Hiya can anyone help me I have a 2024 Kamiq on mobility scheme and are not allowed to permanently hard wire a dash cam into the car. Skoda are not allowed to do it for us either. It’s the mobility schemes rules. So my dash cam is plugged into the front cigarette lighter socket which is permanently live. I have had problems when we have forgotten to unplug the dash cam and not used the car for a couple of days and it’s drained the car battery. On some of the older cars I’ve owned you could choose to have the cigarette lighter permanently live or not by moving the fuse to a different space in the fuse box. My question is can this be done on my car. Or is there any type of adaptor that can be plugged into between the cigarette lighter and the dash cam that will turn the cam off when the car is not running.

Kind regards Richard

I have one ot these, designed to run boat fridges. It works on my fridge in the car but it is rather bulky.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dometic-Coolpower-Voltage-Monitor-Universal/dp/B00I5DAHNO/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1G1RJOZZ01TBA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.HzkjG4HEjDV9kWt5rMlLH0e5iVk3N9lWu7GldqJBT9HGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.--gC-DF0LU4LX0jcyuWUEInZCRcfWmFzgym3Om-dPfA&dib_tag=se&keywords=coolpower&qid=1744997697&sprefix=coolpower%2Caps%2C108&sr=8-4

I run mine from one of the usb sockets, it's not permanently live.

3 hours ago, sussamb said:

I run mine from one of the usb sockets, it's not permanently live.

I run mine from usb now, however the first camera I had, a Nextbase, took so much current that the usb couldn't provide enough to stop the camera's internal battery from going flat and the camera stopped recording. I solved the issue by replacing the Nexbase with a Viofo, which will run on usb continuously, and moving the Nextbase to our other car, powering from a 3A bullet adapter.

USB is the simplest way.

I'd be worried about anything that needed to pull 3 amps! that's 36W!

It may be a bit of a nuisance, but wouldn't an answer be to just unplug the dashcam from the cigarette lighter when you leave the car?

53 minutes ago, Seasider said:

It may be a bit of a nuisance, but wouldn't an answer be to just unplug the dashcam from the cigarette lighter when you leave the car?

It would be but we don’t always remember to that’s the problem.

In my previous Superb mkII I used a Volton Split Charge Relay ZR1220 where I wired a 12v cig plug to connect to the car and also wired 2 12v inline sockets as the output. One powered my dash cam and the other powered a 12v coolbox when needed. Basically it detects when the car is charging and then switches the power through - works as default but there is a small potentiometer that you could adjust the trigger voltage if required, but take a note/photo of the start position.

No longer required in my new car as the 12v sockets are only energised when car powered up.

[EDIT]Photo shows when first installed with one socket for a cool box, second was added later:-

Edited 20 April, 20251 yr by bigjohn
photo

On 19/04/2025 at 15:35, sussamb said:

I run mine from one of the usb sockets, it's not permanently live.

Yes but not all dashcams are 5 volt which is all you get from USB

On 20/04/2025 at 02:17, Richkez28 said:

It would be but we don’t always remember to that’s the problem.

Here is what I would do an you wouldnt have to worry any more

Get these and plug into a switched fuse And make up a little cable into one of these and plug the camera into it behind the dash Have been doing that for 15 years with my Blackvue cameras.. All can be removed in 5 mins