Dashcam w/parking module PMP and battery voltage

[Busybee]

Sorry if this is not the right place and sorry again if it’s a silly problem.

I installed the dr900s with parking module on my 6 month old brand new BRZ. For some time I realized that the the module for parking mode turns of (I set it to 12v and infinity). It’s working well during normal mode so I checked all connection and everything is fine. Since the problem continued I replaced the module and still the same. I never thought it might be the battery dropping below 12v. Today after the car was off for almost 24 hours I checked the battery voltage and it showed 11.97! That was surprising to me and explained why the parking module turns off.

Is it normal that the battery drains below 12v when the ignition is off with a dashcam having the parking module?

I also have to mention that I have a hotspot in the car which sends push notifications (5-10). Sometimes it also saves events (5-6) in the parking mode. Will that cause more draining in the battery?

In addition, for a long time I had some papers in front of the windshield (on the sensor for the lights) and my lows, tails bumerangs and fog light were on all the time. I also installed the iJDMTOY bulb in the rear triangle which is was also on all the time during driving. Is it possible that my battery charging is below normal due to these light being on all the time?

Once I saw the battery reading 11.97 I turned on the ignition, started the car and it showed 14v which was a little confusing for me.




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[cjd]

It could be a sign the battery is past its prime, but it sounds like you have a few things draining the battery too. Best bet is to measure actual current when the car is off.

[Busybee]

Originally Posted by cjd

It could be a sign the battery is past its prime, but it sounds like you have a few things draining the battery too. Best bet is to measure actual current when the car is off.

Is it possible that a brand new cars battery got like that with 12K miles in 6 months ?
Thats scary!

Now I started checking regularly. While the ignition was on and the engine running I measured 14.3v (multimeter). I’m in addition I did a 30 + 30 min drive where I had 2 hours ignition off in between and parked my car and immediately measured it again it was 12.55. Will see how long it will take to turn off my parking module due to voltage drop below 12v.


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[cjd]

Originally Posted by Busybee

Is it possible that a brand new cars battery got like that with 12K miles in 6 months ?
Thats scary!

Now I started checking regularly. While the ignition was on and the engine running I measured 14.3v (multimeter). I’m in addition I did a 30 + 30 min drive where I had 2 hours ignition off in between and parked my car and immediately measured it again it was 12.55. Will see how long it will take to turn off my parking module due to voltage drop below 12v.


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Possible, sure. My guess is you're just expecting too much from it. But check the current draw (need to be able to measure mA... hopefully) to get a better idea.

It's easy to abuse the heck out of a battery, draining it low consistently and never getting it a real charge - my wife used to do that till I finally got her a battery tender... ~2-3mi round trip at a time, no more... killed a battery that way.

[Busybee]

Originally Posted by cjd

Possible, sure. My guess is you're just expecting too much from it. But check the current draw (need to be able to measure mA... hopefully) to get a better idea.



It's easy to abuse the heck out of a battery, draining it low consistently and never getting it a real charge - my wife used to do that till I finally got her a battery tender... ~2-3mi round trip at a time, no more... killed a battery that way.

Checked 3 hours later (ignition off). I measured 12.44v.

I am not sure if a drop from 12.54 to 12.44 within 3 hours is a huge drop?


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[RZNT4R]

The batteries in these cars are pretty weak: Pretty low CCA and not a lot of reserve capacity. It's fine for an original equipment battery but not something you'd want to keep if you've got accessories drawing current while off.

Also, a lot of people don't know this, but below 12V is a pretty deep discharge. 12V lead acid batteries are considered fully charged at 12.6 and fully discharged at 12.1V. If your terminal voltage fresh off of a drive is 12.55, that battery is pretty damn low, a battery with a healthy state of charge will usually loiter around the 13V range immediately after turning the car off as the surface charge dissipates and settle in the high 12's.

Also, many people don't know that a discharged battery takes hours upon hours to fully charge. Just the other day I took a battery that was at an even 12V and after 6 hours on a 12 amp charger it was still sucking in a lot of amps. Even if your battery was at a 100% state of charge, and you left your doohicky drain it to 12V, that is effectively a fully discharged battery, and no amount of driving will get it back to 100% charge, unless you drive constantly and burn through 2 tanks of gas without turning it off.

What you want to do is: 1) get a charger on that battery ASAP and 2) set the cutout higher, like 12.4 or even better, just get the battery pack https://www.blackvue.com/product/b-112/

[Busybee]

Originally Posted by RZNT4R

The batteries in these cars are pretty weak: Pretty low CCA and not a lot of reserve capacity. It's fine for an original equipment battery but not something you'd want to keep if you've got accessories drawing current while off.

