Front and Rear Dashcam Hardwire (add-a-fuse)

[jmarvin]

Hi guys. I am attempting to hardwire both my front and rear facing dashcams using an add-a-fuse. To do this, am I required to have two add-a-fuse's installed, or just one? Thanks.

 

[jokiin]

what cameras, what power supplies?

 

[jmarvin]

what cameras, what power supplies?

I connected two 8-foot long USB cables into a 12volt to 5 volt converter like the one seen below and spliced that into an add-a-fuse which I ran to my fuse panel. Using two 3amp fuses in the add-a-fuse. Am using Mobius for both front and rear cams.

 

[jokiin]

that's just a single power supply so one fuse tap, if tapping a circuit used for something else the original rating fuse value should be used for the existing circuit

 

[jmarvin]

that's just a single power supply so one fuse tap, if tapping a circuit used for something else the original rating fuse value should be used for the existing circuit

Ok, thank you. My car is a 2004 VW Jetta sedan. There is a fuse location dedicated to the rear wiper motor which my car does not have because it is a sedan not a wagon. There was no fuse inserted at that location so that is where I placed the add-a-fuse, but only the rear cam was turning on(the rear cam fuse was in the piggyback slot on the add-a-fuse). There are a few open fuse locations, but they are not set up, so I don't know what I am going to do. Thanks for your help.

 

[jokiin]

if using that power supply to run two cameras and only one was turning on it won't be a fuse issue, could be too much loss in the USB cable to get the required power all the way to the back camera, make sure you're using a decent quality USB cable, the Monoprice cables are reported to be quite good, if I remember correctly I think maybe @Dashmellow uses their product and may be better able to advise a suitable model cable to look at

 

[Dashmellow]

Yes, the Monoprice cables are excellent, especially for the price. I'd recommend the 10 0r 15 foot 5 pin USB-A to mini-B 28/28AWG shielded ones. There is also a heavier wire gauge one available with a ferrite bead.

Be aware that some of those generic Chinese 12v t0 5V converters are of very poor quality and "might" be a source of any problems you may encounter. Some of them are unregulated power converters which can damage cameras with voltage fluctuations and spikes. Make sure to test it carefully before permanently hooking up your cameras to it.

 

[jmarvin]

Thanks, guys. I am using the USB cables through Monoprice, so they should be good. At this point I don't think it's the converter because if the rear dashcam is working, and the front dashcam is plugged into the same converter that leads me to believe it is something else. I may investigate the connection at the butt splice and see if the wiring came loose.

 

[jokiin]

swap the cables

swap the cams

 

[Dashmellow]

Could be a bad soldering job on the wires inside the converter, or even a bad USB cable or plug so swapping cameras and cables would definitely be a good troubleshooting procedure.

 

[jokiin]

Could be a bad soldering job on the wires inside the converter, or even a bad USB cable or plug so swapping cameras and cables would definitely be a good troubleshooting procedure.

possible the power supply has over voltage on one side and the protection circuit in the camera is preventing it from starting also

 

[Dashmellow]

possible the power supply has over voltage on one side and the protection circuit in the camera is preventing it from starting also

That sounds plausible.

 

[jokiin]

I don't trust those cheap power supplies, they're cheap for a reason, not just because the manufacturers are nice people

 

[Dashmellow]

At least the Mobius cams have excellent over voltage protection built in so if the problem is voltage spikes or just too much voltage from the converter the cams won't get fried.

Don't know enough about these dual output versions of the converters but I wonder if over voltage can jump back and forth between the two outputs.

 

[SawMaster]

It could be that there is one PS circuit feeding both outputs, like a "Y" and one cam draws slightly more power than the other leaving too little power for both so only one functions. Unplug the functioning cam and see if the other operates- this will confirm that the cam/cable can work. If it does then the P/S isn't strong enough for both cams as they are now set up.

Where possible, it's better to keep the USB cables short by placing the P/S near the cam. There is little voltage & current loss at 12V in a wire the length of a car, but 5V at that same length the losses can be considerable. USB cables can degrade over time, where wires essentially don't. I'd rather not have to ever replace the power going to the rear with all the trouble it is to hide that which took me over an hour to do so I used wire, not a USB cable and I'll never have to touch it again

Phil

 

[Rajagra]

I don't trust those cheap power supplies, they're cheap for a reason, not just because the manufacturers are nice people

I have complete faith in mine:

Waterproof, Moistureproof, Earthquake Proof

 

[litva00]

I wonder if this cheap power supply offered for the A11x and Mini's is good or, as the price indicates, one has to count with 'limitations' as well? I wouldn't be happy with radio, gps interference etc.
(but I don't need earthquake protection )

 

[SawMaster]

All of the "switching power supplies" like this generate interference. Some cams handle that better than others and sometimes placement and cable routing can minimize that acceptably. But sometimes the interference cannot be easily solved if at all, and the only way to know is to research to find of others with that car/cam/PS combination have reported problems or to try it yourself. Cams and GPS devices themselves generate interference similarly so nobody can guarantee against this.

There are some things you can do to minimize the risks: keeping distance between the devices, not running cables parallel or near to other cables and wiring, not having anything near antennas and their cabling, and adding snap-on ferrite chokes to offending wiring/cables. All you can really do is try- you might get lucky!

Phil

 

[litva00]

All of the "switching power supplies" like this generate interference. Some cams handle that better than others and sometimes placement and cable routing can minimize that acceptably. But sometimes the interference cannot be easily solved if at all, and the only way to know is to research to find of others with that car/cam/PS combination have reported problems or to try it yourself. Cams and GPS devices themselves generate interference similarly so nobody can guarantee against this.

There are some things you can do to minimize the risks: keeping distance between the devices, not running cables parallel or near to other cables and wiring, not having anything near antennas and their cabling, and adding snap-on ferrite chokes to offending wiring/cables. All you can really do is try- you might get lucky!

Phil

OK, thank you. I'm deciding whether to use this kind of box style power supply or a combination of hard wired 12V socket connected to the add-a-fuse on one side and a plugged 12V to 5V/USB "stick" supplied with the dash cam. Could the "box style" power supply be electrically any better than the supplied "plug-in stick"? (Thinking of e.g. higher quality hybrid or better elaborated circuitry, at least just because of having "more space" available.) I cannot find too many hard wiring kits and all look or are cheap. But do these need to be expensive with 1.5A max. current?
I want to connect it to a fuse which has the voltage disconnected when the key is unplugged, so I don't need battery discharge protection or similar feature needed for "parking mode".

 

[SawMaster]

They are both "switching" type power supplies. I don't think anybody makes and sells the old controlled-current transformer types any more, but one could be home-built. If you want to try the hardwire unit you will probably be OK- I would do that myself. The usual interference issues are DAB radio interference, AM radio interference, and FM radio interference. Less common are GPS interference and cam interference. For hardwiring, you may want to try the radio fuse as that circuit usually receives extra attention in design to avoid electrical interference with the factory radio. But sometimes it's the factory radio causing the interference so another circuit may prove better.

Things usually work well enough with most dashcam installs, and most of the occasionally needed cures are usually simple and easy, so go with your plan and see- the odds are with you And if you do have problems anyway, we're here to help you try to resolve them which we usually can. Just not always; nobody can promise you that.

Phil