, you can connect the camera to it, however getting the camera to go into parking mode is more difficult as the camera needs a 3-wire connection for this with the hardwire kit. This is because the camera goes into parking mode once the ACC power cuts out, as would normally happen with the car's ignition. You would need to find some way to actively cut this power connection and send the camera into parking mode, while still connecting it to the power station.
Really loved the explanations in this video, however I do have 1 question. Let's say I hardwire this and it gives me 20 hours on a single camera on a car that I daily commute with. Would that mean that the camera would be recording essentially 24/7 all year round? While this wouldn't damage my car battery isn't this a quick way to fry the camera?
Glad you liked the video! Dash cams are tech, same as any other piece of equipment so constant use can affect it's life-span, and giving it some time to rest is always nice :). Still, dash cams, especially premium brands are built to be robust and recording for long periods.
The tutorial video is excellent., may I ask: What type of adapter or transformer should I use to charge these dash cam batteries using household mains (110/120v)?
A typical dash cam, even with a wide range of functions such as dual lens (front + rear) coverage, motion detection, and WiFi connectivity, requires less than half the amount of power (typically around 0.25-0.45 amps) of a standard light bulb in order to operate normally. Add to that the massive size of a car battery (compared to the tiny amount of power needed by a dashcam) and you have plenty of power under the hood! Even a small or mid-size car has a battery rating of about 45 amp hours, meaning it can supply 1 amp of power for 45 hours in a row (theoretically). Larger car and truck batteries may have ratings up to 225 amp hours or more.
Thanks for sharing this video, it's so informative, I have a question for you, a Blackvue B112 Power Magic Battery Pack, I understand it can store 12 hours of parking mode on a single channel dashcam, if you have a 2 channel dashcam, how many hours can it store? Thanks.
Hi Clifford, do you mind giving our support team a shout at info[at]blackboxmycar.com? The B112 is quite old as a product, so they would be able to help you more.
I have a B112 Power Magic Battery Pack and it never worked quite right from the start and it's very dead now after several years. (Which is why I'm watching these videos to see if I should switch brands or get another one.) I don't think I'd recommend the B112, especially now since it's such an old product.
4:33 I intend to plug the battery pack to the cigarette lighter, I don’t understand why you said it will drain my car’s battery. Once I power off my car, shouldn’t all power be cut to the ciggie ports as well?
Yes, you're right that the majority of vehicles have cigarette ports that turn on and off with the vehicle, so there's no need to unplug the battery in those vehicles. This tip was specifically for vehicles that have cigarette ports that stay on constantly, which unfortunately is sometimes the case.
Thanks Broseph for the latest battery packs. I've recently ran into an issue with the Blackvue Battery app. I have the Blackvue S900-2ch dashcam and the Blackvue B-124 battery pack. I updated to iOS 16.2 on my iPhone. The app shows it connected to my Blackvue B-124 battery but it will not give the remaining hours left on the app. Do you know how to get the app working again,
@@blackboxmycar Thanks, I chatted with BBMC staff and he suggested that I not use the Blackvue Battery app but rather to use the Blackvue app and scroll down to Blackvue Battery section. It works! FYI to whose who are using the Blackvue Battery app on an iPhone…delete the app and use the Blackvue app.
I am trying to do the research before I invest in one of these! I can see getting the battery and have it installed. The problem is from the battery to the camera all the install kit I can find have battery drain protection which makes no sense for doing this type of installation! (What’s the work around? Or do you have any idea? As I assume that’s why you use the cigarette lighter adapter. I have the van true E3 (any help would be appreciated )
Yes, you are correct, most hardwire kits have voltage protection on the hardwire kit! Rest assured that the battery pack should constantly give a voltage reading above the lowest cut-off setting here, until the battery is fully drained, which it is designed for. Alternatively, you can always cut off the voltage monitor on the hardwire cable, and splice the output cable for the battery before the monitor.
Just want to make sure I understand, if you use a battery pack, it is still connected to regular car battery (hot wired or plugged) and is storing power from the car battery to use during parking mode at a later time compared with not having a battery pack where the dash would take the power directly from the car battery? Wouldn’t that be the same? Dash cam either taking directly from car battery or from power bank which is also taking from battery? Is it possible to plug the battery pack on charge at home so not taking from car battery when needs to be recharged?
The idea is that the battery pack will only charge while the vehicle is on, avoiding any power draw from your vehicle battery when the vehicle is off, instead supplying that power to the camera itself, the battery pack. The battery pack can be plugged in at home for recharging through a Power Inverter.
Are the hardwired cables interchangeable between the b124x and the powercell 8? The reason I ask is because in the future if I decide to upgrade to the higher capacity battery pack , it would be very inconvenient having to reroute and resplice the cables Based on the pictures the power plug to charge the battery and power the camera look the same both on the b124x and the powercell 8
Hi thanks for the video 👍 I have a front and cabin dash cam but I want to put another camera only rear. Can I use 2 different dash cams in one of those batteries for parking mode. Can I plug the rear camera to the battery usb port?
