Only one power cable! How do I wire this?

[DashJam]

Hi Guys,

I have a motorcycle DashCam that I want to wire into my car. The power cable has a power converter box, then two wires out the other end of it.

The red line was just an exposed thin cable which I have soldered onto a piggy back fuse adapter (small one that fits 5v fuses).

The black line has a C shaped ground connector.

I don't know a whole lot about electronics but I was expecting to have a positive wire, a negative wire and a ground. Any one know why there is just one power cable? And what type of fuse I should connect it to?

When looking online, everyone working with a hardwire dash cam has three cables. None of the fuses I plug it into give it any power. Any help much appreciated!!

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum.
Negative is ground on cars and motorcycles, so the red wire go to your +12 V source the black -12 V GND go to the frame / chassis of the car / motorcycle.

If you just want to record while driving you of course have to connect to a circuit that are only on when the car is running, if you want to be able to do parking guard ( record while parked for X time or untill a set low lovltage is reached, well then you need to buy a hard wire kit that is compatible with your system, so same brand.
Today many dashcams have 3 wire hard-wire kits, so you have two +12 V wires, one for a ACC / switched fuse that is only live when the motor are running, and the other +12 V that is always on, this will be the one that generally power the system, the ACC wire are sort of the trigger wire to tell if the camera should come on and record regular or change to parking mode.
And then of course the -12 V GBD wire that must be connected to a good ground point ( one are often found close to the fuse box )

There are also a few 2 wire hard wire kits, in this case the G- sensor in the camera will be the trigger to tell if you are driving or the car are parked, main thing is to make sure there is a low voltage shut off, and here you should never go under 12.2 volts, though you will often see 12.0 and 11.8 volts as options too, but those will harm a lead acid battery not least if that low voltage are hit often, and so severely cut into the life of your car battery.

In your case i doubt there are parking guard options as it is now ( look in menus for this ) so you should wire into a ACC circuit with the +12 V wire.

I am a bit confused about "small one that fits 5v fuses" i hope you mean 5 A fuse,,,,,, which is fine for a dashcam i use 5 A fuses myself in my ato fuse adapters in the fuse box.

 

[DashJam]

Welcome to the forum.
Negative is ground on cars and motorcycles, so the red wire go to your +12 V source the black -12 V GND go to the frame / chassis of the car / motorcycle.

If you just want to record while driving you of course have to connect to a circuit that are only on when the car is running, if you want to be able to do parking guard ( record while parked for X time or untill a set low lovltage is reached, well then you need to buy a hard wire kit that is compatible with your system, so same brand.
Today many dashcams have 3 wire hard-wire kits, so you have two +12 V wires, one for a ACC / switched fuse that is only live when the motor are running, and the other +12 V that is always on, this will be the one that generally power the system, the ACC wire are sort of the trigger wire to tell if the camera should come on and record regular or change to parking mode.
And then of course the -12 V GBD wire that must be connected to a good ground point ( one are often found close to the fuse box )

There are also a few 2 wire hard wire kits, in this case the G- sensor in the camera will be the trigger to tell if you are driving or the car are parked, main thing is to make sure there is a low voltage shut off, and here you should never go under 12.2 volts, though you will often see 12.0 and 11.8 volts as options too, but those will harm a lead acid battery not least if that low voltage are hit often, and so severely cut into the life of your car battery.

In your case i doubt there are parking guard options as it is now ( look in menus for this ) so you should wire into a ACC circuit with the +12 V wire.

I am a bit confused about "small one that fits 5v fuses" i hope you mean 5 A fuse,,,,,, which is fine for a dashcam i use 5 A fuses myself in my ato fuse adapters in the fuse box.

Thanks for the detailed reply! And yes, I meant a 5A fuse. I think what I'll try next is to solder a 20A piggyback fuse adapter and have a go with the cigarrette lighter fuse slot to attempt to do what you've said in your second last paragraph. I think my ground location is good, it is attached between a metal bolt and a metal washer. I'm not too fussed about setting timers for how long it will last after the car shuts off. If it shuts off straight away that is fine with me