Will a dash cam work with the car off? Find the answer to that – and perhaps a few other questions, here, as we tackle the topic of dash cam parking modes.

Dash cams are very popular tools for modern day motorists, but before you take the plunge on one, it’s only fair that you understand exactly what you’re getting. One common question people ask is, “will a dash cam work with the car off? Or does the ignition have to be on for the camera to record?”

Well, it’s not quite a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer, so here’s everything you need to know:

Will my dash cam work with the car off?

Maybe. It depends on how advanced your chosen dash cam is. Some higher end models offer something called parking mode. In parking mode, your camera will continue to operate while you leave your car parked, unattended, with the engine off. The idea here is that if anything were to happen to your car while you’re away, the dash cam will pick up footage of the miscreants involved.

As well as parking mode, some dash cams such as the Thinkware U3000 also offer other features for while parked-up, including a time lapse function.

For the camera to run while the ignition is switched off, it needs to draw power from elsewhere. Most typically, this will mean hardwiring your dash cam into the car’s onboard fuse box, or making use of an OBD2 power lead. For more info on that, check out our guide on how to install a dash cam.

On the other hand, if you’re running a basic set-up that seeks power through the car’s 12V socket, it’ll switch off when your car’s engine switches off.

Will my dash cam drain my car battery?

So, we’ve established that if you want to use a dash cam with parking mode, it’ll need to draw energy from the car’s battery even when the engine’s off. But will that eventually drain your car’s battery?

Well, most reputable brands of dash cams inject their products with a clever bit of tech that can detect when the battery’s charge level drops to a precarious level. At that point, the dash cam will stop functioning to help preserve the life of the battery. However, before doing a hardwire or OBD2 install, always check that your chosen camera has that ability. Some don’t, and if that’s the case, you could get up for work one morning and find that the battery’s flat. And nobody wants that…

Truth be told, even if your dash cam kit has the sort of in-built safeguards we’re referencing here, we’d still try to avoid leaving the car sitting for extended amounts of time. Better safe than sorry, eh.

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