Change Battery - DashCam

[vidarr]

The battery of this dashcam is completely dead and I want to replace it with a battery that has a larger mAh, from the existing 200 mAh (3.7V) to a new 6000 mAh (3.7V).

With the new battery installed, nothing happened; the cam won't even turn on (the battery is fully charged). Then I noticed the original battery had a small protection circuit attached to it. So, I soldered the circuit to the new battery and from the circuit soldered to the mainboard. Still nothing happens. Testing the battery again, it is fully charged and I tested on the circuit to mainboard side and it also shows as fully charged.

For some reason, the cam does not want to recognize the battery (I also tried with a few other batteries with the same results). Also, with the battery installed and the cam plugged it, the battery icon on the screen shows as charging. The cam just doesn't want to turn on with a different battery.

Does this require building a whole new circuit because of going from 200 to 6000 mAh? Creating a new circuit makes sense if I was changing the voltage, but I don't see why the existing circuit would fail just for having more mAh.

Is this normal? If not, can I fix this?

Thank You!

[johansen]

Maybe the reason the dash cam doesn’t turn on is the same reason the battery was completely discharged…

It’s dead Jim…

[Whales]

Does it normally charge the batt when you plug in via USB?  Have you tried that?

Some devices don't turn on until supplied with charging interface current, then after that they stay in a "sleep" mode that allows them to wake using only battery power.

EDIT: You had me worried that the soldered battery you show in the photo is supposed to be 6000mAh   No that's just a different one you tried, the blue one is the 6000mAh 

[vidarr]

If I hook the battery back up the way it was originally, it does turn on and, yes, also the battery charges.

But, because the battery is small, and old, the charge does not last very long --maybe 10 minutes at best.

If I plug the camera in with any 5v charger (even USB to my laptop) and the battery is not installed, it still turns on.

I tried several batteries, but cannot get it to turn on with any of them, unless it is also plugged in. Interestingly, the charging battery display on the screen shows that those batteries ARE charging though.

This is bizarre.

Thank You!

[vidarr]

It’s dead Jim…

Ahahaha.

[vidarr]

This is plugged in with no battery.

[vidarr]

EDIT: You had me worried that the soldered battery you show in the photo is supposed to be 6000mAh   No that's just a different one you tried, the blue one is the 6000mAh 

The blue battery is 3.7V and 6000mAh and is in really good shape. 

The original battery is 3.7V and 200mAh and is now even worse. It holds a charge for less than 5 mins.

Now you got me nervous... I can use the blue battery right?

I am working on this right now actually.

Thanks!

[Whales]

Yes the big battery should work fine, just make sure you wire it correctly. 

I tried several batteries, but cannot get it to turn on with any of them, unless it is also plugged in. Interestingly, the charging battery display on the screen shows that those batteries ARE charging though.

Try measuring the voltage of the batteries whilst you put a small load on them.  Perhaps they're super weak and their voltage collapses.

[tautech]

Defpom repair vid might help you:

[vidarr]

This (the video) is essentially the same thing I am attempting to do.

I got the blue battery attached to the protection circuit from the original battery. I plugged it in and it is charging.
It charged overnight, but when I turned it on and unplugged it, it turned right back off.
Testing the blue battery and it seems to be OK (I don't have good testing equipment though, just a cheapo DMM). I am going to attach it to another device I have that requires the same power and see how it goes.

"Try measuring the voltage of the batteries whilst you put a small load on them."

I just read this now and will try it. I may just have a battery problem.

Thank You!

I re-soldered the blue battery to the protection circuit to the main board and it works now. IDK why, but glad it does.

Now, I wonder if the single battery can power two dash cams at the same time.