Dash cam fitting

[Martin.S]

Hi, 

I have just ordered a Nextbase dash cam (front only) and need some advice on hard wire connection. The one I have ordered (arrives Friday) has a powered mount and I have seen the hard wire kits to run a cable from behind the rear view mirror under the head lining and down the passenger side pillar to the fuse box with a 'piggy back' connection. My question is how easy is this to do? I can be a bit ham fisted and don't want to damage anything, trim, windscreen etc. If it is difficult I will get someone to do it for me so looking for some feedback. Also if I do get someone to do it for me any idea on cost?

 

Thanks

Martin

[Gdcobra]

Not sure about the fuse box on the passenger side, I've wired mine to the fusebox behind the drivers side dashboard end cover. Easy to do, used a piggy-back fuse hoder to a dual USB outlet then long standard to micro USB cable to the mount.  Also gave me a spare USB connection which is handy for my phone charger.

[CWARD]

Easy to do, as above down the drivers a pillar to the fuse box behind the dash. No need to remove the headlining the cable will push behind it using a plastic handle or something similar. Rear wiper fuse for your piggy back adapter. 

Only thing to be careful of is the plastic clips for the a pillar trim. 

[Martin.S]

Thanks guys, looks like I may have a go myself

[chimaera]

One other thing to watch for is that there's an airbag in the A-pillar behind the trim. Be careful prising off the trim so that your don't damage it, and make sure to route the  wire so that it won't interfere with airbag deployment.

[silver1011]

Everything you need and more here...

 

 

[Martin.S]

23 hours ago, chimaera said:

One other thing to watch for is that there's an airbag in the A-pillar behind the trim. Be careful prising off the trim so that your don't damage it, and make sure to route the  wire so that it won't interfere with airbag deployment.

 

Ah, now you are getting me worried! Think I may be better getting someone to fit it for me

[snowathlete]

Don't be afraid to fit it yourself, I doubt you will do any damage to the airbag system, just being aware of it being there means you'll be fine as long as you use a modicum of care. Removing the A pillar trim is different depending on whether you have a Facelift model or not, I think. Mine is a facelift and there is no airbag badge to remove with a screw behind it. Instead it just pulls off, held in by strong clips. It is a bit fiddly but very much something you can do. You won't break the airbag. So you take it off and then you just make sure the dashcam wire is cable tied into place with the rest of the wiring harness running up the side which keeps it all away from the airbag, so if the airbag ever deploys it won't interfere with it.

 

I have some pictures I took when I installed mine. I was going to post it because it's always handy if you can see what you're dealing with first, but I never got round to it. If you want I can dig the photos out for you.

 

Another tip is that it may not be best to hard wire it. Depends on how you plan to use it, but in my case I run it off a power bank in the glove box most of the time. You can't run long off your car battery in parking mode without the battery getting low. On the power bank I can run it while parked and it lasts about 48 hours. Then just recharge from the mains. I actually have two power banks and swap them so never have any time without coverage. I can also just plug it into the 12V socket for use when the car is running (saves the power bank for when it's parked) as an alternative. 

[chimaera]

One of the attractions of hardwiring it is that there are no exposed wires around the dashboard, it's all nice and tidy inside the trim.

[snowathlete]

Just now, chimaera said:

One of the attractions of hardwiring it is that there are no exposed wires around the dashboard, it's all nice and tidy inside the trim.

 

Absolutely, but you can also make it as tidy as you want it to be in the glove box or wherever else you want to run it to. So that I can power from the mains more tidily I'll probably wire in a USB cable from the glove box to behind the socket at some point, so it's not visible at all.

 

But for some hardwiring to the battery suits them better, in which case, if using it in parking mode, it's worth getting a decent protector that will turn off the juice if the battery voltage starts getting low. Be aware though that most have a cut off that is much too low, so be careful what you buy.

[HughGabriel]

10 hours ago, Martin.S said:

 

Ah, now you are getting me worried! Think I may be better getting someone to fit it for me

When I did mine I just tucked the cable behind the black rubber trim next to the a-pillar trim rather than the trim itself so I wasn’t anywhere near the airbag. 

