Need a Constant 12v that wont drain battery..? Help

[stikystikyricky 10+ year member]

hey, Our parking garage at work has tight spaces and my car has been backed into twice now. I have a dash cam in my car that I have hard wired in however it shuts off when the car is turned off. I am thinking of wiring it to a constant 12v so its always recording but Im worried it might drain my battery, specially if I dont drive it for a day.

Im not too sure exactly how capactitors work as I have never used one, but could I add a cheap ebay capacitor and wire it directly to the camera and battery so it drains the capacitor before it drains my battery?? Or is there any other way to use the power source?

Thanks in advance

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[jrdnhsnbrg 10+ year member]

Get another car battery in your trunk and wire it up to an isolator, then hook the dash cam in to there. If I understand how an isolator works, it allows the engine to charge both batteries when the engine is running but whatever is hooked up to the second battery will only drain that battery.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

Get another car battery in your trunk and wire it up to an isolator, then hook the dash cam in to there. If I understand how an isolator works, it allows the engine to charge both batteries when the engine is running but whatever is hooked up to the second battery will only drain that battery.

Probably this is best ^^^ . Capacitor wouldn't hold enough charge to power a camcorder for even a minute.

 

[Atimm693 10+ year member]

If funds are a little tight you could use one of the small 12v batteries, and run a wire with a diode in it to the car battery. You could also use a relay triggered by the ignition to complete the circuit.