Also, a lot of people don't know this, but below 12V is a pretty deep discharge. 12V lead acid batteries are considered fully charged at 12.6 and fully discharged at 12.1V. If your terminal voltage fresh off of a drive is 12.55, that battery is pretty damn low, a battery with a healthy state of charge will usually loiter around the 13V range immediately after turning the car off as the surface charge dissipates and settle in the high 12's.

Also, many people don't know that a discharged battery takes hours upon hours to fully charge. Just the other day I took a battery that was at an even 12V and after 6 hours on a 12 amp charger it was still sucking in a lot of amps. Even if your battery was at a 100% state of charge, and you left your doohicky drain it to 12V, that is effectively a fully discharged battery, and no amount of driving will get it back to 100% charge, unless you drive constantly and burn through 2 tanks of gas without turning it off.

What you want to do is: 1) get a charger on that battery ASAP and 2) set the cutout higher, like 12.4 or even better, just get the battery pack https://www.blackvue.com/product/b-112/

Thanks for the information. Unfortunate I don’t have a chance to hook up the battery on a charger since the car is parked in the street.
I am not sure what the RC for the stock panasonic is but an alternative could be a diehard advanced gold or a yellow top optima.
I did not know that charging the battery by driving will take that long. Maybe having my my low beam, tail, triangle, Bumerang and fog light on all the time, having the stock kicker subwoofer, dashcam, radar will even further slow the battery charging to a better lever during my drive.

Will a new battery with higher RC and AH help having extremely longer juice for the gadgets in e car? Or will it just prolong a little more until the next run?

Will use the lights on auto mode without the fogs and turn off parking mode to see if I see some difference.
Meanwhile even I measured 12 or 11.9v, the start in the morning was always perfect like the first day I bought the car.


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[RZNT4R]

A battery with more reserve capacity will last longer with gizmos drawing power with the engine off, but it'll still need time to recharge while driving, or you're just eventually going to run it down just the same.

If all else fails there are small solar panels you can put on your dashboard that'll trickle charge while the car is off, one of those may be sufficient in offsetting the draw from the camera.

[Busybee]

Regarding the battery charger; is the NOCO genius 3500 a good option?

I do not have experience with chargers, tender or others. When using a charger, how often do you charge your battery? Once a while or very often? Or do you use it mainly to give some juice to a death battery ?


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[RZNT4R]

At 3.5 amps it's ideal for charging and maintaining powersport batteries, but at 3.5 amps, a discharged automotive battery will likely take well over a day to charge. A general "good" amp rating for automotive use is closer to 12 amps, at the very least north of 6 amps. Check out the Clore PL2320. Good unit at a good price, a bit more professional-oriented with the power supply mode, but that's just an assurance that the innards are on point.

As for how often, I throw a charger on my car (which doesn't have any ignition off drawing accessories) typically twice a year just because I drive really short cycles. Your circumstances and usage may vary.

[Grady]

To charge a low battery you want a charger. To keep your charged battery from going down you want a Maintainer/float 1 amp is fine. Taking a lead acid battery down below 12v will destroy it quick. You want to keep you battery charged so it last longer. Any extended times below 50% 12.06v accelerates the sulfidation process.

For any detailed info on batteries just Type in Battery University into your search.

[Grady]

To charge a low battery you want a charger. To keep your charged battery from going down you want a Maintainer/float 1 amp is fine. Taking a lead acid battery down below 12v will destroy it quick. You want to keep you battery charged so it last longer. Any extended times below 50% 12.06v accelerates the sulfidation process.

For any detailed info on batteries just Type in Battery University into your search.

[RZNT4R]

Originally Posted by Grady

To charge a low battery you want a charger. To keep your charged battery from going down you want a Maintainer/float 1 amp is fine. Taking a lead acid battery down below 12v will destroy it quick. You want to keep you battery charged so it last longer. Any extended times below 50% 12.06v accelerates the sulfidation process.

For any detailed info on batteries just Type in Battery University into your search.

Even if you only plan to maintain the battery, it's a better investment to buy an automatic multi-stage like the noco (but more powerful) or the PL2320 I brought up, even a 20 amp charger like that will work perfectly as a float charger, but it'll also charge quickly. Buying a 1A float charger, you're SOL if you need to charge a lot battery.

[Busybee]

Originally Posted by RZNT4R

Even if you only plan to maintain the battery, it's a better investment to buy an automatic multi-stage like the noco (but more powerful) or the PL2320 I brought up, even a 20 amp charger like that will work perfectly as a float charger, but it'll also charge quickly. Buying a 1A float charger, you're SOL if you need to charge a lot battery.

This my stock batter. What does the 20Hr 62 Ah mean? Is this the ah raging on the battery we check on amazon etc ?


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