Dash cam recording with & without engine running

JustAnotherSaver

Recently both my wife and I have had dash cams fitted. One is a single up front camera and the other car has the same front facing camera but also a rear as well. Same chap fitted both cameras.

With my car it records when the ignition has been on. So i could jump in, turn the key to knock the radio on, turn the key back off but the radio remains on - and it'll keep recording on the dash cam.

With my wife's however it only records when the engine is actually running.

With it being the same guy who did the job i would assume he wires them all up the same method so why would there be this difference?

And for those who'll say call him & ask - he's closed until next week and i noticed it today so i'm just wondering if in the meantime anyone here may be able to shed light on it.

Rover_Driver

Does your wife's car radio stay on for a time after the ignition is switched off?

JustAnotherSaver

Rover_Driver wrote: »

Does your wife's car radio stay on for a time after the ignition is switched off?

I've just been out & no it doesn't.

Turn the key (don't start the engine) radio comes on. Turn key totally off (but don't pull out) radio stays on. Sat there for a while and it didn't turn off.

What i did notice though was turn the ignition on so that the dash lights up - and the dash cam says something like "dual recording" or something to that effect that basically says both cameras are recording.

Yet when i turn the key off so that the dash lights go out (but radio stays on) it says something like "rear camera stopped" - basically a message saying the rear cam is no longer recording.

Yet when you plug the memory card in to the PC to view the files then it seems to stop recording the moment you turn the key off (don't even need to pull the key out).

Rover_Driver

A possibility is that the radio in your car has a connection to the ignition circuit and an output that is live when the radio is on, and the fitter connected the camera to that circuit. The radio in your wife's car may not have a connection to the ignition circuit (connected to a data circuit for the ignition signal) and the camera has been is connected to the ignition circuit instead.