Dashcam Install Help

[AdamNS]

I am a bit confused. Based on this

How are you planning to recharge the batteries?

The B-124 connects to the 12v cigarette lighter plug. While the car is on, it charges and has a pass-through for power to the cameras.
Using any lithium ion battery pack would work exactly the same.

If you're asking about how I would have setup the charging for those 18650 packs I was thinking of using because they're currently configured as 36V, I hadn't decided (and won't as I'm not going down that route), but a couple options are: reconfigure the 10S2P packs to something like 3S7P and charge directly from the 12V or wire up a simple step up converter (like this: http://a.co/gotvjVC) to get the 42V for charging as is

 

[Qbenjamin]

If you could post some information on how you removed the black housing on the front windshield so you can hide the camera's wire that would be awesome!

You don't need to remove that, just use the pry tool that's included with the dash cam to tuck it underneath. More to follow, haven't had a chance to create the slideshow.

 

[alexeiw123]

Concern: Remote diagnostics show that this vehicle's 12V battery is in need of an urgent
replacement due to frequent overcharging.

I'd ask them though, why they wrote frequent overcharging

I know this is an older post but I was trying to understand how Tesla is detecting a device connected to the 12V battery and why it takes weeks/months to throw an error, the load is so small that it wouldn't substantially change the 12V battery voltage.

This comment is what made the penny drop. They are Ah counting the charging of the 12V battery from the DC/DC converter. If the car is topping up the 12V system more than expected, then it indicates there is an issue with the battery or there is a parasitic drain. I'd bet that battery was 100% OK and didn't need replacing.

So 'overcharging' doesn't mean the battery is being charged to too high a voltage, it means it is being charged more often than expected.

 

[mistax]

My DR900 and B124 have both arrived. Contemplating if i install them myself or have a professional install them.

 

[z3sty3]

for those not wanting to spend that much on a cellink or blackvue battery, I found this:
https://www.amazon.com/Tqka-20000mA...qid=1526432301&sr=8-1&keywords=tqka+20000+mah
which has a lithium iron phosphate battery like the cellink and blackvue. Build yourself a circuit that switches between the battery and car power and you can get something similar to cellink/blackvue for very cheap.

Running a thinkware 800pro with dual cameras lasts me 18 hrs on the $20 battery.

 

[AdamNS]

I know this is an older post but I was trying to understand how Tesla is detecting a device connected to the 12V battery and why it takes weeks/months to throw an error, the load is so small that it wouldn't substantially change the 12V battery voltage.

This comment is what made the penny drop. They are Ah counting the charging of the 12V battery from the DC/DC converter. If the car is topping up the 12V system more than expected, then it indicates there is an issue with the battery or there is a parasitic drain. I'd bet that battery was 100% OK and didn't need replacing.

So 'overcharging' doesn't mean the battery is being charged to too high a voltage, it means it is being charged more often than expected.

The battery in the Model 3 is a 540Wh lead acid battery. We know that the Blackvue dash cams can drain the B-124 battery which is 84.5Wh in 20 hours. That's not an insignificant drain. In parking mode, you're draining 20% of the Tesla battery in 1 day if you hook it straight to the terminals (the 12v Lead Acid battery, not the 75kWh lithium battery).

That would definitely cause your car to charge the battery WAY more than normal. Not saying this is necessarily bad. I can't think of a reason why the car can't continually top off the 12V battery and keep operating as usual. Just pointing out that the power draw IS substantial.

 

[alexeiw123]

I can't think of a reason why the car can't continually top off the 12V battery and keep operating as usual. Just pointing out that the power draw IS substantial.

