Dash Cam Hard Wiring Alternative

[ottoyu34]

Keep in mind running your cam 24/7 isn't a true Parking mode imo, if you were to sniff thru hours of parked car footage just to find that one moment, that car hit you. It's a huge hassle. But if it works for you. Also, it is also a lot of wear on both sd card and cam to run full recording mode.

I have the Panorama X2 with built-in Battery drain prevention. Never had an issue with car battery, I set my power cut-off 12.1V if I recall correctly, just add-a-fuse to the fusebox and 15min install. Front and Rear cam works independently, and it buffers frames during parking mode, when a motion is detected, it will save 5 sec before and 15 sec after motion is gone. So far it's working fine for me.

[tinma]

sub'd also interested in this

[steeloyangster]

Originally Posted by G-awesome

Huh...never thought about the OBD as a car charger...! Guess I should take off my bluetooth connector since I always left it plugged in for the torque app.

I just got the Cellink B external battery pack just a few days ago and I'm testing it at the moment but it works perfectly with my blackvue 550 (2 channel) It has a 6000ma lithium-ion phosphate battery so it drains that first before it uses the juice from the car battery if you decide to hardwire it. Or you can plug it to the 12v plug so it'll power the dashcam while the car is off but if you drive your car, it'll recharge the battery but the dashcam would still be running while you're driving. Alternatively, if you have a DC to 12v adaptor, you can fully charge it at home before you connect it to your car in the morning to work or a roadtrip. It's a bit pricey but it's a good solution if you're hesitant about hardwiring the dashcam directly to the car battery.

I saw this powerbank battery constantly while I was watching a hockey game yesterday. It has double the power and you can boost your car battery if it dies! It also has multiple connectors so I believe it'll work with a dashcam along with smartphones, ipods, et. I think it's sold under multiple brands so it's a generic battery product out of china.

I've always been interested in the Cellink B battery but never really looked into it other than some youtube videos and stuff. The price really turned me off on it and all the extra wires you have to run makes my head hurt. It's not that I'm too dumb, I'm just too lazy.

I do keep a powerbank in my cars especially in the winter because there's always a ton of people at my workplace who have crap batteries that die during the cold season. It's the Anker Powercore Jump Starter 600.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B010N8YM2U?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailp age_o06_s00"]Amazon.com: Anker PowerCore Jump Starter 600 (High 600A Peak Current Car Battery Jump Starter and 15000mAh Portable Charger with Built-in Flashlight and Safety Protection) Perfect for 5L Gas and 3L Diesel Engines: Automotive[/ame]

I haven't really used it yet other than charging it and throwing it under the passenger seat. Hopefully I'll never really have to use it but now since my DashCam is being powered by the OBD II port it frees up the center 12v outlet so I can run a charger from that to the battery to always top it off while I'm driving. It's probably a terrible habit that would probably kill the battery but hopefully I'll be able to use it during long trips to charge phones/tablets. I was considering using it to power the dashcam but I wasn't able to find a suitably long enough USB cord to run from underneath the passenger seat to the top of the windshield. Maybe I'll try to come up with something in the future. It's 15,000 mAh so it'll probably run the Dashcam when the car is off for a pretty long period of time.

[G-awesome]

Originally Posted by steeloyangster

I've always been interested in the Cellink B battery but never really looked into it other than some youtube videos and stuff. The price really turned me off on it and all the extra wires you have to run makes my head hurt. It's not that I'm too dumb, I'm just too lazy.

I do keep a powerbank in my cars especially in the winter because there's always a ton of people at my workplace who have crap batteries that die during the cold season. It's the Anker Powercore Jump Starter 600.

