Make sure to read the preliminary information on Parking Mode here. This will help establish a better understanding of this great feature and help circumvent any product misconceptions.
How many hours will I get once my vehicle is switched off?
30 minutes, or even up to a possible 12 hours (if not further) depending on your vehicle's battery. Read more below to understand more about why and what you can expect. A bigger, newer battery is going to give you more recording time than a smaller, older battery.
How long can my camera last during Parking Mode?
Every answer is different, and for good reason. There are various factors at play that affect the available charge on your battery that is needed to power your camera during Parking Mode operation. Every vehicle has a different battery capacity; batteries are as well under various external influences such as temperature, duress, strain, and age.
Driving time affects the duration.
The resting voltage of your car's battery will also be affected by the amount of driving you undertake. If you are only driving very short distances and for short periods of time, then your battery is not being given ample time to reach a resting voltage that is beneficial for your camera's parking mode duration. On the other hand, if you are driving long distance and quite frequently, you can expect a longer duration due to the allowed charging time you are providing your car's battery.
Analogously, consider charging your smartphone for 5 minutes versus 1 hour. There is a drastic difference in available battery charge after the charging time is over.
Camera activity over time.
A final note is recognising the fact that the more activity your camera records in parking mode, the more power it is going to draw. Your camera needs power to operate in parking mode, however when it's recording to the SD card, it will draw more power to perform this operation. As a result, parking mode sessions with more activity will generally not be on for as long as a camera recording period which has noticed less activity.
Getting more Parking Mode time.
In order to truly get more hours for your camera, we recommend the use of an external battery back-up system, such as the BlackVue B-124X. This separates the need from drawing power from your car's battery and instead places the load on an external battery. During driving, the car's alternator is used to charge the external battery; when the vehicle is switched off, the camera is solely powered by the external battery back-up.
Please note, as B-124X is a battery it still requires charging, which is done only when your vehicle is on. The B-124X can be fully charged if hard-wired in ~40 minutes, and ~90 minutes if connected via cigarette socket.
If you require additional information, please feel free to contact us via the LiveChat, or by sending your enquiry to support@blackvue.com.au.