Hi there, glad you liked the video! The short answer is that it's possible, but it really depends on the camera model. As the USB port only supplies a smaller charge, it can sometimes not be ideal for a dash cam (5A I believe), but there are some other ways to run a setup like this. An old school 3CH/4CH BlackVue setup for example would have 2 seperate 2-channel cameras. Using a cigarette splitter to split the output from the battery connection so each camera system can connect to the battery with their cigarette lighter adapter.
I have a Gen 4 Mazda 3 which does not have ACC fuses inside the car and the 12V socket is always on when the car is off. The only option is to tap into the engine bay fuses through the firewall which I don't want to do. Is there an OBD2 cable option to charge the PowerCell?
Gotcha, yes Mazda 3's are problem vehicles when it comes to an ACC connection. Unfortunately, battery packs do not have an OBD connection option, though I do have a few options for you. For us, if we were wiring into a Mazda 3, then we would splice into existing wiring going through the vehicle. Otherwise wiring through the firewall is possible, though difficult. You could also consider building a relay, which should likely be done if you are wiring through the firewall. I recommend speaking to a professional auto body or car repair shop for assistance.
8:56 Well, yeah, if you put it that way. The capacity is actually less than 96Wh, because the camera itself runs on 5V, not 12V. Some power will be wasted stepping down the voltage from 12V to 5V. If the Blackvue converter chip is, say, 95% effective, then the capacity will be 91Wh. In reality, the capacity will be even less, because the battery must also power Wi-Fi and other components. You could buy a 50,000mAh power pack for $35. 50,000mAh x 5V / 1000 = 250Wh, which will give you 3x the capacity of the Blackvue at less than 1/10 of the cost. Minus the ability to control or monitor anything with the app, of course. And Li-ion batteries should not be kept in a hot car in the summer! So the Blackvue Li-Fe battery pack is a much safer option.
Quite the detailed take! Most of what you are saying here appears correct, though we still stand by these LiFePO4 batteries in the long-term with extreme reliability, especially with the camera's large power consumption, and handling hot weather! For a more in-depth look, I recommend checking out Vortex Radar's video on the subject here: ruclips.net/video/4gH0i07mSJ4/видео.html
Hey there. All of our battery packs are compatible with the Vantrue E3, but the best value battery would be our PowerCell 8! The connection to the Vantrue E3 is worth focusing on as well, as it uses the same USB-C connections as the Viofo A139, the spliced cable for the Viofo A1139 should work, though the most reliable way would be to manually splice an unspliced output cable for the battery to a true Vantrue hardwire kit. Battery packs cannot be powered through OBD, you'll need to either hardwire it, or connect it with a cigarette lighter adapter.
@@blackboxmycar Thanks. So I should purchase the unspliced power output cable as an option? Okay, how do I do the splicing exactly with the Vantrue hardwire kit?
The Cellink Neo is fully compatible with the DR770X-2CH! You'll just need to connect a cigarette socket to the battery output, and then the cigarette lighter adapter for the camera to that!
So when my car is in the garage and there is no motion or impacts to record does it still drain the battery pack or does it go in sleep mode until it senses motion or impact? Thanks.
While most cameras have impact and motion detection so they'll only record in those situations, the camera still needs to be awake enough to detect either, drawing power. If you want to avoid any power draw while in your garage, I recommend using the power switch on the battery to simply power it off, or some camera models have their own power button. Either way, rest assured that our battery packs are designed to be fully discharged, so I would not worry too much about their longevity from this happening.
How long can a cam run by connecting it to the vehicle battery? I mean, those extra packs look fine if you daily drive your car (or 2 days max) but 400$ for that sounds quite expensive to me...
Great question! It really depends on the vehicle battery and camera, but generally it will supply 7-9 hours of parking mode off an average car battery. I hear where you are coming from on the batteries, and they are rather premium. For an explanation of why that's the case, check out Vortex Radar's excellent video here: ruclips.net/video/4gH0i07mSJ4/видео.html
You're going to be spending more than $400 to keep replacing your car battery as you keep killing it from the constant draining. Better keep a jump start pack on hand because you'll need it.
Hi Eric, we chose the B-130X because it's the newest battery pack that got released recently, and it's got 7,500mAh which makes it comparable to the PC8 which is also 7,500mAh. The B-124X is only 6,000mAh and it's getting discontinued now that the B-130X is here.
@@blackboxmycar if you have a dual channel with LTE module, that would mean that when you get home from work at 5:00 PM, you have to start your car every morning at 5:00 AM, otherwise the parking mode will be disabled due to a low battery. Sleeping in at the weekend is no longer possible for the rest of your life, because the battery life is not expandable.
I do not want to use the battery while in my garage. Can I just move the cigarette lighter adapter from my battery to hardwired cigarette lighter adapter without hurting the battery charge cycle?
You can move around the cables as needed without hurting the battery, as long as you are careful with the cables of course. If you do not want to use the battery in your garage, the easiest method to turn it off is with the power switch on the battery, and if you want to charge it in your garage you can use a Power Inverter to connect the battery to a wall plug-in, with your cigarette lighter adapter.
