Newer VIN constant 12v power options (dashcam)?

[liuping]

I'm on my cell phone. So sorry for the brief answer. I have no idea what the switched wires are originally for. To get to them I loosened the A-pillar liner and took off the sunshade in the right side. Then you can pull down the headliner and get to the wire. It's fixed with tape and I believe it's only on cars w/o the alarm package (like mine). Hope it makes sense . If not, I have pictures

Can you post any pictures you have? It would be very helpful.

I'm installing a ThinkWare F750, and would like to tap a 12V switch power source in the general area of the microphone grill. It's nice to have the 12V constant right there, but if I can't find a switched source too, I still have to run a wire to the passenger footwell area anyway.

 

[cynix]

Can you post any pictures you have? It would be very helpful.

I'm installing a ThinkWare F750, and would like to tap a 12V switch power source in the general area of the microphone grill. It's nice to have the 12V constant right there, but if I can't find a switched source too, I still have to run a wire to the passenger footwell area anyway.

There's switched 12V in the connector that plugs into the back of the rear view mirror (I think it has 5 or 6 pins in it, and one of them is a switched 12V), but I didn't know how to access it without destroying the wire/connector, so now my F750 is always on and recording 24/7 even when parked.

 

[liuping]

There's switched 12V in the connector that plugs into the back of the rear view mirror (I think it has 5 or 6 pins in it, and one of them is a switched 12V), but I didn't know how to access it without destroying the wire/connector, so now my F750 is always on and recording 24/7 even when parked.

I did my front camera install today and was able to use a 20-22 guage Posi-Tap to tap the switch 12V wire from the speaker grill area.

To find which bundle the wire was in, I opened the bottom cover of the AP housing and tugged (gently) on the mirror power wires, while looking at the wire bundles in the very front of the speaker grill area. Once the bundle was identified, I just cut a hole in the cloth wrapping the wires and tapped the correct wire. My switch 12V wire is a red wire with a yellow stripe, unlike some of the other pictures I've seen which showed a yellow wire, so check the colors of the wires at the connector into the bottom of the mirror to be sure.

Pictures make it easier to see what I did:


Post-Taping the Mirror switched 12V:

The camera's ACC wire connected to the switched wire post-tap and +12V (w/ fuse) and ground connected to constant open speaker grill connector:

 

[clgood]

Who did your professional installation? Was it a car stereo shop, a body shop, or what? I'm leaning toward such an option.

Thanks.

 

[TorqueIt]

There's switched 12V in the connector that plugs into the back of the rear view mirror (I think it has 5 or 6 pins in it, and one of them is a switched 12V), but I didn't know how to access it without destroying the wire/connector, so now my F750 is always on and recording 24/7 even when parked.

What safety cutoff voltage do you set the dashcam to be? I had it installed professionally and the installer set the cutoff to be 12.2V (camera shuts off when voltage drops below this voltage).

The problem now is that the camera will shut off while the car is in parking mode fairly often, maybe 2 days a week, meaning the voltage dropped below 12.2V. The Thinkware settings allow the shutoff to be as low as 11.6V, but I don't want to damage or brick the battery.

At what voltage will the 12V battery cause issues for the car?

 

[cynix]

What safety cutoff voltage do you set the dashcam to be? I had it installed professionally and the installer set the cutoff to be 12.2V (camera shuts off when voltage drops below this voltage).

The problem now is that the camera will shut off while the car is in parking mode fairly often, maybe 2 days a week, meaning the voltage dropped below 12.2V. The Thinkware settings allow the shutoff to be as low as 11.6V, but I don't want to damage or brick the battery.

At what voltage will the 12V battery cause issues for the car?

I didn't bother setting a cutoff voltage. The 12V battery is automatically recharged by the main battery when it gets low, so you can't really damage or brick it. The car's own electronics draws much more power than the dashcam even when the car's off anyway, so the dashcam should have negligible impact on the 12V.

 

[HankLloydRight]

My two channel LUKAS dashcam runs 24x7 without issue.

 

[zro ltr]

Has anyone tried to do this and only gotten 10v out of it? I'm getting 10.1 from one wire and nothing from the one that others are getting 12 from.

 

[zro ltr]

Answering my own question (found the answer in another thread): Fuse #50 was blown. Replaced it and everything is good now.

 

[ND100]

I did my front camera install today and was able to use a 20-22 guage Posi-Tap to tap the switch 12V wire from the speaker grill area.

To find which bundle the wire was in, I opened the bottom cover of the AP housing and tugged (gently) on the mirror power wires, while looking at the wire bundles in the very front of the speaker grill area. Once the bundle was identified, I just cut a hole in the cloth wrapping the wires and tapped the correct wire. My switch 12V wire is a red wire with a yellow stripe, unlike some of the other pictures I've seen which showed a yellow wire, so check the colors of the wires at the connector into the bottom of the mirror to be sure.


The camera's ACC wire connected to the switched wire post-tap and +12V (w/ fuse) and ground connected to constant open speaker grill connector:
View attachment 99066

Do you know what the switched 12V wire is used for? I wonder whether currently shipping cars still have this wire.

 

[liuping]

Do you know what the switched 12V wire is used for? I wonder whether currently shipping cars still have this wire.

It runs to the mirror, so it's might be related to the auto tinting rear view mirror. It's probably still there on newer cars, but may be a different color than the one in I used.

 

[wiredprairie]

Does anyone know where the switched power in the microphone panel can be found in a HW2 Model S? The constant power was easy to locate.

If you know and care to share (with photos if possible), it would be much appreciated. I'm trying to install a Thinkware 770.

 

[ND100]

Does anyone know where the switched power in the microphone panel can be found in a HW2 Model S? The constant power was easy to locate.

If you know and care to share (with photos if possible), it would be much appreciated. I'm trying to install a Thinkware 770.

Take a look at my posts in this thread: Thinkware F770 - that's what I'm using for my 770. If you manage to get wifi working on the 770 please post - both of us on that thread fine the 770 powers off shortly after WiFi being enabled for some reason.

 

[wiredprairie]

Thanks, I had seen that, but I can't see how to get to that power. I posted a picture of what I'm seeing.