Hardwiring

[Olli]

Even disturbing an air bag fuse could set them off at a cost of several thousand $$$$.

If I accidentally take off air bag fuse, probably the car will warn me about it using some light when starting the engine? Since it's quite important. And why do you think "setting off" would cause such big bill?
Anyway, the fuse box does not even have a screw, you can just open it. If there would really be very essential parts there, the car manufacturer would try more to prevent users from opening it.

Are you all sure the camera runs off 5v as all mine are 12v and dont need a stepdown Just a thought.

At least for, G1W, it is 5V. https://dashcamtalk.com/g1w/#Specifications

throrope, thank you for your idea. I will probably do this, too.

And about the black wire thing. It just confuses me to just plug it into a bolt. For example when you plug a LED into battery, then there goes two wires, one to + and one to -. And when plugging LED Strip into adapter - there is two wires, too. But now I should just put the wire into a bolt which goes nowhere, just the car chassis. That is what confuses me.[/quote]

 

[Nigel]

If I accidentally take off air bag fuse, probably the car will warn me about it using some light when starting the engine? Since it's quite important. And why do you think "setting off" would cause such big bill?

And about the black wire thing. It just confuses me to just plug it into a bolt. For example when you plug a LED into battery, then there goes two wires, one to + and one to -. And when plugging LED Strip into adapter - there is two wires, too. But now I should just put the wire into a bolt which goes nowhere, just the car chassis. That is what confuses me.

The black wire does go to - on the battery. Since all bolts are connected to - on the battery you can if you wish connect it to the nearest bolt instead. All the car electrics use bolts as - connections but officially they are known as earth points, it mean less cable is required and the remaining cable is neater. This does not apply to plastic cars!

Removing the airbag fuse should be perfectly safe as long as you don't do it with a hammer! If you are disconnecting an airbag then it is recommended that you first disconnect the battery and then wait half an hour, then it should be even safer, although you should still take care not to get into a situation where the airbag could cause injury if it did accidently go off.

 

[Olli]

Thank you, Nigel, for explaining. That really helped me to understand.

 

[Hillbilly]

If I accidentally take off air bag fuse, probably the car will warn me about it using some light when starting the engine? Since it's quite important. And why do you think "setting off" would cause such big bill?
Anyway, the fuse box does not even have a screw, you can just open it. If there would really be very essential parts there, the car manufacturer would try more to prevent users from opening it.
.

[/QUOTE]

Should you do something wrong and short the airbag fuse you could set them off and they usually run to at least $1000 each to replace. You can set them off simply by disconnecting the wrong thing sometimes.

I am fairly familiar with cars and have rewired 4wd but I wouldnt play with fuses connected to airbags and make very sure of which ones they are and stay away from them.

Yes fuse boxes dont have locks on them but from this thread perhaps they should.

They are not places to go mucking around in when you have obviously no clues about car electrics or in fact any electrics by the sound of it. However your money your car your life but I would strongly suggest you get a knowledgeable friend to show you first.

You show a great naivety about what could go wrong.

 

[Olli]

Ok, but I will make sure that I don't touch the airbag fuses. What about if I connect for example license plate fuse wrong? Can it some way affect the airbags?

 

[Bungus]

Olli,
You are scaring me with your type of questions.
Suggest you follow "Hillbilly"s advise.

 

[Hillbilly]

Ok, but I will make sure that I don't touch the airbag fuses. What about if I connect for example license plate fuse wrong? Can it some way affect the airbags?

Look I cant put it any plainer. You obviously have no idea about circuits or anything at all to do with wiring.

Is it worth stuffing a perfectly good car if you do something wrong.

GET AN ELECTRICIAN TO DO IT FOR YOU.

If you dont disconnect the battery and short something you could stuff the cars computer or anything.

 

[Olli]

But if I always just ask electrician, I will never learn anything myself. I think that's not good.

 

[Hillbilly]

But if I always just ask electrician, I will never learn anything myself. I think that's not good.

Its a lot better than stuffing up completely. Why do you think people go to college and spend years as an apprentice to learn how to do things like this.

We all had to learn and I first learnt by watching and being told by others until I understood what I was doing.

If you dont even know what the black wire is for you certainly need some instruction as it is used the same way universally.

You are dealing with a valuable asset which if things go very wrong you could do severe damage or at the worst burn it to the ground.

Dont laugh it could happen. However its your car and your money so do what you like as you dont seem to realise the implications of doing it wrong.

Far better the first time to get someone to show you and then try yourself with them looking on than just blindly go ahead and then say " Oh I didnt know, does insurance cover stupidity"

 

[Nigel]

But if I always just ask electrician, I will never learn anything myself. I think that's not good.

