Dashcam Install Help

[outie]

May be that is what has been happening with my Blackvue camera setup with B124 in the ciggerette lighter outlet. i have never been able to charge my battery beyond 2% mark no matter how much I drive I never get the charging msg probably because discharge is more than charge while i am driving. Also my cameras have not even been turning on for the past few days because regardless of B124 not having enough power it should still turn the cameras on when the car starts but I guess not. May be I need to reboot my car. Very disappointed of the blackvue camera system and the lack of enough guides to make it work reliably.

@flashflooder: Care to give a step by step or detailed instructions of your setup? I did find your post about what you used but i am a noob at this and want to know if I can mimick your setup to finally be able to take my car to work. I work in a trashy neighborhood and since receiving my car on Sep 29th i have not been able to take it to work due to unreliable camera system. Anyone have a better solution for Parking mode recording other than blackvue because i work 12hr shifts and will definitely need something that records those 12hrs lol?

Just tap into the dome light module with the yellow and back wire. I have been using that setup for a month without issue. My car sits in the garage most of the time (parking mode).

 

[umair239]

That’s so odd. My B124 charges all the time to 100% (about 14 hours) when plugged in to the cigarette lighter. I p

I’d try a reboot. I’ve had one instance in three weeks of the cigarette lighter not providing power, so the battery went to zero and the camera wouldn’t work either. I left the car parked for an hour or so and it fired right back up. I can’t see any reason mine would work and yours wouldn’t, unless like you said faulty battery. But maybe a reset will do it. Good luck.

Is there an easy way to connect a turn on/off switch to power from B124?

Don’t have a pic, but the fragile clips are at the corners. The module itself is black, and these clips are gray and hold the gray-colored fascia on (the part you can see).

Pry it loose by inserting something on the short ends of the module, right next to each light. A skinny screwdriver should work, I used a butter knife.

The clips that have to come loose would be at the “top” of the assembly when it’s in place. You can’t reach them.

Once you get the module out, you have to pull the wire harness out with some force, and you’ll get some slack. I first thought I was going to have to work in a very tight space. But it comes out further if you pull.

To tap into the yellow and black wires, I had to cut back the tape that the wires are bundled with about an inch.

I am assuming you are using B124 battery pack for parking mode so the cameras are connected to battery pack and then you have connected the main cable to the hazards light area instead of at the cigarette lighter switch? is my assumption correct?

 

[umair239]

Just tap into the dome light module with the yellow and back wire. I have been using that setup for a month without issue. My car sits in the garage most of the time (parking mode).

That is going to be my next step and will get it done after getting some more info from this thread

 

[whatthe2]

That is going to be my next step and will get it done after getting some more info from this thread

Make a video, I plan to go that route eventually, but will be a few weeks before I have time.

 

[flashflooder]

Is there an easy way to connect a turn on/off switch to power from B124?

I am assuming you are using B124 battery pack for parking mode so the cameras are connected to battery pack and then you have connected the main cable to the hazards light area instead of at the cigarette lighter switch? is my assumption correct?

I’m not using a battery at all. Just hardwired the cam directly into the yellow/black wires in the map/hazard light assembly. Cam stays on even when car goes to sleep

 

[whatthe2]

I’m not using a battery at all. Just hardwired the cam directly into the yellow/black wires in the map/hazard light assembly. Cam stays on even when car goes to sleep

Did you use a video for this or just know how to do it? I’m afraid I’ll screw it up without seeing how to do it first.

 

[ranova]

Did you use a video for this or just know how to do it? I’m afraid I’ll screw it up without seeing how to do it first.

just tap the power wire to the yellow, and ground wire to black.

Did a test last night with the DR750S-2ch for 12 hours and my tesla went from 243mi to 236 mi - so 7 mi drain in 12 hours where typical phantom drain for me is about 3 mi every 24 hours in the parking garage. This seems a bit high to me - if I was gone on a 4 day trip with the dash cam running from the constant 12v, id lose roughly 56 miles, when I could just turn on preconditioning every 12 hours to recharge the blackvue b124 which would use less. I'll have to do more tests - likely a weekend when I wont be driving

 

[JPP]

just tap the power wire to the yellow, and ground wire to black.

Did a test last night with the DR750S-2ch for 12 hours and my tesla went from 243mi to 236 mi - so 7 mi drain in 12 hours where typical phantom drain for me is about 3 mi every 24 hours in the parking garage

This has been working for me for 2+ weeks now. Blackvue 900 dual cam system stays on 24/7. No 12V issues. All good.

 

[ranova]

This has been working for me for 2+ weeks now. Blackvue 900 dual cam system stays on 24/7. No 12V issues. All good.

No issues here either, but after 24 hours, how much car battery drain do you have?