Hi, I want to purchase Cellink Battery pack for my Viofo 3 channel dashcam. But I am from India (Asia) location, can the product be shipped to my address? Looking forward for your reply or suggestions.
Hi there, yes we can ship to India, however as batteries are large, heavy, restricted goods, the shipping may be expensive. If you are interested, please provide address information to info@blackboxmycar.com, and we can supply a specific quote
I have the Blackvue 124X connected with 2 124E and gives me up to 50 hours fir my 2 chanel DR900x and LTE Module. The 3 batteries were more than $1000 together… so its expensive
I have Cellink Neo with additional battery. With my Blackvue 750S I get roughly 31 hours with non-stop recording. The good thing is its been like 5 years now, and still consistent with the battery time.
Upgrading your car battery is definitely another route you could go, however there are some factors to consider. These battery packs are designed to be fully drained using up all power stored. Car batteries on the other hand need to have approximately 12V worth of charge remaining to properly start the vehicle, so the camera would not be able to make full use of the new battery. Vehicle batteries will also experience wear and tear when discharged while the vehicle is inactive, while these battery packs are designed for this, and support more charge cycles.
Somehow I don't understand why to buy an additional expensive battery with a capacity of 6-8 Ah when the car battery has a capacity of 80 Ah (60Ah if not ful charge). I find it illogical. I can set the same parking time limit in the dashcam menu. I have an 80 Ah battery in my diesel (Chevrolet Orlando). If I consider charging 80% and ending the discharge at 12.2 V (50% capacity) as a default, I have 30% capacity = 24 Ah. And if I can do the math this is at a 0.4A (5W) draw for a 60 hour record. It depends what your riding regime is, daily, weekly, how many km mileage.
Thank you for the feedback. Traditional car batteries are not designed for the heavy discharging/recharging cycles that a dash cam battery (LiFePO4), which can be fully discharged without damage. When wired to a car battery, you don't want it to drop beneath 12.0V for the health of the battery. Many of the key points are touched on here: ruclips.net/video/4gH0i07mSJ4/видео.html
I see, so it makes sense to protect the car battery, costing roughly 50 dollars, just in case it will be running out of juice because of the dashcam, by buying another battery, costing 5 - 6 times more...interesting...why not having 4 more spare wheels in each car, in case one would make 4 flat tyres?...You never know, isn't it?
Due to the constant power draw from the dash cam, the draw on a standard USB battery can lea to a shorter life-span, along with other factors. If you would like more in-depth information on this subject, here's Vortex Radar's great video on the subject: ruclips.net/video/4gH0i07mSJ4/видео.html
This doesn’t really make sense. I would rather my battery pack run of battery than my car battery going flat and having to jump it over and over. And yes, I have cars I don’t drive for days, sometimes over a week, at a time.
No need for batteries, Been using the OBD2 port on the car computer with a OBD2 Cable adapter with on/off switch to Mini USB Cable to power the dashcam for a year now with no problems, when car is shut down just flip the on switch when you leave the car and turn off when returning to car.
An OBD cable is a great plug and play option for supplying parking mode. However, it will still work off the vehicle's battery, and while it will be ideal for a daily driver, a battery pack is still ideal for long-term parking.
The PowerCell 8 can be charged at home, through the use of a Power Inverter. This connects to a basic wall socket, and then converts that to a cigarette lighter socket end, which you connect the Cigarette Lighter Charging cable for the battery to. You can find this item here: www.blackboxmycar.com/products/blackboxmycar-power-inverter?_pos=1&_sid=eb1786a4d&_ss=r&variant=40125878829111
@@blackboxmycar thanks for replying and the explanation. I wanted a way to avoid having to hard wire the power bank to my car battery. This helps a lot!
@@blackboxmycar I’m sorry one more question, if I charge it at home, do I still need to connect it to the car power source while driving or while my car is parked and turned off?
If you charge the battery at your house, it is still recommended to connect the camera to a power source in the vehicle, otherwise standard driving mode will likely take up a large portion of the batterie's charge. These batteries both come with a plug and play cigarette lighter adapter, and there should not be an affect on the car battery if only supplying power when the vehicle is turned on.
The battery pack is normally sitting in a shaded and covered area so it won't heat up as much as say, your dash cam on your windshield would. However if it does enter into temperatures outside it's operation temperatures, it will turn off.
You sure can! Do keep in mind that it'll of course need a fair bit of space, and you'll have to run the wires into the glovebox. Normally there are some rear or side panels that can be taken out to accommodate this. We did just this in the following video: ruclips.net/video/K0IuGLGd-N8/видео.html
Granted, I haven't been in heavy snow storms, but every time my car has been covered in snow/ice, there's a clear spot where the heat from the dashcam was melting the snow and keeping ice from forming.
all those comments are about driving dash cam videos, does anyone even get anything outa parking mode spending all this money on an external battery pack?
