Dashcam hardwire

[VL3X]

Welcome to the forum @somer82 - Thanks for the excellent first post!! Very helpful.

 

[KAR120C]

Does anyone know what power connectors are hidden under the rearview mirror mount trim? @kitkat had a nice trim removal page from the manual showing how to pull off the mirror mount trim. Once that's off, I'm curious if there are some easily accessible connectors for 12v.

I'd been planning to use a USB A 5v to 12V RJ11 converter to run my radar detector/camera from the rearview mirror port. I'm concerned now that the USB amps may not be enough when stepped up to run the combo. So, I'm considering just going back to the tried-and-true 12v mirror tap that I've used in several cars.

 

[Time2Fly]

Thanks for the writeup @Joel and @somer82.

For a two channel camera can it be mounted to the rear hatch glass at the top? How long of a four-conductor wire do you think is needed to go from the boot battery location to the windscreen?

I'm looking at installing a thinkware u3000 and battery so it's rear fuse box to the rear mounted battery pack, then four wire to the windscreen, and from there back to the rear camera. Just trying to plan things and this is definitely a stretch for me.

 

[somer82]

Thanks for the writeup @Joel and @somer82.

For a two channel camera can it be mounted to the rear hatch glass at the top? How long of a four-conductor wire do you think is needed to go from the boot battery location to the windscreen?

I'm looking at installing a thinkware u3000 and battery so it's rear fuse box to the rear mounted battery pack, then four wire to the windscreen, and from there back to the rear camera. Just trying to plan things and this is definitely a stretch for me.

I thought about intalling my rear camera on the glass of the rear hatch, but this is technically outside of the vehicle - this area gets wet when power washing, and is exposed to the heat of the engine bay.

So instead, I put my rear camera on the glass at the rear of the cabin (interior). Wiring wasn't too hard, just following the trim.

Regarding cabling from the LFP battery in the boot, I only needed about 2-2.5 metres - this cable routed power and ACC connection from the LFP battery to the rear fuse box. Then, I routed the cables from the windscreen dashcam to meet the cables at the rear fusebox. There I connected the wires from the LFP battery to the wires coming from the dascham, and one wire to an ACC fuse in the fuse box to let the LFP battery know whether the car was running or parked.

My LFP battery has a direct-to-battery connection option, so installing the battery in the boot was convenient. This may differ though depending on the battery you have got.

 

[somer82]

Sorry about the crappy diagram, but hope this helps.

 

[Time2Fly]

That helps quite a bit. Thank you!

 

[silent cilantro]

First up, trying to get the toeboard off to get to the fusebox. For some reason this proved very difficult in my car. Likewise, getting it back on also proved very difficult. Probably the hardest bit of trim I had to remove throughout the entire process, which is surprising since it's "user serviceable" right? Did others get theirs on/off easily?

Seems there's a lip it clips underneath on the bottom side which I think was causing me issues, as well as some ill fitted carpetry.

Once I'd got into the fusebox area, I realised my battery was never going to fit!

This was my experience as well. Very difficult to remove and even harder to reinstall. You have to push the panel down so it slides under that lip but the carpet gets in the way.

Also the top right (your top left corner) was hitting that aluminum rail. You could tell they notched the panel with a file but it wasn’t enough.

Maybe it has to do with the fact they are using sample parts for production

 

[Six Speed Stephen]

The manual makes it seem easier than it actually is (VOE).

The upper clip is captive (I think to keep the trim in place if the curtain airbag goes off).

The trim will pop out about an inch and then get held in place but the clip is in a slot in the trim from which you can pull it upwards and out with a trim tool or similar. You can then extract it from the A-pillar for re-fitting. The lower clip comes out fine.

I’ve had mine off several times in the never-ending saga of my windscreen replacement.
(I’ll bore you all with that story if and when it reaches a conclusion. I’m currently waiting for Autoglass to schedule a fourth attempt).

While they were off I filled the unused tweeter hole with some handily same-coloured foam.

View attachment 27937

Unrelated, but do none of the cars come with tweeters? Is this a mistake?

 

[silent cilantro]

Unrelated, but do none of the cars come with tweeters? Is this a mistake?

They do, they are just not in the A pillars. Those empty slots are for when the base audio system comes along.

`` From Lotus - "The standard base audio (128w) will become available at the start of 2023 production once we begin production of the base cars, this version of the audio system has tweeters located in the A-pillar, the KEF audio system does not use this location for the tweeters, they are located in the door as part of the Uni-Q speaker installation".

 

[flyingbear]

I'm wiring up a blackvue dashcam today and decided to use the footwell fusebox. Man, this panel with the four quarter turn screws is not easy to get out. Maybe it'll be easier if I loosen all the glovebox screws and shift the glovebox out of the way (not remove it completely or disconnect airbag cable. Routing the camera wire from the rear view mirror down to the glovebox area was pretty simple. Just push the wire into the crack and lift the edge of the trim (headliner or a-pillar) until the wire falls behind the panel.

Is the fuse box behind the passenger seat easier to access?

 

[robrmon]

I'm wiring up a blackvue dashcam today and decided to use the footwell fusebox. Man, this panel with the four quarter turn screws is not easy to get out. Maybe it'll be easier if I loosen all the glovebox screws and shift the glovebox out of the way (not remove it completely or disconnect airbag cable. Routing the camera wire from the rear view mirror down to the glovebox area was pretty simple. Just push the wire into the crack and lift the edge of the trim (headliner or a-pillar) until the wire falls behind the panel.

