A129 Plus Duo Dashcam install in new car question

smithdean

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I am NOT DIY and so I have a confirmed appointment tomorrow at a Bestbuy Autotech store location for installation of the A129 Plus Duo for my 2020 Hyundai Santa Fe. I do have the hardwrite kit as well.

I want advice from you pros to tell me what to tell the installer when I am there to have the cams installed.

What do I tell him if I DON'T want my car battery drained when I have parked overnight and don't want to find my car not starting the next day?

I experienced this when I inserted my auto insurance(Metromile) mileage tracking pulse device in the car and when I went to drive my car the next day, my car wouldn't start and I had to call the dealer for help cos I thought there was something wrong with my newly purchased car and I was mad at them. They towed my car to the dealer and later told me that my PULSE device that is plugged in to OBD-II port killed my car battery and they told me it stays on all the time with the green light on while parked. Now my insurance told me and it is on their website

Will the Pulse drain my car’s battery power?​

"Not to worry – the Pulse device should have little to no effect on a healthy car battery. Even if your car isn’t being driven, the pulse will not drain a healthy battery" Well it did drain a car battery of a new car so what can I say.

The dealer first asked me if I had any dashcam installed that could have drained my car. So I reached out to my auto insurance company and they replaced the PULSE device with a Cigarette Lighter Adapter that tracks my mileage and it turns on only when I drive the car. So far it hasn't drained my car battery. So my main point is I don't want to find my car not starting the next day due to the dashcams. What do I tell the installer guy? Tell him I don't want parking mode or GPS mode or something?

Thanks
 
The Viofo Hardwire Kit has a voltage cutoff that you can set to stop it draining the battery. If you set it at 12.4v you should have no issues (I assume the car has a normal 12v battery)


You can also choose to not use parking mode at all, in this case they will need to wire the kit just to a switched live on the fusebox.
 
As long as they wire it according to the instructions you should be fine. Have them set the low-voltage cut-off to 12.4V and have them show you where the unit is mounted in case you wish to switch to a different setting later on. It's all pretty simple so ir should go well for you and them.

Phil
 
I had it installed front and rear. How do I remove the front main camera to take home to play around and go to settings etc? I thought I could easily remove and put it back by just pilot it sideways. Also my car engine is off but the camera still has Recording light to red and on. I thought it wouldn’t stay on when my engine is shut off?
 

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How do I remove the front main camera to take home to play around and go to settings etc?
Unplug the rear camera cable from the side, then slide the camera to the right, it should come off the mount fairly easily, be careful not to drop it.
Also my car engine is off but the camera still has Recording light to red and on. I thought it wouldn’t stay on when my engine is shut off?
Set Parking Mode to off in the setup, it should turn off if it is wired correctly with Viofo's HK3 hardwire kit.
 
Unplug the rear camera cable from the side, then slide the camera to the right, it should come off the mount fairly easily, be careful not to drop it.

Set Parking Mode to off in the setup, it should turn off if it is wired correctly with Viofo's HK3 hardwire kit.
Oh thanks a lot . I was able to remove the camera so I can take it home and play with it and learn. I did tell the installer I don’t want my battery drained and set the voltage to 12V like you guys told me but here my car is off and camera recoding is still on to red. Will it stop draining battery if I set parking mode to off and still plug it back in on my windshield overnight !
 
Will it stop draining battery if I set parking mode to off and still plug it back in on my windshield overnight !
Yes, if it is using the HK3, and it is wired correctly, and you turn on the ignition after plugging it back in. The red light should go out when you turn the ignition off again.
 
your camera seem located in a very unusual location, the very best spot is the middle of the windscreen ( at the top of course )
But some cars have a sensor array here, in which case people either mount to the side of it, or some even been able to mount the camera off the sensor array housing plastic ( if it have a fairly flat surface )
You at least want wiper coverage, as otherwise as you can see, then in rain you have a significant lesser chance of capturing any detail you might need.

