Hard wiring dash cams?

[Zippee]

Hi all,

I'm looking at my first dash cam but would rather not have cables drooping down to the various power sockets in my car. How easy/costly are they to hard wire in? If hard wired can they be on all the time and then are they only 'on' when movement or shock is detected to avoid drain on the cars battery?

[Davo456gt]

piggy back fuse connector (see ebay) direct into fusebox
- just choose an ignition on circuit or get a camera battery monitor device, to ensure you don't flatten the car battery

out of 3 cars I've done, 2 had 12v sockets in the arm rest (ignition on enabled), that it was easy to plug the camera into, and hide the cables behind panel edges, so you couldn't see them.

[Heidfirst]

Zippee said:

If hard wired can they be on all the time and then are they only 'on' when movement or shock is detected to avoid drain on the cars battery?

This depends upon the camera. Generally, the more expensive ones e.g. Thinkware, Blackvue etc. tend to have more sophisticated parking modes. Thinkwares have battery protection built-in, Blackvue sell an add-on battery protection device (as do others) which can be used with other devices.

[Dash-Cam Man]

Zippee said:

Hi all,

I'm looking at my first dash cam but would rather not have cables drooping down to the various power sockets in my car. How easy/costly are they to hard wire in? If hard wired can they be on all the time and then are they only 'on' when movement or shock is detected to avoid drain on the cars battery?

What vehicle do you have (make, model, year)? How easy/costly it is to hardwire in, depends on this particular piece of information.

[Zippee]

Thanks all.
It would be 2 cars. My wifes MY15 (64 plate) Evoque dynamic and my 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland.

[Dash-Cam Man]

Zippee said:

Thanks all.
It would be 2 cars. My wifes MY15 (64 plate) Evoque dynamic and my 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland.

Both cars are on the top end of the difficulty level if attempting yourself, with the rear of the Evoque being the more time consuming part due to the glued/fixed one piece plastic trim on the rear tailgate. We have done both so can give honest impartial advice from experience.

I would personally shop about and get a local audio installer to either just hardwire in a dash camera setup you have purchased from Amazon or such likes, or contact someone specifically dealing with supply & fit of dash cameras. Try and find someone who is a reputable seller, such as Blackvue or Thinkware authorised reseller, this will mean the hand over and demonstration you will receive at the end will be packed with useful information, and not just a hand over of the keys, take your money and go.

Thanks, Jay

[steveo3002]

dashcam man ...any fixes for when plugging in the cam destroys the dab signal?

[Zippee]

Dash-Cam Man said:

Zippee said:

Thanks all.
It would be 2 cars. My wifes MY15 (64 plate) Evoque dynamic and my 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland.

Both cars are on the top end of the difficulty level if attempting yourself, with the rear of the Evoque being the more time consuming part due to the glued/fixed one piece plastic trim on the rear tailgate. We have done both so can give honest impartial advice from experience.

I would personally shop about and get a local audio installer to either just hardwire in a dash camera setup you have purchased from Amazon or such likes, or contact someone specifically dealing with supply & fit of dash cameras. Try and find someone who is a reputable seller, such as Blackvue or Thinkware authorised reseller, this will mean the hand over and demonstration you will receive at the end will be packed with useful information, and not just a hand over of the keys, take your money and go.

Thanks, Jay

Thank you - Some very helpful advice

Are there any particular models of dashcam you'd recommend? Just want something with a clear picture and easy/non complicated to use and also interface with either my phone/cloud via an app or memory card to my PC.

Edited by Zippee on Tuesday 14th August 11:37

[Dash-Cam Man]

steveo3002 said:

dashcam man ...any fixes for when plugging in the cam destroys the dab signal?

There's a topic already on this somewhere on hear, that I've put some comments in already.

In our experience, the best fix remains to be assessing where the DAB module is in any specific vehicle, and running wires down the opposite side and through the opposite conduit. In some vehicles however, this is not possible, due to only have one conduit at the rear where both the DAB cable and your dash camera cable have to enter the body of the vehicle from the tailgate through the only rubber conduit, therefore they practically sit next to each other. In these cases we will try where possible to replace the step down transformer (12V > 5V) cigarette plug where a USB connection is available on the dash camera. Where it isn't, we will use a ferret core rings to place one at either end of the dash cameras (within 30cm of the camera end entering into the actual hardware) and/or wrap the cable in aluminium foil tape.

The latter methods are usually just trying to do something instead of nothing attempts, as they rarely improve DAB reception to anywhere near the original strength prior to installation, but in some cases can be enough just to bring back a customers favourite 'TalkSport' channel.

[Mo28]

Halfords used a obd connector to plug in my Blackview dash cam whilst hiding the wires into the trim panels around the windscreen

[Dash-Cam Man]

Mo28 said:

Halfords used a obd connector to plug in my Blackview dash cam whilst hiding the wires into the trim panels around the windscreen

It's called a 'Connecta OBD'. They have been forced to go down this route after many complaints and not being able to install proper battery monitor devices, where a live & ignition feed fuse require to be found. Every OBD has a live pin, as OBD ports require to have a constant 12V supply to them, even when the vehicle is off, so by using the £20 plug, it eliminates someone inexperienced fiddling around in your fuse box tapping into safety critical fuses.

Advantages - Easy to fit, has a 12V cut off to protect your battery from going flat with a on/off switch for when you go on holiday

Disadvantages - Unlike a proper battery monitor device where you can set a timer configuration too, you are forced to just use the 12V cut off, where as more sensitive vehicles such as BMW's actually will require the 6 hour cut off instead, otherwise you have a battery discharge message if you wait until your cameras drag down the resting voltage to 12V.

OBD ports in every vehicle are not the same location, some vehicles they are out in the open, in some they are behind a piece of trim or flap. In some vehicles, you can't put the trim back on or the flap which covers the OBD, so this is left dangling.

With more and more devices using OBD, such as the TomTom mile tracking device, you are restricted to using the OBD for your dash cameras, and nothing else.

[Dash-Cam Man]

Zippee said:

Thank you - Some very helpful advice

Are there any particular models of dashcam you'd recommend? Just want something with a clear picture and easy/non complicated to use and also interface with either my phone/cloud via an app or memory card to my PC.

Edited by Zippee on Tuesday 14th August 11:37

A Blackvue DR750S-2CH or Thinkware F800 Pro. We personally have more experience with Blackvue, and standby the brand and know the units inside & out, but both cameras are very highly rated. Best to do your own research on youtube, my suggested camera may be someone else's worst camera.

[steveo3002]

Dash-Cam Man said:

There's a topic already on this somewhere on hear, that I've put some comments in already.

In our experience, the best fix remains to be assessing where the DAB module is in any specific vehicle, and running wires down the opposite side and through the opposite conduit. In some vehicles however, this is not possible, due to only have one conduit at the rear where both the DAB cable and your dash camera cable have to enter the body of the vehicle from the tailgate through the only rubber conduit, therefore they practically sit next to each other. In these cases we will try where possible to replace the step down transformer (12V > 5V) cigarette plug where a USB connection is available on the dash camera. Where it isn't, we will use a ferret core rings to place one at either end of the dash cameras (within 30cm of the camera end entering into the actual hardware) and/or wrap the cable in aluminium foil tape.

The latter methods are usually just trying to do something instead of nothing attempts, as they rarely improve DAB reception to anywhere near the original strength prior to installation, but in some cases can be enough just to bring back a customers favourite 'TalkSport' channel.

thanks mines close to acceptable ...is there a prefered spec of ferrite i could try rather than no name ebay jobbies , and is there a good charger you reccomend ?