I've always seen forums as places to learn from and ask advice, places to go to when you are not sure of what you are doing to check that you are not making a mistake. Sometimes the best advice is to leave it to an expert who has all the right tools, diagnostic equipment, safety equipment etc. but if you don't ask then you will never learn or find out if something is easy, hard or for experts only.

A fuse is really just a switch, pull it out to switch a circuit off, put it in to turn the circuit on, with the extra function that if the circuit uses too much power the fuse will automatically turn the circuit off. Now it is possible to cause an explosion and put people in hospital just by turning on your kitchen light switch, if you leave your gas cooker on but not lit - very easy to do. You can do the same in a car if you remove an under bonnet fuse while charging the battery if you ignore the instructions on the charger to only use in a well ventilated space and so have a build up of hydrogen gas. But removing a fuse in itself should not be dangerous or cause damage to the airbag, ECU or anything else, you are simply switching a circuit off. The important thing to do is ensure that anything you add is connected through a fuse so that if it takes too much power or there is a fault in the wiring causing a short to -ve then the fuse will switch the circuit off before anything melts and catches fire. You should also ensure that you don't increase the load on existing wiring beyond its capabilities, so if you are using a fuse tap, make sure that the electricity has to flow through the original fuse first before entering the new circuit through the new smaller fuse - ie red wire should be located at the unfused end of the fuse socket.

 

[Hillbilly]

I've always seen forums as places to learn from and ask advice, places to go to when you are not sure of what you are doing to check that you are not making a mistake. Sometimes the best advice is to leave it to an expert who has all the right tools, diagnostic equipment, safety equipment etc. but if you don't ask then you will never learn or find out if something is easy, hard or for experts only.

A fuse is really just a switch, pull it out to switch a circuit off, put it in to turn the circuit on, with the extra function that if the circuit uses too much power the fuse will automatically turn the circuit off. Now it is possible to cause an explosion and put people in hospital just by turning on your kitchen light switch, if you leave your gas cooker on but not lit - very easy to do. You can do the same in a car if you remove an under bonnet fuse while charging the battery if you ignore the instructions on the charger to only use in a well ventilated space and so have a build up of hydrogen gas. But removing a fuse in itself should not be dangerous or cause damage to the airbag, ECU or anything else, you are simply switching a circuit off. The important thing to do is ensure that anything you add is connected through a fuse so that if it takes too much power or there is a fault in the wiring causing a short to -ve then the fuse will switch the circuit off before anything melts and catches fire. You should also ensure that you don't increase the load on existing wiring beyond its capabilities, so if you are using a fuse tap, make sure that the electricity has to flow through the original fuse first before entering the new circuit through the new smaller fuse - ie red wire should be located at the unfused end of the fuse socket.

All very true but the recipient of this information must have a basic understanding of the principles of electrical circuits and wiring protocols which this poster obviously doesnt understand.

All you have written is basic information which is easily understood IF YOU KNOW.

He shouldnt be in the underbonnet fusebox anyway as that doesnt in most cases have the circuit fuses in it and this board is usually inside the passenger compartment.

Some do not even have a fuse diagram which makes things harder.

If you were to play with the airbag circuit and do something wrong with the battery still connected you could quite easily set them off

What I am trying to do is stop the guy from damaging his car or himself by playing with the wrong circuit.

However if he chooses to go ahead its all over to him.

Far better to be shown what to do and try yourself next time than to blindly rush in and have it blow up in your face. Maybe literally.

I once fried a very expensive stereo amp when I touched a meter probe in the wrong place That was $1000 down the tubes and that was 30 years ago when it was a lot of money.
At the time I "thought" I knew what i was doing.

Lesson learned, Ask, be shown, Learn.

Incidentally a fuse is to protect the vehicle from the accessory not the other way around

 

[Nigel]

All very true but the recipient of this information must have a basic understanding of the principles of electrical circuits and wiring protocols which this poster obviously doesnt understand.

All you have written is basic information which is easily understood IF YOU KNOW.

How do you ever get started if your not allowed to start with the basics! I don't see any problem with someone asking about the basics, the most important skill to know when to ask.

He shouldnt be in the underbonnet fusebox anyway as that doesnt in most cases have the circuit fuses in it and this board is usually inside the passenger compartment.

I connected my dashcam to the underbonnet fusebox, via the main ECU power circuit

If you were to play with the airbag circuit and do something wrong with the battery still connected you could quite easily set them off

A will agree that it is not impossible, even with the battery disconnected, and you should always take great care near explosive devices, those airbags can kill. However you are far more likely to set them off with a hammer than a fuse. Never put your head or hands near the airbags when working on the car, and remember there are lots of airbags in modern cars, not just the most obvious one in the steering wheel and the seat belt pre-tensioners are also explosive devices.

