Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Installed BlackVue 900X, CM100LTE module, and backup battery

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Bought everything during Black Friday but never got around to installing. Spent about five hours today getting everything set up.

The dashcam is the 900XPlus by BlackVue with two channels. The CM100 LTE module is optional, but I liked the idea that I could "just upgrade the dashcam" in the future without having to buy a LTE enabled version. Everything is powered by BlackVue's PowerCell 8 battery which appears to be a rebranded Celllink. 12v power is supplied through the OEM brake controller. In theory, the 7500mAh battery should be able to power the two channel, 4k video for 20 hours. We'll see about that...

I sourced the brake controller harness from Tesla and soldered the hardwire pigtail. The brake controller sits on a 15A fuse and the battery pulls about 8-9 amps while charging. In theory, it can charge itself in about 50 minutes. So, a quick trip around town in addition to the "sleep delay" the car has. When I was verifying everything with my multimeter I never did see the voltage drop to 0, so I'm doing a little more research to ensure this is actually the case.

f369d28ee0069764d05bee093f456279.jpg



The battery is hidden at the bottom of my center console. I tried feeding the wires from the back of the center console but it was a giant pain in the ass. Ultimately just used a step drill and put a hole in the side of the console for the power cables. Here's a photo of me test fitting the battery before I placed it in the bottom of the console.

PXL_20220325_003038618.jpg




The original plan was to remove the AP harness trim and tuck all the wires in, but after laying everything out I don't think there's enough room in there. It was getting dark so I decided to use the included 3M mounts and run the wire bundle in parallel. Not ideal, but I don't really look up there so I can live with it.

Most people stick the LTE module to the windshield, but I think it looks terrible. LTE has no issue with plastic, so I placed mine under the dashboard. It's got better service than the damn car does!


PXL_20220325_020156628.jpg


ca9991a00d067503d8546457f4b399ef.png


All wires were run up along the A pillar and above the headliner. To run the rear camera cable I made two small cuts with a razor in the body to trunk door rubber. Shouldn't be any issues with water, but I may go back and add a few dabs of sealant.

PXL_20220325_021819504.PORTRAIT.jpg


Glad I was able to get everything installed. I may get around to editing an installation video at some point.

PXL_20220325_021748261.PORTRAIT.jpg


PXL_20220325_021809749.PORTRAIT.jpg
 
Here are some pics of mine. I got a dr900x plus, 2 channel.

There was one spot where I couldn’t get the wire inside the liner by the sun visor. Rear looks basically like the others except I pulled my wire through the rubber conduit leading to the trunk.

Not really sure if the parking mode activation is working with the accessory wire, but it seems to automatically enter it after a few minutes of not moving.

View attachment 786462View attachment 786463View attachment 786464View attachment 786479
That looks good. I might tackle the center channel next.

Any tips on the rear? I pulled both ends off and couldn't get any wires through.
 
That looks good. I might tackle the center channel next.

Any tips on the rear? I pulled both ends off and couldn't get any wires through.
I used a zip tie to feed through and pull out the cable.

I’m having problems with the accessory mode. It doesn’t go into parking mode immediately when it’s switched off, nor does it go the other way around. Definitely have switched power going to the “acc” wire
 
what color is your acc and batt wire? Now that I’m thinking about It, maybe my wires are misplaced. My acc wire is red, and the batt wire is yellow

Never mind, those are correct. Not sure why mine doesn’t work correctly

Wire colors are not always consistent. Only way to verify is with a multimeter or test light. My 12v is red and my switched 12v is red with a stripe.
 
Pulled the overhead cable trim off today. Probably spent three hours trying to get everything to fit. There's no way I can run everything in there. I managed to barely fit the dashcam power and rear coax cable, but nothing more. At that point I decided to TechFlex the whole thing and leave it outside the gutter.
 
Just installed DR900X-1CH to my 2016 MX.

I previously had a 2013 MS, I removed the camera when I sold the car and now transferred to this new one.

Since I don't have a rear camera, I only needed the power cable for the camera. It's very easy to fit that cable to the cable trim, and the original glue was sticky enough to keep it in place again.

I used the instructions in this video:


There's a really good place to tap permanent +12V power in the left side of driver's footwell.. It's easy to route the power wire there.

@ngng I didn't really understand why you use a relay? If you use permanent supply camera records everything while parked. Just connect yellow and red wire together in the BlackVue wiring harness, then it will never turn off. It uses GPS to decide when it's parked, there's no need for switched power supply.
 

Attachments

  • 1649084958429.png
    1649084958429.png
    1.1 MB · Views: 70
@ngng I didn't really understand why you use a relay? If you use permanent supply camera records everything while parked. Just connect yellow and red wire together in the BlackVue wiring harness, then it will never turn off. It uses GPS to decide when it's parked, there's no need for switched power supply.

