Wiring Power Magic Pro without ACC connection

[RichC]

I have a Blackvue DR550 camera and Power Magic Pro that im about to install in my car and have found a very convenient connector that i can get power from which would make the install very neat and easy, but it's only constant 12v power, no Acc connection.

I'm not bothered about using the timer function of the Power Magic Pro (was going to set it to infinity), so my question is - is the ACC connection only used to start the timer or is it required for the low voltage detection to work?

If i connect both the ACC and BAT connections to a permanant 12v (Battery) connection, will the Power Magic still cut the power if the voltage drops below the set voltage? Has anyone tried this?

Rich

 

[Hillbilly]

I have a Blackvue DR550 camera and Power Magic Pro that im about to install in my car and have found a very convenient connector that i can get power from which would make the install very neat and easy, but it's only constant 12v power, no Acc connection.

I'm not bothered about using the timer function of the Power Magic Pro (was going to set it to infinity), so my question is - is the ACC connection only used to start the timer or is it required for the low voltage detection to work? IT IS A SEPARATE SOURCE AND WORKS THE TIMED FUNCTION AND THE LOW VOLTAGE YOU HAVE IT BACK TO FRONT CAMERA POWER FROM ACC ... TIMER FROM ALWAYS ON
If i connect both the ACC and BAT connections to a permanant 12v (Battery) connection, will the Power Magic still cut the power if the voltage drops below the set voltage? Has anyone tried this? THE ANSWER IS NO IT WOULD GO ALL THE TIME AND FLATTEN BATTERY EVENTUALLY
Rich

Easiest way is to connect it to existing fuses using what Americans call adda fuse If you only want it to go when driving you connect it direct to a switched ACC connection. IF You aren't familiar with using a multimeter get someone who is and check for fuses that go ALL the time and one that goes off with the key Get two adda fuses and hook it to that. You hook the timed function to the permanent power and the hot lead to an ACC fuse. Otherwise just hook the power to run the camera to an ACC switched fuse
and don't worry about the timer I ran them bothe hooked together for a while but it is pointless
Makes it nice and neat and no wires exposed. Have done several like that Can supply pics of installs if you want

Basically if you don't want the timer feature you don't need a power Magic at all

DONT JUST STUFF WIRES DOWN THE SIDE OF A FUSE because one day you will come back to a smoking wreck

 

[vbx]

I have a Blackvue DR550 camera and Power Magic Pro that im about to install in my car and have found a very convenient connector that i can get power from which would make the install very neat and easy, but it's only constant 12v power, no Acc connection.

I'm not bothered about using the timer function of the Power Magic Pro (was going to set it to infinity), so my question is - is the ACC connection only used to start the timer or is it required for the low voltage detection to work?

If i connect both the ACC and BAT connections to a permanant 12v (Battery) connection, will the Power Magic still cut the power if the voltage drops below the set voltage? Has anyone tried this?

Rich

If you connect to both ACC and BAT, then yes the Power Magic will cut off power when voltage drops below set voltage.

If you connect both Power Magic wires to ACC, the camera will only turn on when the car is on. I am currently using this method.

I am using this, which I got from a seller on ebay from China. Got it for dirt cheap and it came with extra fuses.

 

[Hillbilly]

I have a Blackvue DR550 camera and Power Magic Pro that im about to install in my car and have found a very convenient connector that i can get power from which would make the install very neat and easy, but it's only constant 12v power, no Acc connection.

I'm not bothered about using the timer function of the Power Magic Pro (was going to set it to infinity), so my question is - is the ACC connection only used to start the timer or is it required for the low voltage detection to work?

If i connect both the ACC and BAT connections to a permanant 12v (Battery) connection, will the Power Magic still cut the power if the voltage drops below the set voltage? Has anyone tried this?

Rich

If you connect to both ACC and BAT, then yes the Power Magic will cut off power when voltage drops below set voltage.

If you connect both Power Magic wires to ACC, the camera will only turn on when the car is on. I am currently using this method.

I am using this, which I got from a seller on ebay from China. Got it for dirt cheap and it came with extra fuses.