I totally get where you're coming from. Investing in an external battery pack for parking mode can seem like a big expense, but it does offer significant benefits. Parking mode helps capture incidents like hit-and-runs or vandalism when your car is parked, providing peace of mind and valuable evidence if something happens. And if you want a real life example about parking mode can save a thousands you can check this out www.blackboxmycar.com/blogs/news/dash-cam-footage-saves-vancouver-driver-who-found-his-parked-bmw-i8-smashed. If you have any more questions or need help deciding, feel free to reach out!
From personal experience, you will most likely not have to use it beyond the initial setup. These battery packs are designed to be "set it and forget it".
Why do all the dash cam manufacturers use a power cord that uses a cigarette lighter plug instead of a USB plug? Simple so they can screw you on the aftermarket accessories' you have to get to make these things work when car is not running like these battery boxes. It's 2023 every vehicle out there has a USB now and it should be able to run off one of them.
Yes, while USB ports on vehicles are almost universal, there's still a lot of variance on how they operate (like if they turn on and off with the vehicle) and the power supply provided. The power supply is especially true when it comes to these battery packs, which draw 7A worth of power, which is frequently much too much for a USB connection.
Battery packs can be quite expensive! Hardwiring is perfectly viable, and is the most common option for wiring, but won't last as long as a Battery pack, and a Battery pack protects your car battery from wear and tear. Battery packs are made from some very premium components as they're Lithium Ion Phosphate. You can read more about why here: www.blackboxmycar.com/pages/all-about-batteries
I’ve been running the BlackVue 750X 2Ch LTE and the Powercell8 for a year now. I’ve parked for my 12 hour shifts in below -30°C… this equipment performs exceptionally.
Awesome to hear, thank you for sharing!
@@blackboxmycar So when you hardwire the Blackvue B-130X to the car battery will it drain the battery?
How long does the battery last?
@@The10lfunk4 , the camera draws more power when you’re driving vs when your parked. I’ll typically get 20 hours. I don’t like recharging my battery in the car, my commutes aren’t long enough, so I bring it into the house every other day and recharge it with an adapter I bought from BBMC.
Brilliant video. Very informative. Thank you.
Thanks very much for the feedback :)
What about adding a smaller sized solar panel to help with charging a battery pack, in a vehicle that doesn't get driven so often?
Can anyone recommend a proper sized solar panel (wattage) and how to wire it up to also allow the vehicle to charge the battery pack when it finally is driven?
Yo Broseph,
Excellent comparison video.
These things are expensive, but jam packed with value considering what you get in return. For folks who don’t understand the difference in battery chemistry composition it all comes down to safety, (LiFeP04 - Lithium Iron Phosphate).
Depending on application, and climate location you may be able to get away with using a cheap Lithium-Ion / Lithium Polymer Power Bank. But what’s at risk is returning to a catastrophic car fire. I can see an insurance company refusing to payout a claim when a motorist left a cheap Power Bank running in a hot parked car. Imagine being on the hook for a $50K - $75K pile of ash. Maybe next time you could include some explosive, fiery, Power Bank testing failures to really drive the point home. Bring on the “Heat Fish Tank of Doom”. lol
-Chuck
Thanks boss! 100% agreed on everything, except for the "Heat Fish Tank of Doom"! It was scary enough running it with a heat gun on a regular dash cam.
Thanks, I was wondering about this. I recently heard about a Tesla Uber driver having burned to death being trapped in his vehicle. (Very sad, condolences.) So I was wondering if these powerbanks could potentially start a car fire. I'm glad to hear they are different and it's safe to get one.
Great video thank you very much.
One question, can I plug the A139 3CH to a EcoFlow Delta2, Jackery or Bluetti power station in a campervan?
Tough one, we've had a few people stop by the store to try this. Yes, you can connect the camera to it, however getting the camera to go into parking mode is more difficult as the camera needs a 3-wire connection for this with the hardwire kit. This is because the camera goes into parking mode once the ACC power cuts out, as would normally happen with the car's ignition. You would need to find some way to actively cut this power connection and send the camera into parking mode, while still connecting it to the power station.
Really loved the explanations in this video, however I do have 1 question. Let's say I hardwire this and it gives me 20 hours on a single camera on a car that I daily commute with. Would that mean that the camera would be recording essentially 24/7 all year round? While this wouldn't damage my car battery isn't this a quick way to fry the camera?
Glad you liked the video! Dash cams are tech, same as any other piece of equipment so constant use can affect it's life-span, and giving it some time to rest is always nice :). Still, dash cams, especially premium brands are built to be robust and recording for long periods.
The tutorial video is excellent., may I ask: What type of adapter or transformer should I use to charge these dash cam batteries using household mains (110/120v)?
Glad you liked it! Please use a Power Inverter, with an output of
14.6V (8A). The input can range between 100V - 240V (50-60Hz, 2.5A)
A typical dash cam, even with a wide range of functions such as dual lens (front + rear) coverage, motion detection, and WiFi connectivity, requires less than half the amount of power (typically around 0.25-0.45 amps) of a standard light bulb in order to operate normally. Add to that the massive size of a car battery (compared to the tiny amount of power needed by a dashcam) and you have plenty of power under the hood! Even a small or mid-size car has a battery rating of about 45 amp hours, meaning it can supply 1 amp of power for 45 hours in a row (theoretically). Larger car and truck batteries may have ratings up to 225 amp hours or more.
