Dash Cam & 12V Multi Adaptor Hidden Install (driver storage compartment)

[Wardy]

Sounds like that fuse slot on an Astra is a permanent live.

 

Was there not a more suitable fuse slot you could have used?

[mike4scuba]

hi all i have attempted to do this mod this afternoon. i ordered a standard piggy back fuse to connect into my rear wiper fuse

 

i have looked at the fuse lay out and my rear fuse is the mini type sitting in the top 3 rows

 

is there another standard fuse i can use to connect my dash cam so it goes off with the ignition ( i tried the front wiper and indicator fuse but even though the wipers and indicators didnt work with the key out of the ignition the dash cam stayed on)

 

**************************************

 

have positioned the piggyback fuse into socket 29 engine control unit and seems to be a switched positive. will it be ok to leave it in socket 29. i also noticed that the main fuse went to the bottom of the holder and the 5 amp fuse at the top (opp of fubars piggy back holder) 

Edited 15 November, 2015 by mike4scuba

[Turkeythighs]

Tried this hardwired in rear wiper fuse with Trancend 220 dash cam with 1amp fuse which same as in car adaptor

 ...No joy...!

 

 

Power on briefly on first key click then cuts out, Camera just cuts out when started and wont come back on

 

Tried a 5amp fuse same problem

 

 

Tried different socket 12V lighter socket with constant power, same problem

 

The rear wiper works perfect still when all this is happening

 

 

I am getting my battery checked today as VCDS said it had 12.2volts at rest that was after running it for 20 mins

 

I will also test the outlet of the piggy back fuse with multimeter and see what it is putting out

 

 

Camera works fine when plugged into my Lighter socket with standard USB cable no issues at all

 

Could be the car battery is faulty? or piggyback point is lacking power

 

Or camera is faulty or needs a certain amount of volts to work?

 

 

What you reckon guys?

 

[J306TD]

Sounds like it's blowing the fuse to me. Have you got it securely fitted onto the 13mm nut?

Also are the wires the correct way around. Ie negative to nut and positive to power?

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Tapatalk

[Turkeythighs]

Sounds like it's blowing the fuse to me. Have you got it securely fitted onto the 13mm nut?

Also are the wires the correct way around. Ie negative to nut and positive to power?

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Tapatalk

 

Hey

 

No fuses have blown

 

The red from camera cable is on the positive and connected to piggyback red cable

 

The negative has got a crimped spade tightly under the bulkhead metal nut as per pics

 

Will be testing tomorrow to see 

 

What you reckon?

 

Cheers mate

[J306TD]

Out of curiosity have you tried swopping the position of the fuses in the piggyback holder?

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Tapatalk

Edited 4 January, 2016 by J306TD

[FUBAR]

Tried this hardwired in rear wiper fuse with Trancend 220 dash cam with 1amp fuse which same as in car adaptor

 ...No joy...!

 

 

Power on briefly on first key click then cuts out, Camera just cuts out when started and wont come back on

 

Tried a 5amp fuse same problem

 

 

Tried different socket 12V lighter socket with constant power, same problem

 

The rear wiper works perfect still when all this is happening

 

 

I am getting my battery checked today as VCDS said it had 12.2volts at rest that was after running it for 20 mins

 

I will also test the outlet of the piggy back fuse with multimeter and see what it is putting out

 

 

Camera works fine when plugged into my Lighter socket with standard USB cable no issues at all

 

Could be the car battery is faulty? or piggyback point is lacking power

 

Or camera is faulty or needs a certain amount of volts to work?

 

 

What you reckon guys?

 

As you say it comes on then cuts, if you get into car and just turn key to on position to light up dash and stop there, does it power up and run normally? I ask this as with my Mobius cameras and with the likes of my DoD GS600 in the past, the cameras were sensitive to the ignition starting phase as there would be a drop in power from the feed for a second while starter turns then back on once key let go. This would or could trip the cameras to go from power on to power off detecting the loss of power and not restarting again once it returns as it was so soon after. For the Mobius cameras in that instance I just as routine turn the ignition to on and do not start the car until I see both my cameras lights come on and start their boot sequence then I start the car and they still run as they were still booting up and not fully up and running awaiting to shut down on power being cut sort of thing.

 

So if when you turn key to on position it powers up and runs fine and only cuts after starting car, then the car is tripping it. 12V socket in car is likely a permanent live feed so not having the same effect of power cut while starting. 

 

Only other thing I had which shouldn't apply here as you are using the supplied cable to power it still, was when I used USB cables that were too long it wouldn't carry a reliable current to the cameras.  

Edited 4 January, 2016 by FUBAR

[Turkeythighs]

Out of curiosity have you tried swopping the position of the fuses in the piggyback holder?

