Can You Charge Wireless Camera While It Is On?

Question

Hello,

I was wondering if I can charge the wireless camera while it is in use? Or when it is in use, does it cutoff the charging, even if it is plugged in?

If it does charge while it is on, you can extend the battery in the camera by getting a cheap usb flash charger and keeping it attached to the camera while it is on.

Robot Doc · Answer

Most folks have discovered that when the Wireless camera is wired up to a servo cable and powered by the EZ-B, too much current is required to charge the battery and operate the camera at the same time so the battery is cut out and removed from the camera innards to prevent EZ-B brownouts.

feroze · Answer

Ah Thanks but this is not what I was trying to do. I do NOT have my wireless camera hooked up to the EZ-B. I am just wondering if I can have the camera plugged into a USB wall socket charger while it is on, and have the camera charge and operate at the same time. When plugged into the Wall socket, or into a portable usb phone charger.

Robot Doc · Answer

The charging process is not very smart in the camera so if a USB +5 volt connection is present then the battery is continually charging whether the camera is on or not.

feroze · Answer

So would a product like this work to extend the battery life of the camera? USB Flash Charger Amazon

Robot Doc · Answer

What you will have is a battery charging a battery. At some point both batteries will need a charge.

feroze · Answer

Yes, of course, this product was designed to be a battery charging a battery! Sooo it looks like the answer is a yes... it will extend operating time of the camera battery before it goes dead

Robot Doc · Answer

Perfectly obvious.

feroze · Answer

Thanks for the info though Robot-Doc dude, it was helpful

PJ_Dtechy · Answer

Yes it is possible, but keep in mind the camera draw a large amount of current while it's on.

Nomad 6R · Answer

:)hi all.my name is nomad.and newbie in ez. does the camera support 220 volt to for charging.thank you for reading this

Rich · Answer

The camera is charged from a USB cable, so 5V. You would need to connect it to your PC or to a plug in adaptor. 220v is not supported.

robotmaker · Answer

MOST battery charging circuit have a current monitor so that the battery is charged at the right current,so if you have a camera on it changes the charging current and cycle for the battery. There is a circuit you can add fairly easy that when the charging adapter is connected the battery is charged and when its the camera is on it uses the adapter and disconnects the battery. But best way is to remove the battery,problem is that batteries goes bad when not charged and left on the shelf.

jstarne1 · Answer

The charger that comes with the ez camera is 500 ma according to the instructions from the manufacturer. To both charge and run the camera you need a 5 volt USB charger rated minimum 1000 ma and it will charge slowly, 1500ma- 2000ma rated charger is ideal for the camera to both be on and charge from the cable. Purchase a charger with these specs in the picture.   Just search for a USB charger 1500 or 2000ma

robotmaker · Answer

JOSH thats way to high rated charger ,battery is only 3.7 volts at 300ma and the camera is about 50 ma,that why a laptop is about perfect it 500ma max and the design should draw well under 300 ma. at 50 ma the camera lasts 6 hours,at 75 ma it last 4 hours on the 3.7 volt 300ma battery CHARGER that big first mostly cost more and size is very big

Rich · Answer

Most mains USB chargers are at least 1A which should be fine. PC USB ports are generally 500mA. That said, the cost difference between 1A and 2A USB chargers is minimal, and since you can't feed too much current in as it'll draw only what it needs then pretty much any USB charger will do the job.

jstarne1 · Answer

Many cell phone chargers are rated 1 - 1.5 amps at 5 volts so its not hard to find one that will work for you.

robotmaker · Answer

Cost is 1/3 more some less depend on a cheap design,size is another problem ,look at the super tiny charger that comes with the camera.

ANY charger will work as long as it puts out 5 volts and you can use a 20 amp charger if you have one,unit and battery only draws what it needs.

ON cell phone charger is perfect for the design small and compact ,low cost and 1000 ma output mostly every one made.

Nomad 6R · Answer

:)thank you all.yes that answered my question.

feroze

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