Newbie w/0806 (homemade) hardwire installation

Indy_68_S

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Newbie here. Just thought I'd register to post and say thanks for all of the info I got here. And, to show my hardwire installation.

I got a Mini 0806 because it was cheap and this is my first cam. Picked it up on fleaBay for <$115 with a CPL. I gambled on whether or not I'd get a good one as chinese QC can be sproadic. So far, it seems I have. I'm using a SanDisk Ultra C10 128GB SD. It's recorded ~ 10 hrs with no probs on 2560x1080 superfine.

The included lighter socket adapter was problematic as my truck has power all the time to lighter, didn't want to plug/unplug, and I didn't want to string a wire all over everywhere. I didn't get the available hardwire kit. But, being impatient I figured I'd cobble together a solution. I had several of these cheap light socket USB adapters laying around, so I sacrificed one to the cause. I found a YouTube that showed the Mini 0806 pulls ~ 200-250 mA when running, so this adapter will work as it's 1000.

Click on pics for big...


Get the guts out. (If you reallllly want to do it properly, there's a little screw under the label - I just ripped it apart)


Solder on some leads w/a socket from an old PC fan. Fan was rated at 350 mA @ 12v so wires are good. Positive is 'nose' piece. Neg is USB shell.



My vehicle is a 2004 Avalanche with a sunroof. This is very helpful as the sunroof uses GM's RAP. Powered on at key-on & powered off when key is off & door is opened. (This setting is adjustable - Could be powered off at key off). Plus, the sunroof takes a lot of power so tapping off it wouldn't be an issue.

Pulled the overhead console down for the sunroof plug. One screw & yank down. Green is RAP power. Black is ground.


Pulled the pins by removing blue retainer & then using a tiny screwdriver to unlock them from the front & pushing them out. Soldered on other half of my 'harness'. Harness lets you disconnect if you need to drop the console, replace the adapter or whatever, and makes it much easier to solder onto vehicle harness.


Reassembled.


Added a USB A to micro USB cable to my adapter/harness & wrapped the whole thing in elec tape. Stuffed it in there & ran the cord out the gap between headliner & glass.


Viola'



Some notes:

- I originally mounted the cam on the pass side right behind the mirror. While it concealed it better and had better centerline position, I realized on test drives that I couldn't see it at all and had no idea if it was working or not. Nor could I use controls if needed (like protect file ). This current position doesn't show any of my hood except an occasional sliver of my bugshield when hitting a big bump. Not sure if that's good or bad yet. I kinda liked seeing the hood in the vids.

- Took a bit to figure out that I had to set the Date/Time TimeZone to -5 (EST) to get timestamps to stay correct. I kept resetting the time back 5 hours thinking 'WTH , why won't keep proper time?' D'oh.

- I would think almost any vehicle with a sunroof would be a good candidate for this type of install as sunroofs typically get powered on/off at key on/off. Any mid 2000's GM truck should have identical wiring to mine and many GM cars/trucks should have similar.

- Flipping the cam when I shifted to the dr. side has the benefit of making it easier to get to the USB port. I can connect my phone with an OTG cable and copy the files I want. I don't have to unmount the cam & take it inside to get files to the PC. My previous plan was to run a right angle USB cable from cam to console with a mounted female micro USB connector for draining off the vids because it was almost impossible to get to the USB port and I didn't want to be unmounting/mounting the cam to preserve the mount integrity. I may still do this to prevent torquing the cam on connect/disconnect.

- I'm still learning the cam. I have noticed that the vid does get a little jerky if there's a lot going on in view. I may experiment with dropping down to 'fine' and see what happens.

- GPS lockon seems to be faster if vehicle is moving. If I just sit it can take a while. Once I'm moving it usually locks in < 15 seconds.

Thanks again for the info here!
 
Welcome to forum !
Nice job !
 
Newbie here. Just thought I'd register to post and say thanks for all of the info I got here. And, to show my hardwire installation.