Thanks for sharing this video, it's so informative, I have a question for you, a Blackvue B112 Power Magic Battery Pack, I understand it can store 12 hours of parking mode on a single channel dashcam, if you have a 2 channel dashcam, how many hours can it store?
Thanks.
Hi Clifford, do you mind giving our support team a shout at info[at]blackboxmycar.com? The B112 is quite old as a product, so they would be able to help you more.
I have a B112 Power Magic Battery Pack and it never worked quite right from the start and it's very dead now after several years. (Which is why I'm watching these videos to see if I should switch brands or get another one.) I don't think I'd recommend the B112, especially now since it's such an old product.
4:33 I intend to plug the battery pack to the cigarette lighter, I don’t understand why you said it will drain my car’s battery. Once I power off my car, shouldn’t all power be cut to the ciggie ports as well?
Yes, you're right that the majority of vehicles have cigarette ports that turn on and off with the vehicle, so there's no need to unplug the battery in those vehicles. This tip was specifically for vehicles that have cigarette ports that stay on constantly, which unfortunately is sometimes the case.
Thanks Broseph for the latest battery packs. I've recently ran into an issue with the Blackvue Battery app.
I have the Blackvue S900-2ch dashcam and the Blackvue B-124 battery pack.
I updated to iOS 16.2 on my iPhone. The app shows it connected to my Blackvue B-124 battery but it will not give the remaining hours left on the app.
Do you know how to get the app working again,
Hey Kenneth, do you mind giving our support team a shout at info[at]blackboxmycar.com? They can help you with your technical question!
@@blackboxmycar
Thanks, I chatted with BBMC staff and he suggested that I not use the Blackvue Battery app but rather to use the Blackvue app and scroll down to Blackvue Battery section.
It works!
FYI to whose who are using the Blackvue Battery app on an iPhone…delete the app and use the Blackvue app.
I am trying to do the research before I invest in one of these! I can see getting the battery and have it installed.
The problem is from the battery to the camera all the install kit I can find have battery drain protection which makes no sense for doing this type of installation! (What’s the work around? Or do you have any idea? As I assume that’s why you use the cigarette lighter adapter. I have the van true E3 (any help would be appreciated )
Yes, you are correct, most hardwire kits have voltage protection on the hardwire kit! Rest assured that the battery pack should constantly give a voltage reading above the lowest cut-off setting here, until the battery is fully drained, which it is designed for. Alternatively, you can always cut off the voltage monitor on the hardwire cable, and splice the output cable for the battery before the monitor.
Just want to make sure I understand, if you use a battery pack, it is still connected to regular car battery (hot wired or plugged) and is storing power from the car battery to use during parking mode at a later time compared with not having a battery pack where the dash would take the power directly from the car battery? Wouldn’t that be the same? Dash cam either taking directly from car battery or from power bank which is also taking from battery? Is it possible to plug the battery pack on charge at home so not taking from car battery when needs to be recharged?
The idea is that the battery pack will only charge while the vehicle is on, avoiding any power draw from your vehicle battery when the vehicle is off, instead supplying that power to the camera itself, the battery pack.
The battery pack can be plugged in at home for recharging through a Power Inverter.
Are the hardwired cables interchangeable between the b124x and the powercell 8?
The reason I ask is because in the future if I decide to upgrade to the higher capacity battery pack , it would be very inconvenient having to reroute and resplice the cables
Based on the pictures the power plug to charge the battery and power the camera look the same both on the b124x and the powercell 8
They are interchangeable!
@@blackboxmycar thank you for the reply
Hi thanks for the video 👍
I have a front and cabin dash cam but I want to put another camera only rear. Can I use 2 different dash cams in one of those batteries for parking mode.
Can I plug the rear camera to the battery usb port?
Hi there, glad you liked the video!
The short answer is that it's possible, but it really depends on the camera model. As the USB port only supplies a smaller charge, it can sometimes not be ideal for a dash cam (5A I believe), but there are some other ways to run a setup like this. An old school 3CH/4CH BlackVue setup for example would have 2 seperate 2-channel cameras. Using a cigarette splitter to split the output from the battery connection so each camera system can connect to the battery with their cigarette lighter adapter.
@@blackboxmycar thank you do much for the answer 🙏🏻
I have a Gen 4 Mazda 3 which does not have ACC fuses inside the car and the 12V socket is always on when the car is off. The only option is to tap into the engine bay fuses through the firewall which I don't want to do. Is there an OBD2 cable option to charge the PowerCell?
Gotcha, yes Mazda 3's are problem vehicles when it comes to an ACC connection. Unfortunately, battery packs do not have an OBD connection option, though I do have a few options for you.
For us, if we were wiring into a Mazda 3, then we would splice into existing wiring going through the vehicle. Otherwise wiring through the firewall is possible, though difficult. You could also consider building a relay, which should likely be done if you are wiring through the firewall. I recommend speaking to a professional auto body or car repair shop for assistance.
