Dashcam Install Help

[HankLloydRight]

Hanklloydright, what do you think of the Amazon linked item? What do you think of a two circuit timed relay. Know of anything?

That relay is definitely not applicable for this. You could make it work, but I think there are better ways to do it. Timed circuits aren't that hard to do, but I don't know of anything "off-the-shelf" that does it.

That said, I'm working on a plug-and-play solution to solve a couple of these problems which I should have ready to post about in a week or so when all the parts arrive.

 

[Akikiki]

That relay is definitely not applicable for this. You could make it work, but I think there are better ways to do it. Timed circuits aren't that hard to do, but I don't know of anything "off-the-shelf" that does it.

That said, I'm working on a plug-and-play solution to solve a couple of these problems which I should have ready to post about in a week or so when all the parts arrive.

YAAAYY !!!!!! We surely have some talented folks that own Teslas, huh?

 

[vypr]

I just re-wired all my wiring using this video as a guide and cleaned everything up and made sure my wires are no longer in the way of the airbags

 

[dralusion]

this guy rocks...he even has removal of rear view mirror covers in another video

 

[350VDC]

I spliced with a molex connector on the input side

Could you share the part number of the molex connector you used and do you know what the other wires in the original connector do?

 

[vypr]

Could you share the part number of the molex connector you used and do you know what the other wires in the original connector do?

I ordered these molex connector and header
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetai...NxHEFIKuxFQ==&countrycode=US&currencycode=USD
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetai...0DHKONOVAeg==&countrycode=US&currencycode=USD

When you say the wires in the original connector, are you referring to what's positive and negative/ground on the cigarette adapter that comes with the battery?

 

[350VDC]

I ordered these molex connector and header
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/molex/43645-0400/?qs=UeCeOHRHQeYNxHEFIKuxFQ==&countrycode=US&currencycode=USD
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/molex/43030-0038/?qs=iR2ablhfrmH0DHKONOVAeg==&countrycode=US&currencycode=USD

When you say the wires in the original connector, are you referring to what's positive and negative/ground on the cigarette adapter that comes with the battery?

Thank you. At first i thought there were 4 wires.
BTW I have been discussing this with Blackvue support and suggested that they added a schedule to the app that could turn the camera off at times when it is not required to save the battery, Their final response was that you can use the switch on the battery. They are obviously not very in touch with how their customers are mounting and using these things. If you turn OFF the Motion detection and the Parking Mode, the camera still runs at full power, it just does not record to the card,,,go figure.

 

[Akikiki]

350VDC. I agree with what you are not saying too. Blackvue makes a very good product, but they aren't very keen on listening to customer feedback. Notice that? CUSTOMER feedback, not potential customer feedback. I've written them many times since my first a DR500

I written them to explain there is a growing market for a 4 channel camera not just a 2 channel system. Their answer to me was "We are not working on a 4 channel camera."

 

[flyingpenguins]

What are everyone's recommendations for always-on dashcam power without wiring into the car? (

I know that long-term pass-through charging with a battery pack is generally frowned upon, particularly inside an automotive environment, but does anyone rock a battery pack inside the center console and then recharge the battery pack every few days?

 

[ChrisPDX]

You would need a very large battery pack to power the camera for several days between recharges. The Model 3 is effectively no different then any other gas powered car (those with an S/X got spoiled in how its management system worked and allowed them easy access to 24/7 continuous power). You can either use a battery monitor device that will cut off the power to the camera once the main 12v battery gets below a certain point. In gas cars, this insures the battery still has enough power to start a car. I'm not sure how well it would work in a Model 3 (untested and would probably trigger the same false battery alarm). Then there's the battery pack mentioned above that will power the camera for about 16 hours or so. It will then automatically charge up when the car is on and being driven. The drawback to this is you need drive enough for the battery to recharge enough to cover the next non-driving period.

Ultimately there's no perfect solution for always-on recording in the Model 3. The pass through battery pack is really the best option. Just plug it into the 12v accessory port and it will power the camera for as long as possible based on your driving method. Or just record when the car is on and keep things simple.

 

[scottf200]

... You can either use a battery monitor device that will cut off the power to the camera once the main 12v battery gets below a certain point. In gas cars, this insures the battery still has enough power to start a car. I'm not sure how well it would work in a Model 3 (untested and would probably trigger the same false battery alarm). Then there's the battery pack mentioned above that will power the camera for about 16 hours or so. It will then automatically charge up when the car is on and being driven. The drawback to this is you need drive enough for the battery to recharge enough to cover the next non-driving period.

My method here does a combination of the two: Dashcam Install Help

 

[paladinfello]

Just got back from my installer. They said they no longer hard wire to the battery as their customers have still said they get 12V battery issues. For mine they will be wiring to the 12V cig port. Once I get it back I'll figure somewhere to splice in my switch once I see how they ran things.

 

[AdamNS]

What are everyone's recommendations for always-on dashcam power without wiring into the car?

