Mounting Camera on Textured Plastic in heat/sunlight

[STarantelli]

I have a '23 Niro and it has a black plastic wire cover behind the rearview mirror [see picture].

I'm trying to keep my dash cam mounted here (it's a Viofo fwiw), and the supplied 3M stickers reliably held up for months during the cooler season. Now that it's summer, whenever it's hot and in direct sunlight, it falls down.

I'd like to keep it mounted here, so I'm wondering if anyone has found a solution (permanent or not) to mount their camera on these plastic covers in a way that reliably holds up during the summer months?

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum STarantelli.

Mounting on the sensor housing are not unheard off, it can actually be pretty stealthy.
BUT ! be advised the dual sided tape provided with dashcams are for mounting to the smooth glass, so that might not be ideal for the cars plastics.
There is a reason for there being umpteen versions of the 3M dual sided tape.

There is also the Blendmount mounts that grip the mirros stalk, these can also often be used or modded to work with various systems.

You can see several such installs in the where did you mount your camera thread that is pic heavy. https://dashcamtalk.com/forum/threads/where-did-you-mount-the-camera-post-your-pictures.502/page-67

 

[STarantelli]

Thank you for the link Kamkar -- this thread looks to be exactly what I was looking for!

 

[Dashmellow]

I'm wondering if anyone has found a solution (permanent or not) to mount their camera on these plastic covers in a way that reliably holds up during the summer months?

Check out THIS thread.

Rear cam keeps falling off of rear SUV windshield. Any solution?​

There's some good advice ( and photos) there and a couple of my posts may also prove helpful.

As I described in the other thread I would use Scotch (3M) Grey #4941 VHB instead of the black 3M VHB #5952 tape that is usually used to mount dash cams to glass. Long time experience has taught me that Grey #4941 VHB is what you want if you are having trouble mounting a camera on textured plastic surfaces in a vehicle. Aside from superior adhesion it also removes easily without leaving any residue even after years. It is a conformable foam tape that will work better on the textured plastic.

I'd recommend cleaning the surface with some isopropyl alcohol, let dry and then apply the tape with some firm pressure. Firm pressure especially helps the tape conform to a textured surface.

You might want to try the stuff I mentioned just the other day in the following post.

BTW, there's another tape product worth exploring for mounting dash cams. It is often marketed as "NANO Tape" and "Alien Tape" but you can find generic versions of the same stuff on Amazon often at better prices and in different thicknesses and widths..

It is a thick, clear tape that like VHB has adhesive properties on both sides. I currently have my rear facing camera mounted with it and it has performed flawlessly. It too comes off fairly easily and leaves no residue.

THIS was the product I bought last time on Amazon.

One word of caution if you buy this product on Amazon. Not all products are of the same quality. The first time I bought some the product was infuriating to use because the release liner that was on it was thin and very difficult to remove. The tape would stretch and be really difficult to work with and apply. You'd damage and waste a lot of it just trying to get it off the roll and applied to your project. It turned out what I nought was some kind of cheap crappy knock off Nano type tape. Eventually, I purchased the product in the link above from Amazon and the stuff is impressive, secure and easy to work with. It is thicker and comes with a stiffer better release liner that is easy to remove. I actually bought the stuff for a non dash cam related project but decided to try it out as a dash cam mount and I would use it again. If you buy this on Amazon carefully read the reviews to see what people are experiencing when comparing products.

View attachment 72540

 

[STarantelli]

I appreciate the response Dashmellow -- after reading some other threads, it seems like you're quite the source on this topic.

As a side question, do you think it matters when you initially apply the tape, and do you think that affects adhesion? I.e. Should I wait for a cool/dry day to apply it as opposed to a hot or even a hot/humid day? Of course, I could always just run the A/C too, but just wondered if you thought it mattered.

Check out THIS thread.

Rear cam keeps falling off of rear SUV windshield. Any solution?​

There's some good advice ( and photos) there and a couple of my posts may also prove helpful.

 

[Dashmellow]

I appreciate the response Dashmellow -- after reading some other threads, it seems like you're quite the source on this topic.

You're welcome and thanks! Yeah, I bought my first dash cam 14 years ago and I've been a member here on DCT for quite a long time. I've learned a lot since I first got started.

As a side question, do you think it matters when you initially apply the tape, and do you think that affects adhesion? I.e. Should I wait for a cool/dry day to apply it as opposed to a hot or even a hot/humid day? Of course, I could always just run the A/C too, but just wondered if you thought it mattered.

The surface must be clean and dry.

Use isopropyl alcohol or 50% isopropyl alcohol mixed with 50% water. Thoroughly clean the surface you want to mount the tape on with a clean lint free cloth and dry with a separate clean white cloth. The white cloth is useful to tell if there is any dirt still on the surface and this lets you know if you need to clean the surface some more.

The main thing is to apply to a clean dry surface that is above freezing. It is difficult, if not impossible to apply to surfaces that are too cold and this also invites condensation when you try to work over cold surfaces with warm hands in the wintertime. Moderately warm or room temperature is best, you certainly don't need or want the A/C. Some heat can help with the cure. Once you apply it, use good pressure over the entire surface but don't mount any weight on it (your camera) for at least overnight and as much as 72 hours, depending on the temperature. The tape needs to fully cure (bond).

For pressure when applying the tape, 3M recommends 15 PSI but I just use my thumb and run it up and down over the entire surface with a fair amount of elbow grease. Then I usually just wait until the next day to install the camera on the new mount.

3M publishes this chart to show average bond times for VHB tape according to ambient temperature.

 

[STarantelli]

Hey Dashmellow,

Really appreciate your resources and advice. I ended up getting the tape you linked, went through the steps you noted, and have had my camera stuck firmly where I wanted for the past week. I hope it stays like that, but so far so good!

Thank you for the help, and will just leave the follow up here for folks in the future who see this and wanted to know if it works or not. It does!