If you purchased a dash cam that has a parking mode / parking surveillance option which requires you to hardwire the DVR into your vehicle, you may want to consider a battery discharge prevention device. This device goes by many names:
l Battery discharge prevention device
l Uninterrupted power cable
l Low battery cutoff
l Battery protector
l Electric power controller
l Power magic
Regardless of the name, this device is connected to your dash cam’s power supply and hardwired into your vehicle. The device can prevent the discharge of the vehicle battery by blocking power to the dash cam if the voltage drops below a configured value or if the configured time has elapsed.
Many people would argue that a battery discharge prevention device is necessary however this depends on 2 factors. The first factor is how often you drive your vehicle. If you drive it daily, a typical dash cam will not drain enough power from an average car battery for a problem to occur. In fact, many people have left their vehicles for 2 or more days in parking mode without any problems with battery discharge. If you will not be driving your vehicle for a few days, you could unplug your dash cam to prevent battery discharge.
The second factor is your car battery’s condition. If it is a newer battery in good condition, the dash cam will unlikely drain the battery for numerous days. If your battery is not in good condition, you will likely need to replace it anyways and a battery discharge prevention device will just delay the inevitable replacement for a few weeks.
However, given the relatively low cost of these devices, many people would rather not face this battery discharge risk. Overall, they are a reasonable device to consider but not 100% necessary depending on your driving behavior and battery condition.
