Dashcam for newbie

[HonestReview]

https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/pubs/OM/AH/ATLA1717OM/enu/ATLA1717OM.PDF

Page 631 of the PDF has the fuse box for interior.

I believe the Honda CRV uses the Low Profile Mini Fuses (#4) but you can easily verify that one



I don't own a Honda CRV, but it appears based on the Schematic I can find, removing only the A Pillar is necessary to route airbag behind the curtain. Or out of the way of curtain. And then the rest of the wire can go along the weather stripping under the curtain without issue. So long as you can feed the wire in between the other Pillars without being in the way of the seatbelt. Basically what this guy did at from 7 Min 9 Sec mark to 7 Min 25 second Mark in Video Below

Green Dot = A Pillar. Needs take off. 100% contains a side curtain you cannot route over.

Red Dots = B and C Pillar. From the 360 video, looks like you could pull away weather stripping and feed wire through along headliner. So long as wire wouldnt be in way of seatbelt.

Worst case, you'd pull that plastic trim away on the B and C Pillar above the seatbelt to feed wire where it needs to go and snap back on. I had to do this on a 2014 Honda Civic because I couldn't get wire where I wanted to without being in way of seatbelt.





How to install the wire properly on Rear Hatch of a Honda C-RV

 

[Kremmen]

The 'correct' way to wire in a dashcam on the CRV is via an 'Option Connector'. This is a fusebox port unaffected by any other on-board electrics like stop start and CANBUS ECU protection.

Available here :

8,9,10 Gen Civic, 3,4,5 Gen CR-V, 3G Jazz, Honda E...

www.civinfo.com

 

[HonestReview]

The 'correct' way to wire in a dashcam on the CRV is via an 'Option Connector'

Available here :

8,9,10 Gen Civic, 3,4,5 Gen CR-V, 3G Jazz, Honda E...

www.civinfo.com

Looked again. I guess this is an adapter. He could simply pull a low profile mini fuse, too and hardwire that way using fuse taps. I've got ZERO IDEA how that adapter works.

FYI: I wired a 2014 Honda Civic by tapping into fuse box. First try the fuses I selected caused a conflict (Damn Canbus). Fuse I selected was tied to infotainment (wasn't mentioned in manual) due to Canbus and caused Radio Static. Second attempt was fine. Fuses have worked perfect now without interference.

 

[Kremmen]

The problem with tapping into fuses is often that the chosen circuit becomes temporarily inactive if your car has stop start or the CANBUS or ECU detects a higher draw than expected.

The Honda Option Connector port is there dedicated for wiring accessories and provides smooth uninterupted power at all times.

If anyone finds a suitable tap that works and doesn't put the dashcam into a frequent reboot or shuts the dashcam down then OK

 

[kamkar]

The front camera is where 95% of other peoples "F" ups get recorded, and it also log 100 % of what you do, and that alone will fend off many a outrageous claim against you.
But as many states are 1 plate states and it is on the back of the cars, then i strongly recommend 2 channel systems for Americans, otherwise anything that come towards you dont give a chance of a plate capture, but if you have a rear camera that will when the car get in frame there.

And i prefer a fighting chance myself, and thats all we get with plate capture as for it to happen you need good light conditions.

This is the Viofo A139 on a Danish highway in the rain, speeds on vehicles are 80 kmh or 50 mph.
Both front and rear camera capture preformance,,,,,,, of more readable EU plates, US plates are a bit smaller, and allow for secondary graphics ASO on the plate that can aid in making them even harder to capture.

This same video, if the road thru-out had been flanked by trees on both sides like the with the white mini van with the yellow plates, then every single plate here would have been unreadable or very close to that.
It is not just the light that come down from the sky, it is also what is in the frame that the camera do its metering off, and so might use settings ( exposure time ) that are no good for the current speeds.
So even on a clear skies summer day, you can get in trouble with plate capture, for instance if your drive into shade and have trees flanking the road, in that case the camera will go " O my its dark here i must slow down exposure to capture more light " and that will leave you with motion blur that will make a plate unreadable.

 

[HonestReview]

The problem with tapping into fuses is often that the chosen circuit becomes temporarily inactive if your car has stop start or the CANBUS or ECU detects a higher draw than expected.

The Honda Option Connector port is there dedicated for wiring accessories and provides smooth uninterupted power at all times.

