P38A Dash Cam wiring issue

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cornishboater

cornishboater

Well-Known Member
Posts
639
Location
Poole, Dorset
I have just installed a dash cam in the old girl via hard wiring and piggyback fuse to the fuse box under the seat. All works fine however the camera does not power down. I have attached it to fuse 8 which from what I see in the book does the cigar lighter etc, The cigar lighter does power down when the ignition is switched off so why doe the feed to the camera stay live? Is there another fuse that will power down when the ignition is off or do I have to splice into the cigar lighter? I did wait 30 minutes just in case it powered down when the BECM went to sleep but nope, still live

Cheers in advance for any input
 
I'm probably wrong....but here goes.
Are you sure the power is actually on, and its not the dashcam running off it's freshly-charged internal battery that is confusing things?
I know all of my Cams on my crash-helmets etc. Will run with a power source attached and if I unplug the power the cam keeps running until its internal battery is exhausted.
Just a thought,
 
Cheers Dan, I thought about that one, If I unplug the bullet connector that goes to the piggy back the blue power light goes off so the output from the BECM must be live when the key is turned off. I thought that because the cigar lighter turns off immediately that would be the fuse to use. I have tried a couple of others and they seem to have the same power after switch off also.
 
cornishboater said:
Cheers Dan, I thought about that one, If I unplug the bullet connector that goes to the piggy back the blue power light goes off so the output from the BECM must be live when the key is turned off. I thought that because the cigar lighter turns off immediately that would be the fuse to use. I have tried a couple of others and they seem to have the same power after switch off also.
Click to expand...
An even more silly thought for you. Isn't the P38 an odd beast where all the "switched" stuff is actually the earth and NOT the +ve power?
This would imply that the live stays live, but the earth-return path is what is effectively disconnected?
Again, I am putting 2 & 2 together to probably get 5, but it might answer your puzzle.
 
Dashcams should auto power down when disconnected. Sometimes this is configurable. Mine shutdowns 10 secs after the power is disconnected.

Afraid I can’t tell you a fuse to use. But you need to use an ignition live.
 
Not got RAVE on this computer and I'd need the year and model but does fuse 8 also power the radio? If so they'll be a permanent 12V too so you'll need the switched +12V not the permanent 12V?
 
Cheers, it seems that the fuse outputs stay live when the ignition is off. I think I will go back to the original plan as mentioned above and hook into the cigar lighter wiring, at least I know that goes dead when switched off. A trip to Halfords for an inline fuse, I was hoping to keep it tidy by using the piggy back, no such luck as is usual ;)
 
As you said Grrrrrr, fuse 8 does feed the radio so as mentioned above the switching for the cigar lighter must be on the neutral side or from the BECM itself.
 
kapilamuni said:
How did you route the wires to the camera?
Click to expand...

When I put my reversing camera in I poked the wires through the trunking along the bottom of the doors and then came up behind the right-hand kick panel. With a bit of poking I managed to go up the A pillar and out behind the dash and then along the bottom of the windscreen (I have a screen where the mat sits on the dash).

If he's going from the cigarette lighter then he should be able to go under the centre of he dash and up the back - or along under the steering wheel and then you can go up the A pillar, along the headlining and out by the interior light. Depends how much you want to take apart!
 
Splice camera power into green wire (Cig lighter feed) at pin 5 of plug C625 on BECM. It will then power on with ignition at position 2 or better and power down when ignition is switched off.
 
Last edited:
Cheers Wammers, I was going to go directly to the cig lighter as I am putting in a new one, also adding a dual port USB and an extension cig lighter cable to Sat Nav so that I can hide those wires too. This gets rid of the messy wires hanging about and frees up the lighter socket. Rather than splicing all of these wires I have got a multi spade adaptor which can be hidden behind the facia and add inline fuses to each wire.
As for the routing, I did similar to what Grrrr was saying but I routed the wires along the wiring tract on the floor to the BECM. I fished them up to the A pillar, as the cover is easily removable the wires are concealed when it is put back. (taped the wires to the A pillar to keep them clear of clips) there is a small aperture in the lower corner of the windscreen that goes down into the underdash. I fished across the roof lining to the interior light and then down the mirror stalk. Nice and hidden away, the cam sits behind the mirror so it doesn't obscure the view. All works well when powered up, just need to reroute power supply as per Grrrr's comment
Thanks all for the input guys
 
cornishboater said:
Cheers Wammers, I was going to go directly to the cig lighter as I am putting in a new one, also adding a dual port USB and an extension cig lighter cable to Sat Nav so that I can hide those wires too. This gets rid of the messy wires hanging about and frees up the lighter socket. Rather than splicing all of these wires I have got a multi spade adaptor which can be hidden behind the facia and add inline fuses to each wire.
As for the routing, I did similar to what Grrrr was saying but I routed the wires along the wiring tract on the floor to the BECM. I fished them up to the A pillar, as the cover is easily removable the wires are concealed when it is put back. (taped the wires to the A pillar to keep them clear of clips) there is a small aperture in the lower corner of the windscreen that goes down into the underdash. I fished across the roof lining to the interior light and then down the mirror stalk. Nice and hidden away, the cam sits behind the mirror so it doesn't obscure the view. All works well when powered up, just need to reroute power supply as per Grrrr's comment
Thanks all for the input guys
Click to expand...

Yes of course, it is a lot easier to splice the camera power feed into the green cig lighter feed at the cig lighter end rather than at the BECM end. :D;)
 
I also used the lighter feed on mine. Fed the lighter 12V to a 4-way charger outlet that sits behind the HEVAC controls. This then provides power to Phone Charger & Dash Cam when ignition is on. Dash Cam is one of these from Amazon. Seems to work well.
 
Yes it does but too much like hard work to keep pressing a button ;)
I got a 6 way compact fuse box from Halfrauds and fitted it under the switch pack area behind the handbrake and took the live from the cig lighter, I now have all sorts of accessory cables hidden from sight :) 1 X Sat Nav, 1 X Dashcam and 1 twin surface mount USB socket plus 3 extra live wires (yes, I did blank them) to use for something else when I decide.........
Hmm, maybe a reversing camera or some sensors..........
 
cornishboater said:
Yes it does but too much like hard work to keep pressing a button ;)
I got a 6 way compact fuse box from Halfrauds and fitted it under the switch pack area behind the handbrake and took the live from the cig lighter, I now have all sorts of accessory cables hidden from sight :) 1 X Sat Nav, 1 X Dashcam and 1 twin surface mount USB socket plus 3 extra live wires (yes, I did blank them) to use for something else when I decide.........
Hmm, maybe a reversing camera or some sensors..........
Click to expand...

I fitted an extra auxiliary power socket in the rear ash-tray and another in the boot off the supplemental caravan 12V. Plus rear sensors, front sensors, reversing camera. Car's a bit heavier now!
 
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