I recently picked up a new dash cam (A118C), and so far, its been pretty good! For now, I am using it by hiding the cables across the headliner and using the ciggerate lighter right underneath the gearshifter/open cabin area. I do want to hardwire the dash cam to preserve an extra ciggerate lighter, but was not sure how exactly to do so? I was looking for the cheapest solution to doing so, as it looks like some folks buy converters or the like. Any proper steps and tools I'd need to make this happen would be greatly appreciated. P.S. - I also am working on a Gen2 Prius as well, so would the steps be identical for my 2011 and 2005 (Gen2) Prius? The Gen2 would have some generic dash cam but also using the regular Micro-USB port.
The fastest way is get this from Amazon. You can tap it to a HOT wire or take it to stereo place. They probably charge from $20-50. Under 30 minutes to do.
Any idea of a DIY solution if I want to go the HOT route? I definitely can just use cup holder extension thingy, but it'd just take up more space for me, and wouldn't look the best for the Gen 2... I know the Power Magic Pro exists just for this, but for $30 it doesn't seem too worthwhile, since the A118C I got was literally $40 a pop.
Wait hold on, I was originally assuming this would just all be done through the fuse box, but wasn't aware I can access the cigarette lighter as well? I am assuming popping all that stuff out may be a decent amount of work since it is really snug onto the cars upholstery?
Ah okay. So basically, I'd strip the current mini-USB cable, use the proper sized red cable, TAP it to the HOT wire, ground the black cable to a bolt or something, and that is it?
I followed this one installing a blackvue dr650gw 2 channel on our 2015 Highlander. Dashcam came with the power magic pro for free and I just wedge the wires on the fuse like the video above. If you don't want to buy a powermagic, get the dashcam hardwire kit somebody linked above and choose if you want the dashcam either always on or switched on by finding an appropriate fuse.
Buy And or this I tapped into the fuses under the dash. I used the add a fuse to tap into the left rear window that always has power and the dash cam runs continuously. You could save a few bucks and buy just 1 add a fuse but I bought a few so I can add other things like an always on plug in the center glove box. I don't like that most import cars dont have an always on plug.
Has this ever drained your battery completely? I want to do it so it is continuously running, but I'm afraid of it killing my battery. Thanks! Pixel XL ?
Nope. Dash cams dont use much power at all. I don't drive very often so my car will sit for 2 days sometimes and never had an issue. This is the 3rd car I have used an always on dash cam with and never had an issue with it running down the battery. The product in the second link has a built in protector to stop if the battery gets really low to protect the battery from dying. You can use both products I linked together to make it really easy to wire up.