If anyone finds a suitable tap that works and doesn't put the dashcam into a frequent reboot or shuts the dashcam down then OK

I hardwired a 2014 Honda Civic and it had issues on my first tap with interfering with the radio. After that, I switched fuse placement and the thing works fine. So a little trial and error on fuses should do the trick.

On that Optional Honda Connector, how exactly do the pins work as I see no wires outputting from the connector to hook to the hardwire kit?

 

[Kremmen]

The Option Connector comes as a plastic unit with 8 separate metal connectors that click in once self wired.

I wired 2 connectors both to female bullet connectors. I then wired my Garmin and Dashcam. The Garmin wired to the Option Connector IGN Pos 1 and the Dashcam to Option Connector IGN pos 2.

Here is my Civic 9G Connector :

Amp draw with dash cam fitted via fuse

www.civinfo.com

 

[HonestReview]

The Option Connector comes as a plastic unit with 8 separate metal connectors that click in once self wired.

I wired 2 connectors both to female bullet connectors. I then wired my Garmin and Dashcam. The Garmin wired to the Option Connector IGN Pos 1 and the Dashcam to Option Connector IGN pos 2.

Here is my Civic 9G Connector :

Amp draw with dash cam fitted via fuse

www.civinfo.com

So did you have to strip the connector off the fuse tap or how exactly did you insert the fuse tap wire into IGN Pos 2?

Also, you need an Accessory and Battery Connection to hardwire a cam. So wouldn't you need 2 plugs (and fuse taps) for the Dashcam to support parking mode? So what two pins would be used to allow the Dashcam to power off Accessory when car is started and and Battery when the car is off?

 

[Kremmen]

The 9G Option Connector plugs into the fusebox port with a nice click. No 'tap' is needed.

Before you plug it in you need to know which connector pin is which. There are other pins for reverse, lights on and permanent power. These are all listed on the Civinfo site I linked to but I checked with a multimeter first.

The option connector end is a simple crimp type connector that also pushes in firmly and I used a short 4" wire with the female bullet. I then crimped a male bullet on the dashcam hwk for ease of disconnection.

Post #1 shows the option connector as my picture and also the metal connectors for the connector. There is also a pin wiring diagram in post #1 :

8,9,10 Gen Civic, 3,4,5 Gen CR-V, 3G Jazz, Honda E...

www.civinfo.com

As an aside, the option connector for my new Jazz comes pre-wired but Honda have retained the need to supply an accessory socket to discourage fuse taps
My post #62 here shows the latest Jazz connector :

Dash Cam Hardwire Installation

Dash Cam Hardwire Installation

clubjazz.org

 

[thomas-dash]

I think I'll do the front first.

That’s what I did with my A129 Pro Duo. I installed only the front camera and plugged it in with a usb cigarette port adapter. I then installed the hardwire kit. Finally, I installed the rear camera last. This was over the course of a few weeks.

 

[HonestReview]

The 9G Option Connector plugs into the fusebox port with a nice click. No 'tap' is needed.

Before you plug it in you need to know which connector pin is which. There are other pins for reverse, lights on and permanent power. These are all listed on the Civinfo site I linked to but I checked with a multimeter first.

The option connector end is a simple crimp type connector that also pushes in firmly and I used a short 4" wire with the female bullet. I then crimped a male bullet on the dashcam hwk for ease of disconnection.

Post #1 shows the option connector as my picture and also the metal connectors for the connector. There is also a pin wiring diagram in post #1 :

8,9,10 Gen Civic, 3,4,5 Gen CR-V, 3G Jazz, Honda E...

www.civinfo.com

As an aside, the option connector for my new Jazz comes pre-wired but Honda have retained the need to supply an accessory socket to discourage fuse taps
My post #62 here shows the latest Jazz connector :

Dash Cam Hardwire Installation

Dash Cam Hardwire Installation

clubjazz.org

Looking at your photo on a Civic 9G, I am still left with two questions:

Wouldn't the Red (12V Constant Battery) and Purple (12V with Ignition - Accessory) pins both need utilized with a fuse tap to power the camera while driving (ignition) and parking (battery)?

Any images of the crimped connect that goes to the fuse tap and is inserted into the Honda Civil Connector?




Question #2

Not sure I understand the "Jazz Connector". Is this for a Honda? Which Model? And where would it be inserted?