If he connects it the way he said with BOTH WIRES CONNECTED TO PERMANENT POWER it WONT TURN OFF As the perm wire will keep power on.

If he doesn't want the timer he should connect either or both to ACC wire and it will turn off with ignition

That is the fuse I was talking about and can be bought from electronic shops usually

 

[vbx]

Yeah, do not connect both to BATT fuse.

Either ACC + BATT
or ACC + ACC

 

[Hillbilly]

Yeah, do not connect both to BATT fuse.

Either ACC + BATT
or ACC + ACC

I think I already said that and you need to qualify which wire to connect to which supply as from the above it could still be done the wrong way.

However the wires on a Power magic have labels on them and should be connected as labelled

That is, to clarify the situation, the YELLOW wire goes to permanent supply. The RED wire goes to an Accessory feed The black wire goes to earth.

The camera ciggy plug has a fuse in it. So if you are not using that, both the Red and Yellow should have a line fuse of no more than 2 amps on them .

An alternative is to wire both the red and yellow to an ACCESSORY feed. Then the Camera only goes when ignition is on.

There is another method I use which I wont describe as it would confuse things.

 

[jokiin]

wire it correctly as instructed is the best option, the pro version has a switch on it should you want it to go off with the ignition anyway

 

[Hillbilly]

wire it correctly as instructed is the best option, the pro version has a switch on it should you want it to go off with the ignition anyway

Forgot about that as I saved money and bought the plain one and put a switch in the line to my rear camera and saved about $15 LOL.

Also the power magic is in behind the dash and I cant reach it so put the switch in my glovebox by the steering column.

I run two cameras off it with the front camera piggybacked off the acc wire to the PM and the rear camera runs off the PM separately.

Unconventional but it works.

 

[RichC]

From the replies so far, it seems there are opinions both ways..

If both the ACC and BAT wires are connected to permanant live 12v (Batt connection), then the unit will think that the ignition is always on (12v constant on ACC connection), therefore the timer will never start - it's the ACC line switching off that starts the countdown timer. The power magic unit will kill the power to the camera after the timer expires..

However, there is also another function to the power magic pro, which kills the camera power if the supply voltage drops below a preset voltage e.g. 12v.. I dont beleive that this would have anything to do with the ACC connection - it's just monitoring the supply (BAT) connection voltage, but it might use the ACC going to 0v to switch on this function.

Question is .. has anyone actually tried this? does it work?
It is quite difficult to test, as you would only know that it works if the battery voltage actually drops enough to trip the circuit to disconnect the camera power.

 

[Hillbilly]

From the replies so far, it seems there are opinions both ways..

If both the ACC and BAT wires are connected to permanant live 12v (Batt connection), then the unit will think that the ignition is always on (12v constant on ACC connection), therefore the timer will never start - it's the ACC line switching off that starts the countdown timer. The power magic unit will kill the power to the camera after the timer expires..

However, there is also another function to the power magic pro, which kills the camera power if the supply voltage drops below a preset voltage e.g. 12v.. I dont beleive that this would have anything to do with the ACC connection - it's just monitoring the supply (BAT) connection voltage, but it might use the ACC going to 0v to switch on this function.

Question is .. has anyone actually tried this? does it work?
It is quite difficult to test, as you would only know that it works if the battery voltage actually drops enough to trip the circuit to disconnect the camera power.

Yes there are opinions both ways and only one way is correct


Connect it any way you want The way I posted is the correct way from the instruction manual

Am well aware of what the Power Magic does having used one for two years.

If you connect both to the permanent 12volt IT WILL NEVER TURN OFF TILL THE BATTERY GOES FLAT

The Timer will turn off at the preset time or when the voltage drops to preset level so the monitoring must be done by the portion of the unit that is still running as the ACC power will have been off for a considerable time. It probably has a voltage sensor in that part which turns off when voltage drops.

Am not familiar with how it works, only that it works which is enough for me and most others.

My front camera is run off the ACC wire BEFORE the PM and turns off with the ignition leaving the rear camera to stay in park mode for a preset time. It then turns off after an hour.