 

[Danny 57]

I bought mine on a price match at Halfords and got them to fit it. Can't remember how much they charged to fit but to me it was worth the money.

 

Just checked and it was £20, took him 1/2 hour, no brainer for me as he has the trim tools does it all the time and if he broke anything then Halfords pay. Win win for me.

Edited 23 February, 2018 by Danny 57

[chimaera]

1 hour ago, HughGabriel said:

When I did mine I just tucked the cable behind the black rubber trim next to the a-pillar trim rather than the trim itself so I wasn’t anywhere near the airbag. 

 

If it's the door rubber seal then you've probably run the wire across the airbag. I'd suggest you revisit your installation.

 

That curtain airbag runs the full length of the roof, just inside the edge of the headlining, and runs down about half the length of the A- and C-pillars.

[chimaera]

10 hours ago, snowathlete said:

 

Absolutely, but you can also make it as tidy as you want it to be in the glove box or wherever else you want to run it to. So that I can power from the mains more tidily I'll probably wire in a USB cable from the glove box to behind the socket at some point, so it's not visible at all.

 

But for some hardwiring to the battery suits them better, in which case, if using it in parking mode, it's worth getting a decent protector that will turn off the juice if the battery voltage starts getting low. Be aware though that most have a cut off that is much too low, so be careful what you buy.

 

I have a Vicovation Opia 2, along with Vicovation's battery manager hardwiring kit which allows me set the threshold voltage for turning off the camera. It also has a correction feature so that you can match its voltage reading to what the battery is showing (voltage drops on the vehicle wiring can create a discrepancy here). The other nifty feature is a thermal cutoff so if the car gets too hot it shuts down the camera to prevent damage to the electronics. I put the control unit in the small glovebox on the driver's side of the dash, near the fuse panel.

[Martin.S]

On 22/02/2018 at 23:51, snowathlete said:

But for some hardwiring to the battery suits them better, in which case, if using it in parking mode, it's worth getting a decent protector that will turn off the juice if the battery voltage starts getting low. Be aware though that most have a cut off that is much too low, so be careful what you buy.

 

When I queried the hardwire connection with Nextbase they advised to connect it to something that is only live when the keys are in the ignition, which suits me as I don't have to worry about a flat car battery. I will get limited time in parking mode from the camera's internal battery or may just turn parking mode off.

[snowathlete]

14 minutes ago, Martin.S said:

 

When I queried the hardwire connection with Nextbase they advised to connect it to something that is only live when the keys are in the ignition, which suits me as I don't have to worry about a flat car battery. I will get limited time in parking mode from the camera's internal battery or may just turn parking mode off.

typically the internal batteries last less than one or two minutes. They are really only designed to power the camera for a few seconds while it saves the current file that was being recorded when you turned the engine off. The internal batteries also do not like heat, so be aware of that in the height of summer. They can melt/burn. You can get cameras with capacitors instead which in my view are a better bet.

[Danny 57]

3 hours ago, Martin.S said:

 

When I queried the hardwire connection with Nextbase they advised to connect it to something that is only live when the keys are in the ignition, which suits me as I don't have to worry about a flat car battery. I will get limited time in parking mode from the camera's internal battery or may just turn parking mode off.

 

That is what Halfords did otherwise people complain of flat battery if it is left for holidays etc.

[Veracity]

My Nextbase Dash Cam is attached to the windscreen by a suction pad but regularly falls off

 

Any suggestion how to make the connection more permanent please?

[Martin.S]

1 hour ago, Veracity said:

My Nextbase Dash Cam is attached to the windscreen by a suction pad but regularly falls off

 

Any suggestion how to make the connection more permanent please?

 

I just bought a replacement part on eBay that swaps out the sucker bit for an adhesive pad. Not fitted yet as its been too cold! You need to make sure it is one that will fit the ball part from a Nextbase mount as I believe some are a different size.