Dash Cam thought? Hardwiring into power.

speedyt5 · Post by **speedyt5** » 14 Jul 2016, 17:43

I bought a real cool dash cam, and figured with the way people drive in Austin I could use it. Thinking about just sending it back for this reason… can't figure out how to hardwire it into the car. I would run the wire to the passenger side of the car. Took out the glove box and looked for a familiar wire to tap into for power. Couldn't find one. Could I tap into the footwell lights that come on when you open the door? But then the dash cam would do that as well and I don't think thats good for the battery. I was thinking of tapping into the battery wire on the stereo however I then thought about it and figured that the dash cam tapped into that could cause interference in the radio. I'm 50/50 on this whole dash cam thing. Anyone have one? I already have a radar detector plugged into the cig lighter and I don't want to get one of those dual plug cig lighters that look so dumb, I either the dash cam or radar detector hardwired. Any ideas? Thanks!!

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 14 Jul 2016, 17:49

Hardware it to the cig lighter wiring. I've wired in some extra footwell lighting there, and it works fine. You'll have power from position I, so you don't need engine running for there to be some juice, but it won't trickle out when you're not around. Easy access, and easy routing.

- S

speedyt5 · Post by **speedyt5** » 14 Jul 2016, 18:23

Sommerfeldt wrote:Hardware it to the cig lighter wiring. I've wired in some extra footwell lighting there, and it works fine. You'll have power from position I, so you don't need engine running for there to be some juice, but it won't trickle out when you're not around. Easy access, and easy routing.

- S

Ahh, cig lighter. Good idea, but I'm guessing the best way to get to that is to take the center console out which means there may be a chance of my perfect wood grain cracking. Also here is a pic of the hardwire kit, I'm assuming the wire with the the metal on it is a ground, anywhere around there to ground it to?

speedyt5 · Post by **speedyt5** » 14 Jul 2016, 18:24

Post by **BEJinFbk** » 14 Jul 2016, 23:09

There's a yellow connector on the drivers side that's intended
specifically for electrical accessories. You'll find it secured to the
steering column support.
Constant, switched, ground, dash lights, high beam trigger, etc.
There are all kinds of power sources available there.

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 15 Jul 2016, 01:50

BEJinFbk's idea is even better - I don't have that connector anymore, since a PO did some weird stuff with some phone accessories

, but if you have it, use it.

- S

speedyt5 · Post by **speedyt5** » 15 Jul 2016, 10:41

BEJinFbk wrote:There's a yellow connector on the drivers side that's intended
specifically for electrical accessories. You'll find it secured to the
steering column support.
Constant, switched, ground, dash lights, high beam trigger, etc.
There are all kinds of power sources available there.

Hmmm. Are you talking about those ones with the purple release handles that plug into the yellow ones?. There are like four of them across the dash I think (when i replaced dash mounts I saw these). Anyone happen to have a pic? I just didn't want to take of the knee bolster again on the drivers side just to look as the tabs are broken and its currently being held in place with phillips screws, but I may take a stab at it later.

speedyt5 · Post by **speedyt5** » 15 Jul 2016, 10:42

Sommerfeldt wrote:BEJinFbk's idea is even better - I don't have that connector anymore, since a PO did some weird stuff with some phone accessories , but if you have it, use it.

- S

If I did use the cig lighter where would I put that ground? Just around any metal bolt?

speedyt5 · Post by **speedyt5** » 15 Jul 2016, 10:59

Took knee bolster off, took two pics of each I thought it could be… both of them I would have no idea which wire to tap into.

Sommerfeldt · Post by **Sommerfeldt** » 15 Jul 2016, 12:54

speedyt5 wrote:If I did use the cig lighter where would I put that ground? Just around any metal bolt?

Red to red, black to black.

The lighter is grounded, so just go with the flow.

- S