Hard wiring Wiring dashcam

[Big Gordy]

hi guys just bought a 2015 E220 d coupe. Bought s front and rear dash cam. Any guidance for hard wiring to internal fuse box so camera only come on with ignition? Any help would be brilliant

 

[C350Carl]

You need to find a switched live only.

So you’ll need a multimeter and then test with ignition on and then the keys out of the ignition that the location you chose is indeed switched live. In other words you get a reading when the ignition is on and no reading once you remove the keys.

Off the top of my head the 12v sockets are normally switched live. But it can vary however they were is my S204 and are in my S212 which I have a BlackVue DR650GW-2Ch system in.

Also get a piggyback fuse to use to take the power. Wrapping the wire around the blade of the fuse is dangerous as you can get the wrong side. Which means if the fuse blows it could still be providing power to the camera which could cause a fire. Unlikely but still a risk.

Halfrauds sell piggyback fuses in various amperages. So you should be able to find one.

 

[Ken_R]

Not sure on your model but I connected mine to the glove box light.

Essentially, you are looking for something, accessible, and which only comes on with the ignition.

 

[Big Gordy]

Cheers mate i

You need to find a switched live only.

So you’ll need a multimeter and then test with ignition on and then the keys out of the ignition that the location you chose is indeed switched live. In other words you get a reading when the ignition is on and no reading once you remove the keys.

Off the top of my head the 12v sockets are normally switched live. But it can vary however they were is my S204 and are in my S212 which I have a BlackVue DR650GW-2Ch system in.

Also get a piggyback fuse to use to take the power. Wrapping the wire around the blade of the fuse is dangerous as you can get the wrong side. Which means if the fuse blows it could still be providing power to the camera which could cause a fire. Unlikely but still a risk.

Halfrauds sell piggyback fuses in various amperages. So you should be able to find one.

I was also thinking off tapping off 12v supply on centre consol ( cigar lighter)

 

[fabes]

Hi, just fitted one to mine
Will do a bit of a write up this weekend.

I had to use the fusebox in the engine compartment.
Circuit 30 is permanent live, use 15 or 87 as I did

I will link in fuse box locations, but you can search out posts on those on here.
PS I did front only

 

[John Laidlaw]

These might help, I hunted them out for another member and kept a copy

 

[Big Gordy]

Hi, just fitted one to mine
Will do a bit of a write up this weekend.

I had to use the fusebox in the engine compartment.
Circuit 30 is permanent live, use 15 or 87 as I did

I will link in fuse box locations, but you can search out posts on those on here.
PS I did front only

Cheers mate, will look forward to seeing what you have. doesn't matter about rear camera its fed from front one so I only need a supply for the main unit at front.

 

[ajlsl600]

i removed the guts from the fag lighter power adaptor,encased it in that resin for power cables then hard wired that into fag lighter base thru ,i think, cant really remember, a 3 amp fuse works ignition on .no works ignition off. cables non visable up pillars and under headlining you can see about 2 inch of cable going to power socket on camera ,if yr looking for it . when i get home in march i will be installing another to the back window. i will have to make a bracket for the back door.A class so the camera does not fall off when lovelly slams the tail gate down !

 

[Wighty]

Took my E320cdi dashcam from the rear fuse box in the boot , the fuse way was labelled rear wipers which my car doesn't have .

 

[daibevan]

Not sure on your model but I connected mine to the glove box light.

Essentially, you are looking for something, accessible, and which only comes on with the ignition.

Me too

 

[Wighty]

Me too

If you connect to the glove box light , did you solder the wires , or use those quick connector thingys , or just cut the wires and join the new ones to the camera in ?

 

[Ken_R]

If you connect to the glove box light , did you solder the wires , or use those quick connector thingys , or just cut the wires and join the new ones to the camera in ?

Not enough room to get a soldering iron in. I used small choc-block connectors and even then it was a fiddle to get a screwdriver in to tighten them. I think if I were to do it again I would use triple Wago connectors. Just open each lever fully, insert wire(s), and close each lever in turn.

Simples.

Edited to add. In my case I connected in a 'floating' cigarette lighter socket which hides neatly above the glove box and below the dashboard.

 

[Wighty]

Not enough room to get a soldering iron in. I used small choc-block connectors and even then it was a fiddle to get a screwdriver in to tighten them. I think if I were to do it again I would use triple Wago connectors. Just open each lever fully, insert wire(s), and close each lever in turn.

Simples.

My camera in the clk is currently routed through the dash and into the coin tray where it plugs in to the ciggy lighter with its supplied connector , I do like the sound of the glovebox light though .

 

[Submariner1]

I tapped off the rear SAM-fuse box cigar lighter .. behind the rear armrest.

I used a piggy back fuse holder into the cigar lighter fuse


I then droped the Ground wire down the side of the fusebox, and bolted it onto a 6mm stud that happened to be there.
This gave me positive ( live when engine was on ) and a negative to add a double USB Charger socket.

So I could plug in one to the front camera and one to the rear camera. All without removing trim panels. The USB cables were just pushed under the side of the centre console trim.

Not the most elegant but with the least disruption to the car trim panels.
I left quite long leads to the USB port so I could disconnect these USB cable and connect a 20,000mAh battery pack (£20) to run the cameras, in dodgy areas if ever needed. So it wont drain my battery.

This just rests on the centre console .. but is only ised when the car is stationery.
Not ideal but it works.

 

[Submariner1]

I suppose I should have said make sure the live side of the piggy back is rhe right way around.
Namely, that the second fuse is in series or you could overload that circuit wiring if its in parallel, or if like in my case, where the pigtail fouled against a tall relay .. just down grade the original fuse by the amount of the additional one.