Is the fuse box behind the passenger seat easier to access?

That panel is a pita to put back

 

[kitkat]

I'm wiring up a blackvue dashcam today and decided to use the footwell fusebox. Man, this panel with the four quarter turn screws is not easy to get out. Maybe it'll be easier if I loosen all the glovebox screws and shift the glovebox out of the way (not remove it completely or disconnect airbag cable. Routing the camera wire from the rear view mirror down to the glovebox area was pretty simple. Just push the wire into the crack and lift the edge of the trim (headliner or a-pillar) until the wire falls behind the panel.

Is the fuse box behind the passenger seat easier to access?

I’ve heard this from everyone, I look forward to this little slice of hell.

 

[flyingbear]

Well I figured it out. It’s pretty easy once you know the trick!

1. Push the edge of the floor carpet down as much as possible. Tuck it under the edge of the toe panel that you are trying to remove.

2. Remove this screw holding the center console trim in place if you like. I think it’s unnecessary but doesn’t hurt. It frees up the toe panel even more to pull out

3. Put your fingers under the lower-outer corner of the toe panel. There is a cutout for you to grab and pull the panel. It should rotate out and clear everything else easily!

 

[flyingbear]

Reinstalling the panel is even harder than getting it out. You need to tuck the bottom edge of the panel underneath a black sheet metal tab (about 5-6” long). Once it’s under the tab the panel will be in the correct location and all four holes should be visible.

 

[Joel]

Took me ages to get mine on and off, and then when the tracker guy came to fit the tracker he needed it off as well and similar swearing was heard

No idea why it's so hard, but I figured mine was mainly the carpet on both panels causing issues

 

[@Life411]

Thinkware? Just curious...I noticed several of you installing a Thinkware dash cam. They don't seem to have great reviews on Amazon. Any particular reason?

I just bought a Vantrue Nexus 5...based on features and reviews on Amazon...kinda my normal buying process for most everything and it works well for me. Thankful for this thread as I embark on installation.

 

[@Life411]

Fuse NR 54 is described as

Theoretically can’t one bridge that fuse into another always on one? Best case one of the spares is always on with the same rating?
Would remove the need to run a new wire and makes use of the rear view usb instead. Of course not draining the battery using either of the usb ports is now your own responsibility

I love this idea if possible. Simple and elegant. Anyone try this? Any suggestions? I'm installing a Vantrue Nexus 5 with parking mode and this would be preferable to running a hardwire.

 

[@Life411]

Ok so I fitted my dash cam today, some parts were easier than others I found out.

First up, trying to get the toeboard off to get to the fusebox. For some reason this proved very difficult in my car. Likewise, getting it back on also proved very difficult. Probably the hardest bit of trim I had to remove throughout the entire process, which is surprising since it's "user serviceable" right? Did others get theirs on/off easily?

Seems there's a lip it clips underneath on the bottom side which I think was causing me issues, as well as some ill fitted carpetry.

Once I'd got into the fusebox area, I realised my battery was never going to fit!
View attachment 28243
So switch to plan B, I had to put it under the passenger seat. This was fine, routing the cables to the back of the car was easy, managed to tuck them under the central console. I did hit an issue though, when trying to move the passenger seat back, the battery didn't actually fit underneath and scraped against something underneath, oops.

In the end, the battery ended up velcro'd vertically behind the seat, will have to be cautious with taller passengers and make sure they don't crush it!

View attachment 28244
For fuse tapping, I ended up using the spare fuse 52. This is rated at 10amp in the Volvo XC40 and while it only has the positive connection, if you set the fuse tap correctly you can leverage that to power your cam/battery. A simple multimeter test proved it was a switched fuse which is what's needed for the Cellink Neo 8+ I've installed, which has a maximum draw of 9A.
The wiring ended up looking like below by the time I'd finished. Though the fuse cover did fit nicely on, it has gaps where the two cables are coming out at the bottom.
View attachment 28245
The rest of the process was actually relatively straight forward, the A pillar and other trim bits came of more easily than I had expected, though the plastic cover behind the mirror was a little fiddly to put back.

Since I have a two channel dash cam, I had to wire a cable up to the back. To avoid interfering with the airbag, I ran the cable all the way around the airbag and then up the inside of it and under the door seal, should be well out of the way looking at the path the airbag takes up into the roof.

View attachment 28246

For those of you wondering about the retained clip inside the A pillar, I tried to capture what that looks like here. This picture is looking down towards the dash. Pop some pliers in there and pull the metal piece up a couple of cms and it comes out.

View attachment 28247
In the end, all that's visible really are the two cameras, though the front is masked by the mirror in my normal seating position, and the rear is so small you don't really notice it in the mirror anyway.
View attachment 28248
View attachment 28249
The only other takeaway I have from this experience is that today was a terrible day to do this, in 25 degree heat, in the sun, the car became a greenhouse and I was sweating by the time I finished. I'd recommend finding a slightly cooler day for anyone planning to do their own install

Thanks for the writeup! I'm curious based on where you installed the rear cam, does it provide a nice view of the engine and throttle action? I was thinking that could be a nice addition for YT content if it's in the field of view.

 

[Time2Fly]

@Joel @somer82 is there a way to wire this so that the extra battery pack can be used to extend parking mode, and recharge the extra battery when the car is on a trickle charger?

 

[Joel]

I think to charge the dash cam battery you have to have the ignition on, or you wire the dash cam battery directly to the normal car battery, but that's going to defeat the point

I've certainly not worked out a way to have it charge the dash cam battery while on a tender