What I am trying to do is stop the guy from damaging his car or himself by playing with the wrong circuit.

However if he chooses to go ahead its all over to him.

Have you seen what people from Finland can do with rally cars? Giving a warning is fine, but don't assume that because someone feels that it is sensible to ask a question that they are incapable of doing a fantastic job!

 

[Hillbilly]

How do you ever get started if your not allowed to start with the basics! I don't see any problem with someone asking about the basics, the most important skill to know when to ask.


I connected my dashcam to the underbonnet fusebox, via the main ECU power circuit


A will agree that it is not impossible, even with the battery disconnected, and you should always take great care near explosive devices, those airbags can kill. However you are far more likely to set them off with a hammer than a fuse. Never put your head or hands near the airbags when working on the car, and remember there are lots of airbags in modern cars, not just the most obvious one in the steering wheel and the seat belt pre-tensioners are also explosive devices.


Have you seen what people from Finland can do with rally cars? Giving a warning is fine, but don't assume that because someone feels that it is sensible to ask a question that they are incapable of doing a fantastic job!

Did you actually read through the thread and see the questions that were asked.

I dont really give a fig Was just trying to stop an obvious novice who unfortunately seems to understand little from doing perhaps severe damage to his car when it could be done in 10 mins by a sparky who would show him what to do next time.
Yes I know about Finns and rally cars Doesnt make the whole population experts though does it.

I can wire up almost anything but cant do brain surgery whereas my neighbour can but doesnt know what a spark plug is.

Get what I am saying????

I have 2 VW's and wouldnt go near the ECU circuit. The safest and probably correct way is to find spare unused fuse sockets in the internal fusebox and use them Have done about 7 installations like that. Takes about 10 minutes and no need to route wires through the firewall either.

 

[Olli]

Thanks for the comments. So I talked with my friend who has more experience on cars (he has installed Xenon lights, new speakers etc), and he is happy to help me with installing the dash cam. We will do the installation together, so I will learn same time. We will do the installation in the fuse box located below steering wheel (not under bonnet).

Hillbilly, to clarify, what you mean by "unused fuse sockets"? My car manual lists several "not in use" fuses, and also their amp rating/colour is not shown. Additionally, there are fuses listed for accessories which are not part of my car, for example, like I before mentioned, "electrical sunroof" (20A, yellow).

 

[Nigel]

like I before mentioned, "electrical sunroof" (20A, yellow).

If you use that then you know it can supply enough power - 20A is far more than the camera requires. If you use one which you don't know the amp rating then you don't know if it can supply enough power without melting, although it is very likely that it can supply 1A.

However, I would try and choose one that does not get turned off when you start the engine, it is very likely that the sunroof does get turned off. I don't know if that matters for the G1W but the Mini 0803 does not like the power being removed very soon after turning on the ignition.

 

[Olli]

Okay, thanks. My goal is that the camera only gets power (and records) when my car is powered on. If you think sunroof fuse would be a problem, I could use license plate fuse (7.5A, i think it would be enough, since license plate light is just small one).

 

[Nigel]

Okay, thanks. My goal is that the camera only gets power (and records) when my car is powered on. If you think sunroof fuse would be a problem, I could use license plate fuse (7.5A, i think it would be enough, since license plate light is just small one).

My licence plate has two 5W bulbs = 10W = ~1A so there should be plenty of spare power. I guess that one doesn't turn off with the starter so probably a good choice. If it is a bad choice then the fuse will blow and then you will know, just make sure you put the fuse tap the correct way around so that the power for both the license plate and camera go through the original 7.5A fuse before the power for the camera then goes through your new 3A? fuse.

 

[Bungus]

Not sure about your car. Some/most car's cigarette lighter is on when acc/ign is on (car start/switched circuit). Just tab your hard wire to this circuit. You'll need a transformer to reduce voltage from 12 vdc to 5 vdc for your camera.
Modern cars with multiple computers controlling different functions, it's very expensive to diagnose and replace should something screw up.
Good idea to have a someone who have done this to help you.
You can learn by experimenting if the cost of a f...kup does not cost you. Otherwise pay and let a pro do it. Much cheaper.
Good luck.

 

[Olli]

Thank you both. In this car, which is Ford Focus 2002, the cigarette lighter is on always So I cannot use it. Actually it's quite strange. For example new S-MAX cars, the cigarette lighter shuts down automatically after 30min turning the car off, that's much better I think.

 

[Bungus]

Radio. Does that switch off? Tab into that then.