I've had a little bit of interest in the dash cam I installed last week so thought I'd post a 'how to' guide for anyone interested.
What you'll need...
Some electrical wire (I used 1mm), 1 spade and 1 fork connector, an inline fuse holder, some electrical connector block and a 12v to 5v voltage convertor from ebay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271203564308)
To start off you need to get into the fusebox, this is at the right hand side of the dash and the cover is only exposed after you open the drivers door. This cover just pulls off.
Using a voltmeter/multimeter you need to identify one of the spare fuse slots as one that is only powered when the ignition is switched on.
So put the negative probe onto something metallic like the chassis of the dashboard and the positive into one of the empty fuse slots. You're looking for 12v once the ignition is switched on.
Once you have that identified you need to tap into that supply. First find a spade connector that is the same width as the blade of a car fuse. This will go directly into the slot you've identified.
It has to be a match in size or it will not sit in their properly and fall out. Attach an inline fuse holder at this point, as you're feeding directly from the car's power supply this is a very sensible thing to do! They are literally pence so there's no reason not to fit one From the fuse holder I'd reccomend going into a connector block, this will allow you to change anything easier and also to add further accessories at a later date.
From an empty terminal on the connector block run a negative wire to a suitable earthing point, I used the chassis for the dashboard and used a fork connector to attach using a screw.
Now on the other side of the connector block match positive to red and negative to black on the voltage convertor. It's best to wrap the connector block with some electrical tape as the screw heads will be live.
You'll now have a powered USB socket ready to plug in the dash cam cable. Don't forget to fix the voltage convertor securely. I cable tied mine to that faithful dashboard chassis.
I ran the cable up under the A pillar trim, out before the head lining and into the back of the camera. I decided to mount it at the top right corner of the screen as the wipers don't clean the screen behind the rear-view mirror. Unless a camera can see through the screen it will adjust it's focus and concentrate on the dirt/water/frost/whatever on the screen itself.
The only drawback so far with this position is that the sun visor can only be folded directly down, not up to the screen. I'm trying to find a smaller mount but it's not something that bothers me too much.
The camera I bought was an 8GB Mobius, It's only slightly bigger than the keyfob for the car and records in 1080p HD. You can customise alot of things like recording time, video rotating, time stamp, sound and even if you want particular LEDs to come on. I got mine off ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8GB-Mobiu...080P-30FPS-720P-60FPS-Camcorder-/161057520191 - you have to buy the mount separately.
A full review of the Mobius can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wmIyD1fM4M
This install was quite easy, don't be put off by all the wiring as I've also go a feed going to the extra reversing lights I installed, just imagine half the wiring.
Total cost excluding wiring, connectors and connector block was £55.
What you'll need...
Some electrical wire (I used 1mm), 1 spade and 1 fork connector, an inline fuse holder, some electrical connector block and a 12v to 5v voltage convertor from ebay (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271203564308)
To start off you need to get into the fusebox, this is at the right hand side of the dash and the cover is only exposed after you open the drivers door. This cover just pulls off.
Using a voltmeter/multimeter you need to identify one of the spare fuse slots as one that is only powered when the ignition is switched on.
So put the negative probe onto something metallic like the chassis of the dashboard and the positive into one of the empty fuse slots. You're looking for 12v once the ignition is switched on.
Once you have that identified you need to tap into that supply. First find a spade connector that is the same width as the blade of a car fuse. This will go directly into the slot you've identified.
It has to be a match in size or it will not sit in their properly and fall out. Attach an inline fuse holder at this point, as you're feeding directly from the car's power supply this is a very sensible thing to do! They are literally pence so there's no reason not to fit one From the fuse holder I'd reccomend going into a connector block, this will allow you to change anything easier and also to add further accessories at a later date.
From an empty terminal on the connector block run a negative wire to a suitable earthing point, I used the chassis for the dashboard and used a fork connector to attach using a screw.
Now on the other side of the connector block match positive to red and negative to black on the voltage convertor. It's best to wrap the connector block with some electrical tape as the screw heads will be live.
You'll now have a powered USB socket ready to plug in the dash cam cable. Don't forget to fix the voltage convertor securely. I cable tied mine to that faithful dashboard chassis.
I ran the cable up under the A pillar trim, out before the head lining and into the back of the camera. I decided to mount it at the top right corner of the screen as the wipers don't clean the screen behind the rear-view mirror. Unless a camera can see through the screen it will adjust it's focus and concentrate on the dirt/water/frost/whatever on the screen itself.
The only drawback so far with this position is that the sun visor can only be folded directly down, not up to the screen. I'm trying to find a smaller mount but it's not something that bothers me too much.
The camera I bought was an 8GB Mobius, It's only slightly bigger than the keyfob for the car and records in 1080p HD. You can customise alot of things like recording time, video rotating, time stamp, sound and even if you want particular LEDs to come on. I got mine off ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/8GB-Mobiu...080P-30FPS-720P-60FPS-Camcorder-/161057520191 - you have to buy the mount separately.
A full review of the Mobius can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wmIyD1fM4M
This install was quite easy, don't be put off by all the wiring as I've also go a feed going to the extra reversing lights I installed, just imagine half the wiring.
Total cost excluding wiring, connectors and connector block was £55.
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