There is a picture heavy "where did you mount your camera" thread in the general forum, it is well worth a look to see what people have done in their cars.
 
your camera seem located in a very unusual location, the very best spot is the middle of the windscreen ( at the top of course )
But some cars have a sensor array here, in which case people either mount to the side of it, or some even been able to mount the camera off the sensor array housing plastic ( if it have a fairly flat surface )
You at least want wiper coverage, as otherwise as you can see, then in rain you have a significant lesser chance of capturing any detail you might need.

There is a picture heavy "where did you mount your camera" thread in the general forum, it is well worth a look to see what people have done in their cars.
I didn't know about the point you mentioned above the wiper coverage ! I wish I knew this earlier. I j asked the installer to install it in top right to make it look discreet and little less interference in the middle of the screen. I guess it is too hard now to go back to Bestbuy Autotech location to move it to the middle since mine is hardwired. What do you think?
 
I guess it is too hard now to go back to Bestbuy Autotech location to move it to the middle since mine is hardwired. What do you think?
I think it's worth moving, while that will have great view of the sidewalk on your side of the road it will be terrible for anything in oncoming traffic, any incident it did capture would be from a skewed perspective also which won't make for great evidence, if it's not within the sweep of the wipers then it will be useless in wet weather, the screen ends up dirty if not covered by the wipers anyway
 
I think it's worth moving, while that will have great view of the sidewalk on your side of the road it will be terrible for anything in oncoming traffic, any incident it did capture would be from a skewed perspective also which won't make for great evidence, if it's not within the sweep of the wipers then it will be useless in wet weather, the screen ends up dirty if not covered by the wipers anyway
I have to make appointment again to move the camera to middle . Don’t I need a replacement part to stick the dashcam again?
 
In the middle of the windscreen, even if you have some sensors there, a wedge camera like the viofo just come off as yet another sensor.
I am a little surprised that the tec at Bestbuy dident veto your install location, it cant be the first camera they have installed, but maybe they are like many working folks, thats just there for the paycheck.
 
Normally there are a spare sticky pad for the camera in the box.
Too bad you are not down the road from me, i would have that sucker relocated in no time :) but the north atlantic this time of the year are a tall order to swim, and swim it is all i can afford on my pension.
 
In the middle of the windscreen, even if you have some sensors there, a wedge camera like the viofo just come off as yet another sensor.
I am a little surprised that the tec at Bestbuy dident veto your install location, it cant be the first camera they have installed, but maybe they are like many working folks, thats just there for the paycheck.
The installer guy did ask me where in the middle of the windshield I wanted the front dashcam installed. It was me that told him to put it on top right . I said this cos on my previous old Camry car , I had a dashcam installed on top right of the screen as well. I will try to call them for another appointment to move it to the middle .they go by appointment as they are not like those small private shops where you can just drive there and pay to get something done . And Best Buy’s price is very reasonable . The guy charged me $59.99 exactly for both . Would have been three times that if I went to a private smaller shops.
 
Went back and had them move it back to somewhat near center. They didn’t need new adhesive stick they said although I had extras. I didn’t want the black dots to block the view so it is not in exact center of the windshield. You are so right about the rain coverage obstruction when I had it ob fat top right of windshield. It is raining and I saw it blocking .
 

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Thanks guys! The video play back via the app on my phone is seems to be working when I change it to 2.5 ghz . It stops and buffers sometimes but I think it will work. I believe I turned my data off to be able to view the playback.
 
My rear cam keeps falling off every other week and I have to stick it back . What should I do? I think that is due to the trunk that is opened and closed frequently. My car is Hyundai Santa Fe SUV
 

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Use another double adhesive pad, but clean better the glass. Use, for example, isopropyl alcohol, for cleaning. It is a very good degreaser and cleaner.
 
Use another double adhesive pad, but clean better the glass. Use, for example, isopropyl alcohol, for cleaning. It is a very good degreaser and cleaner.
it keeps coming off. I think it needed to be placed somewhere else because I think the adhesive pad becomes loose every time I open the trunk.
 
It's weird, because when I had to remove the noGPS holder, I had to use a knife blade. I had no chance with free hand and, believe me, I pulled it as hard as I could.
 
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