I agree the energy use is substantial, I'm talking about the power required and Tesla's mechanism for detecting that. When i said "change the battery voltage", I meant sag due to load, not gradual voltage drop due to energy. I could have worded that better

looking at this: https://youtu. be/_EjIV2d_LRQ?t=380 : About 0.4A draw while running. 84.5 Wh in 20 hours is about 0.35 A average so those numbers more or less agree with what you posted above. Edit: intentionally broke the link so that the video wasn't embedded

That current from an instantaneous point of view isn't going to cause a noticeable drop in voltage though. I'm talking from the point of view of detecting rogue drain, not how substantial the energy usage is. My post was looking at what method Tesla is using to detect the drain and how the service note from Tesla mentioned 'overcharging', which would be explained by the DC/DC converter charging beyond what it is configured as normal.

I also see no issue with the car continuously topping it off, beyond a 'computer says no' error occurring. The car is more than capable. It would be nice if Tesla could simply flag that the car has a realistic standby drain, so the sensitivity for that error could be adjusted.

 

[MP3Mike]

I also see no issue with the car continuously topping it off, beyond a 'computer says no' error occurring. The car is more than capable. It would be nice if Tesla could simply flag that the car has a realistic standby drain, so the sensitivity for that error could be adjusted.

I think the issue is that the DC-DC converter in the battery has a always on 12v feed that is approximately equal to the stand-by drain of the car. (Such that the battery shouldn't be getting cycled much, if at all, under normal use.) As soon as you add more draw you are now draining the battery and forcing the car to turn on the full sized 12v section of the DC-DC converter to keep the battery topped up. (Which is what causes the 12v batteries to not last very long in the Model S&X.) Maybe if you hooked in to a monitored power source instead of the 12v battery directly it could up the always on 12v output to account for it, but it can't when hooked directly to the battery.

 

[SDKoala]

My DR900 and B124 have both arrived. Contemplating if i install them myself or have a professional install them.

I just received the same items yesterday. Going to do it myself since it's much simpler than hardwiring to the 12V battery. I've run wire behind trim/molding for dash cams in other cars before and don't expect the Model 3 to be all that different.

 

[AdamNS]

That current from an instantaneous point of view isn't going to cause a noticeable drop in voltage though. I'm talking from the point of view of detecting rogue drain, not how substantial the energy usage is. My post was looking at what method Tesla is using to detect the drain and how the service note from Tesla mentioned 'overcharging', which would be explained by the DC/DC converter charging beyond what it is configured as normal.

I think we're on the same page on this, we just don't have the full picture of how Tesla is managing the 12v battery.

My guess is that the car is monitoring voltage and once it dips below a certain point, the car thinks "battery is getting low, I should charge it".
So the dash cams draw 350ma or 400ma continuously until the voltage drops to 11v or 11.5v (or whatever the threshold is). Under normal operation, this wouldn't happen very often when the car is off but instead because of the dash cams it's happening maybe every night.

Could be that the batteries really do die because you're deep cycling them every day. Could be that the batteries are fine, but the car sees it draining fast while off so assumes it no longer holds a charge and says you need to replace it.

 

[SDKoala]

I just received the same items yesterday. Going to do it myself since it's much simpler than hardwiring to the 12V battery. I've run wire behind trim/molding for dash cams in other cars before and don't expect the Model 3 to be all that different.

Installed. Couldn't find this thread and posted here instead.

 

[nhirsch]

To all the people who have hooked up a dashcam directly to the 12V battery and then the car has thrown the error/alert:

Once the error/alert occurs, if you disconnect the power connection at that point, does the error/alert go away or does it remain until you take it to Tesla Service and they have to clear it with a code?

It remains. And they will change the battery one time for you. Next time it's on you parts & labor.

 

[nhirsch]

I will put a video & compile some updated info together. But this is the new Blackvue Ultra Battery...fits right under the center console. It is powered from the car's 12V outlet and I also added a on/off switch so I can turn off the dashcam when the car is in the garage.
View attachment 294437

Thanks for the helpful install tips. I just received my B-124 battery and plan on putting mine in same place that you found under center console. Would like to see how you hooked up the dashcam, just using the female cigarette adapter that came with the B-124 or did you wire it in differently? Also wonder where you put the on/off switch, couldn't tell by the close up of the switch. Finally, given that the cigarette lighter is rated for 15 amp, it seems one could splice into the wiring using the direct connect wire or else just use the cigarette adapter in the plug and switch the B-124 to hard wire to enable the faster charge rate. Your thoughts? Did you take a picture from the other side of the console to see the connections?