I got a Mini 0806 because it was cheap and this is my first cam. Picked it up on fleaBay for <$115 with a CPL. I gambled on whether or not I'd get a good one as chinese QC can be sproadic. So far, it seems I have. I'm using a SanDisk Ultra C10 128GB SD. It's recorded ~ 10 hrs with no probs on 2560x1080 superfine.

The included lighter socket adapter was problematic as my truck has power all the time to lighter, didn't want to plug/unplug, and I didn't want to string a wire all over everywhere. I didn't get the available hardwire kit. But, being impatient I figured I'd cobble together a solution. I had several of these cheap light socket USB adapters laying around, so I sacrificed one to the cause. I found a YouTube that showed the Mini 0806 pulls ~ 200-250 mA when running, so this adapter will work as it's 1000.

Click on pics for big...


Get the guts out. (If you reallllly want to do it properly, there's a little screw under the label - I just ripped it apart)


Solder on some leads w/a socket from an old PC fan. Fan was rated at 350 mA @ 12v so wires are good. Positive is 'nose' piece. Neg is USB shell.



My vehicle is a 2004 Avalanche with a sunroof. This is very helpful as the sunroof uses GM's RAP. Powered on at key-on & powered off when key is off & door is opened. (This setting is adjustable - Could be powered off at key off). Plus, the sunroof takes a lot of power so tapping off it wouldn't be an issue.

Pulled the overhead console down for the sunroof plug. One screw & yank down. Green is RAP power. Black is ground.


Pulled the pins by removing blue retainer & then using a tiny screwdriver to unlock them from the front & pushing them out. Soldered on other half of my 'harness'. Harness lets you disconnect if you need to drop the console, replace the adapter or whatever, and makes it much easier to solder onto vehicle harness.


Reassembled.


Added a USB A to micro USB cable to my adapter/harness & wrapped the whole thing in elec tape. Stuffed it in there & ran the cord out the gap between headliner & glass.


Viola'



Some notes:

- I originally mounted the cam on the pass side right behind the mirror. While it concealed it better and had better centerline position, I realized on test drives that I couldn't see it at all and had no idea if it was working or not. Nor could I use controls if needed (like protect file ). This current position doesn't show any of my hood except an occasional sliver of my bugshield when hitting a big bump. Not sure if that's good or bad yet. I kinda liked seeing the hood in the vids.

- Took a bit to figure out that I had to set the Date/Time TimeZone to -5 (EST) to get timestamps to stay correct. I kept resetting the time back 5 hours thinking 'WTH , why won't keep proper time?' D'oh.

- I would think almost any vehicle with a sunroof would be a good candidate for this type of install as sunroofs typically get powered on/off at key on/off. Any mid 2000's GM truck should have identical wiring to mine and many GM cars/trucks should have similar.

- Flipping the cam when I shifted to the dr. side has the benefit of making it easier to get to the USB port. I can connect my phone with an OTG cable and copy the files I want. I don't have to unmount the cam & take it inside to get files to the PC. My previous plan was to run a right angle USB cable from cam to console with a mounted female micro USB connector for draining off the vids because it was almost impossible to get to the USB port and I didn't want to be unmounting/mounting the cam to preserve the mount integrity. I may still do this to prevent torquing the cam on connect/disconnect.

- I'm still learning the cam. I have noticed that the vid does get a little jerky if there's a lot going on in view. I may experiment with dropping down to 'fine' and see what happens.

- GPS lockon seems to be faster if vehicle is moving. If I just sit it can take a while. Once I'm moving it usually locks in < 15 seconds.

Thanks again for the info here!
One problem: Your car changer which you used doesn't have fuse like the original' one. You have to add the 2A fuse for safety for your dashcam.
I try several times to hardwire 0806 but mini 0806 quickly die. My hardwire kit have no fuse, I guess that's the reason.
 
One problem: Your car changer which you used doesn't have fuse like the original' one. You have to add the 2A fuse for safety for your dashcam.
I try several times to hardwire 0806 but mini 0806 quickly die. My hardwire kit have no fuse, I guess that's the reason.

fuse is just to protect the vehicle in case of short circuit
 
fuse is just to protect the vehicle in case of short circuit
or the car changer with box have some capacitor which I don't know which protect mini when car start and the current is suddently drop. But even when I hardwire 0806, seem fine if I use the original one
 
I hardwired mine as well but I got one of those premade wiring kits. Not having that annoying wire hanging in front of you is great. Nice job by the way.
 
