When people first get their dash camera setup or they’re testing it, they are often surprised when it won’t hold a charge. The battery doesn’t seem to charge up properly or keep the dash cam powered for any length of time, leaving them wondering how to charge their dash cam.
The internal battery is small and not meant to power your dash cam. Nearly all dash cameras sold today are not meant to be self-powered like a traditional digital camera or a GoPro. The one purpose of the internal battery is to keep the dash camera powered on when you turn your car off, just long enough to save the last video file you were recording. This is usually no more than a few seconds.
Many newer dash cams do not even have a battery at all, they use “capacitor” that hold a small amount of power that can be used for a number of seconds when you shut your car off. The benefit of a dash cam having a capacitor over a battery is that they do better in extreme temperatures and they don’t wear down overtime like a battery does. Learn more about the differences between a capacitor and a battery powered dash cam.
So to answer your question:
Why my dash cam won’t charge?
It’s not supposed to. The internal battery is small and only meant to briefly power the dash cam to save video files when you turn your car off. If you want your dash cam to stay on without your cars cigarette adapter power if you wanted it for the parking mode feature, you will either need to get an external dash cam battery, or a hardwire kit to run the camera directly off your cars battery.