Dashcam not recording all the time

[paganini]

Hi, i just got tesla for 2 days. I notice the dashcam is not recording all the time. And tesla user manual mentioned it will automatically save video WHEN there is a potential accident.
For almost all of the cheap dashcam on Amazon, they all keep recording when driving, this looks very convenient and simple to me.
Not sure why Tesla doesn’t allow to do this…
Is there any way to enable this recording when driving?
Thanks.

 

[yser]

Hi, i just got tesla for 2 days. I notice the dashcam is not recording all the time. And tesla user manual mentioned it will automatically save video WHEN there is a potential accident.
For almost all of the cheap dashcam on Amazon, they all keep recording when driving, this looks very convenient and simple to me.
Not sure why Tesla doesn’t allow to do this…
Is there any way to enable this recording when driving?
Thanks.

No, but anytime you hit the record button (i favorited it to the taskbar on the bottom), it will save the previous 9 minutes + 1 minute ahead.
i.e, it is continuously recording, but discarding anything older than 10 mins, and pressing the record button snapshots that history for you.

For all practical purposes, this was sufficient for me, it also gives you plausible deniability when needed

 

[jjrandorin]

Hi, i just got tesla for 2 days. I notice the dashcam is not recording all the time. And tesla user manual mentioned it will automatically save video WHEN there is a potential accident.
For almost all of the cheap dashcam on Amazon, they all keep recording when driving, this looks very convenient and simple to me.
Not sure why Tesla doesn’t allow to do this…
Is there any way to enable this recording when driving?
Thanks.

I dont understand what you are asking, because the tesla dashcam does record when you are driving. It has a 1 hour loop, and no there is no way to change that, however it is recording when you are driving.

 

[paganini]

Hi moderator, thanks for looking at this for me.
I am refering to this:

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn about the features you can use to record videos when driving.

www.tesla.com

This feels to me like only when there is an accident, recording will be saved…

1. Enable Dashcam by touching Controls > Safety > Dashcam. Dashcam allows you to choose how and when footage is saved. You can choose between:
   • Auto: Dashcam automatically saves a recording to the USB drive when Model 3 detects a safety-critical event, such as a collision or airbag deployment. When Auto is selected, detection can vary and is subject to your vehicle's power, sleep, and Autopilot state.
     Note
     Several factors determine whether Dashcam automatically saves a recording of a safety-critical event (for example, amount of force, whether or not airbags deployed, etc.). Do not rely on Dashcam to automatically record video of all safety-critical events.
   • Manual: You must manually touch the Dashcam icon to save a recording of the most recent 10 minutes of footage.
   • On Honk: When you press the horn, Dashcam saves a recording of the most recent 10 minutes of footage. This can be enabled along with Auto or Manual.
2. Once Dashcam is enabled, you are free to drive. The Dashcam icon indicates when footage is saved. You can also view the status of Dashcam with the icon in Controls:

 

[stopcrazypp]

Hi moderator, thanks for looking at this for me.
I am refering to this:

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn about the features you can use to record videos when driving.

www.tesla.com

This feels to me like only when there is an accident, recording will be saved…

1. Enable Dashcam by touching Controls > Safety > Dashcam. Dashcam allows you to choose how and when footage is saved. You can choose between:
   • Auto: Dashcam automatically saves a recording to the USB drive when Model 3 detects a safety-critical event, such as a collision or airbag deployment. When Auto is selected, detection can vary and is subject to your vehicle's power, sleep, and Autopilot state.
     Note
     Several factors determine whether Dashcam automatically saves a recording of a safety-critical event (for example, amount of force, whether or not airbags deployed, etc.). Do not rely on Dashcam to automatically record video of all safety-critical events.
   • Manual: You must manually touch the Dashcam icon to save a recording of the most recent 10 minutes of footage.
   • On Honk: When you press the horn, Dashcam saves a recording of the most recent 10 minutes of footage. This can be enabled along with Auto or Manual.
2. Once Dashcam is enabled, you are free to drive. The Dashcam icon indicates when footage is saved. You can also view the status of Dashcam with the icon in Controls:

The other section describes how the 60 minute loop works:

Viewing on a Computer​

Insert the USB flash drive into a computer and navigate to the TeslaCam or TeslaTrackMode (if equipped) folder.
The TeslaCam folder contains three sub-folders:

• Recent Clips: When recording, Dashcam continuously saves footage to Recent Clips in 60-minute cycles. Footage is overwritten every hour unless you manually save it. Four videos are recorded for each clip, one from each camera (front, rear, left, and right).
• Saved Clips: Contains all recordings that are saved using Dashcam.
• Sentry Clips: Contains the last 10 minutes of footage from all Sentry Mode events that triggered an Alert or Alarm state. If storage space on the USB flash drive becomes limited, the oldest Sentry Clips are deleted to provide space for new ones. Once deleted, you cannot retrieve them.

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Dashcam basically continuously loop records 60 minutes and it overwrites it unless you "save" the footage. "Saving" the footage however actually only moves the clips to the "Saved Clips" folder (where it is not overwritten).

As long as you do one of those actions to "save" the clips before that 60 minutes has passed, you would be fine. Another alternative is to press and hold (until item turns gray) to stop recording and unplug the drive. However, I would suggest not necessarily doing the actions immediately after the incident you want to save. I remember people reported the last clip being corrupt when they immediately press to save. Given each clip is in 1 minute increments, if at all possible, waiting at least one minute probably is the safest move.

Another thing to note is that even if the 1 hour loop deleted an older clip, you can recover it with a file recovery program (as long as your drive had enough space so that it wasn't actually really overwritten). I detail how to do so here:
Dashcam in Auto

 

[Allmighty]

Why Tesla DashCam record 60 min but not save it? This is against the basic concept of DashCam.