I don't want to draw from the 12v battery when the car is off. Whether or not this matters, I don't know. But, I do know the 12v battery is very problematic.
 
I don't want to draw from the 12v battery when the car is off. Whether or not this matters, I don't know. But, I do know the 12v battery is very problematic.
On a Tesla, it doesn't matter. The 12V battery is constantly being charged by the traction battery, so basically you have unlimited 12V power. I ran with the blackvue powered 24/7 for years. I also have some Ham radio related computers (raspberry pi class) in the back that are also running 24/7. The only reason I stopped was due to a windshield replacement, after Tesla provided the same by use of the internal cameras.
 
On a Tesla, it doesn't matter. The 12V battery is constantly being charged by the traction battery, so basically you have unlimited 12V power. I ran with the blackvue powered 24/7 for years. I also have some Ham radio related computers (raspberry pi class) in the back that are also running 24/7. The only reason I stopped was due to a windshield replacement, after Tesla provided the same by use of the internal cameras.

It's my understanding that the onboard charger will kick in and recharge the 12v battery when the voltage is low. Makes sense to me. But, what I read seems to indicate otherwise. Somebody had posted this regarding their 3 and confirmed it was from a dashcam install. I wonder why some people like yourself don't have any issues? I'd love to be able to just leave it on 24/7

upload_2018-4-4_9-50-55.png
 
It's my understanding that the onboard charger will kick in and recharge the 12v battery when the voltage is low. Makes sense to me. But, what I read seems to indicate otherwise. Somebody had posted this regarding their 3 and confirmed it was from a dashcam install. I wonder why some people like yourself don't have any issues? I'd love to be able to just leave it on 24/7
I made no changes to the car's electrical system. I simply plugged in to the always on 12V connection provided for the purpose. Tesla even provided the cable pigtail for it (the brake controller line). I don't know if that exists on the Model 3, but it definitely does on the Model X.
 
3 might be different somehow.

TeslaTap has an excellent article about dashcams in Tesla:


There's a remark about 3:

"Note that while BlackVue recommends buying PowerMagic, this is really for ICE cars and is unnecessary and should NOT be used in the Tesla S/X, but may be needed in the 3. Use of PowerMagic may actually stop recordings while parked on the S/X."

I wish I had more info on the charging system myself. Would love to just hardwire and have 24/7 recording. I do know though, that I don't want my car to keep waking up to recharge the 12v.

Good find regarding the PowerMagic for anybody who might be reading.
 
I wish I had more info on the charging system myself. Would love to just hardwire and have 24/7 recording. I do know though, that I don't want my car to keep waking up to recharge the 12v.

Good find regarding the PowerMagic for anybody who might be reading.

But BlackVue camera only consumes about 350mA max in parking mode, even if a rear camera is used. Tesla 12V battery is 33Ah in Model S and X.

In theory, you could run the camera from Tesla battery for 33Ah/0.35A = 94 hours. In practice Tesla doesn't let the battery drain so empty, so charger will kick in at some point earlier.

However, Tesla onboard systems (MCU etc) have MUCH higher 12V consumption. This is what makes the "vampire drain" people are talking about. 12V consumption will show up in drive battery SoC because 12V is charged from drive battery.

I found some analysis and graphs here:

At least in that car, 12V battery is charged from drive battery 5 times per day. No way some 350mA dashcam has any effect on this.
 
I wish I had more info on the charging system myself. Would love to just hardwire and have 24/7 recording. I do know though, that I don't want my car to keep waking up to recharge the 12v.
The car does not wake up to charge. The 12V charging system is always on. Aside from the somewhat flaky battery, the 12V system is very reliable.

I have a Kenwood Ham Radio transceiver permanently installed as well as two Linux computers and a cellular router, in the back. The radio itself, shuts off after 3 hours of inactivity, but the computers and router are all running 24/7, pulling roughly 2 amps total. Everything is powered through the 12V accessory port up under then dash. Back when I ran a Blackvue, it was powered from there as well.

The radio is installed in the cubby under the screen in my 2018. I left enough extra cable length so the techs can pop out the cubby as normal (the network connections they use, are stored above the cubby). In the course of [far too] numerous service visits, including replacing the 12V battery twice, I have never even been asked about my "aftermarket accessories." I imagine this varies a bit by location, but it has not come up with any of my service interactions. I know they were aware of my extras, because they always disconnected the power to the camera.
 
Blackvue is *sugar*, I got rid of mine after dashcam feature came out. Always “Blackvue Restarting” in the middle of a drive, no matter what brand of microsd card I used.

Seems like a pointless upgrade since this feature is built in.

Hope mine doesn't ending up crappin out on me. Haven't had any issues yet, knock on wood. Tesla dashcam is OK, from the times I've used it I was not impressed with the energy consumption or the quality of the video.