Dashcam warning

handsj
handsj Forum Participant Posts: 117
edited December 2016 in Towcars & Towing #1

We've been using one of these in our tow car since June 2015. It is a Nextbase 402G and has produced very high quality video files of our journeys. Our sole reason for fitting it was as an extra insurance policy so that should we have a traffic incident then the dashcam will provide the footage.

Our luck changed in Novermber when, driving the car solo, I was involved in a RTA.  There were no witnesses and  so the dashcam footage suddenly became very important. I was utterly shocked to find that the camera hadn't been recording since 2nd October! It provided no evidence whatsoever!

To cut a long story short, these cameras have a tiny on-board hard-wired battery. The battery had failed in October (with no warning) and this prevented video files being written to the SD card. It had also permanently corrupted the SD card.

So if you have one of these cameras fitted then check that it will switch on without being connected to the car. This will prove the little on-board battery is still functioning and the camera is actually filming.

 

 

Comments

  • Rocky 2 buckets
    Rocky 2 buckets Forum Participant Posts: 7,101
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2016 #2

    HJ, with due respect, after each journey I hook up the SD card to my pad to check the thumbnails are all there ready for the next journey/use.  I also format the card every month to ensure the card is cleaned. Plus it's handy to have a spare card in case the original fails. It pays to check all the bases. It's a good post to inform others-thankssmile

  • Rocky 2 buckets
    Rocky 2 buckets Forum Participant Posts: 7,101
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    edited December 2016 #3

    PS-on my nextbase 512g the red light on the screen(on start up) flashes to inform you that the device is filming.

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2016 #4

    that seems to be a lot of hard work ..... especially if you only use your car for short journeys

  • Rocky 2 buckets
    Rocky 2 buckets Forum Participant Posts: 7,101
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    edited December 2016 #5

    It depends how important it is to ensure I continue to get 15% discount from my insurance company MM. To me-very important as it nearly paid  for the Dashcam, simple economics. 

  • handsj
    handsj Forum Participant Posts: 117
    edited December 2016 #6

    Thanks for the replies. Yes I agree, and will check the camera regularly from now onwards. I had mistakenly thought that with modern highly reliable (and expensive!) electronics that I could rely on it.

    What worries me slightly is that the new internal battery may also fail in the future as it appears to be of the same design as the old one. All I can do is to check it regularly.

    smile

     

     

  • Rocky 2 buckets
    Rocky 2 buckets Forum Participant Posts: 7,101
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    edited December 2016 #7

    HJ, surely you have it running from your Cigar lighter socket, which then charges up the small internal back up battery in the device?

  • JVB66
    JVB66 Forum Participant Posts: 22,892
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2016 #8

    I always format the card after each univentfull journey and have always checked when traveling that it is recording (little red light flashing)

  • EmilysDad
    EmilysDad Forum Participant Posts: 8,973
    1000 Comments
    edited December 2016 #9

    I've always assumed that a dash cam is always recording on a loop & either it remembers the last so many minutes after it detects an impact or you tell it to save the last so many minutes after an event

  • handsj
    handsj Forum Participant Posts: 117
    edited December 2016 #10

    Yes it is connected to the cigar lighter socket, so it should continuously charge the internal battery during each journey.  I've always checked on the display that it appears to record at the start of each journey, before screen saver kicks in.

    From now on I will check that it's actually recording and that it saves the footage to the SD card.

     

     

  • Briang
    Briang Club Member Posts: 670 ✭✭✭
    500 Comments
    edited December 2016 #11

    What is the best Dash Cam to buy within reason ££s which clearly reads number plates and HD.

    Thanks in advance.

  • DianneT
    DianneT Forum Participant Posts: 521
    100 Comments
    edited December 2016 #12

    We have a Transcend DrivePro and used it for 3 years excellent piece of equipment bought it from Amazon on advice of friend who had gone deeply into different makes.

    DianneT

     

  • Briang
    Briang Club Member Posts: 670 ✭✭✭
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    edited December 2016 #13

    Thanks Dianne T will look into it.

  • Simon100
    Simon100 Club Member Posts: 666 ✭
    500 Comments 100 Likes
    edited December 2016 #14

    The 'Techmoan' web site has some very good reviews. I use a doc which is similar to Nextbase that you can get from Halfords. 

    http://www.techmoan.com

     

     

  • xtrailman
    xtrailman Forum Participant Posts: 559
    edited December 2016 #15

    I bought a cheap one under £30 recommended by techmoan mentioned above.

    Having taken a long time choosing one i went cheap as they ALL have reliability issues reading the owner reviews.

    Mine has been faultless for nearly two years now, this year i fitted an Aldi one for a rear view cam.

  • Tinwheeler
    Tinwheeler Forum Participant Posts: 23,142 ✭✭✭
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    edited December 2016 #16

    The Nextbase range are very good, Briang. Like most things you get what you pay for. Watch out for Halfords discounts on them.

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