 

[K-MTG]

Thanks for the helpful install tips. I just received my B-124 battery and plan on putting mine in same place that you found under center console. Would like to see how you hooked up the dashcam, just using the female cigarette adapter that came with the B-124 or did you wire it in differently? Also wonder where you put the on/off switch, couldn't tell by the close up of the switch. Finally, given that the cigarette lighter is rated for 15 amp, it seems one could splice into the wiring using the direct connect wire or else just use the cigarette adapter in the plug and switch the B-124 to hard wire to enable the faster charge rate. Your thoughts? Did you take a picture from the other side of the console to see the connections?

Since I spliced the male connector for my hardware install & I also needed a 12V line for my USB charger (hotspot)...I simply got a 12V male to 12V leads adapter and hooked that up to the neutral legs of the dashcam & USB car charger...the positive legs went to the switch and then to the dashcam/usb charger.

The switch is under the passenger dash, between the gap of the center counsel and dash.

I would assume that would be possible...but I wanted to avoid splicing any connection...the primary goal of using a battery is so I won’t have an issue with Tesla service

 

[nhirsch]

Since I spliced the male connector for my hardware install & I also needed a 12V line for my USB charger (hotspot)...I simply got a 12V male to 12V leads adapter and hooked that up to the neutral legs of the dashcam & USB car charger...the positive legs went to the switch and then to the dashcam/usb charger.

What is the benefit of the on/off switch on that cigarette plug given car turns off anyway after short time? or are you plugging that into the female cigarette provided by the B-124?

 

[nhirsch]

I just finished my install/update of the dashcam in the Model 3. I like this functionality as dashcam is always on, the blackvue battery is accessible, it's charging at the full 9 amps, no wires are shown and I have additional functionality when car is on of 2 additional USBs, one 40watt 115VAC connector and two additional cigarette plug receptacles (courtesy of the coincidentally named "Tesla's Power Console").
The link is here:
Dropbox - 3d update of the Dashcam install for a Tesla Model 3.pdf

 

[nhirsch]

Great news! Just discovered today that if you turn on climate control thru the app while the car is parked, the blackvue battery will charge!!!

 

[turtlesz]

Thanks for the helpful install tips. I just received my B-124 battery and plan on putting mine in same place that you found under center console. Would like to see how you hooked up the dashcam, just using the female cigarette adapter that came with the B-124 or did you wire it in differently? Also wonder where you put the on/off switch, couldn't tell by the close up of the switch. Finally, given that the cigarette lighter is rated for 15 amp, it seems one could splice into the wiring using the direct connect wire or else just use the cigarette adapter in the plug and switch the B-124 to hard wire to enable the faster charge rate. Your thoughts? Did you take a picture from the other side of the console to see the connections?

Do you lose space for storage keeping the battery in the center console? I thought I saw another video that on the passenger footwall area there is enough space to fit in the B124 battery. Also if car is parked in home garage and you dont want it to continue charging/recording, couldn't you just remove the charging cable from the cigarette lighter?

 

[nhirsch]

Do you lose space for storage keeping the battery in the center console? I thought I saw another video that on the passenger footwall area there is enough space to fit in the B124 battery. Also if car is parked in home garage and you dont want it to continue charging/recording, couldn't you just remove the charging cable from the cigarette lighter?

Yes you lose storage space. Pictures in the link. But you have accessibility and it's totally hidden. And while you can't disconnect from car's cigarette because I spliced into wires to enable 9 amp charging you can just unplug cigarette of camera from blackvue battery to disconnect or at the camera itself.
Alternatively you can use the 5 amp cigarette adapter and charge at 5 amps which has no advantage other than not having to splice wires

 

[itskv]

No one was successful in tapping into any constant power with a hardwire kit?