8:56 Well, yeah, if you put it that way. The capacity is actually less than 96Wh, because the camera itself runs on 5V, not 12V. Some power will be wasted stepping down the voltage from 12V to 5V. If the Blackvue converter chip is, say, 95% effective, then the capacity will be 91Wh. In reality, the capacity will be even less, because the battery must also power Wi-Fi and other components. You could buy a 50,000mAh power pack for $35. 50,000mAh x 5V / 1000 = 250Wh, which will give you 3x the capacity of the Blackvue at less than 1/10 of the cost. Minus the ability to control or monitor anything with the app, of course. And Li-ion batteries should not be kept in a hot car in the summer! So the Blackvue Li-Fe battery pack is a much safer option.
Quite the detailed take! Most of what you are saying here appears correct, though we still stand by these LiFePO4 batteries in the long-term with extreme reliability, especially with the camera's large power consumption, and handling hot weather! For a more in-depth look, I recommend checking out Vortex Radar's video on the subject here: ruclips.net/video/4gH0i07mSJ4/видео.html
Which battery pack do you recommend for the Vantrue E3 3 channel dash cam? Can your battery packs charge through the OBD II port?
Hey there. All of our battery packs are compatible with the Vantrue E3, but the best value battery would be our PowerCell 8! The connection to the Vantrue E3 is worth focusing on as well, as it uses the same USB-C connections as the Viofo A139, the spliced cable for the Viofo A1139 should work, though the most reliable way would be to manually splice an unspliced output cable for the battery to a true Vantrue hardwire kit. Battery packs cannot be powered through OBD, you'll need to either hardwire it, or connect it with a cigarette lighter adapter.
@@blackboxmycar
Thanks. So I should purchase the unspliced power output cable as an option? Okay, how do I do the splicing exactly with the Vantrue hardwire kit?
Is the only difference between the 130 and the 124 just battery length? Or are there other features worth the extra money? Thanks.
The key difference is battery capacity, yes. Beyond that, the B-130X will also charge quicker.
I have the Cell link neo. Is that compatible with BlackVue DR770X-2CH?
The Cellink Neo is fully compatible with the DR770X-2CH! You'll just need to connect a cigarette socket to the battery output, and then the cigarette lighter adapter for the camera to that!
So when my car is in the garage and there is no motion or impacts to record does it still drain the battery pack or does it go in sleep mode until it senses motion or impact? Thanks.
While most cameras have impact and motion detection so they'll only record in those situations, the camera still needs to be awake enough to detect either, drawing power. If you want to avoid any power draw while in your garage, I recommend using the power switch on the battery to simply power it off, or some camera models have their own power button.
Either way, rest assured that our battery packs are designed to be fully discharged, so I would not worry too much about their longevity from this happening.
How long can a cam run by connecting it to the vehicle battery? I mean, those extra packs look fine if you daily drive your car (or 2 days max) but 400$ for that sounds quite expensive to me...
Great question! It really depends on the vehicle battery and camera, but generally it will supply 7-9 hours of parking mode off an average car battery. I hear where you are coming from on the batteries, and they are rather premium. For an explanation of why that's the case, check out Vortex Radar's excellent video here: ruclips.net/video/4gH0i07mSJ4/видео.html
You're going to be spending more than $400 to keep replacing your car battery as you keep killing it from the constant draining. Better keep a jump start pack on hand because you'll need it.
The comparison would have been fairer with the Blackvue B124X and 124E, because they are expandable.
Hi Eric, we chose the B-130X because it's the newest battery pack that got released recently, and it's got 7,500mAh which makes it comparable to the PC8 which is also 7,500mAh. The B-124X is only 6,000mAh and it's getting discontinued now that the B-130X is here.
@@blackboxmycar if you have a dual channel with LTE module, that would mean that when you get home from work at 5:00 PM, you have to start your car every morning at 5:00 AM, otherwise the parking mode will be disabled due to a low battery. Sleeping in at the weekend is no longer possible for the rest of your life, because the battery life is not expandable.
I do not want to use the battery while in my garage. Can I just move the cigarette lighter adapter from my battery to hardwired cigarette lighter adapter without hurting the battery charge cycle?
You can move around the cables as needed without hurting the battery, as long as you are careful with the cables of course. If you do not want to use the battery in your garage, the easiest method to turn it off is with the power switch on the battery, and if you want to charge it in your garage you can use a Power Inverter to connect the battery to a wall plug-in, with your cigarette lighter adapter.
Hi, I want to purchase Cellink Battery pack for my Viofo 3 channel dashcam. But I am from India (Asia) location, can the product be shipped to my address? Looking forward for your reply or suggestions.
Hi there, yes we can ship to India, however as batteries are large, heavy, restricted goods, the shipping may be expensive. If you are interested, please provide address information to info@blackboxmycar.com, and we can supply a specific quote
Which battery is the best with the U1000 thinkware dash cam
Powercell 8, all the way!
I have a cellink neo, really looking for something that lasts 48hrs on a single charge single channel LTE camera..
