Hey All,

We know our XK's are electrically thirsty creatures and reports of issues relating to weak batteries are common. Many of us use something like a


to keep the battery topped up and fresh. But if your dash cam is on when your car is parked, and you're not at home and plugged in to your battery maintainer, it's working against you and eventually when your battery starts to age you'll go out to a dead battery, thanks to your dash cam. I am aware that many of these dash cams have low voltage sensors that shut the dash cam off when the voltage reaches something like 11.5 v, but that defeats one of the Prime Directives of dash cam ownership - having it on when you're not there. I finally installed something that eliminates the issue:


When installed, the dash cam runs off its power and does not use your XK's precious main battery. It charges when your car is running (less than one hour for a full charge when hard wired) and discharges for up to 20 hours when parked (supposedly less if you have a dual-camera setup like I do, although I haven't tested its limits). "Expansion Packs," which are simply additional batteries that easily plug into this main unit and stack under it provide extended run time for your dash cam and are available for less money than the main unit. You do not have to have a Blackvue dash cam to use this product - it is UNIVERSAL.

Finding the right mounting location for this unit, which is about 8" x 8" (20cm x 20cm) is tricky and currently have it in the trunk on the top ledge, secured by Velcro (and it doesn't move). I'll probably end up sticking it to the nearby side walls. Anyway, I just wanted to share my experience and provide info about this solution (about which I have no stake in the matter).



Blackvue B-124 Power Magic Ultra, $299.99

 

Wow, that's pricey.

 

I agree. But I'd rather buy that once, than a new battery every year, which is what I've been doing. [Well, the last two times they were free warranty replacements (Duralast Gold from Advance Auto), but still, I hate going out to a dead battery.]