Sent from my Galaxy S5 using Tapatalk

 

tested the wiper before hand to confirm fuse position, cheers 

[Turkeythighs]

As you say it comes on then cuts, if you get into car and just turn key to on position to light up dash and stop there, does it power up and run normally? I ask this as with my Mobius cameras and with the likes of my DoD GS600 in the past, the cameras were sensitive to the ignition starting phase as there would be a drop in power from the feed for a second while starter turns then back on once key let go. This would or could trip the cameras to go from power on to power off detecting the loss of power and not restarting again once it returns as it was so soon after. For the Mobius cameras in that instance I just as routine turn the ignition to on and do not start the car until I see both my cameras lights come on and start their boot sequence then I start the car and they still run as they were still booting up and not fully up and running awaiting to shut down on power being cut sort of thing.

 

So if when you turn key to on position it powers up and runs fine and only cuts after starting car, then the car is tripping it. 12V socket in car is likely a permanent live feed so not having the same effect of power cut while starting. 

 

Only other thing I had which shouldn't apply here as you are using the supplied cable to power it still, was when I used USB cables that were too long it wouldn't carry a reliable current to the cameras.  

 

yes it goes on and off as soon as you turn the ignition to position 1

 

start car and it goes on and off again

 

like the car is tripping it?

 

I am testing the power today as going to buy a multimeter

 

The supplied cable has been cut a fair bit and using that obviously with the adaptor lighter end cut off

Edited 4 January, 2016 by Turkeythighs

[FUBAR]

yes it goes on and off as soon as you turn the ignition to position 1

 

start car and it goes on and off again

 

like the car is tripping it?

 

I am testing the power today as going to buy a multimeter

 

The supplied cable has been cut a fair bit and using that obviously with the adaptor lighter end cut off

 

Since the cable is cut off now, if you have no luck, try reducing the cable as much as you can to keep it as short as possible. My issues mentioned above with cable length crept in at 3 meter cables and above and was fine with 2.5m generally. It came down to quality of the cheap cables I was using a lot tbh. But the cable with yours is listed as 3 meters so it's a fair old length.

 

No idea but I wonder is there is anything inside it your missing out on like it drops the 12V down to 5v in the cig plug and your just getting an overload protection style shut down? 

Edited 4 January, 2016 by FUBAR

[Turkeythighs]

Since the cable is cut off now, if you have no luck, try reducing the cable as much as you can to keep it as short as possible. My issues mentioned above with cable length crept in at 3 meter cables and above and was fine with 2.5m generally. It came down to quality of the cheap cables I was using a lot tbh. But the cable with yours is listed as 3 meters so it's a fair old length.

 

No idea but I wonder is there is anything inside it your missing out on like it drops the 12V down to 5v in the cig plug and your just getting an overload protection style shut down? 

 

hi yes i trimmed it to be as short as poss and took about a meter off it

 

will test it later for sure and see what is happening 

[Anddenton]

I'm with Fubar, are you sure you're not feeding it 12V when it should only be on 5V?

[pikpilot]

In post 262 by someone else it looked like the 12V supply had been connected to a 5V dash cam as the screen went white and smoke came out. Not all dash cams fail that way and could just shut down. Cutting off the cigar lighter plug is the wrong thing to do if the 12 V to 5 V converter is inside the plug.

What dash cam are you using ?

yes it goes on and off as soon as you turn the ignition to position 1

 

start car and it goes on and off again

 

like the car is tripping it?

 

I am testing the power today as going to buy a multimeter

 

The supplied cable has been cut a fair bit and using that obviously with the adaptor lighter end cut off

[Turkeythighs]

hi yes i trimmed it to be as short as poss and took about a meter off it

 

will test it later for sure and see what is happening 

 

 

I'm with Fubar, are you sure you're not feeding it 12V when it should only be on 5V?

 

 

In post 262 by someone else it looked like the 12V supply had been connected to a 5V dash cam as the screen went white and smoke came out. Not all dash cams fail that way and could just shut down. Cutting off the cigar lighter plug is the wrong thing to do if the 12 V to 5 V converter is inside the plug.

What dash cam are you using ?

 

Trancend 220 Dashcam 12/24volts rated

 

Power Supply

Input: DC 12V~24V

Output: DC 5V 1A

 

 

 

Tested the output from the 1amp fused piggyback, 12v exactly but cuts out when car is started, then builds goes up to 13.5 as far as I remember

 

Same as the lighter socket

 

 

My battery I think is not good, after 1.5hrs of driving today

 

 

11.82volts  with front lights on, no engine running

 

9.02volts on cranking

 

13.7 to 14volts when idling

[softscoop]

If you've cut the adapter off then there is your problem.

The camera is destined to take 5v, not 12.

The adapter that plugs in the cigarette socket will reduce the voltage down from 12 or 24v down to 5v.

[Turkeythighs]

If you've cut the adapter off then there is your problem.

The camera is destined to take 5v, not 12.

The adapter that plugs in the cigarette socket will reduce the voltage down from 12 or 24v down to 5v.

 

I used a plain USB direct from the lighter socket to the dashcam and it worked fine at 12 volts?

[FUBAR]

I used a plain USB direct from the lighter socket to the dashcam and it worked fine at 12 volts?

