Car Talk: A dashcam may not be draining your battery

Dear Car Talk:

I have a 2025 RAM 1500. Last month, I bought a front-facing dashcam that plugs into a cigarette lighter slot or a USB port.

I expected the camera to switch off when I shut off the ignition, but it doesn't. It keeps running. I have tried plugging it into the cigarette lighter slot and both USB slots, and even after I lock the truck and walk away, the camera remains on.

Two questions: Am I doing something wrong, such as using a setup that keeps the camera powered all the time? And could this drain my battery? Right now I have it unplugged. For what it's worth, this doesn't happen in my friend's Toyota RAV4 or Jeep Patriot with the same model dashcam.

-- Anand

A customer once had a similar issue, Anand. He bought a phone charger that plugged into the power port, and it had a small LED that glowed green whenever the charger was receiving power.

When he turned off the car, got out, and closed the door, he was annoyed to see the green light still on. He figured he would have to unplug the charger every time he left the vehicle.

Then, on one occasion, he forgot to unplug it. When he returned about half an hour later, the light was off. That is when he learned it was connected to a timed switch, meant to provide power for a short period after the engine is shut off as a convenience.

Different manufacturers handle this differently. In your RAM 1500, the USB ports stay powered for about an hour. So your dashcam will eventually shut down, Anand, long before it can do any harm to the battery. A dashcam would typically need somewhere between 30 and 60 hours to drain a healthy battery. An hour is not a concern.

The power port in your truck, however, is designed to stay live around the clock. If you leave the dashcam plugged into that outlet, it can eventually run the battery down. There is a workaround for that as well. If you open the fuse box under the dash and move the fuse assigned to that power port from the first and second holes to the second and third holes, the port will then turn off when you shut off the ignition.

Either way, you can avoid the hassle of plugging and unplugging the dashcam every time you use the truck, Anand. That leaves you more energy for reviewing all the footage it records.