Hard wiring a dash cam

My audio shop tapped into the power in the map light. Just as I had requested, it powers up when the car is on and hibernates when the car is turned off. I have a Garmin dash cam in my Prius and in my Avalon Hybrid (with the same hard-wired install)

 

Funny, I just got an email answering a question I had asked a few years ago, but it was concerning my 2012 Volt. Apparently, there is a switched 12V source on the Volt also, and although it doesn't apply, here is a link to the Volt install.

I've been thinking about installing my dash cam in the Prius, now that I know there's a 12V source in the overhead, I might give it a go. Of course, a YouTube video of the installation on the Prius would be great.

 

I installed a dash cam yesterday, an A118C that I had used with my previous car.

I bought a cable that is used for connecting a radar detector to a rear view mirror (On Amazon, search for "Radar Mount Mirror Wire Power Cord"). . I removed the RJ11 connector that is included, and I soldered the cable to the dashcam's power source. Then I just inserted the prongs into the mirror’s socket connector.


I had to remove the map lights to hide the power source an cables.

I went this way, because I didn't want to deal with the air bag that is located in the A pillar.

 

I see. My car doesn't have "Toyota Safety Sense", so that made things a bit easier and I could position the dash cam where TSS related stuff would be. Anyways AFAIK, the mirror connector is the same, so if you removed the cover things would look similar.

The mirror connector has three wires, Battery, Ignition and ground. In my case the dashcam's power source is connected to ignition and ground so I don't have to be worried about draining the battery.

But yes if your cam supports it, you can connect it to battery and ground, and then use the ignition wire to signal when the power off timer must start.

The dash cam I'm using has a shock sensor, but I've read that it doesn't work very well, so I just bought a simple power source instead of the one with the power off timer and battery power sensing.



Nexus 6p actually.

 

There was a post of someone that had a car stereo shop in oc hard wire the dash cam to lights. Can anyone find it? My dashcam is coming tomorrow and I'm not technically gifted enough to do it on my own.


iPhone ?

 

I had mine done in Whittier at the local tint shop / audio shop. Cost me $60 bucks - well worth it!

 

Hello! I just got a gen 4 prius and I'm gonna check out the wiring tomorrow morning. I want to put a Rexing R1 dashcam and an Escort 360 Radar. I've been having so much trouble finding wiring diagrams but i did notice that there are definitely twelve volt sources I could easily tap into up by the lights where the slots for wires are. My only concern is will they be alright since it might be drawing a lot of current, so I don't want to blow a fuse or anything. Man, I wish there was a wiring diagram out there.

 

Hi.

Before doing this I had the same concern, I took a look at the diagrams on techinfo.toyota.com (bought a 2-day sub), and both mirror powered lines (B+ and ignition) should be able to deliver the current that a dashcam and the radar detector requires without blowing the fuses, each one is protected by a 10A fuse ( of course those lines may be used by other circuits in the roof).

Yes, it's definitely possible to tap into the map lights wires, though I don't remember the configuration.



Best

 

Gang I got me a BlackVue DR650S-2ch with a power magic pro. I need help getting Power taps for the Power Magic Pro . One always HOT and one that is hot only when the car in Ready. any suggestions ... I have the Front and Rear installed and all the wires nicely placed behind the trim. Not really wanting to tear the dash apart and I do not see any fuse box in the cabin?

Thanks in advance.

 

I tapped into the cig lighter fuse in the foot well on the driver side.

 

Why all the dash cams. Are you guys cops?

 

I have foward and rear facing dash cams. One of the main reasons is because having lived in ny and fl now in oh, oh is very different. If you get into an accident someone gets a ticket right there on the spot. The cop is deciding based on the scene and statements. Its really a your word against the other driver. Better to have it recorded in case you need it and not mention it if you dont then risk these tickets. They are moving violations meaning points on your license. Also in oh the only way to take a ddc course is if a judge orders it unlike ny where you can take a ddc course to drop up to four points. In addition oh ddc is only to prevent points, once they are assigned they are there until they roll off. Too much of a headache a few hundred dollars and a bit of wiring might prevent

 

Alright, so I took my prius to an audio shop and they wired it down the A column and into the fusebox down below the steering wheel. I didn't see how he wired it up but it ended up looking pretty clean. It's set up so that it starts up with the ignition of the car. I didn't get my rear dashcam installed, since it would have been more labor and my windows are tinted to have it inside my car as opposed to having it outside. There's also the option of having the dashcam mirror also wired up to the stock rear camera, but it was also an expensive option.

 

Good to get it done. All wires hidden?

 

What dashcams are you folks using? I've never had one and am contemplating getting one. How much for a decent one? I saw a Groupon one the other day for next to noting but I assumed it was junk since it was so cheap?

Do they use memory cards or internal HD?

Thx.

 

I have garmin dash cams in both of my cars. They use SD cards. I had them hard wired to the map light area so that the installation is as clean as possible.

 

I am using Koonlung K1S | Dash Cam Talk
I dont use the gps or the file protect button. Records on a micro sd card and when full it records over