I was using the MicroUSB port for Power going into the Battery, then the USB-A to go out to the V4 cam.
I did not try with the other ports receiving power in. This could indeed potentially make a difference.
Furthermore, I was using a standard V3 Adapter to provide the power, so that is also admittedly pretty low power to the battery for charging purposes. It might go better if I used a 2amp charger as you suggested.
I might try that sometime in the next couple of days. It might also work better with a V3 instead of a V4.
Those are all potential variables that might make a difference.
UPDATE: carverofchoice is correct. I did another experiemtn. I put the camera into continuous recording. I didnât have any disruptions when pushing the power meter button; HOWEVER⌠i did have a reboot on the camera when I pulled the power plug from the wall. Like you said. For me however, I donât mind this for 2 reasons.
I never record continuously. Havenât found a need to.
It verifies that it truly is Pass-Through charging. Similar to most consumer grade UPS systems. So the click I hear is the camera switching over from the 5v wall wart incoming power; TO the 5v battery bank power. Thatâs actually good to know. And thatâs why my battery bank is remaining at 100% charged. The cameras are getting their power from the wall wart.
Great point! My tests would also confirm that it is absolutely pass-through charging, which is awesome, just not uninterruptible, but the interruption is less than a 1 minute, which is reasonably small.
It will work okay as a battery backup for something like countering someone cutting your power line or something, but maybe not so much for something like a remote location with inconsistent solar power. The solar power coming in and out and at different amounts of power would cause the camera to go into a constant state of reboot. I guess for solar we would want something that isnât technically pass-through charging, but always uses the battery even while it charges the battery.
I am continuing to test using the Voltaic v75 âAlways Onâ product.
It is expensive
I think they are aimed at commercial /enterprise environments, not average consumer.
Complimenting the power banks they have a line of solar panels, and they are REALLY expensive.
Iâve been testing about a week now. The Voltaic has alway had the load, a v4, always on. I have verified this by looking at the SD card playback. The Timeline is solid green going back days except for 2 hour on 10-14 when I brought down my test site as the Gardner has a powerful blower. I donât think my test site could stand up to that toolđ .
The unit uses 4 ledâs to display battery level and charging status. I am aware of the pitfalls of constantly charging a lithium battery. According to the LED Indicators, at 100%, the unit stops charging. I am curious as to when it starts to recharge. Time permitting Iâm going to connect my 2 Drok USB testers to the charge and discharge ports and see if I can document the cycle.
carverofchoice: Not knowing much about your setup, I can say though that I have a lot of experience with solar panels. Working for the dept of transportation, we use a lot of solar along the highways where thereâs no commercial power. So, assuming youâre talking about something on the âSouth 40â of your property or something, where you need a camera, this is what I might do. Just me.
I would assume that your solar isnât directly feeding power to devices. It wouldnât work too well at night. Itâs probably feeding some type of battery system. I would just use that battery system. If you arenât using a battery for storage, simply add a small lead acid, like a lawn mower or motorcycle battery. I assume the solar panel has diodes the prevent reverse drain on the battery. If necessary, connect a trickle charger to the motorcycle/lawn mower battery. They, and the battery were designed to do and handle trickle charge to maintain the battery.
Then, on the battery, simple add one of these:
It can handle 12/24 vdc input (connect it to the small motorcycle/lawn mower battery. With the solar panel connected, even if the regulator isnât great, this converter can handle it. It outputs USB. This is a USB-C, but the same brand has options for USB-A and USB Micro. A small SLA battery would last DAYS AND DAYS for the small amount of current the camera draws.
Were you able to see how it does with battery management, is it constantly keeping the battery at 100% or does it stop charging in the high 90s and sit there? May be a bit difficult to figure out I guess depending on what tools you have and what the indicators are on the device.
Did you leave a review on Amazon. This is good information.
I see reports about when checking percentage the output drops. One reviewer referred to another reviewer about his unit catching on fire, although his did not.
It might work for me, but I have loads of banks to play with first.
The product specs on Amazon look promising for the Voltiac v75. They are bold enough to talk about pass-through voltage. Thanks. I need to do further research.
Today Iâm deep into testing the battery management system.
As far as Iâm concerned the âalways onâ feature works.
The reason I went with the V75 is if the bird Feeder is using solar the camera must make it non stop for 24hrs. After 24 hrs it must start recharging. Then it is a race to see if the recharge is greater than the discharge. If it doesnât make it 24hrs then the camera will die. Test over.
If looking at the V25 model as a UPS then it will work fine, non stop - - given a 5v/2a supply.
Hopefully by tomorrow Iâll have more data on the BMS.
I understand your reasoning for the v75 in the discharge/charge cycle as you explained it.
Guess I should do the math to determine how long the v25 would last if I lost power for a week. I can see if it is always-on and only encounters short intermittent outages it should meet my expectations.
I may need to get a stronger power brick to supply enough amperage to charge the power bank and to run the camera at the same time.
@ssummerlin, I did some initial testing with a 50,000mAh power bank. I was able to power a wyze v4 for almost 4 days.
The voltaic v75 is rated 20,000mAh. Maybe get almost 2 days out of it.
Keep in mind that originally the 50,000 unit worked great inside powered by a standard 5V/2A wall wart. The unit failed miserably when placed outside on solar. As the sun faded the solar panel started fluctuating, and this was passed through to the camera, causing a reboot every 30 seconds.
If your going to give the 50,000 unit constant power, and you trust the BMS (all the protective features) I would lean toward the big unit. Get 4 days of backup.
If you donât trust the big unit, want it TSA compliant and can live with almost 2 days backup then the voltaic unit looks promising.
Hold my Beer 