 

 

 

A USB adaptor plug drops the voltage to 5V for the USB port(s) that come out of it. IF the camera works fine off USB I would get one of these and power it from that and a USB cable. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Universal-Dual-Port-2-USB-12V-2-1A-Car-Socket-Lighter-Charger-Adapter-For-Toyota-/311346918566?hash=item487db8f4a6:g:Zz4AAOSwpDdVPH-z

 

Doesn't have to be that specific one, but that sort of thing, there are other ones linked to earlier in the thread if you scroll back. 

[pikpilot]

I used a plain USB direct from the lighter socket to the dashcam and it worked fine at 12 volts?

The fact that you have a USB output on the plugged in socket adaptor says that it works on 5 Volts. USB only gives out five Volts. It is the bit you plug in that converts the 12 or 24 V down to 5 V on the USB socket. Cut the cable off to feed it from the fuse box and you are feeding 12V to a camera that runs only on 5 V.

The camera has a lithium ion battery inside (see product spec). These are invariably a single cell battery in this type of product as this avoids the complication of balanced cell charging with two or more lithium cells. A single cell can be charged from 5 V with a much simpler charger.

Lithium ion batteries will thermally run away resulting in a self sustaining fire if the charger fails through over voltage on its power in line. Do not reconnect directly to 12 V.

In summary, many people on here have said that you need a 5 V supply for the camera and you cannot cut the cable from the converter and feed direct from 12 V. Use one of the many alternative converters like that indicated above or in other dash cam threads.

I think you are very fortunate that the camera has not been damaged.

[Turkeythighs]

The fact that you have a USB output on the plugged in socket adaptor says that it works on 5 Volts. USB only gives out five Volts. It is the bit you plug in that converts the 12 or 24 V down to 5 V on the USB socket. Cut the cable off to feed it from the fuse box and you are feeding 12V to a camera that runs only on 5 V.

The camera has a lithium ion battery inside (see product spec). These are invariably a single cell battery in this type of product as this avoids the complication of balanced cell charging with two or more lithium cells. A single cell can be charged from 5 V with a much simpler charger.

Lithium ion batteries will thermally run away resulting in a self sustaining fire if the charger fails through over voltage on its power in line. Do not reconnect directly to 12 V.

In summary, many people on here have said that you need a 5 V supply for the camera and you cannot cut the cable from the converter and feed direct from 12 V. Use one of the many alternative converters like that indicated above or in other dash cam threads.

I think you are very fortunate that the camera has not been damaged.

 

I never knew the adaptors dropped the 12v down to 5v, I will try the other way as originally stated in the beginning thread

 

will update post as soon as

 

Am i right to think I can add this inline?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-DC-Converter-Regulator-12V-Stepdown-to-5V-3A-15W-Car-Power-Supply-Module-UK-/161818321733?hash=item25ad1fa345:g:M1UAAOSwqv9V7Wx6

Edited 5 January, 2016 by Turkeythighs

[pikpilot]

I never knew the adaptors dropped the 12v down to 5v, I will try the other way as originally stated in the beginning thread

 

will update post as soon as

 

Am i right to think I can add this inline?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-DC-Converter-Regulator-12V-Stepdown-to-5V-3A-15W-Car-Power-Supply-Module-UK-/161818321733?hash=item25ad1fa345:g:M1UAAOSwqv9V7Wx6

Yes, That's the kind of thing you need. Other posts have shown a similar converter mounted inside the fuse box, using the fixing lugs.

 

Just be aware that some of these Chinese converters have little in the way of rf suppression inside, so can cause noise on the radio or upset a GPS. If you have that problem then pass the input wires through a small ferrite toroid. Use two turns and make sure the wires enter and exit on opposite sides and that the wires before and after the toroid are not run together. Repeat with the output wires on another toroid. Ferrite toroids are available on-line or at Maplins.

[silver1011]

Interesting, are you saying that it is this part of the USB cable that steps 12V down to 5V?

 

[softscoop]

No that's just a cable.

It's the bit that goes in the cigarette socket.

https://cdn-reichelt.de/resize_200x200/web/artikel_ws/D400/USB_KFZ_CUBE.jpg

[Turkeythighs]

Bought a fitting kit today in Maplins

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/nextbase-dash-cam-hardwire-kit-a45tx

 

with 12V to 5V stepdown and now everything is working spot on

 

Reason I wanted it as it has a very good cable length and ferrite core supplied (not needed anyway)

 

Thanks to those that helped me out and all constructive replies given

 

Much appreciated

 

No hopefully I can usea 64GB MicroSD card with no issues!

[Turkeythighs]

Interesting, are you saying that it is this part of the USB cable that steps 12V down to 5V?

 

 

Or 

 

http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/nextbase-dash-cam-hardwire-kit-a45tx

 

drop it down from 12v to 5v

[ronhagley]

magic guide, never seen or heard of "piggy back" fuse that will make life so much easier. Thanks so much for sharing.