Dash cam parking mode vs always on
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Aug 2018
Posts: 84
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Dash cam parking mode vs always on
So I have hardwired my dash cam and it has the parking mode feature. I believe after five minutes of no activity it will start recording again and saving clips/images from a little before the motion is detected and some time after. My question is if I turned off parking mode and let the camera just record the whole time, will it kill my battery faster or does it consume the same amount of power as leaving it on parking mode?
Pro
Joined: Dec 2017
Posts: 741
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From: Austin TX
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NCCC Lifetime Member
Parking mode saves power by avoiding card writes. It also saves space and saves you from sifting through tons of video should you need to find a file. In addition to recording on motion, the dashcam should also trigger recording if an impact is detected. If your camera is installed properly it should shut down at a voltage threshold that avoids killing your battery. The power savings from parking mode will vary from camera to camera. You can always test the runtime each way to determine the run time differences. I haven't found a good reason to turn off parking mode on my dashcam.
Last edited by SimCar; Oct 21, 2019 at 11:08 PM.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 305
Likes: 67
From: york south carolina
i have a think cam but i have changed it to run 24/7 and yes it does a number on the battery. if i drive every third day its not a problem but if it sits longer then i keep a charger on it for safety reasons. the charger is just a plug and play so no lost time at all. for me if im curious then i can go back all night if need to see if something i wanted to look for
