Ensuring your dashcam is always powered is crucial for vehicle security and capturing important events. However, directly connecting a dashcam to your car’s power source can lead to unwanted battery drain, especially when parked. If your cigarette lighter remains active even when the ignition is off, you might be looking for a solution to power your dashcam without risking a dead battery. A practical and efficient approach is to use a Cigarette Lighter To Obd2 Battery Saver Cord.
For vehicles where the cigarette lighter port is constantly powered, you can utilize a female cigarette lighter adapter equipped with a low voltage cutoff switch. Coupled with a cigarette lighter to USB adapter, this setup effectively powers your dashcam. The key component here is the low voltage cutoff switch, which intelligently monitors your car battery’s voltage. If the voltage drops below a safe threshold, typically around 11.6 volts, the switch automatically cuts off power to the dashcam, preventing excessive battery discharge. A readily available option for this is a “battery saver” adapter, such as those manufactured by Koolatron, which can be easily found online.
Alternatively, if your vehicle’s cigarette lighter only receives power when the engine is running, you can consider OBD2 power adapters with a similar low voltage cutoff feature. These adapters plug directly into your car’s OBD2 port, providing a power source that can be managed by the battery saver functionality. While some might consider wiring directly into the OBD port, using a dedicated OBD2 power adapter is a safer and more convenient solution.
When your car is parked, the ideal dashcam operation mode is standby or surveillance. This means the camera is only active when triggered by motion or a G-sensor event, minimizing power consumption. For vehicles with a cigarette lighter that’s only powered when the engine is on, a setup involving a USB connection from the dashcam to a concealed location under the dashboard can be combined with an OBD port adapter for parked surveillance and a cigarette lighter adapter for when the engine is running. This provides flexibility depending on your car’s power configuration and usage scenario.
If your cigarette lighter is always on, a robust splitter rated for at least 10 amps can be incorporated. Plug the Koolatron battery saver into one port of the splitter, and then connect a high-quality cigarette lighter to USB adapter into the battery saver. This powers your dashcam while still allowing you to use the other splitter port for charging devices or other accessories when the engine is running.
A significant advantage of using a cigarette lighter to OBD2 battery saver cord setup is the ease of access to your OBD2 port. When you need to use a diagnostic scanner, simply unplug the adapter to access the port. Furthermore, dashcams, even dual-channel models, typically consume a maximum of 2 amps, well within the OBD2 port’s power capacity of up to 4 amps. This ensures that you are not overloading the OBD2 system when using it to power your dashcam with a battery saver cord.
