Hardwire & Rear Dash Camera?

[Lancer1993]

So who here has hardwired their dashcam for power?

I want to when I get the new one (Kaiser Baas R40) but they don't supply them and I'm don't want to get the wrong one on eBay or pay too much for a local one.

My dashcam will have (like most) a mini USB connection.

How much should they cost and where is the best place get a reliable one?

[bumblebee]

Checkout dashcams australia
I have a blackvue 450. Havent installed it yet

[aKaotic]

I have my front one hardwired, used something similar to this
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3m-4m-Car-Hard-Wire-Kit-Mini-USB-Hardwire-for-Dash-Cam-Camcorder-Vehicle-DVR-/172489922362?var&hash=item0&_uhb=1

If the dash cam supports Parking mode, you can use The Power Magic Pro to have it on while the car is off and cutoff power when voltage is low. I dont think the Kaiser R40 has parking mode though

[bumblebee]

https://dashcamsaustralia.com.au/

[Skrallex]

Yep, what aKaotic suggest is the best way. I have mine hardwired, sits just behind the front rear-view mirror, pretty well tucked away. I used one of these, which is easy to setup, I tapped mine into the cigarette lighter below the climate controls, then up to the driver-side A pillar, as I also use it to power my GPS (which sits bottom right corner of windscreen).

Definitely worth doing, and not difficult as long as you have a multimeter and the time and patience to pull panels off. Definitely triple-check your polarity at the cigarette lighter if you go that way.

[Lancer1993]

Okay some updates...

First the R40 uses a micro USB port, not mini USB but that aside the GPS is part of the power lead so I need to use the included USB lead.

Thanks for the link Skrallex that should work.

BTW my dash cam GPS is in the top left of the windscreen as its only about 60 cm from the dash cam end of the lead. My head unit GPS is around the middle of the windscreen under the dash mat.

Also the R40 has a park mode but its limited to taking still images and only when the unit is powered, unless I missed something. Which is a shame as the app software is pretty good, just lacking some options/features.

[Skrallex]

Yeah, worth mentioning I don't have mine setup to record when the car is off or anything, mine runs only on accessory power (hence why cigarette lighter is used, which also has the added benefit of being fused, which is definitely what you will want to do if you're running it directly from the battery).

[Lancer1993]

In the long term I want to go hard wire or a dedicated USB port hided near the fuse box under the dash, not sure about having it powered all the time. I'd also like a hardwire USB port in the rear for a rear camera so if I can find a suitable solution for one it might work for both. I have an auto electrician who might have something, will need to call him next week.

[bumblebee]

Blackvue have a powerbox that i bought to run the camera off the battery. It has dip switches to set the cutoff voltage ao it doesnt flatten the battery fully. Alternatively they have a small rechargeable battery to run the camera off that is a small fortune to buy
The powerbox that uses fip switches runs to a standard old cigarette lighter socket that it comes with so you can power anything off it.
The camera when in park mode will only start to record anything if the car gets bumped

[adamhumphrey]

I have hooked the acc power up in two different ways the Evo X I used the front cigarette lighter socket (was a real pain to get to the wires) and also in my wife's VRX used the acc socket located in the compartment behind cup holders under arm rest. (much easier to get to just pop out the cup holders and use test light to find the wires going to it. It would make it nicer to hide control boxes for the black vue power socket if people choose to do that.

[Lancer1993]

My current set up is I extended the wires on a car socket multi outlet so I can power up to 3 devices. This is plugged into the socket in the arm rest and the outlets are in the glove box, all neat and tidy. This made sense when I have the DC and GPS powered off it but no more.

I don't want to wire anything more from the power in the armrest as the auto electrician has used this to power my extra USB ports near the hand brake.

I'll probably go with something like this off eBay maybe a second in the boot area for a rear DC.

[bumblebee]

The only issue with this is it will have constant power. One way to fix this is add a realy to the wiring that runs off the accessories power. So when the car is running and there is power to the accessories in the vehicle that power is fed to the relay to switch it on and when the relay kicks in it sends power direct from the battery to your usb devices

Run.main battery power to the relay and use that to power the usb devices and use the.power from the car accessories to switch the relay on or off

[Lancer1993]

I'd probably have it wired to the acc with this DC but its good to know in the future if/when I upgrade again (4k baby!) I'd have to option to change the wiring so its on all the time with battery override and protection to prevent the battery being drained.

[Lancer1993]

Ordered some USB power leads off eBay, one for the rear.

But in the mean time (now I have a new SD card) I've just installed the old DC in the rear. I've run a temp power to the front of the car, partly hidden under the floor mats and down the back seat. As you can see its at the top of the window right now but I might move it lower down to get the right view and not block the rear window so much.

[Skrallex]

Are you planning on getting one without the lcd screen for the rear? I personally prefer them not to have the screen, and especially on a rear one whats the point of it haha