I have my cam (DR750S-2CH) connected to the Blackvue battery pack (B-124) with a switch to turn off the dash cam if I'm going to be parked a really long time.
I also got a couple of the tqka 20,000mAh packs a few of us were talking about earlier on this thread, took them apart to harvest their cells, threw them in a case with a BMS and added an xt60 connector on the end so I could plug it into the B-124 battery as an expansion (Blackvue sells the B-124E which is essentially this, but WAY more expensive). This brought the battery capacity from 6,000mAh to 16,000mAh and now it lasts over 40 hours in parking mode (haven't pushed it further, but my guess is it could last around 50 hours).

 

[flyingpenguins]

Thanks for the insights.

The blackvue sure is nice and sure is pricey. Does anyone know of any cheaper alternatives? I see that the RAVPower 22000mAh battery pack on Amazon has passthrough charging...that's a decent amount of charge.

 

[scottf200]

Thanks for the insights.

The blackvue sure is nice and sure is pricey. Does anyone know of any cheaper alternatives? I see that the RAVPower 22000mAh battery pack on Amazon has passthrough charging...that's a decent amount of charge.

I'm wondering if the Blackvue batteries (112/124) are designed to handle heat better than other portables? ie. chemistry or housing.

Also not sure how you are going from the 5V USB to the 12V dashcam input (unless I'm confused about this).

Specs via: Dashcam Install Help
c) BlackVue Power Magic Battery Pack (B-112)
Input Power Cigarette lighter plug: 12 V–24 V / 6.5 A (max)
Input Voltage/Current MIN: 12 V / 6.5 A, MAX: 24 V / 3.65 A [12 volt * 6.5 amp = 78 watts]
Output Voltage: When charging from a 12 V cigarette lighter
• 2 USB sockets: each 5 V / 2 A [Verizon JetPack Hotspot plugged into 1]
• Dashcam: 12 V / 1 A [12 volt * 1 amp = 12 watts]

 

[flyingpenguins]

Sorry I wasn't clear--I'd probably just use a dashcam with a 5V micro USB input.

 

[AdamNS]

I'm wondering if the Blackvue batteries (112/124) are designed to handle heat better than other portables? ie. chemistry or housing

YES. They use LiFePO4 battery cells which won't expand, won't blow up, and aren't even flammable if you hold a flame to them (Important for a car environment)
This is why there's so much discussion around the tqka 20,000mAh packs which are some of the only LiFePO4 packs available at a reasonable price.

Also, we really need to start using watt-hours instead of milli-amp-hours as the latter means nothing on its own. That RAVpower pack outputs 5V and claims "22,000mAh", but it's actually only ~75Wh and not the 110Wh you might expect. the tqka packs I used say "20,000mAh" implying 100Wh are really only 64Wh as the 20kmAh are measured at the cell level... and in practice, I only got 47Wh when measured.

 

[dralusion]

I have my cam (DR750S-2CH) connected to the Blackvue battery pack (B-124) with a switch to turn off the dash cam if I'm going to be parked a really long time.
I also got a couple of the tqka 20,000mAh packs a few of us were talking about earlier on this thread, took them apart to harvest their cells, threw them in a case with a BMS and added an xt60 connector on the end so I could plug it into the B-124 battery as an expansion (Blackvue sells the B-124E which is essentially this, but WAY more expensive). This brought the battery capacity from 6,000mAh to 16,000mAh and now it lasts over 40 hours in parking mode (haven't pushed it further, but my guess is it could last around 50 hours).

i was looking to do the same, do you have pictures..wiring diagrams, tutorials on hand. thanks btw, where did you end up placing them

 

[ranova]

I have my cam (DR750S-2CH) connected to the Blackvue battery pack (B-124) with a switch to turn off the dash cam if I'm going to be parked a really long time.
I also got a couple of the tqka 20,000mAh packs a few of us were talking about earlier on this thread, took them apart to harvest their cells, threw them in a case with a BMS and added an xt60 connector on the end so I could plug it into the B-124 battery as an expansion (Blackvue sells the B-124E which is essentially this, but WAY more expensive). This brought the battery capacity from 6,000mAh to 16,000mAh and now it lasts over 40 hours in parking mode (haven't pushed it further, but my guess is it could last around 50 hours).

Thats awesome, can you show pictures of your TKQA setup?

 

[AdamNS]

Thats awesome, can you show pictures of your TKQA setup?

Here's a photo of the setup.
I put everything in the armrest compartment. There's more space in the other center-console area (under the phone charging shelf) but I use that for general storage so preferred to give up the armrest space. Also having the cigarette lighter there made the wiring slightly easier I think.

The cigarette lighter 12V is used by the B-124 battery. My home-made battery is plugged into the extension port on the B-124. The B-124 output to the dashcams is via a proprietary 3-wire to cigarette lighter port dongle that comes with the battery. I modified that dongle so the + Voltage line is cut and connected to a switch. When the switch is off, the dashcam does not receive power and when it is on, the dashcam runs normally. Because this is on the output of the battery, the battery will always charge as normal. This switch has been on for the last week or so with no problems leaving the car parked overnight and nearly all the weekend in parking mode. Just an easy way to stop using the battery if I want to (like if I knew my car would be parked for several days)