You can see in the diag above, the pigtail is the wrong way around, i.e its in parallel
You want the “hot” side on the blade that is not connected to the upper feed. Then its in series .. so cant exceed the original rated fuse.

 

[daibevan]

If you connect to the glove box light , did you solder the wires , or use those quick connector thingys , or just cut the wires and join the new ones to the camera in ?

T shaped click connectors. Self connect to the wire and have a spade connector on the new wire. Cheap and by far the easiest way to connect up. Can't remember exactly which wires to tap, but details are on here, posted by soe. A different SOE said not to use these connectors as they are not reliable, but I'll leave them in place and do a solder if they ever fail.

 

[ajlsl600]

I tapped off the rear SAM-fuse box cigar lighter .. behind the rear armrest.
View attachment 41487
I used a piggy back fuse holder into the cigar lighter fuse
View attachment 41489
View attachment 41488
I then droped the Ground wire down the side of the fusebox, and bolted it onto a 6mm stud that happened to be there.
This gave me positive ( live when engine was on ) and a negative to add a double USB Charger socket.
View attachment 41490
So I could plug in one to the front camera and one to the rear camera. All without removing trim panels. The USB cables were just pushed under the side of the centre console trim.

Not the most elegant but with the least disruption to the car trim panels.
I left quite long leads to the USB port so I could disconnect these USB cable and connect a 20,000mAh battery pack (£20) to run the cameras, in dodgy areas if ever needed. So it wont drain my battery.
View attachment 41491
This just rests on the centre console .. but is only ised when the car is stationery.
Not ideal but it works.

like the idea of being able to run camera when in ...dodgy... area , but my SL aint going to such place. A class maybe, i have tried to find some kind of centre mounted interior 360 camera for unattended security,evidence, so far without any luck..

 

[fabes]

Just a quick write up on the Dash cam install I undertook last weekend (with the added pair of hands and help of my Brother in Law)

This is the dash cam (Blueskysea BW1)

Unlike the very simple installation in the Qashqai (J10 2011 model), I could not use the cabin fuses as they are circuit 30, which is permanent live.

I also am not up to ripping out the 12V power socket in the cabin and going in behind that, so I opted to use the N10/1 fuse box – it is in the engine compartment, but is just in front of the steering wheel.

(see John’s post 6 above – it has the fuse box locations and the fuse plan for N10/1 with circuits listed)

1. Undid the three screws that hold the plastic trim above the pedals.

2. Took the lid of the fuse box

3. Pushed a knitting needle through the (yellow) foam which protects the wires going into the cabin to locate where to go upwards from the inside (into the fuse box) – careful not to snag any wires

4. Attached the hardwire kit power wire and earth lead (insulation tape) to a small piece of dowling and pushed that up through the pulled back foam.

Dowling was used as I buy hardwire kits with an added inline fuse and that’s a few mm wide so I needed a decent gap. If I didn’t, I could attach the wires to the needle and pull back through.

5. Earth wire attached to a nearby earthing point after going through a rubber grommet on the side of the fuse box (useful old knitting needles!) and cabling tying it to the other earth wires from there

6. Stripped back, beefed up the dash cam power wire ‘depth’ and crimped it into the piggy back fuse connector

7. Picked out a fuse to use (voltmeter used to check switched live), removed the 15A fuse, added another to the piggy back fuse connector so that there are two on that circuit fuse.

I used another 15A spare I had as, to be honest, I don’t know which one feeds the original circuit and which was feeds the dash cam – the inline fuse is 3A so nothing major is getting through to the dash cam.

8. Navigated the relays and fuses, tucked it all away neatly. Lid on the fuse box and headed into the cabin (see attached image)

9. Fed the USB power cable through the foot well (above the trim which I screwed back above the pedals). All of it then fed past the side panel by the driver’s door under the door rubber vertical A pillar seal, across the top of the A pillar trim) then under the roof lining to the RVM. (see attached image)

10. Horizontally mounted the dash cam (3M mount direct onto cleaned glass), managed to get the final couple of inches of the USV power lead into the mirror housing and connected up.

Worth checking connections and all, before putting lids on and that power works etc, but that’s the essentials.
Pretty happy with the fit - it is pretty 'stealthy' -(see a few photos)


Now the questions I still have

I couldn’t get it on any of the circuit 15 fuses in that fuse box, so identifying that circuit 87M is switched live, its on fuse 25.

I DO NOT KNOW what this feeds. It seems to be interior lights as it goes on as soon as I unlock the car and if I do not start the car within 30 -45 secs, the dash cam powers down. It also stays on for 60 or so secs after I lock the car. No enough to drain a battery, but if any one does know what I have wired into it would be helpful – or if you find a circuit 15 that is direct to ignition (I am told)

By the way – a little background as to the dash cam itself.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Blueskysea-Recorder-Rotatable-G-Sensor-Recording/dp/B0777J5Y6J

Chose this one after the reviews, feedback and seeing the manufacturer involvement on the dash cam forum

https://dashcamtalk.com/blueskysea-b1w/

Yes it’s cheap (my budget) but quality is pretty good, despite the low bit rate. Key for me was a Capacitor cam and with no screen it is really low profile (or ‘stealthy’ as the da yoof say). The wifi to (easy to use) phone app is a simple and more convenient way to view footage. Or of course you can drop the card into the PC

 

[Big Gordy]

Anyone direct me to a fuse box diagram for 2015 e220 coupe

 

[fabes]

Are those in John's post above #6, not the same on yours?