EXT3 attached Starlink reboots on engine ignition

[NorCal Green]

Hi!

Installed a Starlink Mini on Leitner load bars w/ the Striker Fab mount & DVA Mechanics power cable -- powered through EXT3, every time the engine starts power is interrupted or sags long enough for the Starlink Mini to reboot. Nominally the Starlink unit says it draws ~23 watts. Has anyone seen the same and/or found a fix for this?

(Couldn't find it elsewhere on this forum)

Thanks!

 

[Rok_Dr]

It could be normal behaviour. Many cars I’ve owned do the same thing, temporarily disconnecting the cigarette lighter, radio, aircon etc during starting.

As an experiment, try turning on the overhead power switch before starting.

 

[NorCal Green]

It could be normal behaviour. Many cars I’ve owned do the same thing, temporarily disconnecting the cigarette lighter, radio, aircon etc during starting.

As an experiment, try turning on the overhead power switch before starting.

Tx - should have added: this is with the overhead power switch on, before starting.

If this is considered normal behavior, has anyone figured out a way to keep power on? Restarting Starlink means any wifi connections to devices in the car lose their wifi.

(How does a Wolfbox respond to this behavior? Or can that one be wired to an uninterrupted power feed?)

Tx!

 

[Clark Kent]

Tx - should have added: this is with the overhead power switch on, before starting.

If this is considered normal behavior, has anyone figured out a way to keep power on? Restarting Starlink means any wifi connections to devices in the car lose their wifi.

(How does a Wolfbox respond to this behavior? Or can that one be wired to an uninterrupted power feed?)

Tx!

Hi @NorCal Green
My G900 is wired to INT1 via the Wolfbox hardwire kit. I leave INT1 permanently on so the G900 comes on with the vehicle. I then turn the PWR switch on if I want the G900 to stay on as a dashcam when the vehicle is turned off.

Occasionally (~5%) the G900 either doesn't power up after engine start or it will power up but shut down again ~5 seconds later. It occasionally shuts down with engine start/stop active, i.e. it loses power when the engine restarts and doesn't come on again which is hilarious in traffic. Each of these events requires me to cycle INT1 to power up the G900 again.

None of that happens if I power the G900 directly from the Wolfbox cig power cable and cig socket in the centre console. It's possible that I have a flakey Wolfbox hardwire kit (it's just a 12v to 5v USB-C converter). Or, the supply to the INT/EXT auxiliary circuits is interrupted or unstable during/after engine start when the battery voltage dips so voltage sensitive accessories get kicked offline.

 

[parb]

Put a big capacitor parallel with the relay output for the starlink circuit.
Something like this bad boy.

Amazon.com

Should be enough to overcome any transients. My starlink mini uses 3 amp.

 

[parb]

I wired my wolfbox directly to the battery (or rather a cable on the fuse box that was direct wired to the battery). And I used the power control circuit you can buy to connect the wolfbox to a circuit that only is powered when the vehicle has the key on. Works like a charm. Wolfbox has enough internal power storage to run for a few seconds after power outage so it's not going to be disrupted from transients.

But starlink uses more power and it's pretty small physically so I'm sure it's more sensitive to transients due to not having the size for larger internal power reserves. A large capacitor placed on the battery side of the relay can help with that. You want it on the positive side of else the circuit remains energized when your turn off power which may be unsafe. If the power transient is because of the relay than you may have to put the capacitor after the relay.

 

[weeman]

The Starlink mini only just runs on 12v and will cut out below around 12.5v which would be the case when the engine is cranking.

Easiest fix would be to use a DCDC converter to convert the 12v EXT3 output to 24v in order to power the Mini. The Mini is happy running on anything up to 48v.