Yes it does work Have connected it to a battery in my garage and after a long time it turns off so I guess it did as the voltage had dropped below the set level

I have never had a flat battery in any of my cars with a camera in them by observing the prescribed method of connection.

The only difference between a standard PM and a Pro is the switch that allows you to turn off the perm power.

I did the same with a switch in the line to the rear camera for when I park at home and don't need Park mode.

 

[defbear]

Thank you Hillbilly for all the accurate info you took the time to post in this thread. What I did was get the Power Magic Pro Plus. That gives me two outlets with switches for each. I used two Add-a-Fuse dongles exactly as pictured above. Via my owners manual I found two unused spots on my fuse panel. One constant the other switched. I have my Blackvue in front and a Finevu Pro HD in the rear. I mounted the PMP+ switch box low and out of sight. I can still see the status lights nicely. I have mine set for 12volt cutoff. It works perfect.

 

[RichC]

I've found a way to get the cables into the boot (trunk) of the car now so, I've decided that It's better to connect the Power Magic Pro as it's ment to be ;-)

Have used a a-add circuit fuse tap as suggested here to get the Acc signal from the Audio Amp fuse which gets powered on when the car is unlocked and goes off when the doors are locked, which works pretty well ;-)

Thanks for all the suggestions..

 

[RoyClark]

I am doing this so that I can run it on either switched or permanent power.

 

[Hillbilly]

A lot of work when if you looked in your fuse box there are fuses that turn off with ign and can be used via an addafuse.

Could have done the same with a Power Magic PRO as it will run two cameras .

Very few cars have the ciggy socket on ALL the time.

Most certainly couldn't do that in my VW's and couldnt do the courtesy light thing in the other thread.

Much easier to do it the proper way All wired up in 20 mins and no relays needed just a pair of wires under the r/h side floor trim and into rear quarter.

Whatever grabs you I guess

 

[RoyClark]

I am adding a fuse tap loom (add a fuse) to the rear wiper fuse, that is only live with ignition (as in diagram). This will power the cameras for 99% of the time, but when I want to run the cameras when parked up (just once a week) I can just plug into the permanent live sockets.
My Audi A6 Avants cig lighters are live all the time.

 

[RacingSnake]

My Audi A6 Avants cig lighters are live all the time.

I'm sure you have checked, but I would double check that - a lot of modern cars the ciggy is can-bus activated, so will switch off a while after the ignition is off.
So if you're just testing it might give the appearance of working after the ignition has switched off, but it might then disable after a certain amount of time.

I know in my car the ciggy activates when I unlock the car, and if I don't touch anything at all and just sit there it'll go off after about 2 mins. - I needed to hook into the fuse box to get a 'true' perm live (which if I remember, I took off the OBD socket fuse).

 

[RoyClark]

Thanks for this. I opened the rear door and pushed the cig lighter in and it worked so assumed that it was always live. I will sit in the car tomorrow and check what happens.
The power socket in the load area may be different to the cig lighters, must check this as well.

 

[RacingSnake]

If you have something which plugs in and give an LED (like the camera!!) then plug it in, shut the boot and watch it for a couple of mins or so, or leave and come back after 5 mins.
peer through the window before opening the car and see if the LED is still lit

 

[RoyClark]

Looks like I have two Diagnostic Fuses, one is 5A tother is 10A.

 

[Hillbilly]

Look in the fuse block There are usually fuse sockets that have power on one side as they don't use all of them on some models as they have a generic fuse block for all

You can stick a fuse in and get power off it if you buy a fuse with a wire lead already soldered onto it or just one of the adda fuses.

You just need a multimeter and go along the empty ones till you find a live one.

Take note of it Turn the ignition on and go along till you find a different spare with power on it Turn ign off and it will drop out.

That's your ACC wire the first one is Permanent from Battery as marked on the POWER MAGIC wiring

Simples

The ciggy connector with the cameras have a 2 amp fuse in them anyway so doesn't matter what you connect to.

I just wouldn't connect to airbags or anything that really matters.

If you don't use the ciggy connector you need a line fuse of 2A on each camera