Hardwiring the A119S

kenjancef

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Rhode Island
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Dash Cam
VIOFO A119S
Just got the A119S from CYA (thanks for the FAST shipping by the way!!) and I want to hardwire it into my 2016 RAV4's sunroof motor wiring. What do I need to hardwire this? is there a simple kit I can order somewhere? It would just need to be a VERY short wire...
 
I know people do it, but I don't think it a good idea to splice into things like the mirror, moon roof...etc, when it's so easy to hard wire into the fuse box. The fuse box is usually pretty accessible and tucking the USB cable behind the molding is very easy in most cars. If you really want to do it that way, there is an item on Amazon that someone came up with to connect into the rear view mirror and I assume it would work with the moon roof as well. It's a little pricey since you'll still need a 12V to 5V converter, but at least you wouldn't be splicing wires.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B01AYS4JZ4
 
That looks like a pretty annoying hardwire kit if the converter is only a foot from the plug, you'd need to stuff that in the headliner (should be doable on a rav4 but might bulge)
It's also only about 4.5 feet long which isn't enough.

the converter looks to be pretty small so would probably hide up ok, the downside though is that being small it is going to generate more heat than ideal for something tucked inside a roof lining and a good chance the design isn't well filtered so may induce noise, not a good choice I would think
 
the converter looks to be pretty small so would probably hide up ok, the downside though is that being small it is going to generate more heat than ideal for something tucked inside a roof lining and a good chance the design isn't well filtered so may induce noise, not a good choice I would think

Well the reason I wanted to tie off of a wire up there is that I didn't want to route the wire down the side of the window since I have airbags there. And from what I've seen so far in pictures, since I haven't removed the dome light assembly myself, it looks like there's room up there to put the excess wiring. If there is a lot of room I'd just buy the hardwire kit from CYA and use that. I just don't want to mess up the airbags...
 
yeah I understood why you wanted to use that one, airbags are no big deal though, just run the wires behind them, very straightforward
 
yeah I understood why you wanted to use that one, airbags are no big deal though, just run the wires behind them, very straightforward

Funny... for the heck of it I tried running the cord that came with my camera, took 10 minutes to run it along the headliner, down the left side, and under the dash... lol. Guess I shouldn't have been too worried... I'm using the cigarette lighter plug for now, will probably hardware it with the kit and a fuse tap eventually.

Thanks for the replies all...
 
I am always amazed at how most folks are so ... well ... so freaked at wiring. I know people would be very comfortable channeling water and electricity is no different. The main difference is water does not catch fire but even then it is extremely easy to wire things up safely. Just remember two golden rules: always use a relay with high draw devices and always, always build a fused circuit.
I plan to hard-wire my A119s into the system with a generic relay (not really needed) and "steal" power for it from the radio circuit. (Radio circuits typically have extra capacity for obvious reasons) I can route the wiring wherever I like and the only thing limiting my efforts is time. I would not have mentioned this a few years ago as it might have reduced my income, but now that I am "retired" who cares! lol
 
...people would be very comfortable channeling water and electricity is no different...
Not me. I'd rather work with electricity any day versus water. Water has a tendency to leak at connection points, electricity won't. Of course that preference could be a result of my life long bad luck with plumbing. If it were a competition the score would be: Plumbing - 359 Me - 2 :(
 
I was able to tuck the cable inside the rubber and plastic trim throughout the car. It's completely hidden. It runs along the top of windshield (tucked between glass and inside roof), then inside the rubber seal down the "A" post, underneath the glove box, tucked under the plastic part of center console, and directly into the center console storage where a 12-volt socket resides. You don't see the cable anywhere except for the one-inch between the dashcam and the top of windshield.
 
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