Professional Fitting - not happy with position

[RubikWizard]

Hi all,

I've just bought my first Dashcam (Nextbase 322GW) and had it professionally fitted at Halfords. It all looks very neat and tidy so I was very happy. However while driving home and then reviewing the recorded footage I discovered that the recording was very difficult to watch as it was raining heavily and the camera was placed looking through an area that is not cleared by my wipers. My car is a Nissan Micra.

I have read the Dashcam maual and it says it should be positioned to look through a section of the windscreen that is wiped.

Should I return to Halfords and ask for it to be repositioned, or is this something that is normal and to be expected?

Many thanks for any suggestions you might have.

 

[kamkar]

Welcome to the forum.

Yes that is a BIG mistake, a camera should be within wiper covered area, at least in the front in the rear more problematic as not all cars have a wiper there.
Halfords aught to know better so i would for sure contact them.

You also have to be mindful of the inside of the glass, even if you do not have smokers in your car, you will be amazed how much crud find its way inside the car, so cant really clean inside too often.
The outside, well doing a extra deep clean now and then will not hurt either, but generally the wipers and washers do the work.

 

[RubikWizard]

Thank you kamkar! Exactly as I thought. I paid £70 to have it fitted so will be returning tomorrow morning ...

Will let you know what happes. Thank you again for your prompt reply.

 

[Dashmellow]

Glad to hear you are taking it back. That's unacceptable! It sounds as if the installer has never owned a dash cam.

 

[kamkar]

Aside for the within wiper area, you generally want a dashcam as high as possible, and also center of the windscreen, though that is hard these days with mirrors mounted off windscreen, and various sensors which can often take up a lot of room.
So you have to mount a bit offset to a side, and with enough clearance to whatever so it is not in the footage.
If your model have a lens that is placed asymmetrical on the camera body, that might be a factor to take into account if you have to mount offset of something.

Last but least you also have to consider local laws about what you can put where on the windscreen, but i think the UK are not super bad, but in some cases it might be a idea to take camera off the mount for a inspection.
But the installer should be on top of such things.

Danish rules on such things are pretty vague generally, though when it come to things dangling off the mirror, absolutely nothing is allowed here, then again it is one of the laws police here seem to have 0 interest in upholding.

 

[Kremmen]

Halfords also have a reputation of hardwiring to an inappropriate fuse which can cause the dashcam to shutdown mid journey or not powerup at all under some circumstances, keep an eye on that

 

[ozguy]

Hi all,

I've just bought my first Dashcam (Nextbase 322GW) and had it professionally fitted at Halfords. It all looks very neat and tidy so I was very happy. However while driving home and then reviewing the recorded footage I discovered that the recording was very difficult to watch as it was raining heavily and the camera was placed looking through an area that is not cleared by my wipers. My car is a Nissan Micra.

I have read the Dashcam maual and it says it should be positioned to look through a section of the windscreen that is wiped.

Should I return to Halfords and ask for it to be repositioned, or is this something that is normal and to be expected?

Many thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Got a photo of install?

 

[RubikWizard]

I went back to Halfords today and the guy who fitted it said he had never known people having problems with a camera outside the wiper area. Anyway he has now repositioned it in a place of my choosing and all is now good!

Thank you for everyone’s comments!

 

[RubikWizard]

Got a photo of install?

Sorry it has now been fixed, and I didn’t take a photo.

 

[RubikWizard]

Halfords also have a reputation of hardwiring to an inappropriate fuse which can cause the dashcam to shutdown mid journey or not powerup at all under some circumstances, keep an eye on that

Hmmm … I will keep an eye out for that. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[kamkar]

well if you live in the islands ( the Virgin ones, not the channel ones ) outside of the wiper area might be fine, but with the weather in the UK / Denmark you for sure want wiper coverage.

 

[DT MI]

...and the guy who fitted it said he had never known people having problems with a camera outside the wiper area...

Either he's lying or doesn't know anyone with a dash cam.

 

[kamkar]

I am now fearing a lot of UK people drive around with a camera mounted in a very unfortunate place given the environmental challenges there.
Most people are clueless and so just buy a camera, install it or have it installed, and then forget about it, and the result even of just forgetting it, we have seen in here so often with the " just had a accident and my camera have not recorded it " posts.

 

[Dashmellow]

Yeah, I do wonder how many cameras this particular clueless Halfords employee installed improperly.

 

[RubikWizard]

Halfords also have a reputation of hardwiring to an inappropriate fuse which can cause the dashcam to shutdown mid journey or not powerup at all under some circumstances, keep an eye on that

When I bought the dashcam and had it installed I asked if the hardwiring would be suitable for the Parking mode, which I wanted. I was assured it would be okay.

I am now wondering if it has been installed correctly as it has no power after the ignition is turned off and just relying on the intrernal battery which only has minutes before it is drained.
Reading the manual it should be connected to a 'permanent live fuse' and not a switched one.

Does this sound like I need a further trip to Halfords? I paid £70 for the install so want it right ...

 

[Dashmellow]

Does this sound like I need a further trip to Halfords? I paid £70 for the install so want it right ...

Yes.

Is there a supervisor you can speak with? Perhaps you might be entitled to some sort of refund on your installation fee considering all the trouble they've put you through. At the very least they should be made aware that the installer doesn't know what he is doing.

 

[RubikWizard]

Yes.

Is there a supervisor you can speak with? Perhaps you might be entitled to some sort of refund on your installation fee considering all the trouble they've put you through. At the very least they should be made aware that the installer doesn't know what he is doing.

Thank you. Will probably have to wait until next weekend now, but I will definitely be going back again!

 

[RubikWizard]

Before I go back to Halfords again, are there any downsides to having the camera connected to a Permanently Live fuse that I have overlooked? I realise there is a potential for car battery drain but it has been fitted with the official Nextbase hardwire kit that is supposed to stop drawing power if the car battery gets too low ...

Thanks for any insights, want to make sure I am doing the right thing.

 

[Kremmen]

Unfortunately Nextbase designed their series 2 dashcams this way

They stay powered 24x7 and rely on movement to fire up in parking mode. There are quite a few posts here about these dashcams firing up for no apparent reason which must be a car battery potential issue

Both these issues tell me that Halfords training is non existent as they should have asked you about parking mode and fitting outside of the wiper sweep, then saying that should be OK, is unforgiveable

 

[Das*]

I am now fearing a lot of UK people drive around with a camera mounted in a very unfortunate place given the environmental challenges there.
Most people are clueless and so just buy a camera, install it or have it installed, and then forget about it, and the result even of just forgetting it, we have seen in here so often with the " just had a accident and my camera have not recorded it " posts.

I doubt its just the UK. Just look at some of the clips on the numerous dashcam channels on YT. The amount that are positioned so the binnacle around the interior rear view mirror is blocking half the view is laughable.