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In-Car Camera Installation


Sparcoray
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Hello.

 

In most cases, cigarette lighter point is switched.

 

And for fusebox it can be switched and unswitched.

 

 

Switched is that the power is controlled by your ignition switch/key. When engine is turned off, so is the supply to cigarette.

 

My car have 3 cigarette lighter point, 2 switched and 1 unswitched.

 

A problem with tapping from fusebox, cutting wire harness of your car is most likely required.

I'm buying a new car. So it's better for me to buy a car cam that taps power from cigarette lighter?

How do you have 3 cigarette points in your car? And why is one of them unswitched?

Thanks!

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Supersonic

I'm buying a new car. So it's better for me to buy a car cam that taps power from cigarette lighter?

How do you have 3 cigarette points in your car? And why is one of them unswitched?

Thanks!

 

When you tapped onto a "switched" ciggie socket, power goes off when key is off.

No "parked" mode recording is available, but your main battery remains unaffected.

 

When you tapped onto a unswitched or "always hot" wire/ciggie socket, power does not go off.

You're directly tapped onto the battery wire. Parked mode recording is available, but you can run the risk of discharging your battery too much, until you can't start the engine.

 

Additional ciggie sockets can be wired however you want it to be, either switched or always hot.

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When you tapped onto a "switched" ciggie socket, power goes off when key is off.

No "parked" mode recording is available, but your main battery remains unaffected.

 

When you tapped onto a unswitched or "always hot" wire/ciggie socket, power does not go off.

You're directly tapped onto the battery wire. Parked mode recording is available, but you can run the risk of discharging your battery too much, until you can't start the engine.

 

Additional ciggie sockets can be wired however you want it to be, either switched or always hot.

So to 'protect' my new car, it's better to get a car cam that taps from switched cigarette point?
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You are better off using the cigarette lighter as this is the usual way of connecting.  However, the wire is always dangling around.

 

For me, I am going stock, no modification to the car wiring harness.

 

I currently drive a Carens it come with 3 point, stock, the last one, unswitched is located at the tailgate.  I used it as a phone charger or rear cam.

 

 

And my experience with cam, it don't really last. Every 2~3 years you have to change as the heat usually kill the Li-ion battery. So having it installed with hidden wiring have little value in my case.

 

The next thing is the SD card, for 16GB FHD, it can only recorded ~2 hours of video.  If you need overnight recording 8 hours, you need to downgrade to SD mode instead of FHD.  Or choose a 64GB cap recorder. Mine can support up to 32GB.

 

SD card wear and tear is another problem, these days SD card have ONLY write cycle of 10K due to denser cap.  You may need to change a new one every year - High cap high cost.  SO I used 16GB which cost as little as $8 per 16GB from Kingston.

 

Do check and format SD from time to time, as feature like G-Shock, tends to mark the files as protected and the effective cap is reduced. Use Quick-format when format a SD card instead of Full Format helps to extend the life of the SD card - long story details.

 

Turn off audio recording if you are a less discipline man like me.  You cannot edit the files in the event it is used as evidence in court of law or insurance claim. 

 

Use not more than 5mins recording per file if possible.

 

Turn on motion detect also help to save memory.

 

Hope this is useful.

 

 

 

I'm buying a new car. So it's better for me to buy a car cam that taps power from cigarette lighter?
How do you have 3 cigarette points in your car? And why is one of them unswitched?
Thanks!

 

Edited by Apple-Tree
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Supersonic

So to 'protect' my new car, it's better to get a car cam that taps from switched cigarette point?

 

Yes, I would think so.

 

No parked mode recording, but you don't worry getting a flat battery in the morning.

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Neutral Newbie

hi bros,

 

any body using otosaver cam i bought it at the carshow at suntec on january . been using for a few months and find it good.

thinking od buying another set for my wife's car thinking is there other recommendation better than otosaver.

 

 

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Hello.

 

In most cases, cigarette lighter point is switched.

 

And for fusebox it can be switched and unswitched.

 

 

Switched is that the power is controlled by your ignition switch/key.  When engine is turned off, so is the supply to cigarette.

 

My car have 3 cigarette lighter point, 2 switched and 1 unswitched.

 

A problem with tapping from fusebox, cutting wire harness of your car is most likely required.

Actually not necessary to cut the wire harness if you get those DIY kit from Autobacs at $16. It comes with 3 attachable fuse extension for you to replace with the selected fuse in the fuse box (car fuses come in 3 sizes). It tap the power from that fuse and has a separate fuse holder for protection. The other end is a socket for you to plug the power cable of the DVR. Just need to run the power cable from the windscreen to the fuse box which is very easy and can take reference from many youtube videos.

 

http://www.amon.co.j...oduct_code=1554

 

post-101253-0-69455400-1462249971_thumb.jpg

 

 

I did a brief write-up on how to do up my ride. Enjoy.

 

http://www.mycarforum.com/topic/2661786-mazda-biante-mpv/?p=5810072

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Moderator

Oh hor... Some one will kena warning soon... [laugh]

 

 

is ok..gib chance....merge here hor @imac  :XD:  :a-aggressive:

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My car has a 12V socket in the boot, so I can easily install another camera to the rear by connecting to it directly. Will not work if you require parking mode.

 

I have a front camera, now thinking of installing a rear camera. I'm not using it for 24hours recording. Power on when I start engine and power off when I off engine. Anyone installed 2 separate cameras front and rear before ? Not 2ch but 1ch x 2 sets

 

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  • If your vehicle has two hose/grommets between the chassis and the hatch, give them a squeeze to see which one has more wiggle room. Ideally use the side that has the most space as you will run the least risk of damaging anything and it should be easier as well. 

When mounting the rear camera make sure that it's in a position that the rear wiper clears. If possible, try to stick the tape on the glass rather than a defroster line. In our experience as long as the tape is heated up when removing it will not damage defroster lines.

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Neutral Newbie

 

wow, the knife of this shop is really sharp. $80!

I got it done for $20.

hi bro can tell me where .thanks

 

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