Wiring in a dashcam on a Yeti

[Urrell]

I have just got off the phone with skoda UK chap who stated that the 12volt sockets are NOT permanently live and unless a hardwire was done by a dealership the warranty could be affected. Any help as to which fuses I can use to a permanent live would be helpful

Have you tried the sockets without ignition?

 

To check I have just been out and both 12v sockets are live. The car has not been started for a day.

I have left my phones on charge overnight with no problem.

The USB socket at bottom of dash is ignition switched live.

 

[Great Yeti]

 

The USB socket at bottom of dash is ignition switched live.

 

 

Does it become "Live" when the radio is turned on without the ignition being on? I suspect that it may well do so as I believe it is a function of the Radio, as opposed to being a separate / stand-a-alone circuit. Having said that it would be good to know if responds only to the ignition and not the radio being ON.

Thanks...............Tony

[Urrell]

Does it become "Live" when the radio is turned on without the ignition being on? I suspect that it may well do so as I believe it is a function of the Radio

 

Oops hadn't thought about that, It does become live when radio switched on.  

[ernieb]

Mine are permanently live.

[Llanigraham]

Hi just joined looking for tips and have to say I have just got off the phone with skoda UK chap who stated that the 12volt sockets are NOT permanently live and unless a hardwire was done by a dealership the warranty could be affected. Any help as to which fuses I can use to a permanent live would be helpful

 

Then they are wrong (again)!! On my old one and my new one both power sockets are permanently live.

[quazi]

I mean the 12volt socket, the cigarette lighter one, Ive just gone out and put a male socket in it with led and its illuminated, just going to leave it for a while and see if it shuts down after set time. My old BMW r1200gs had an alarm which powered down after a certain length of time. Does the yeti have a can bus wiring system?

[ernieb]

My understanding it that support for Skoda UK is outsourced.  Whatever, it's rubbish in my view.  I completed two contact email complaints when I was frustrated at not have any delivery date after weeks of my car being on order.  A few days after my first mail I did get telephone contact from someone who knew less about the situation than I or my dealer did.  He did however promise to contact me a few days later and never did.  My second mail was to complain about the broken promise and lack of contact - this was never followed up by anyone at Skoda UK.

What really hacks me off is that after every service, visit to my dealer I get a follow up survey to complete, which I'm always happy to do, but I've never been able to source any kind of survey on my dealings with Skoda UK.  I have a feeling I can guess why.

Sorry if this sounds OTT, but I do get frustrated that good products are being managed, at the UK level, by people who don't seem to listen.  I get the feeling that many of the dealers get just as frustrated as we do.

[Llanigraham]

I mean the 12volt socket, the cigarette lighter one, Ive just gone out and put a male socket in it with led and its illuminated, just going to leave it for a while and see if it shuts down after set time. My old BMW r1200gs had an alarm which powered down after a certain length of time. Does the yeti have a can bus wiring system?

 

So we are all talking about the same socket!

 

As far as I have discovered over the (nearly) 6 years I've had Yetis, no the 2 power sockets do not shut down after a certain period

Yes it is CanBus.

[quazi]

I have had the male socket in the front 12volt lighter socket and its illuminating the led so the bloke from Skoda UK is obviously talking from the wrong orifice. Aside from this anybody got any recommendations as to their dash cams?

[Urrell]

I have had the male socket in the front 12volt lighter socket and its illuminating the led so the bloke from Skoda UK is obviously talking from the wrong orifice. Aside from this anybody got any recommendations as to their dash cams?

If you have not used one before have a look around on the site link below.

http://www.techmoan.com/guide-to-dashcams/

[g6zru]

I have had the male socket in the front 12volt lighter socket and its illuminating the led so the bloke from Skoda UK is obviously talking from the wrong orifice. Aside from this anybody got any recommendations as to their dash cams?

I have tried a number of Chinese clones and the were all C**P! The one I have now is a Nextbase 512GW. I got it from Halfords because all the suppliers were listing it at the same price. It does all I want it to and more. It has GPS and it's very entertaining to watch your route with the supplied PC software. You can also access it via WiFi to your phone. All the customer reviews were positive also.

 

Fred

[bigjohn]

I have had the male socket in the front 12volt lighter socket and its illuminating the led so the bloke from Skoda UK is obviously talking from the wrong orifice. Aside from this anybody got any recommendations as to their dash cams?

 

I use a Volton SR220 split relay between a 12v plug (connects to car socket) and an inline 12v socket . Didn't want to do a "modification" on a car still in warranty (ie wire back to fuse box)

Edited 21 September, 2016 by bigjohn

[Urrell]

I use a Volton SR220 split relay between a 12v plug (connects to car socket) and an inline 12v socket .

I don't understand that, what is the relay for?

