12V power in Lexus ES 2023 Overhead powered Rear View Mirror

[minotaar]

So, the FitcamX gets power in there by using the power for the autodimming rear view mirror.

The cable FitCamX has with their product is basically a splitter for the mirror's power, with a compatible plug. One side goes back to the mirror, and the other side goes to the new camera.

Has anyone made such a splitter for the rear view mirror that could be used to power generic devices? It would really save a lot of cabling given that their nearest accessory power / USB is in the armrest.

 

[minotaar]

Question - is this what the Dongar Cable adaptor will do? I just came across it in some searches, and would like to confirm. Thanks!

 

[SteveJ]

I have been using the Dongar adaptor with my Viofo A129 Pro in my gen 5 2022 Kia Sportage for around 9 months now and it works fine. As you say it just splits the feed to the mirror. A very neat installation which took all of 10 minutes. Admittedly if you’re not wiring to the fuse box you won’t be able to use the parking mode, but if your not bothered it’s fine.

 

[forcefed]

Its not a splitter its just a tiny dc to dc converter, you can use this to do the same thing but its a bit bigger
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07Y2V1F8V
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07XXWQ49N

 

[minotaar]

I have been using the Dongar adaptor with my Viofo A129 Pro in my gen 5 2022 Kia Sportage for around 9 months now and it works fine. As you say it just splits the feed to the mirror. A very neat installation which took all of 10 minutes. Admittedly if you’re not wiring to the fuse box you won’t be able to use the parking mode, but if your not bothered it’s fine.

Thanks, glad to hear it. Based on your clarification I bought the viofo and and the dongar, and it worked great on my car!

Its not a splitter its just a tiny dc to dc converter, you can use this to do the same thing but its a bit bigger
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07Y2V1F8V
https://www.amazon.com/gp/B07XXWQ49N

Thanks! I wasn't aware of this earlier, but decided to go with the Dongar. It's really cool that it will let you convert 12 to 5v.

 

[minotaar]

I have been using the Dongar adaptor with my Viofo A129 Pro in my gen 5 2022 Kia Sportage for around 9 months now and it works fine. As you say it just splits the feed to the mirror. A very neat installation which took all of 10 minutes. Admittedly if you’re not wiring to the fuse box you won’t be able to use the parking mode, but if your not bothered it’s fine.

I'm disappointed - it seems that my A229 Pro can't be powered via the Dongar adaptor. It occasionally loses power at random. really frustrating.

 

[forcefed]

I'm disappointed - it seems that my A229 Pro can't be powered via the Dongar adaptor. It occasionally loses power at random. really frustrating.

Did you try it with the original viofo cable? You need to use 20awg guage cable or the camera will keep disconnecting

 

[minotaar]

Did you try it with the original viofo cable? You need to use 20awg guage cable or the camera will keep disconnecting

I misunderstood this the first time I read it. I realized now that I actually did not use the original viofo usba-usbc cable to connect the viofo and the dongar. I'll give it a try.

I used a phone charger cable that I had lying around. It was not a trash cable, but it was not the cable that came with the 12v power plug from Viofo - I avoided that cable because it was too long for the overhead install. I'll try the original one, just in case.

 

[minotaar]

Did you try it with the original viofo cable? You need to use 20awg guage cable or the camera will keep disconnecting

So this is really frustrating. it seems 20awg USB cables are very hard to find when you want to get one that is only a foot long. Generally 10 foot cables only come down to 21AWG. I'd really hate to have to cram all 8 feet of the viofo oem cable into the tiny box behind my rear view mirror....

And get this, the short auxiliary cable that Viofo sells on their website is 28AWG. So that won't even work!

 

[forcefed]

This cable mentions 21/28awg maybe give it a try https://www.amazon.com/gp/B08933P982
If you have prime order a bunch of different ones and see what works.

 

[minotaar]

This cable mentions 21/28awg maybe give it a try https://www.amazon.com/gp/B08933P982
If you have prime order a bunch of different ones and see what works.

Thanks; I'm going to try it. The problem is that I only lose power every few days, so it's hard to test. Also, I wonder if the dongar's cable isn't itself awg 20. I'll ask them.

 

[VIOFO-Support]

So this is really frustrating. it seems 20awg USB cables are very hard to find when you want to get one that is only a foot long. Generally 10 foot cables only come down to 21AWG. I'd really hate to have to cram all 8 feet of the viofo oem cable into the tiny box behind my rear view mirror....

And get this, the short auxiliary cable that Viofo sells on their website is 28AWG. So that won't even work!

The long charger cable included in the package is 20AWG if your camera is A229 Pro. You can try it with your dongar adaptor to test.

 

[minotaar]

Thank you; I will try it.

I am not an electrical engineer, but I have realized that the resistance of the 3.5M charger cable may actually be higher than the resistance of a thinner gauge short cable. I'm going to try both a 21AWG 1.5 foot cable (.019 Ohms), and the 20AWG 10 foot cable (.039 ohms). I'll try both and report back.

 

[minotaar]

This cable mentions 21/28awg maybe give it a try https://www.amazon.com/gp/B08933P982
If you have prime order a bunch of different ones and see what works.

Forcefed, I just wanted to thank you about your comments relating to the 20AWG cables. I was able to find a good thick gauge but short cable on amazon, and after about 6 hours of driving so far, I've not experienced the power down situation. Much appreciated!!!

For anyone else seeking info, I ended up using this cable:
Fasgear USB C Short Cables 1ft, 3 Pack Fast Charging Braided USB A to Type C 2.0 Charger Cords Compatible for Sam-Sung Galaxy S21 Ultra Note 20 S10 Plus S9 S8,Nexus 5X, One-Plus 3, Huawei P20, Black

 

[forcefed]

Good to hear