Another Dash Cam: I'm adding another Viofo dash cam to my car - in the rear window. After watching a lot of car crash videos, I realized that having a record of what's going on behind...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'm adding another Viofo dash cam to my car - in the rear window. After watching a lot of car crash videos, I realized that having a record of what's going on behind me is a good idea. I'm hard-wiring it into a separate fuse block and hiding the wire as much as I can. I can decide if I want to use a cigarette outlet adapter or cut the USB cable and wire it directly. I added an always-hot fuse block and a switched block - connected directly to the battery. Very handy for making connections.

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Hmm, video screen? make it a rear view 'mirror'?

aphelps Loc: Central Ohio

jerryc41 wrote:

I'm adding another Viofo dash cam to my car - in the rear window. After watching a lot of car crash videos, I realized that having a record of what's going on behind me is a good idea. I'm hard-wiring it into a separate fuse block and hiding the wire as much as I can. I can decide if I want to use a cigarette outlet adapter or cut the USB cable and wire it directly. I added an always-hot fuse block and a switched block - connected directly to the battery. Very handy for making connections.

Jerry, watch out for voltage. Make sure the cigarette outlet is 5.1 volts and not 12 volts. If you wire it directly to your fuse block you will most likely damage the camera which is designed for USB at 5.1 volts.

fetzler Loc: North West PA

your cigarette lighter port will be 12v but you may have a usb port for phone charging. The USB port will be 5 v

One thing to be careful about is the wire gauge for long runs of wire in DC circuits. I know that for amateur radio installations in the trunk one needs 8 or 10 gauge wire so the voltage drop is not so much as to cause the radio to become inoperable.

fjdarling Loc: Mesa, Arizona, USA

A rear-facing camera sounds like a good idea. I've been thinking of doing the same thing, and would be interested in hearing how you solve the challenges you encounter.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

aphelps wrote:

Jerry, watch out for voltage. Make sure the cigarette outlet is 5.1 volts and not 12 volts. If you wire it directly to your fuse block you will most likely damage the camera which is designed for USB at 5.1 volts.

I know with XM radios, you must use their cig adapter because that drops the voltage to 5v, or whatever. Maybe the camera plug does the same thing.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

fjdarling wrote:

A rear-facing camera sounds like a good idea. I've been thinking of doing the same thing, and would be interested in hearing how you solve the challenges you encounter.

The wire will run front to rear along the outer "gutter" with all the other wires. It was a challenge to get the wire into the car's hatch. Now I'll have to decide where to put the camera. I'd like it to be in an area that's cleared by the rear wiper. I'll probably put it right above the wiper. I also have to consider those defrosting wires. I could just stick the camera over them, or I could cut slits in the adhesive pad so the wires remain untouched.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

jerryc41 wrote:

The wire will run front to rear along the outer "gutter" with all the other wires. It was a challenge to get the wire into the car's hatch. Now I'll have to decide where to put the camera. I'd like it to be in an area that's cleared by the rear wiper. I'll probably put it right above the wiper. I also have to consider those defrosting wires. I could just stick the camera over them, or I could cut slits in the adhesive pad so the wires remain untouched.

Why not run the wires under the carpet? then you don't have to worry about getting the wire back inside.

The installation is only as difficult as you make it!! I have been doing this for years, usually use a short piece of an electricians fish tape to pull the wires.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I got the wire through the short rubber tube that covers the wires that run from the body to the hatch. I don't mind spend some time with difficult if it will give a better result. I like having any accessory wires grouped with the regular wiring harness. It's very easy to get to that channel at the edge of the car. Maybe I'll post some pictures later.

dpfoto Loc: Cape Coral, FL

You can get a USB port that plugs into your ighter socket. It converts the 12V down to the 5V for your USB device. There are also multi USB converters that plug into your lighter port.

buckbrush Loc: Texas then Southwest Oregon

jerryc41 wrote:

I'm adding another Viofo dash cam to my car - in the rear window. After watching a lot of car crash videos, I realized that having a record of what's going on behind me is a good idea. I'm hard-wiring it into a separate fuse block and hiding the wire as much as I can. I can decide if I want to use a cigarette outlet adapter or cut the USB cable and wire it directly. I added an always-hot fuse block and a switched block - connected directly to the battery. Very handy for making connections.

Jerry, I hope I'm not stepping on your subject but you seem to know a lot about dash cams. I am debating using a dash cam to get videos of critters who visit our place at night because the Trail cameras I now use are so poor in quality and so short on video length.
Do you think if I buy a 12 volt battery and adapt it to power a dash cam out in the woods it would be useful in replacing a trail camera?
My present cameras are located within 200' of the house because so many critters show up there.
I've gotten a nice 15 second video of a ring tailed cat but its too short in video length therefore the desire to use a dash cam.
Thanks for any suggestions on this idea.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

dpfoto wrote:

You can get a USB port that plugs into your ighter socket. It converts the 12V down to the 5V for your USB device. There are also multi USB converters that plug into your lighter port.

The camera came with a 12v-to-5v plug-in adapter, so I'm all set. Wiring it directly to 12v is definitely not an option.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

buckbrush wrote:

Jerry, I hope I'm not stepping on your subject but... (show quote)

I thought trail cameras would be better quality. Too bad.

Dash cams aren't waterproof, so that would be a concern. I suppose you could just put it in a plastic bag, with the plastic pulled tight over the lens. These cameras operate on 5 volts, and you have to use the adapter that comes with them, but a 12v battery should be fine. The cameras record until they fill the MicroSD card. Then they record over it. That would be a concern. They recommend cards that are listed as "durable" because they are being used constantly. Don't hesitate to search online for info.

Good luck.

Abo

bobmcculloch wrote:

Hmm, video screen? make it a rear view 'mirror'?

It would not be a "mirror image"... The cars on your left would appear to be on your right,
that could have nasty side effects.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Abo wrote:

It would not be a "mirror image"... The cars on your left would appear to be on your right,
that could have nasty side effects.