Does an external dash cam work well with the Model 3?

[earthboundmsft]

Hey everyone. I'm trying to find out whether or not an external dash cam will work on my Model 3, but the results I'm finding are very inconsistent - I found everything from "it'll work out great" to "you may need to replace the 12v battery after a few days".

For some context, I wanted to install an external dash cam mostly to record interactions that happen within the car, and only when I'm inside it. For everything else, sentry mode should have me covered. I don't want/need the dash cam to run while the car is off, which means I don't want to hardwire anything.

So, does anyone know for sure how well a dash cam plugged into the 12v socket of a model 3 will work? Is the 12v system shut down when the car is off, or will I risk damaging the 12v battery?

Also, I know I could test this myself but for reasons I only have two more days to return the dash cam if I need to, so I appreciate everyone's help here.

Thank you!

 

[Cambria]

Hey everyone. I'm trying to find out whether or not an external dash cam will work on my Model 3, but the results I'm finding are very inconsistent - I found everything from "it'll work out great" to "you may need to replace the 12v battery after a few days".

For some context, I wanted to install an external dash cam mostly to record interactions that happen within the car, and only when I'm inside it. For everything else, sentry mode should have me covered. I don't want/need the dash cam to run while the car is off, which means I don't want to hardwire anything.

So, does anyone know for sure how well a dash cam plugged into the 12v socket of a model 3 will work? Is the 12v system shut down when the car is off, or will I risk damaging the 12v battery?

Also, I know I could test this myself but for reasons I only have two more days to return the dash cam if I need to, so I appreciate everyone's help here.

Thank

Power turns off when the car goes to sleep

 

[gearchruncher]

Power turns off when the car goes to sleep

Not if you hook right to the battery.

If you hook to the 12V in the car (12V power socket, USB, etc) then power turns off when the car is sleeping. But the car wakes up from sleep a lot (any remote access, to charge the 12V battery, whenever sentry is on).

It's really hard to have something turned on only when the car is occupied in a Tesla.

None of this will kill your 12V battery- anything plugged in not directly to the 12V battery is basically never run by the 12V. The 12V is there only for when the car is sleeping to enable it to wake up.

 

[FLMan]

I have no issues with my dashcam. It's plugged into the 12v socket in the console. I routed the cable along the windshield, through the pillar on the driver side and under the floor mat.

I have a 12v splitter to power both the dashcam and the led lights I installed around the console. They are on when the car is on and go off when the car powers off. If sentry mode is enabled, they are on. I have sentry mode enabled whenever I am not at home and I have not noticed any issue with the battery over the past 6 months I've had this setup. The splitter also has an on/off button that I could use to manually turn off the dashcam and lights if I wanted.

The dashcam card holds about 2 days recording both cameras and longer if I turn off the interior camera. Tesla's dashcam only saves footage when you push the button, but mine is recording all the time. If I want the footage I just grab it at the end of the day off the card.

 

[nstig8]

I followed along with this video to install my (front part only) dashcam. It is plugged into one of the USB ports inside the console (via USB A to C adapter). It has been there a few months and no issues. Like everyone else said, it records until the car goes to sleep.

 

[RayK]

Aftermarket Dashcam

Does anyone use an Aftermarket Dashcam. If so, please post what you use. Any recommendation would be appreciated.

teslamotorsclub.com

For my experiences: #12, #16, #33, #43