ThinkWare F750 DIY Hardwire Possible?

[Paul Mumby]

Hey, so I just bought an F750 for my Ford F150. Love the camera so far. But I'd love to hard-wire it to get advantage of the parking mode features (and simpler, cleaner install).

I'm assuming there are no special electronics in the hardwire kit, simply conductors for +12V, GND, and Switched signal...

Is the power cable in the cigarette lighter adapter fully wired? In otherwords can I simply cut the wire and splice that into the fuse panel to hard-wire it?

I've looked at local dealers, and bestbuy doesn't do installs anymore apparently, and nobody carries the hardwire adapter. Even on Amazon it's saying "out of stock". Also I'm about to leave on a road trip for 2 weeks. And if I can hardwire it in the next 48h, that would be nice.

I'm an electronics engineer, so I can do the install myself no problem, just wanted to be sure if the adapter is fully wired or not before cutting it up. (sometimes manufacturers will leave a connector partially wired, to cut costs).

Anyone know?

Thanks!

 

[jillisxm]

Hey, so I just bought an F750 for my Ford F150. Love the camera so far. But I'd love to hard-wire it to get advantage of the parking mode features (and simpler, cleaner install).

I'm assuming there are no special electronics in the hardwire kit, simply conductors for +12V, GND, and Switched signal...

Is the power cable in the cigarette lighter adapter fully wired? In otherwords can I simply cut the wire and splice that into the fuse panel to hard-wire it?

I've looked at local dealers, and bestbuy doesn't do installs anymore apparently, and nobody carries the hardwire adapter. Even on Amazon it's saying "out of stock". Also I'm about to leave on a road trip for 2 weeks. And if I can hardwire it in the next 48h, that would be nice.

I'm an electronics engineer, so I can do the install myself no problem, just wanted to be sure if the adapter is fully wired or not before cutting it up. (sometimes manufacturers will leave a connector partially wired, to cut costs).

Anyone know?

Thanks!

Cigarette lighter adapter has only two wires. Already checked

 

[Paul Mumby]

Damn, I was worried that was the case...

Ok, well I guess I'm not hard-wiring it for now... Will have to find a source for the hardwire kit and order it for a later date then.

Thanks!

 

[jillisxm]

If its helps, there is picture of hardwire kit. It shows which wire relates to which pin

 

[Paul Mumby]

I assume from that, black is ground obviously, yellow is most likely power (always on) and red is switched?

 

[jillisxm]

I assume from that, black is ground obviously, yellow is most likely power (always on) and red is switched?

Exactly

 

[Paul Mumby]

I just realized, you say there are only 2 wires in the cigarette lighter adapter, is it 2 wires, with a braided shield? that's fairly common in for example headphone wiring, to have a coaxial shield of wire braid to carry ground, and have 2 signal lines within.

Just reaching out on a limb

 

[bobby14]

Do you have London Drugs around you? They carry the hardwire kit.

 

[Paul Mumby]

Unnfortunately I'm in Ontario, and London Drugs isn't anywhere in Ontario.

Though I am taking a trip to Regina later in August, and there are 2 of them there (though I was hoping to have hard wiring done BEFORE that trip as I'm driving to Regina).

I'm driving in the USA currently.

 

[bobby14]

Best Buy in the US also carries the Hardwiring Cable TWA-SH for $29.99.

 

[Paul Mumby]

Hey! that's awesome, there is most definitely a bestbuy where I'm staying right now, I'll have to pop over and see if they have it.

Thanks!

 

[bobby14]

Btw, the cable to your rear cam is it a 90 degree L shape connector or just straight? Thinkware support told me that the rear cable for the newest edition of the F750/X500 rear cam uses a L shape plug.

 

[Paul Mumby]

No idea, don't have a rear cam as I have a pickup truck, and no easy way to mount it. So I got the single cam only.

 

[Paul Mumby]

Ok so it seems nobody can get the cable now... Everywhere I've checked is "special order only" and I ordered from Amazon and they've updated the estimated deliver date like 3 times now, finally I got an email saying "We're still trying to acquire this product, if you want to cancel that's ok" basically...

I'm re-considering trying to DIY the hardwire...

Wonder if I can figure out the standard of that barrel plug anywhere... If I can get the barrel plug, with 3 conductors available, then I can diy it.

 

[bobby14]

Have you checked Staples?
http://www.londondrugs.com/Thinkware-Hardwiring-Cable---Black---TWA-SH/L8755605,default,pd.html

http://www.staples.ca/en/Thinkware-...-Series-X-Series/product_1587363_2-CA_1_20001

 

[Paul Mumby]

Yeah, I checked Staples locally. Both London Drugs and Staples list it as an "Online Only" product, not available in store, and ships within 7-10 business days. This usually means it's not in-stock but they anticipate they can order it in.

Most other stores list it as "Special Order" (I think London drugs actually says this). Henry's photo is the same, Bestbuy is the same. As I said you can order from Amazon too, and it's supposedly direct from ThinkWare, but Amazon is having difficulty getting the stock in... Luckily with Amazon I can cancel anytime, so I'll likely not order online anywhere else unless they show it as "in stock". And I've not found it anywhere locally, looked everywhere I can think of.

I think I might have found the connector, so might be able to do a DIY hardwire... Will post more information once I've confirmed.

 

[dhavie]

Will post more information once I've confirmed.

Hi Paul,
How is it? Manage to get your hardwiring kits in and done with your connection?

Thanks

 

[RocketRancher]

I'm using a third-party cable for the hardwire installation, Tensility CA-2221, which I found for US $3.54.

Minor downside, the plug is straight and conductor insulation colors are different, but it otherwise represents a cost-effective alternative.

The coding difference is (T/R/S): Red/Green/Black
corresponding to: Persistent 12v / Switched 12v / Ground

Three-pole connectors of this size are sparse, but one version is a CUI PP-018.
Given the availability of the cable, though, there's no incentive to scratch-build.

Edited to remove domestic endorsement and link

 

[kmarnes]

I just purchased the full F750H kit including rear camera. Oh and btw, the 750H also came with the hardwiring cables too but it was documented, so I actuallly have two sets now... and will have to return one.

I also want to figure out how to hardwire it to the fusebox. Was quoted $200 for a full front&rear install, but I figure I can do the majority of it myself and if I can't figure out how to wire it to the fusebox, then I'll get a mechanic to do the final build.

Here's a screenshot of the wiring kit: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2ZkVwVLFM1XZnVxZmUxb21XcGdta2JpN1BhRHg0LUhKTm5n/view?usp=sharing

I couldn't find any documentation online, so I called customer support and while they answered, they just told me to get it professionally installed. I have enough basic knowledge to do this and even own a multimeter. But she gave me some super basic info, that seemed completely wrong to me. First of all she said the continuous power was the yellow wire, but mine is definitely red.

So I have 3 wires:

• black is obviously the grounded wire and connect it to a chassis bolt.
• red is the continuous battery 12V, so I imagine I just use my multimeter to find a hot 12V fuse and connect it to that via fuse wiring adapter.
• yellow is the accessory cable. I'm not so sure about this one, but my guess is that it connects to a 12V non continuous powered fuse.

Any thoughts? In the meantime, i can get all the gear installed without hardwiring it.

 

[RocketRancher]

I don't know why they're so hard-over regarding hardwiring, but her color code is correct, and it follows car radio tradition:

Yellow = persistent +12v. (Memory)
Red = switched +12v. (Accessory)
Black = -12v. (Return/ground)

There's also a photo illustration earlier in this thread.