Amazon.com: Anker PowerCore Jump Starter 600 (High 600A Peak Current Car Battery Jump Starter and 15000mAh Portable Charger with Built-in Flashlight and Safety Protection) Perfect for 5L Gas and 3L Diesel Engines: Automotive

I haven't really used it yet other than charging it and throwing it under the passenger seat. Hopefully I'll never really have to use it but now since my DashCam is being powered by the OBD II port it frees up the center 12v outlet so I can run a charger from that to the battery to always top it off while I'm driving. It's probably a terrible habit that would probably kill the battery but hopefully I'll be able to use it during long trips to charge phones/tablets. I was considering using it to power the dashcam but I wasn't able to find a suitably long enough USB cord to run from underneath the passenger seat to the top of the windshield. Maybe I'll try to come up with something in the future. It's 15,000 mAh so it'll probably run the Dashcam when the car is off for a pretty long period of time.

The extra wiring is only if you want to hardwire into the fusebox. I didn't bother because I got lazy so I just plug the cellink into the 12v in the glovebox and dashcam into the cellink. The only issue I have with it so far is there's no indicator somewhere showing how much juice is left on the battery pack.

[Zhangy]

this is going overboard, regular dash wired to cigarette lighter works fine

[SmartedPanda]

Originally Posted by Zhangy

this is going overboard, regular dash wired to cigarette lighter works fine

Depends on how ghetto the area you drive in.

[tinma]

Originally Posted by LXXXV1

Love my blackvue and all it's features. I got the 720p version, front and rear, slim and discreet, records audio, has parking mode, and can connect via wifi to my phone for live footage for only $200. A black magic pro runs about $25 and it connects to a running power source to enable parking mode. I wired mine so that it didn't require any splicing and is 100% reversible. Don't fall for dashcams with screens..why would you ever need a screen after you set your view. Screens just make the camera bigger/bulkier. Wifi/bluetooth is the future. Plus, in any accident, I can immediately pull the footage via my phone to show any law enforcement instead of having them crawl into the wreckage.

Fair warning though, the higher end blackvue, 1080p front and rear runs about $400. Worth it IMO, especially since I live in the heart of asian driver territory. FTR I'm asian.

You get what you pay for: http://www.blackvue.com/products/

They seem to be utilizing cloud storage now so that's a plus. Never lose anything important again.

How'd you wire it without splicing?

[LXXXV1]

Originally Posted by tinma

How'd you wire it without splicing?

Lol I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this...

I literally just stripped the ends of the wires, removed the fuse I wanted to connect them to, shoved wires/fuse back in. Been running fine ever since. Over a year now.

[tinma]

Originally Posted by FRSBRZGT86FAN

Mav is right, get a LUKAS LP UPS or Cellink UPS to power the dashcam regardless of whether or not it has a capacitor or battery. The capacitor or built in battery only really help when the car is parked for a short period of time and to help run while in extreme temps (capacitor). I have a rexing V1 which has a capacitor with the wiring for the dashcam as well as my escort passport 8500ix radar detector running through the headliner across and into the glovebox, connecting to one of these the usb 2.4 amp socket is for the dashcam and the cigarette lighter socket is for the valentine one:
Amazon.com: Cable Matters 17W 3.4A Car Charger with Lighter Socket and Dual USB Charging Ports: Cell Phones & Accessories

Amazon.com : LUKAS LK-530-12V Dash Cam Smart Power Supply Battery Pack (All in one Potable UPS) For Car Blackbox : In Dash Vehicle Gps Units : GPS & Navigation

That connects to my UPS which in turn connects to the socket in the glovebox and can power them both for 12-14 hours when the car isn't running and is parked somewhere also it charges super quick. Much better solution than drawing power from OBD2

Do you leave your Lukas battery switched on all the time? Or do you only turn it on when you're charging?

[Bach415]

Originally Posted by LXXXV1

Lol I'm gonna get a lot of shit for this...

I literally just stripped the ends of the wires, removed the fuse I wanted to connect them to, shoved wires/fuse back in. Been running fine ever since. Over a year now.

Which fuse did you end up using? Sounds like something I would consider doing rather completely splicing things

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by tinma

Do you leave your Lukas battery switched on all the time? Or do you only turn it on when you're charging?

The lukas battery is on all the time, and plugged into the glovebox cigarrette lighter socket, in a short 15-20 minute drive it charges enough to leave the dashcam running for quiet a noticeable amount of time maybe 2-3 hours if it was dead from sitting from not driving for a couple days.