 

[whatthe2]

just tap the power wire to the yellow, and ground wire to black.

Did a test last night with the DR750S-2ch for 12 hours and my tesla went from 243mi to 236 mi - so 7 mi drain in 12 hours where typical phantom drain for me is about 3 mi every 24 hours in the parking garage. This seems a bit high to me - if I was gone on a 4 day trip with the dash cam running from the constant 12v, id lose roughly 56 miles, when I could just turn on preconditioning every 12 hours to recharge the blackvue b124 which would use less. I'll have to do more tests - likely a weekend when I wont be driving

Thanks. I’m only 25 miles from the airport so parking there for 3-5 days won’t hurt me much and will be easier than remembering to precondition twice a day. I think I was losing maybe 10 miles per day charging the B124.

 

[JPP]

No issues here either, but after 24 hours, how much car battery drain do you have?

My vampire drain on the Model 3 is higher than on my old S, but I cannot attribute this to the Blackvue. You do the math and calculate the number of watt-hours the camera pulls. The main pack and DC-to-DC converter will handle that for literally months. No worries.

 

[K-MTG]

just tap the power wire to the yellow, and ground wire to black.

Did a test last night with the DR750S-2ch for 12 hours and my tesla went from 243mi to 236 mi - so 7 mi drain in 12 hours where typical phantom drain for me is about 3 mi every 24 hours in the parking garage. This seems a bit high to me - if I was gone on a 4 day trip with the dash cam running from the constant 12v, id lose roughly 56 miles, when I could just turn on preconditioning every 12 hours to recharge the blackvue b124 which would use less. I'll have to do more tests - likely a weekend when I wont be driving

When my dash cam installer tested this back in January it would drop to 9V after the car went to sleep. Can you confirm this occurs? The only way to check is to close the door and leave the window open (and you use a voltmeter after you hear the click).

 

[ranova]

When my dash cam installer tested this back in January it would drop to 9V after the car went to sleep. Can you confirm this occurs? The only way to check is to close the door and leave the window open (and you use a voltmeter after you hear the click).

I'll have to test it the next time I decide to do some car modding - which might not be for awhile. It seems that, even if it does, it doesnt negatively impact the dash cam and parking mode. I confirmed that it recorded all night by checking on the footage that night. @flashflooder has used this setup for the last 2ish months without issues, yet.

 

[AdamNS]

Is there an easy way to connect a turn on/off switch to power from B124?

Yes. The B-124 uses that dongle to give you a cigarette lighter port to plug in the dashcam. I installed an on/off switch into that dongle.
The battery remains plugged in to my actual cigarette socket all the time so it always charges. As long as my switch is on, the camera gets power from the battery. If I ever park for an extended time (more than 48 hours), I switch off the camera.

 

[umair239]

This has been working for me for 2+ weeks now. Blackvue 900 dual cam system stays on 24/7. No 12V issues. All good.

I have been unable to remove the dome light even after watching that video and am using high quality pry tools but it still feels like I will end up scratching the dome light. I don't know how you guys were able to get this done because in the video he ended up breaking two Grey clips on the module which is pointed out in one of the YouTube comments. Don't know what to do

 

[navinsiri]

I have been unable to remove the dome light even after watching that video and am using high quality pry tools but it still feels like I will end up scratching the dome light. I don't know how you guys were able to get this done because in the video he ended up breaking two Grey clips on the module which is pointed out in one of the YouTube comments. Don't know what to do

After pulling multiple I learned you need TWO pry tools. Put each on both sides of the Hazard button in the center of the dome light assembly. The unit must be pulled STRAIGHT down otherwise the clips will get stuck and increase the chances of breaking those grey clips.

 

[JPP]

I have been unable to remove the dome light even after watching that video and am using high quality pry tools but it still feels like I will end up scratching the dome light. I don't know how you guys were able to get this done because in the video he ended up breaking two Grey clips on the module which is pointed out in one of the YouTube comments. Don't know what to do

Wish I could help--I followed the video and had no real problem. But I was very careful to be prying the whole assembly and not just the escutcheon. No broken clips.

 

[umair239]

Tried placing pry tools on both sides of the hazard light but can't do it. May be I need to have metal pry tools like in the video. I am using plastic ones

 

[outie]

Tried placing pry tools on both sides of the hazard light but can't do it. May be I need to have metal pry tools like in the video. I am using plastic ones

I only used a card and a plastic pry tool that came with the blackvue. It does take some force because it’s held by very strong clips.

 

[navinsiri]

Tried placing pry tools on both sides of the hazard light but can't do it. May be I need to have metal pry tools like in the video. I am using plastic ones

I also use plastic tools I got for cheap from Harbor Freight. Some cars I've worked on are very tight. It might be scary to pull very hard but sometimes that what you need to do. I even broke a nail doing it before