PowerDrive+ still drawing power after turning the car off

#1

Hi guys,

I’m having kind of an ssue, but I don’t know if it’s because of my car, of because of my PowerDrive+ 4 ports.
I never really noticed it, because I only had USB cables for smartphones plugged in.

This weekend, I plugged in a Dash Cam (not from Anker, please beat me with a stick). I assumed the dash cam would turn on/off depending on whether my car was on/off. But it doesn’t. The dash cam stays powered on, and I have to manually unplug the USB cable when I stop my car, and plug it back in when I’m going somewhere.

It’s a pain, and I wanted to know if :

  • It’s my car’s fault, and I can do something about it
  • It’s my car’s fault, and suck it up, because I can’t change it
  • It’s something else’s fault.

Please help me :slight_smile:

#2

A “stock” of celery? :stuck_out_tongue:

All kidding aside, I actually ran into the same problem. I thought I was having the issue with the Roav SmartCharge. I have the Roav Dashcam C1 plugged into it. In my car (Toyota RAV4)… 12V port, it worked great. No issues with disconnection of power nor power staying on even when car was off. But in the hubby’s BMW 325i thru the cigarette lighter, the power would remain on ALL THE TIME. Therefore, the Dashcam was on continuous recording and never really switched to Parking Monitor. I also thought this was due to the fact that his was powered thru the cigarette lighter, NOPE! I tried it in my cigarette lighter too, worked fine. So after some investigation, I’ve concluded that it’s the car. I tried several different brands and makes of the USB charger (Belkin, Roav SmartCharge, Anker PowerDrive, etc.) and all was the same in his car… kept the Dashcam powered on. One thing that was different though, the Belkin actually kept a firm connection …where the charging indicator on the Dashcam would show that it was plugged in.

I now tease my hubby and tell him that his BMW sucks because he loves his car. :stuck_out_tongue: Hahaha. So when we use the Dashcam in his car, we always have to unplug it when we exit the car so that Parking Monitor would come on. But in my car, I can keep it plugged in and it doesn’t draw any energy from my car battery so the Dashcam does go into Parking Monitor.

Therefore, I don’t think it’s your plugs fault nor the fact that you betrayed Anker by using another brand (;)). It’s your car.

#3

Haha typo corrected :wink:

Thank you for your insights, I share your opinion, and also think it’s my car… I guess I will get used to plugging/unplugging it all the time.

It’s worth the hassle.

#4

What mind of car do you have? Year and make

#5

Skoda Fabia II early 2012

#6

Luckily my cigarette lighter socket powers off when I turn off the car but my dads stays on so I am having to pull out my PowerDrive when I turn off the car too.

Some dash cams have motion sensors so can capture footage while you are asleep if anything nudges your car etc so it depends how much you want these features. But guess you’ll have to disconnect over night if it’s causing an issue.

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#7

Maybe that’s my punishment for not buying an Anker Dash Cam.
Do you know if Roav’s dash cams have an “auto-OFF” feature?

#8

No, they have motion sensors too. But not sure if they can be switched off.

#9

I don’t know about the Roavs but on my dashcam I have hardwired it into a switched live. The switched live turns it on/off when I start or stop the car. It also has a parking mode where the cam is off but uses the internal battery to come on in the event it is bumped.

There is also the option to hardwire it into a permanent live where it starts recording with motion activation and when you park it will turn off but record once again if bumped. There’s a small black box which will monitor the voltage coming from your car and if the car battery falls below 11.8v the cam will stop taking power so that it doesn’t drain your battery.

#10

interesting setup. I’ll dig deeper about that. Thanks man.

#11

When you get outta the car how many times do you press the lock button? Does pressing the button twice on the key fob deadlock it? As on some cars it deadlocks on first press and on second press deactivates it for like 10 mins. Some manufactures are the opposite to this.

I know that deadlocking the car might not have any effect on the power to sockets in all cars but it’s worth a try.

You may find that in fuse box there’s 2 slots for the socket - one being always on and the other being on with ignition. Could be a simple swap over of the fuse

#12

I know that my car has two different behaviors when I single press the lock button, or when I double press ! I will definitely try this ! I will let you know. That would be perfect.

#13

It is not the Dashcam, it’s your car. As I said, I’ve used my Roav Dashcam C1 in both my 2003 Toyota RAV4 and my husband’s 2001 BMW 325i. His cigarette lighter stays powered on, whereas, mine turns off when the engine is off. Therefore in order to use the Dashcam on Parking Monitor, we have to unplug it from the cigarette lighter. Real pain in the butt too. Oh well.

1 Like
#14

Some cigarette lighter sockets are connected to the ignition some are not. I have both in my f250 the one labeled “powerport” is always on. There are a ton of videos on YouTube on how to rewire to the ignition or add an additional socket.

#15

I’ll def. Check this.