Best Way to Setup A129 Duo Dual Cameras

unrecognized88

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Hello all,

New to the world of dash cams and recently purchased the A129 Duo for my car and my wife's car due to some car break in at our apartment garage. Luckily, we were not hit this time, but it prompted me to look at ways to try and protect ourselves. I will be hardwiring both cameras with Viofo's 3 wire hardwire kit and using Sandisk High Endurance 256gb cards, but am not sure what configuration I need as far as voltage setting goes.

My wife's car is a 2014 Lexus ES300h. Completely stock car with no modifications.

My car is a 1998 Lexus GS400. I'm not sure if the following is relevant, but per the ClubLexus forums, I should have "13.5v at idle w/normal electrical loads on, 14.1v to 14.0v w/light load and this drops to about 12.9v w/heavy loads such as high beams on/rear defrost/fan on full/radio up. Normal functioning charging system will read 13.5v to 14.5v." I have a viper alarm, double din screen, and a 12" sub in the trunk that I rarely ever turn up anymore. Fan setting is on lowest setting with AC always on. I don't remember when I last replaced my battery, but I am thinking it's probably about 2-3 years old?

Both of our weekday commutes are the same:
Weekday:
Commute to work: 15 min
Park in work garage: 9 hours
Commute to home: 20 min
Park in apartment garage overnight: 15 hours

On the weekend, we take her car, but my car is parked the whole time:
Parked Friday at 4:30 PM until Monday at 6:30 AM (62 hours)

1. With this information, what voltage cutoff should each car be at?
2. Is there a way to ensure my camera stays on over the weekend?
3. Should I also run the original Viofo (non hardwire) power cable down to the driverside footwell and hide an external battery pack under the seat?
  • I would basically have 3 cables hanging from the headliner - one would be the hardwire power cable for daily use, one would be the original cable connected to battery pack for weekend use, and the rear camera cable.

Thank you in advanced for any help!
 
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Have a look in the A129 section of the forum, as you will probably find answers in previous threads to your questions etc.

 
Thank you in advanced for any help!

I use to live in Houston (Spring / Klein) for a few years (left 10 years ago) and my complex started having issues with break ins back then. I was told by locals the ghetto swarmed Houston after Katrina and that's when a lot of the problems with crime began.

To Properly install the camera you need to remove the A and C pillar if your vehicle has side curtains. Route the cables BEHIND side curtain and never over / crossing curtain. Neatly tuck in cables along the clips to prevent any obstruction in deployment. On my vehicle (Volvo), tucking the wire into the headliner on B Pillar wasn't an issue. See image below. As the curtain rests ABOVE and wire tucked in is BELOW the curtain without crossing it.

NOTE ON PICTURE #2: Remove A-Pillar from Passenger Side. I only highlighted driver side so you could see what I'm talking about more clearly.

Suggested Route = Passenger if the fuse box to hardwire is under passenger foot well.

Fuse Selection:

Battery (Always On For parking Mode) - Generally piggy backing Power Seats is a good fuse to select. Assuming your manual doesn't have it tied into any other systems. And your vehicle has power seats.

ACC (Ignition) depends on your car - I tried the 12V socket fuse and later found out it was tied to my alarm somehow. So if I locked car, camera powered on when I wanted it off in my garage. So I piggy backed my heated seats without issue.

Show us your manual schematic and we can offer suggestions.

Fuse Cutoff: Set hardwire kit cutoff to 12.2 (50% Battery). I wouldn't go any lower than that.

Grounding Hardwire kit - I did mine to a metal screw with a metal backed washer. I WAS TOLD that isn't the best choice and it is ideal to select a bolt grounded to the vehicle's frame. I'm just too lazy to rip off the A Pillar and Trim since the camera has been running a year without any problems. Because, you always risk breaking clips when removing trimming.


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