One problem: Your car changer which you used doesn't have fuse like the original' one. You have to add the 2A fuse for safety for your dashcam.

Like jokiin said. Fuses protect the vehicle wiring from device failure , not the device itself. The current draw is very low on the 0806. About ~250 mA @ 5v or about 1.25 watts. It's probably pulling less than 0.2 A from the 12v line. The 12v line I'm tied into has like a 20A or 30A fuse for the sunroof so I have no worries about the truck wiring.

I suspect the USB adapter is internally fused, but I'm not a micro-electronics engineer so I didn't study it. Even if it doesn't and the USB 5v adapter dead shorts, the leads from the 12v->adapter will fry before anything else. Plus, they're so tiny and wrapped in a few layers of elec tape. I have no worries about them igniting anything. They'll just pop like a fuse. If the cam dead shorts, it'll just kill the USB adapter.

As far as V spikes/drops, there's not much I can do about it. As I understand it, the GM RAP power isn't on unless there's good 12v. Any spikes should be caught by the alternator/battery voltage regulator.

The USB adapter I used was used with other devices quite often for several years and I never had a problem with it. So, it's 'burned in' and tested ! I have the utmost faith that it will continue to work flawlessly...forever! :)
 
Last edited:
Like jokiin said. Fuses protect the vehicle wiring from device failure , not the device itself. The current draw is very low on the 0806. About ~250 mA @ 5v or about 1.25 watts. It's probably pulling less than 0.2 A from the 12v line. The 12v line I'm tied into has like a 20A or 30A fuse for the sunroof so I have no worries about the truck wiring.

I suspect the USB adapter is internally fused, but I'm not a micro-electronics engineer so I didn't study it. Even if it doesn't and the USB 5v adapter dead shorts, the leads from the 12v->adapter will fry before anything else. Plus, they're so tiny and wrapped in a few layers of elec tape. I have no worries about them igniting anything. They'll just pop like a fuse. If the cam dead shorts, it'll just kill the USB adapter.

As far as V spikes/drops, there's not much I can do about it. As I understand it, the GM RAP power isn't on unless there's good 12v. Any spikes should be caught by the alternator/battery voltage regulator.

The USB adapter I used was used with other devices quite often for several years and I never had a problem with it. So, it's 'burned in' and tested ! I have the utmost faith that it will continue to work flawlessly...forever! :)
I am not a electronics enghineer too. I don't know much about V drops or fuse thing but it happens with me, not just once time. I sell 0806, 0826, 0805, not just one, or ten. I also try to experiment in our car too. Alot of ex. Hardwire kit seem fine with 0826, 0805 but never with 0806. Don't know why. :D and I did not use usb charger like your, I used https://www.amazon.com/gp/B00MH4ZVHO
I ready hope your 0806 work well. :D If you can update about status of 0806 after few weeks even if it will failed or not, it's gonna be greats :D Thank you for your sharing :)
 
Thought I'd throw in an update.

So far it's working fine. Probably about 16 hours of vid and 40 on/off cycles total since new.

Now the not so good.
I had never used the lighter socket adapter that came with the cam. I just threw it in the console.
This one.
View attachment 19189

Never even tried it until today when I realized I had sacrificed my little USB plugin for my hardwire setup, didn't have another handy, and needed to charge my phone.

It doesn't work on the corded USB micro plug.
The blue light comes on and the USB A port works fine (charged phone with a USB A-> micro cord).
I wiggled the cord/plug around a bit but no luck.

I gotta wonder about the quality of these adapters given the frequency of cam failures.
I would think sporadic drops/reconnects in power due to flaky cords can't be good for the cam.
 
Alright: Update 2:

Cam seems to be working OK.
I had a 'blink' yesterday while driving where I noticed only the blue light was on. No green or flashing red like normal, but no chimes/warnings.
I haven't seen/heard a chime or warning since I installed it.

