Because there is no power outlet in the front of the car....has anyone hard wired a Dash Cam yet?
Please respond if you have actually done this on the 2014 Mazda 3. Any pics or videos would be great.
Because there is no power outlet in the front of the car....has anyone hard wired a Dash Cam yet?
Please respond if you have actually done this on the 2014 Mazda 3. Any pics or videos would be great.
I haven't done it, but was looking into doing it.
Some audio/security shops will do an install and hard wire it for a reasonable price.
Or you can run the wire to the center console.
Scott
It's really easy to just wire it up to the fuse box (I assume there's one hidden on the side of the dash, the door closes against it. Mine's a 2nd gen.). Then run the wires up to the area behind the mirror by tucking the wires under the headliner/A-pillar.) Regardless of the model of the car, the procedure is the same and is relatively easy. (A bit more of a bitch on the Subarus and Audis. Their headliner/A-Pillar has no gap, so you can't actually get the wire to tuck inside.)
Feel free to ask more questions if you decide to do it yourself.
I know cuz I have that box in my car. It uses 2 leads, both wired to the fuse box. 1 for power if the car is powered, 1 for power all the time. (Well, plus a ground lead, obviously) It does have a timer that's adjustable, and adjustable voltage threshold for shutting off the camera. The camera itself has motion and G-meter sensitivity settings to only write to the card when required.
But, if you're lazy and you want to save the $40-50 the box costs, you could wire it just to power up when the car is powered. I did that for my GF and her sis and my parent's cars, all just getting power when the car is on.
The box is called Power Magic Pro and is from Blackvue as well, but will work for anything. (The box doesn't alter the voltage. You could use a 12v to 5v converter downstream of it if your cam uses 5v.)
Yes! The voltage auto shut off! That's what I was thinking about.
Do you use that feature?
I had someone go through my car last year, so I wouldn't mind something like that.
I don't use the feature because I figure excessive cycles on the battery can't be good for it, and the Blackvue DR400 has an issue with over-heating. I really only turn it on in crowded parking lots where I worry about getting hit.
Thanks!!!
I have hardwired a blackvue cam with a power magic pro in a 2014 GT. I usually have the powermagic turned off and just have the cam power on with engine start but sometimes switch it on to record in parking mode too - set to switch off after 6 hours max or battery voltage drop below 12V. I used fuse # 5 (R.OUTLET Accessory sockets) for the permanent power source and fuse #11 (F.OUTLET Accessory sockets) for power switched on with ignition.
I had a blackvue DR500GW-HD installed professionally, however I did switch the power magic wiring around myself as I didn't think they chose the right fuses for power - an easy fix anyways. Not sure the route they took wiring but an install with no wires visible is possible. Best feature of this cam is the wifi and droid phone app. I can connect to the dashcam with the phone to playback video without having remove the microSD card and can see live video to check that it is aimed properly.