Picked up A3 Vorsprung saloon mid November and connected Nextbase 522GW via 12 volt connector assuming when engine switched off and dashcam switched off that no power would be going through. However this morning, admittedly after a below freezing night the battery warning light flashed from yellow to red and advised me to stop immediately. I took it straight to Audi Service Centre and luckily they had a quick diagnostic look and stated all ok but pinpointed the dashcam believed to be the cause so I now have to unplug after each journey. Has anyone else had anything similar?
Nextbase Dashcam draining battery
- Thread starter Dagger
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I'm not 100% sure on the 8Y if the cigarette lighter stays live after the engine is turned off. Your best bet would be to hardwire the camera to the fuseboard. Finding an ignition live fuse.
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There is a how to guide that @auzzam_crd posted in this forum. Looks pretty straight forward. I’ll be doing mine once it arrives.
I'm fairly certain that the 12V socket does not continue to run once the ignition is off. I have my Nextbase 322GW connected there, and once I park up, and turn ignition off, the dashcam usually shut off after 30secs or so, and resumes once I open the doors (parking mode) runing off its own battery, and usually the same battery level I last left it on. Been advised that for non-stop (long cover, more than 2 weeks) on parking mode best to hardwire via fusebox or via an OBD adaptor which has dual mode (constant live power, till min voltage treshold) or 30 sec cut-off after ignition off mode. I guess if your car is left alone without any strong gusts of wind (it does trigger parking mode) or anyone nudging your car, it should cover for 1 week. Perhaps the latter (OBD) method might be more appealing to you rather than ripping out the fuse box.
Anyone knows if the fault seen, was due to the 12V or the 48V battery?
Anyone knows if the fault seen, was due to the 12V or the 48V battery?
I recently did my dashcam install (via hardwire so I could have parking mode), so was in the fusebox with a voltmeter. Fairly sure I remember the cigarette lighter fuse being switched live, meaning switches on when you press start, as opposed to permanent live. Have you looked through the recording footage after switching the car off to see how long it's staying on for, and if it actually is staying on?
That aside, hardwiring into the fusebox is actually a pretty simple job and I can send you a picture of the fuses I used (I also have a Vorsprung, although sportback, but the slot usage should be similar). I used all empty slots with mini blade fuses and fuse taps. The only tricky part is running the cables to the camera(s - if you have a 2 channel system), but if it's front only it really shouldn't be too difficult. I took off all the rear boot lid trim for the rear camera and it was a massive pain to do, front windscreen install was fine. There is a ground point in the glove box as well that is easy to use. You can do this for cameras both with/without parking mode, where ones without typically only need one fuse tap.
Worth nothing though, parking mode on most cars running off the car battery will probably get you a couple of days, max. Any longer you will need a battery pack like a Cellink NEO. Many cameras also either have battery drain protection built in, or have it available as part of the hardwire kit.
That aside, hardwiring into the fusebox is actually a pretty simple job and I can send you a picture of the fuses I used (I also have a Vorsprung, although sportback, but the slot usage should be similar). I used all empty slots with mini blade fuses and fuse taps. The only tricky part is running the cables to the camera(s - if you have a 2 channel system), but if it's front only it really shouldn't be too difficult. I took off all the rear boot lid trim for the rear camera and it was a massive pain to do, front windscreen install was fine. There is a ground point in the glove box as well that is easy to use. You can do this for cameras both with/without parking mode, where ones without typically only need one fuse tap.
Worth nothing though, parking mode on most cars running off the car battery will probably get you a couple of days, max. Any longer you will need a battery pack like a Cellink NEO. Many cameras also either have battery drain protection built in, or have it available as part of the hardwire kit.
That would be great if you could. Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Will check my footage
