Where to mount A129 Pro Duo in 2020 Kia Niro

[KiaEVguy]

Sorry, I originally posted to the A129 / A129 Duo thread in error.

I have a 2020 Kia Niro EV (general interior similar to gas & PHEV versions).
I'm trying to figure out where is the best location to mount the front & rear cameras.

Should the front cam be mounted to the rain sensor cover?

As for the rear cam,
The problem with that is the heated glass window is on a hatch that swings up.
Do I need to mount the rear cam on the headliner? I don't want to mount the unit on the glass as it's all covered by heating elements where the wiper swipes also I’d have to run the wires from the interior through tubes to the (rear) hatch's window.

I also purchase the HK3 hardwire kit, but I'm wondering if I really need it for voltage shutoff.
Does the traction battery recharge the 12v battery so I don't have to worry about draining the 12v. battery?
Can I just run three wires: ground, accessory and hot to the dash cam?

What have others done?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jonro2009]

I would certainly recommend using the HK3 and set it to 12v minimum - 12.4v ideally.

The battery does get recharged whilst driving but I would never rely on that to keep the battery 'healthy'.

Stick the front camera to the windscreen, not the plastic housing. You will almost certainly get vibrations which will affect video picture quality.

The rear cam can be stook to the headliner, but in my experience it won't stay up there for long, and again you will get movement whilst driving.

The best place to position it is on the rear screen, however the heating element wires can be problematic. Some people say that it doesn't matter if you put the camera over them, and to a certain degree that's right, the elements will work as normal. I've found the problem to be when you are removing the camera when you change cars for example, y of u can damage the element and then the screen won't work at all. When I had my A129 I actually measured the gap between the elements and then made sure the sticky tab didn't stick to them. I had to use a craft knife to cut the cover over the sticky pad so that the whole thing wasn't exposed and although it was placed over the elements the only sticky bit was where it touched the glass.

As far as wiring goes, you can feed the wire from above the headliner, through the rubber channel from the roof to the tailgate and do it that way. Then the wire will be hidden from view, if you aren't too bothered about hiding the wire, or no confident taking trim off the car you can just make sure there is enough wire loose that it doesn't stretch when you open the tailgate.

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[Jonro2009]

Forgot to ask, are you intending to use parking mode? If not then you won't need the voltage protection.

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[KiaEVguy]

Forgot to ask, are you intending to use parking mode? If not then you won't need the voltage protection.

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Yes, I was planning to use Parking mode.

 

[KiaEVguy]

I would certainly recommend using the HK3 and set it to 12v minimum - 12.4v ideally.

The battery does get recharged whilst driving but I would never rely on that to keep the battery 'healthy'.

Stick the front camera to the windscreen, not the plastic housing. You will almost certainly get vibrations which will affect video picture quality.

The rear cam can be stook to the headliner, but in my experience it won't stay up there for long, and again you will get movement whilst driving.

The best place to position it is on the rear screen, however the heating element wires can be problematic. Some people say that it doesn't matter if you put the camera over them, and to a certain degree that's right, the elements will work as normal. I've found the problem to be when you are removing the camera when you change cars for example, y of u can damage the element and then the screen won't work at all. When I had my A129 I actually measured the gap between the elements and then made sure the sticky tab didn't stick to them. I had to use a craft knife to cut the cover over the sticky pad so that the whole thing wasn't exposed and although it was placed over the elements the only sticky bit was where it touched the glass.

As far as wiring goes, you can feed the wire from above the headliner, through the rubber channel from the roof to the tailgate and do it that way. Then the wire will be hidden from view, if you aren't too bothered about hiding the wire, or no confident taking trim off the car you can just make sure there is enough wire loose that it doesn't stretch when you open the tailgate.

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

Thanks for the tip about cutting a groove in the mounting tape. I also bought some Scotch "Extremely Strong" 1" x 1" Velcro squares from Home Depot that are rated to support 10 lbs. I'm wondering if that would work, especially on the front windshield as I want to be able to move the dash cam between cars. I understand that I may have to trim the squares in the rear for them to be narrower than the distance between the heating elements.

 

[brntpn]

Sorry, I originally posted to the A129 / A129 Duo thread in error.

I have a 2020 Kia Niro EV (general interior similar to gas & PHEV versions).
I'm trying to figure out where is the best location to mount the front & rear cameras.

Should the front cam be mounted to the rain sensor cover?

As for the rear cam,
The problem with that is the heated glass window is on a hatch that swings up.
Do I need to mount the rear cam on the headliner? I don't want to mount the unit on the glass as it's all covered by heating elements where the wiper swipes also I’d have to run the wires from the interior through tubes to the (rear) hatch's window.

I also purchase the HK3 hardwire kit, but I'm wondering if I really need it for voltage shutoff.
Does the traction battery recharge the 12v battery so I don't have to worry about draining the 12v. battery?
Can I just run three wires: ground, accessory and hot to the dash cam?

What have others done?

Thanks in advance.

Hi,

I see that your question about the traction battery providing enough maintenance to prevent draining the 12V in parking mode did not get a specific answer.
I have exactly the same question in order to mount a Viofo A229 Plus on my 2020 Kona Electric. I refrained to do it before because 12V battery failures was a known issue on this car prior to 2023. However, Hyundai has now fixed the probleme swapping the 12V for a stronger one on recall, free of charge, and updating the BMS so the traction battery now maintains the 12V significantly more often.

Do you have more experience on this issue now ? In particular, do you know the voltage threshold use by Hyundai/Kia to to trigger the maintenance of the 12V by the traction battery ? Can I assume that setting the dashcam protection level just below this threshold would prevent the dashcam to shut off as the 12V would always be refilled before ?

Regards,

 

[R1KSU]

Bit late now but there is an obd cable to dashcam, this provides a switch on the socket for 24/7 recording or ignition live, I have it in my MG4 Xpower, it stays live for 10 mins after shutoff, so still records for 10 mins. Its on Amazon
I use the velcro all the time for my dashcams.