Operating a camera from a battery pack

[Stihltech]

Good Morning,
I want to position a camera high on a wall at a corner. It is rather difficult to hide/conceal/make not ugly, the cord running to the outlet. I just had a brain fart and thought why not use a power bank to power the camera. Not invisible by any means but much less ugly then having a wire hang down the wall.
Now for the questions I cannot answer myself. The camera is Amcrest IP3M-941, (<7.5W), power consumption. The power bank is a 20,000mAh capable of 5v at 2.4A max per port. I checked the power output specs of the power cable/power supply for the camera and it is 5v at 2A.
I am assuming that this will power my camera without issue so I guess my only real question is, how can I determine how long this might run before needing to be recharged? If the power bank will have to be re-charged every night or two, then it will not be worth it. I suppose I could just connect it and see how long it lasts but there must be a formula, I just have no idea what it is.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Stihltech

 

[Dingoboy]

Good Morning,
I want to position a camera high on a wall at a corner. It is rather difficult to hide/conceal/make not ugly, the cord running to the outlet. I just had a brain fart and thought why not use a power bank to power the camera. Not invisible by any means but much less ugly then having a wire hang down the wall.
Now for the questions I cannot answer myself. The camera is Amcrest IP3M-941, (<7.5W), power consumption. The power bank is a 20,000mAh capable of 5v at 2.4A max per port. I checked the power output specs of the power cable/power supply for the camera and it is 5v at 2A.
I am assuming that this will power my camera without issue so I guess my only real question is, how can I determine how long this might run before needing to be recharged? If the power bank will have to be re-charged every night or two, then it will not be worth it. I suppose I could just connect it and see how long it lasts but there must be a formula, I just have no idea what it is.
Any help is appreciated.
Thanks,
Stihltech

The answer to your question is really going to be determined by how long the camera spends in night mode. Your camera is going to operate probably around 2-2.5v during daylight hours but in IR mode will jump to between 5-7v. So the only real formula you can operate by is the one you create based off of the time your camera spends in IR mode.

 

[Dingoboy]

The answer to your question is really going to be determined by how long the camera spends in night mode. Your camera is going to operate probably around 2-2.5v during daylight hours but in IR mode will jump to between 5-7v. So the only real formula you can operate by is the one you create based off of the time your camera spends in IR mode.

and is also dependent on whether you are event recording or going 24/7.

 

[holiday]

batteries can be unpredictable.. but if it is mounted high, maybe you can feed a poe cable to the location from the roof space/attic.. and use a poe splitter..

 

[TonyR]

This is purely an estimate and is VERY optimistic. Because the cam's 5VDC supply is likely rated to power the cam all night at max draw when the IR is on, I am assuming that max current draw is 2.0 Amps

Not knowing how many "ports" the powerbank has and calculating for one, the least amount of time if figured at max draw would be 20Ahr (20,000mAh) / 2A = 10 hours.

If the 5VDC supply is overrated (as it should be) and the camera draw is closer to 1.5A AND the powerbank is NOT overrated and is supplying what it's rated at, you might get as long as 13 hours but I wouldn't count on it operating dusk to dawn, frankly.

The formula would be powerbank current supply rating ( in Amps) divided by device max current draw (in Amps) = Time in hours. You first convert mAh (miliamperers per hour) to Ah (amperes per hour) by dividing mAh rating by 1,000, then plugging that in to the formula.

Ah / A = T

 

[TonyR]

batteries can be unpredictable.. but if it is mounted high, maybe you can feed a poe cable to the location from the roof space/attic.. and use a poe splitter..

Amen to that.

 

[TonyR]

Your camera is going to operate probably around 2-2.5v during daylight hours but in IR mode will jump to between 5-7v.

What are these "v" (voltage) variations and where are they coming from that you're talking about?

 

[holiday]

he must have meant amps.

 

[biggen]

I agree with @TonyR. 10 hours according to the power output of the power supply, but I doubt that camera is pulling 10W (5V x 2A) especially during the day with no IR running. If its pulling the 7.5W you list, then that's 1.5A (7.5W / 5V). So 20,000mAh / 1500mAh = 13.3 hours. So you are still charging the battery bank daily. It would be a big hassle to do that every day if it were me.

You are using the wrong camera for the job if you want to ceiliing mount it. That camera is made for desks. Need something you can run Ethernet cable to and use PoE. Through the attic and out the ceiling to where you want to mount the camera.

 

[TonyR]

he must have meant amps.

Maybe but it won't draw 5-7 "Amps" in IR mode.

 

[holiday]

yes appears too much..

maybe he meant 0.5 - 0.7A perhaps..

 

[Dingoboy]

What are these "v" (voltage) variations and where are they coming from that you're talking about?

Holy crap, my apologies...haven't finished my coffee this morning. I meant watts.

 

[Stihltech]

Wow, thank you very much for your quick replies. You have helped me understand very clearly why I referred to it as a brain fart in the beginning.
Even if the battery could last two days it would be way too much hassle to recharge every couple of days so the obvious solution would be to use a POE camera and run the cable as suggested through the ceiling. The reason I was using the IP3M camera is available equipment at the current time.
Thank you to TonyR for the formula, I should have been able to figure that out on my own.
As much as I like the idea of the camera mounted high, until I acquire the proper camera, I will revert to positioning the IP3M on an end table or bookcase.
Thank you again for the very quick replies.
Stihltech

 

[sebastiantombs]

Keep in mind that dependent on ceiling height and the focal length of the lens, you may have problems identifying people with that camera mounted at ceiling height. The physics of angles, the hypotenuse of a triangle, apply here. Combine that with a wide angle lens, the actual angle (looking downward) and it gets difficult to get a good ID.