[quazi]

thanks, Ive watched tech moan 'til my eyes started bleeding and I want a camera that does clear video but would like one with parking guard motion sensing that split relay looks like the unit from a hardwiring kit, I would like something for when I leave the car and walk my dogs in quite remote places. recently had scratches on my rear bumper where a dog had obviously stood on the back bumper. Concern is only about battery discharge, appreciate it won't stop theft, they would probably nick the camera. I want one that slides off the mount when I am in a dodgy area. The DDpai mini X1 looks good and tech moan seems to like the make and at the other end the lukas via t790 looks good. The X1 states it doesn't need hardwiring and is £70-ish and the t790 £199 but better quality and dismountable but needs hardwiring 

Edited 21 September, 2016 by quazi

[muddyjim]

I don't understand that, what is the relay for?

A  Volton SR220 split relay is intended for use in caravan circuits. It only turns on when it detects that the battery is being charged - I.E. when the engine is running. 

 

Jim

[Llanigraham]

If you use a piggyback fuse holder you are not modifying the wiring, so the warranty is unaffected.

[bigjohn]

If you use a piggyback fuse holder you are not modifying the wiring, so the warranty is unaffected.

 

Hmm, I made the mistake of asking

[Urrell]

If you use a piggyback fuse holder you are not modifying the wiring, so the warranty is unaffected.

 

Hmm, I made the mistake of asking

But good information all the same, no difference plugging a piggy back fuse into the fuse box than plugging into a 12v socket.

[lfc958]

If you do a search, there are a few quite Posts with pics on how to do this. ( Gizmo68 has done a very good one)

 

Simplest way is checkout the fusebox diagram in the manual for a switched live fuse and piggyback a fuse, run the power cable straight up the A pillar and gently tuck the cable between the screen and headliner to where the cam is located.  Plug in and switch on to check camera comes on.

 

The yeti fusebox is located on the drivers side between the door and the end of the dash, the panel just clips off .

 

Be careful plugging onto the " cigarette ' socket, they are NOT switched live, they are permanent live ( both the one in front centre console and the one in the boot) leaving the camera plugged in can drain the battery, unless it is one of the ' clever' cameras that shut themselves off  when the spot battery power is getting too low to start the car. ( yes there are some that clever     )

Edited 21 September, 2016 by lfc958

[Michael G]

Post #71 here has some pics when I hard wired in a power supply for a satnav on our previous Yeti:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/157362-modifications-on-our-yeti-12-tsi/page-3#entry2793341

[Grumpy Geaser]

Mine are permanently live

[richardg8jvm]

Hi all

I think it all depends what you want to use a dash cam for, whether to capture video of your driving or video of some idiots driving.

As I only got my Yeti yesterday I'm still playing, and haven't found its full potential yet.

But if you can get a dash cam that is capable of bluetooth streaming, you could stream video to your phone, some will do it,

or maybe to the RNS-315 which is fitted to mine, I've yet to find out if it will display video media ??

But if bluetooth streaming can be made functional, there is a place that fitting a dash cam with some mods to the dash cam, a bit of weather proofing,

That's behind the front grill.

Not as daft as it may sound, the fins on the grill are angled so the air flow would be across the lens area, which will clear water and most grime.

Power supply is no problem

If the purpose of the dashcam is to capture an event it should do the job, even with a head on impact a micro SD card is liable to survive.

 

Just an idea

For for those who are interested in electronics, another way of doing this is to use one of the credit card sized ARM computers, Raspberry PI, Odroid ect

you can then use a very tiny  waterproof camera , typically 6mm diameter, forward through the grill, or even disguise  it in the Skoda badge.

These little boards run on software on a micro SD card, and consume very little power, typically 6W ,and you can use motion sensing  programs so it would only record while 

something in front is moving, or if parked something or someone approaches it.

The little computer can be mounted at the rear of the engine compartment, its only the size of a packet of 20 cigs, and if a USB WiFi adapter is plugged in , you can download

using you home Wi-Fi network or a laptop in the car.

They also make great little set top boxes for streaming down films and TV ect, , lots of thing you can do with them, and lots of support on the user groups, you can get started with one of the boards for around GBP 50 or less.

 

Maybe of interest to someone

Richard

[Cumbrian28]

Please excuse my ignorance, but assuming I can identify the rear wiper fuse, which way should a piggy back fuse holder be fitted, in which is the live side or the fuse?

[Urrell]

You cannot get it wrong, put the piggy back fuse holder in with the original fuse and other fuse for the power take off uppermost and the lead you are left with is live +.

This shows the rear wiper fuse as 6 and the right way up, the manual shows the upside down.



 

[Cumbrian28]

Thanks Urrell, I guessed it would work fine but there have been discussions on here, and other sites, which suggest that piggybacks should be fitted with the wire on the non live side of the fuse ( if that makes sense).

As I have a Nextbase 312 I may just buy their wiring kit. The camera works really well by the way.

Steve