 

[Kremmen]

I no longer have my 9G Honda Civic as I've changed to a MK4 Honda Jazz. That second pic with just 4 pins is the Honda Jazz option connector. The Honda Jazz is also known as the Honda Fit in many countries.

No, you don't need any 'fuse tap' of any kind with the option connector. All the power options are in the various pins.

There are 2 IGN pins, positions 1 and 2. There is also a permanent power option for 3 wire HWK. The only other connection you need for hardware kits is an earth.

So using the pin graphic :

2 Pin hardwire kit - hwk positive to purple, hwk earth to any metal
3 Pin hardwire kit - hwk yellow to purple, hwk red to red, dashcam earth to any metal

 

[HonestReview]

I no longer have my 9G Honda Civic as I've changed to a MK4 Honda Jazz. That second pic with just 4 pins is the Honda Jazz option connector. The Honda Jazz is also known as the Honda Fit in many countries.

No, you don't need any 'fuse tap' of any kind with the option connector. All the power options are in the various pins.

There are 2 IGN pins, positions 1 and 2. There is also a permanent power option for 3 wire HWK. The only other connection you need for hardware kits is an earth.

So using the pin graphic :

2 Pin hardwire kit - hwk positive to purple, hwk earth to any metal
3 Pin hardwire kit - hwk yellow to purple, hwk red to red, dashcam earth to any metal

Ya I didn't think that one all the way through. As there's be no way to connect fuse tap and hardwire kit to that connector you showed me. One major concern, I believe the thread said you inserted a fuse into slot 1 to make this connector work. But that's protecting the car (if I am correct on fuse 1). You have nothing protecting the camera. As there is no second fuse in this setup.

 

[Kremmen]

Not quite right.

You only need a fuse in No 1 if you want to power the permanent power pin. I don't need the permanent power as I have a 2 wire kit so I have no fuse in there. The other pins are protected by fuses but don't ask which ones.

 

[HonestReview]

Not quite right.

You only need a fuse in No 1 if you want to power the permanent power pin. I don't need the permanent power as I have a 2 wire kit so I have no fuse in there. The other pins are protected by fuses but don't ask which ones.

That doesn't make sense.

1. The Honda connector (Adapter) doesn't contain fuses within the actual plug, right?
2. The Honda connector (Adapter) simply plugs into the accessory socket.
3. The vehicle is protected by the fuses that let the accessory socket have power
4. The camera is not protected at all. In a fuse tap, the bottom fuse is the vehicle fuse (protects car). Top Fuse protects device.

In this setup, the camera has no fuse protecting the unit. The 2 or 3 wire hardwire kit is not circuit breaker. It simply allows energy to flow, cutting off voltage when a specific voltage is reached. If there were a spike in power, the fuse on the car would blow to protect the car. But the spike would flow up the hardwire kit and go straight to the camera.

That's my understanding.

#2 The +12 V (Red Pin) is the constant power pin. The Diagram says you need a fuse in fuse slot 1 only if you want constant power. You need constant power to permit parking mode? If the camera has no power after the car shuts off, then parking mode wouldn't work otherwise?

If you don't need a fuse in slot 1 to make the 12V Red pin work, then what is the purpose of slot 1? I'm confused.

 

[Kremmen]

The Option Connector socket pins are fuse protected. Honda wouldn't be that silly. But, if you want to put in an in-line fuse for satisfaction then do it.

I've used the option connector on 4 Hondas now (2x 8G 1x 9G Civic and now the Jazz) without any issues.

Honda have disabled the permanent power pin by connecting it to a removable fuse. Probably a good idea rather than having a permanent open 12v pin if it's not in use.

 

[HonestReview]

The Option Connector socket pins are fuse protected. Honda wouldn't be that silly.

You state that slot 1 needs a fuse to remain constant. To protect a circuit, both the vehicle and the device protected each need their own fuse. So if a fuse tap is not used (two fuses), I wonder if Honda has 2 fuses designated for the Accessory Connection.

One to protect the car's circuit. One to protect the device connected to that circuit.

As every dash camera requires 4 fuses.

2 to protect the battery circuit (One for car and One for Camera)
2 to protect the accessory circuit (one for car and one for camera)

Honda have disabled the permanent power pin by connecting it to a removable fuse.

So will the red pin not remain active when the car is shut off without having a fuse in slot 1?