I powered off/on & restarted recording and all seemed well.

I hadn't checked the files in some time and thought I'd check them as I thought I was nearing the rollover point.
Files looked fine on cam. About 400 files. Most were in the 300MB range (3 min & superfine).
But, every file after about the 14 GB mark was corrupt. More specifically, each file was full of nothing but NULLs (0x00).
I tried a quick test of manual recording & got the 'Storage Error' on screen and chimes when I stopped recording.

I think I got a fake SD card.

It should be 128 GB & formats as such, but FAKEFLASHTEST & RMPrepUSB show only 14.799 GB usable.
The detailed test results make me think it's a deliberate fake.

14GB_3.jpg


Reformatted card and it is working fine and will probably be OK until it hits the 14 GB mark again.
 
Yep looks like you have a bad memory card
Not just bad, but counterfeit. Did get almost immediate refund from eBay seller 'starlistore1283' with no request to return original or questions asked despite me sending tests result info.

I did experiment with it a bit as this is the first fake storage thing I've ever seen & I don't have a good replacement yet.

Reformatted as 128GB FAT32 - Works fine and will continue to like before. Its just when it gets to ~ 14GB it won't record anything due to fake FAT table on card. Data beyond 14GB is all just written to first cluster, but FAT table makes it look like 'real' files. I suspect that was the cause of the blue light issue I had. Cam was probably trying to write data, it was all going to the same cluster & trainwrecked.

Partitioned with single primary 14GB FAT32 partition - I did this to see if it would rollover at the 14GB point (max 'real' clusters are ~ 14.8 GB), but am only at ~ 8GB now. However, the Cam doesn't like it very much. I did about 10-12 on/off cycles & 1.5 hours driving. Records properly, but sporadically :
- On car start, Cam powers up, but have to hit center button to start recording
- On car off, Cam displays something like 'Storage not optimal. Format ? [YES][NO]'. Have to hit center button for default [NO] & cam continues to record. Hit center button again to stop recording and cam shuts down as normal. (Note:If you hit [YES], card is reformatted/repartitioned back to (fake) 128GB.)
- Works perfectly with no button pushing needed.
 
i would report the seller, and open a case. Hopefully you'll get a refund. i would not suggest buying memory cards on ebay, they are littered with fakes especially if it is too good to be true.
 
i would report the seller, and open a case. Hopefully you'll get a refund. i would not suggest buying memory cards on ebay, they are littered with fakes especially if it is too good to be true.

I got a full refund (almost immediately, no questions asked, & didn't want original one back) & did report as 'Not authentic'. Lesson learned.

Cam is still working fine using partitioned card. Files are rolling over properly. Only inconvenience is occasional button pushing.

Still have occasional jerkiness in vids. Will wait until I get a quality SD card to investigate.
 
or the car changer with box have some capacitor which I don't know which protect mini when car start and the current is suddently drop. But even when I hardwire 0806, seem fine if I use the original one

the cheap hardwire kit on market output a bad unstable voltage, there was a video posted by our DCT member, the voltage meter show the output voltage changes between 2V to 8V. That is a killer for cameras. camera only handle 4.5V to 6V input.

we cost a lot to design the new charger for 0806, don't waste it. (5V 2.6A, microUSB + USB, copper cord, CE EMI & RoHs)

678.JPG
1061.JPG
1156.JPG
1580.JPG
 
the cheap hardwire kit on market output a bad unstable voltage, there was a video posted by our DCT member, the voltage meter show the output voltage changes between 2V to 8V. That is a killer for cameras. camera only handle 4.5V to 6V input.

we cost a lot to design the new charger for 0806, don't waste it. (5V 2.6A, microUSB + USB, copper cord, CE EMI & RoHs)

View attachment 21694
View attachment 21695
View attachment 21696
View attachment 21698
Are new car chargers for all of products or just for 0806 ?
 
Are new car chargers for all of products or just for 0806 ?

for all the cameras which need USB 5V supply, just notice which socket it is, mini USB or micro USB, which will pair with different cables.
 
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