Powering devices without flattening car battery !!!!

[ciavelillse]

Hi folks,

I generally run a dashcam and a GPS tracker on my cars, both run from a permanent live cig lighter.

I have found that the permanent parasitic draw is ruining the car batteries. They are constantly going flat when I don't use them for a couple of days. The dashcam has a parking mode but it sts off after 6 hours so as not to toast the battery. I had assumed that a tiny GPS tracker with a battery in wouldn't pull much.

Anyway, before I buy a new battery I was wondering if anybody has any bright ideas. I am thinking of some kind of charging system with a secondary battery. Would using some mobile phone powerbank do the job, wired to charge only from switched ignition. I don't know if they are designed to charge rather than run things?

Would rather not pay too much as inevitably I'll want to fit the same solution to 3 cars!

[SantaBarbara]

Have you asked this same question previously. If not you someone else has asked it recently

[ciavelillse]

This content is not posted yet, this is the first time

[SantaBarbara]

IT is a frequently asked question

You need a vehicle such as a Land Rover or a Volvo with a powerful battery as standard

[Caddyshack]

Go to a car audio shop and ask for a split charge system maybe with a leisure battery, the split charge will charge up the car normally plus a deep cycle battery that will last for ages, the car battery will take priority.

Also use a fresh new battery and look for one that will fit the space but with the biggest AH number you can find.

[TooMany2cvs]

ciavelillse said:

I generally run a dashcam and a GPS tracker on my cars, both run from a permanent live cig lighter.

I have found that the permanent parasitic draw is ruining the car batteries. They are constantly going flat when I don't use them for a couple of days. The dashcam has a parking mode but it sts off after 6 hours so as not to toast the battery. I had assumed that a tiny GPS tracker with a battery in wouldn't pull much.

Have you actually measured the current being drawn?

[Caddyshack]

TooMany2cvs said:

Have you actually measured the current being drawn?

Good point, a 5 yr old battery doesn't take a lot to kill and there could be other draw on the battery or just a poor alternator or even bad earth.

[Hanslow]

Fit a battery isolator and isolate the battery when the car isn't in use. Unless you want/need the alarm still armed whilst the vehicle isn't in use, in which case, look at wiring in a switch to enable/disable the courtesy socket circuit, then just have a single switch enable/disable when you want to use them.

Ah, just re-read about the GPS tracker, sorry, I'd read that as a GPS device, i.e. navigation. I'm sure there's advice to wire in a small secondary battery just for the tracker that charges when used.

[gmaz]

You need one of these if you want to power the dashcam from an additional battery

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cellink-Battery-Smart-Das...

or one of these if you want to use your car battery, but automatically cut the power if the voltage gets low

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BlackVue-Power-Magic-Pro/...