shamrode

Just had brain freeze!!! Could the fact that my dash cam is put into the lighter socket cause the battery to drain while the car is off? The dash cam turns off when I shut down car but it has a small internal chargeable battery. Perhaps it still draws a current draining the battery? Thanks!!!

Mazspeed

Try it without it being plugged in and if it doesn't drain the battery, you found your source. Although I have my Max360 detector in the cig socket and it shuts off when the car is off, so it's possible there is a bad battery or your alt is not charging the battery when on.
How many miles on your car?

shamrode

The question is whether there is still current in the cigarette lighter while the car is off that could be charging the internal battery of the dash cam. My car has 100000 K.

INS1GNIA

Does your camera have any sort of motion/movement/bump sensor detection where it could turn on, on its own? I have heard of this draining the battery before.

shamrode

It definately has a motion sensor however I thought that this was so it would save the recording if it felt impact while driving.

INS1GNIA

If it has any sort of motion sensor/parking mode also, whether it turns on or not can drain the car battery. I see a lot of people get separate mini chargers/batteries and hook up to that just in case. They also have battery discharges.

Mazspeed

But if the cig plug has no juice when the car is off, would the camera not just run itself out of juice regardless if the camera has motion sensors or not or the ability to turn itself off or on? Would it not just run itself out?
Id be curious if the car can sense this and turn on power to the plug if it senses off and on powered circuitry.

WESLEY KAY

I have a dash cam plugged into the lighter port and never had a battery issue. I've let the car sit for two weeks at a time before starting. I have the Blackvue cam

QWKSNKE

Same here.

How old is your battery? How often do you drive the car? If the car sits for long periods, that will kill the battery. Most of the time it comes from the security system running it down.
We have the same problem in my wife's cobra due to it sitting for long periods of time without being cranked.

WESLEY KAY

Probably 2 1/2 years old. I drive it on the weekends. In the winter I can go a week maybe two without starting. So far so good, but I know it's all downhill from here with battery life. I'll start it next winter regularly without driving.

QWKSNKE

If you drive it every weekend, then you shouldn't be having a problem with the battery providing you are driving it long enough.
I bet the battery is bad. You can take it to a local parts store like Advance, O'Reillys, etc for a free battery test

WESLEY KAY

You must be confusing me with the op...lol. My battery is fine. But thanks for the help!

QWKSNKE

Oops, yes my reply was intended for the OP