I have the Blackvue 124X connected with 2 124E and gives me up to 50 hours fir my 2 chanel DR900x and LTE Module. The 3 batteries were more than $1000 together… so its expensive
@@ericignatia Don't forget that you still need to drive more than an hour or more in order to charge those batteries.
That is correct if you have multiple battery packs! 48 hours will be hard to achieve even with the PowerCell 8 or the B-130X on a single battery.
I have Cellink Neo with additional battery. With my Blackvue 750S I get roughly 31 hours with non-stop recording. The good thing is its been like 5 years now, and still consistent with the battery time.
There are such batteries for Motorcycles? Like a bit smaller, waterproof/SplashProof.
Haven't heard of one personally, sorry
Hello
What fuses would be used to install the PowerCell 8 Dash Cam Battery Pack in a 2021’ Buick Envision
Fuse Box Diagrams
Instrument Panel Fuse Box Diagram
Instrument panel fuse box diagram: Buick Envision (2021, 2022)
Assignment of the fuses in the Instrument Panel Fuse Box
№ Amps Usage
F1 40A Direct current to direct current converter 2 (DC-DC)
F2 30A Body control module 4
F3 - -
F4 - -
F5 25A Body control module 2
F6 20A Body control module 3
F7 - -
F8 20A Exterior lighting module 5
F9 - -
F10 5A Steering column lock
F11 10A Body control module 1
F12 - -
F13 - -
F14 - -
F15 15A Auxiliary power outlet rear cargo
F16 - -
F17 20A Exterior lighting module 7
F18 10A Uplevel tail lamp
F19 10A 2021: Steering column lock assembly
2022: Overhead Console Module/ Universal Garage Door Opener/Rain Sensor/Electronic Toll Collector
F20 10A Sensing diagnostic module/Automatic occupant sensing/ Data link connection/ Wireless charger
F21 5A 2021: Central gateway module/ Telematics control platform module
2022: Central Gateway Module/ OnStar
F22 10A External object calculating module/ Long range radar/ Park assist/front camera module/ Side blind zone alert
F23 10A Video processing module
F24 - -
F25 10A AC power outlet/ Auxiliary USB
F26 - -
F27 30A Amplifier
F28 60A 2021: Jumper
2022: Heated Steering Wheel Module/ Exterior Lighting Module Battery 2/ Direct Current/ AC Inverter
F29 10A Instrument duster/ Heads up display/ Air quality ionizer module/ Center stack display/ Heating ventilation air conditioning display
F30 - -
F31 - 2022: Run/Crank Auxiliary Power Module/ Battery System Manager/ Motor Control Unit
F32 10A Run crank for misc. 3 humidity sensor/ Exterior lighting module/ Electronic brake control module/ Air quality sensor exterior/ Headlamp manual leveling left Right/ Inside rear view mirror/ lnterior particulate matter sensor/ Seat fan control cushion and back driver co driver
F33 - -
F34 10A Run crank for misc. 1 & 2 shifter interface board module/ Instrument panel cluster/ Transmission control module/ Sensing & diagnostic module/Headlamp manual leveling switch/Reflective light auxiliary display
F35 15A Run crank for engine control module
F36 10A Electric park brake switch/ Shifter interface board
F37 15A Radio/Center stack module/ Auxiliary jack
F38 - -
F39 2A Steering wheel clock spring
F40 20A Exterior lighting module 2
F41 7.5A Heated steering wheel module
F42 20A Direct current to alternate current inverter module
CB1 - -
CB2 15A Auxiliary power outlet console
Relays
K01 Retained accessory power accessory
K02 Run/crank
K03 -
K04
Blackvue should roll a update to make the 900x plus not be so power hungry not saying they can't make another battery
sorry, but for the price of one of these, why wouldn't you just upgrade your 12V car battery to a heavy duty battery like a Optima Yellow Top?
Upgrading your car battery is definitely another route you could go, however there are some factors to consider.
These battery packs are designed to be fully drained using up all power stored. Car batteries on the other hand need to have approximately 12V worth of charge remaining to properly start the vehicle, so the camera would not be able to make full use of the new battery. Vehicle batteries will also experience wear and tear when discharged while the vehicle is inactive, while these battery packs are designed for this, and support more charge cycles.
Somehow I don't understand why to buy an additional expensive battery with a capacity of 6-8 Ah when the car battery has a capacity of 80 Ah (60Ah if not ful charge). I find it illogical. I can set the same parking time limit in the dashcam menu.
I have an 80 Ah battery in my diesel (Chevrolet Orlando). If I consider charging 80% and ending the discharge at 12.2 V (50% capacity) as a default, I have 30% capacity = 24 Ah. And if I can do the math this is at a 0.4A (5W) draw for a 60 hour record.
It depends what your riding regime is, daily, weekly, how many km mileage.
Thank you for the feedback. Traditional car batteries are not designed for the heavy discharging/recharging cycles that a dash cam battery (LiFePO4), which can be fully discharged without damage. When wired to a car battery, you don't want it to drop beneath 12.0V for the health of the battery. Many of the key points are touched on here: ruclips.net/video/4gH0i07mSJ4/видео.html
It sucks when you don't drive 50 minutes to fully charge your battery pack 😔
You can also charge batteries inside with a Power inverter :D!
