Ring Car Cam....Pre-ordered...Gonna give it a try

[Lynsey]

I just pre-ordered the Ring Car Cam. It looks pretty cool. I have a Garmin 57, but it would be nice to have all of it in one place (rather than multiple apps), I already have a doorbell and other cams around the house/yard. I also like that you can record inside or flip the privacy cover. For the most part, I don't want the inside recorded, but would be nice to have it if you got pulled over etc. Since I'm already a Ring member I got $19 off the pre-order price so it was only $180 and included a free yard sign Figure I'll try it out. They have free shipping and free returns.

https://ring.com/products/car-cam

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[bburk00]

I was thinking about that for my wife. She gets a lot of haters on her drive back and forth to work and regularly gets cut off, flipped off, etc. Where are you planning on placing since it's a dual camera (front/back). Putting it behind the center tablet would kind of hide it but would block the camera pointing into the interior. I also haven't searched for our OBD-II port so not sure how easily accessible it is.

 

[Flint302]

OBD is very accessible--right next to your left knee. Otherwise, it totally blows my mind your wife has to deal with that. Unbelievable!

 

[bshaw]

OBD is very accessible--right next to your left knee. Otherwise, it totally blows my mind your wife has to deal with that. Unbelievable!

ODBII is mandated to be in the drivers footwell, and has to be a certain distance from the steering column, I think. It also has to be readily accessible, like not behind a panel or something.
Using that as a connection for power is convenient, but then you can't use the OBDII port for the things it was intended for. I guess you just disconnect the camera while you use an app like Car Scanner?

 

[SuperRob]

Plugging into ODB-II may be problematic. It’s known some devices plugged into that port can keep the Mach-E on and drain the 12V battery when you’re parked. I would think a camera you would want to not have to keep plugging and unplugging. Good thing Amazon has a good return policy.

Honestly, I don’t know why anyone would get this over the FitCamX. I could see recording the interior as useful for a rideshare driver, but to me, this seems like too much for what it is, and I hate the subscription component. I like that the FitCamX gets it’s power from the rain sensor, rather than having to be plugged into anything else, and that the storage is removable / upgradable.

 

[Lynsey]

Dang, now with more research, I am maybe changing my mind. I really like the idea to have all the recordings in one place. But now you have me worried about it draining the 12v battery. It does say it is not compatible with certain electric vehicles. Tesla Y and 3 are on the list. Not sure why. I don't really need it for when the car is off. Ring says you can turn that feature off. So now I'm not sure.

Edit: If the motion sensor is turned off, it really shouldn't drain the battery, right? I don't really need the motion sensor, since I mainly park in a monitored lot or my garage. I might just get it and not install it all the way and use the android app to see what my 12v does. Worried, since sometimes I don't drive for days.

 

[Just Lurking]

I was thinking about that for my wife. She gets a lot of haters on her drive back and forth to work and regularly gets cut off, flipped off, etc.

This is wild. Is she doing something to get a rise out of the other drivers? Hogging the fast lane instead of giving way to cars traveling at a faster speed?

 

[Lynsey]

This is wild. Is she doing something to get a rise out of the other drivers? Hogging the fast lane instead of giving way to cars traveling at a faster speed?

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I have never gotten any hate....unless I mess up and do something stupid. But I have been stopped a few times at a light with someone asking me if it was fast...hahah.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Yeah I’d have concerns over how 12V drain is managed. It needs to shut off when the battery gets down to about 12.6 V so the battery isn’t being drained and cycled excessively. If you start getting 12V drain messages while using it, you’ll know there’s an issue. The Mach-E 12V battery is very small compared to a regular ICE battery.

It’s not compatible with Teslas because they don’t have an OBDII port to plug the power cable into.

 

[methorian]

Dang, now with more research, I am maybe changing my mind. I really like the idea to have all the recordings in one place. But now you have me worried about it draining the 12v battery. It does say it is not compatible with certain electric vehicles. Tesla Y and 3 are on the list. Not sure why. I don't really need it for when the car is off. Ring says you can turn that feature off. So now I'm not sure.

Edit: If the motion sensor is turned off, it really shouldn't drain the battery, right? I don't really need the motion sensor, since I mainly park in a monitored lot or my garage. I might just get it and not install it all the way and use the android app to see what my 12v does. Worried, since sometimes I don't drive for days.

Pretty sure Tesla's don't have ODBII. They have a different port (as per usual for Tesla), so that is why they wouldn't be compatible.

 

[Lynsey]

How can you see what level your 12v battery is at? I might try it to see if it drains it, but I don't know the best way to monitor it other than the android widget, but I know that has been a problem with people getting their Ford Pass access revoked.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

Pretty sure Tesla's don't have ODBII. They have a different port (as per usual for Tesla), so that is why they wouldn't be compatible.

Most vehicles have an OBD port but they're only required on ICE vehicles. As usual, Tesla embraces proprietary hardware

 

[Mach-Lee]

How can you see what level your 12v battery is at? I might try it to see if it drains it, but I don't know the best way to monitor it other than the android widget, but I know that has been a problem with people getting their Ford Pass access revoked.

You need an OBD scan tool but obviously that won't work with the Ring camera using the port. The widget isn't useful for monitoring the 12V battery, it only shows you voltage to the nearest volt and doesn't update while off. The 12V SoC is only accessible through the OBDII port.

 

[Jiji]

Pretty sure Tesla's don't have ODBII. They have a different port (as per usual for Tesla), so that is why they wouldn't be compatible.

Tesla’s have an OBDII connector but it is under a rear seat.

Since Tesla is famous for having useful controls buried deep in the UI you can get this aftermarket dongle and that connects to the ODBII connector and program the stickon buttons to do useful things.

https://enhauto.com/product/four-s3xy-buttons

 

[Lynsey]

You need an OBD scan tool but obviously that won't work with the Ring camera using the port. The widget isn't useful for monitoring the 12V battery, it only shows you voltage to the nearest volt and doesn't update while off. The 12V SoC is only accessible through the OBDII port.

Maybe I could just leave it overnight and then check the app in the morning and just turn on accessory power to get the reading? Figure if it doesn't drain too much it will be ok. Definitely won't be getting rid of the Garmin until I know it works well.

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