@@blackboxmycar "Inside" meaning?
I see, so it makes sense to protect the car battery, costing roughly 50 dollars, just in case it will be running out of juice because of the dashcam, by buying another battery, costing 5 - 6 times more...interesting...why not having 4 more spare wheels in each car, in case one would make 4 flat tyres?...You never know, isn't it?
Due to the constant power draw from the dash cam, the draw on a standard USB battery can lea to a shorter life-span, along with other factors. If you would like more in-depth information on this subject, here's Vortex Radar's great video on the subject: ruclips.net/video/4gH0i07mSJ4/видео.html
This doesn’t really make sense. I would rather my battery pack run of battery than my car battery going flat and having to jump it over and over. And yes, I have cars I don’t drive for days, sometimes over a week, at a time.
No need for batteries, Been using the OBD2 port on the car computer with a OBD2 Cable adapter with on/off switch to Mini USB Cable to power the dashcam for a year now with no problems, when car is shut down just flip the on switch when you leave the car and turn off when returning to car.
An OBD cable is a great plug and play option for supplying parking mode. However, it will still work off the vehicle's battery, and while it will be ideal for a daily driver, a battery pack is still ideal for long-term parking.
So the PowerCell bank cannot be charged at home?
The PowerCell 8 can be charged at home, through the use of a Power Inverter. This connects to a basic wall socket, and then converts that to a cigarette lighter socket end, which you connect the Cigarette Lighter Charging cable for the battery to. You can find this item here: www.blackboxmycar.com/products/blackboxmycar-power-inverter?_pos=1&_sid=eb1786a4d&_ss=r&variant=40125878829111
@@blackboxmycar thanks for replying and the explanation. I wanted a way to avoid having to hard wire the power bank to my car battery. This helps a lot!
@@blackboxmycar I’m sorry one more question, if I charge it at home, do I still need to connect it to the car power source while driving or while my car is parked and turned off?
If you charge the battery at your house, it is still recommended to connect the camera to a power source in the vehicle, otherwise standard driving mode will likely take up a large portion of the batterie's charge. These batteries both come with a plug and play cigarette lighter adapter, and there should not be an affect on the car battery if only supplying power when the vehicle is turned on.
Add a solar panel to charge the battery!
Thanks for the feedback!
What happens when it gets to hot inside the car
The battery pack is normally sitting in a shaded and covered area so it won't heat up as much as say, your dash cam on your windshield would. However if it does enter into temperatures outside it's operation temperatures, it will turn off.
4:07 that doesn't make any sense to take out that feature
Can I put the battery back in my glove box ?
You sure can! Do keep in mind that it'll of course need a fair bit of space, and you'll have to run the wires into the glovebox. Normally there are some rear or side panels that can be taken out to accommodate this. We did just this in the following video: ruclips.net/video/K0IuGLGd-N8/видео.html
Blakvue ui is the best
Agreed Peter 🤲!
If you're snowed in then a dash cam will be as much use as a waterproof tea bag lol. It won't see anything through snow
Granted, I haven't been in heavy snow storms, but every time my car has been covered in snow/ice, there's a clear spot where the heat from the dashcam was melting the snow and keeping ice from forming.
all those comments are about driving dash cam videos, does anyone even get anything outa parking mode spending all this money on an external battery pack?
I totally get where you're coming from. Investing in an external battery pack for parking mode can seem like a big expense, but it does offer significant benefits. Parking mode helps capture incidents like hit-and-runs or vandalism when your car is parked, providing peace of mind and valuable evidence if something happens. And if you want a real life example about parking mode can save a thousands you can check this out www.blackboxmycar.com/blogs/news/dash-cam-footage-saves-vancouver-driver-who-found-his-parked-bmw-i8-smashed.
If you have any more questions or need help deciding, feel free to reach out!
I'm not downloading yet another app on my phone for a battery pack. Everyone wants an app.
From personal experience, you will most likely not have to use it beyond the initial setup. These battery packs are designed to be "set it and forget it".
Why do all the dash cam manufacturers use a power cord that uses a cigarette lighter plug instead of a USB plug? Simple so they can screw you on the aftermarket accessories' you have to get to make these things work when car is not running like these battery boxes. It's 2023 every vehicle out there has a USB now and it should be able to run off one of them.
Yes, while USB ports on vehicles are almost universal, there's still a lot of variance on how they operate (like if they turn on and off with the vehicle) and the power supply provided. The power supply is especially true when it comes to these battery packs, which draw 7A worth of power, which is frequently much too much for a USB connection.
All your apps have bad ratings 😮
Batteries are a scam, hardwire kit is 20$.
Battery packs can be quite expensive! Hardwiring is perfectly viable, and is the most common option for wiring, but won't last as long as a Battery pack, and a Battery pack protects your car battery from wear and tear.
Battery packs are made from some very premium components as they're Lithium Ion Phosphate. You can read more about why here: www.blackboxmycar.com/pages/all-about-batteries