[Shambles]

I got cheesed off running my suction cup mounted car cam from the cigarette lighter, with the wire trailing in front of the dash.

So I decided to take power from the map lights, which looks far neater imho.


* The following relates to a 2008 UK i30 Premium - it may differ on your model *



There are only 2 screws holding the whole fitment, plus a small plug with black, red and yellow wires




When it's out it looks like this




Leaving a hole like this





Next, bare part of the red and black wires as we're attaching to these (the yellow is used for the fader). Before I did this I pulled the fuse; on my model the fuse is pulled when the "memory fuse" is lifted.




Attach two extension wires. I prefer to solder rather than twist/lock




I also prefer to use crimped connectors




Tape up securely






Feed the camera connection wire through from the front - it's easier than you might think...




The camera can't be fed directly from the 12v rail, it needs 5.1v, so I found a spare cigarette -to- USB plug which I no longer use.
There are two in this picture. I think I paid 99p each for them. Easy enough to break them open. I could have used the one that I've been using with the camera, but decided keep that in case I wanted to use the camera in another car.




I soldered trailing plugs onto the circuit board, but decided to solder the camera feed directly in. I used an old shirt to protect my leather against any solder drops.




Wrapped tape around the whole thing




I connected the trailing power leads then pushed the completed assembly into the roof space




Looks tidy enough doesn't it?

[bumpkin]

Superb job mate

Sent from my 1000et

[asathorny]

Blighmy that way above my pay scale, very intersting tho so thanks   

[eye30]

Very informative.

Now lets see the camera in action and post a vid of your next drive

[jabber]

well done steve! you're a genius mate!

i was thinking of tapping power for door lights from either the centre dome lamp or the front map lamps (which switch on when doors are opened). you have just opened another world of possibilities! 

[Dazzler]

Excellent job m8.. any chance of doing another for the Camry Hybrid  (I'm suspecting they are similar..) 

[rustynutz]

Excellent mod, Steve, thanks for sharing.....

[Alasama]

Great ! 
I'm writting down this new possibility.

[2i30s]

not a bad job at all Steve. very neat 

[Shambles]

Well, the USB adaptor I bastardised will have to be replaced as it isn't delivering the current required. No problem tho - I'll break into the supplied one in much the same way

[rustynutz]

Steve, If you haven't already bastardised the supplied power plug, I've found a Navman gps power cable with the correct angled micro usb lead and sufficient power requirements available on fleabay...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/390435970267?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649

[Shambles]

Steve, If you haven't already bastardised the supplied power plug, I've found a Navman gps power cable with the correct angled micro usb lead and sufficient power requirements available on fleabay...

I'm using the supplied USB car adapter, unbastardised, plugged into a floating 12v socket - all of which is mounted into the huge space behind the map lights

Thanks for looking, but my DOD has a mini USB not a micro USB

[Phil №❶]

Blimey, I just wanted a pic of the connection, Well Done Shambles 

[rustynutz]

Thanks for looking, but my DOD has a mini USB not a micro USB

Sorry, my mistake, I did mean mini, not micro.....

[rustynutz]

Well Steve, I got inspired by your modifications and decided to do my own.....

Luckily I had an old Navman GPS cigarette socket power supply with the correct mini usb plug.

No issues with the conversion other than I need to buy a new soldering iron.
The one I have was next to useless and I ended up having to sit the tip on a stove hotplate
to get enough heat into it.....

I'm just gonna use wire tap connectors to connect it all to the map light wires....
Hopefully I'll get that done sometime over the next day or two...

[Dazzler]

Hey that is pretty clever Rusty 

[AlanHo]

I can obtain a car cigarette lighter extension socket adapter comprising a male plug, half a meter of 2 core cable and a female socket.

http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_702681_langId_-1_categoryId_165489

Is there sufficient room in the car roof for me to cut off the male plug and connect the wire from the socket to the interior light supply, then plug the DOB F520 cable plug into the socket and hide them in the roof space.

This would avoid me having to cut and carve sat-nav or other adaptors, fiddle with the PCB and have to insulate the lot..

[Shambles]

Is there sufficient room in the car roof ...

Your proposed solution matches what I eventually did, though I cannot vouch for the space you have in your Glorious Diesel (there is sufficient space in my Fergie Diesel)

[AlanHo]

I accept that the roof space in the 2012 model may differ from the previous model - I can check this myself when DODDY arrives and I get stuck into getting it installed. However - because of all the butchery you got involved with in cutting adapters apart, I thought there must be a reason why the simple ploy of using a socket extension would not work.

I will therefore try the socket extension route first

[TazManiac]

Great job guys. I must say that the socket extension idea sounds like the far easier choice and leaves the option to use the socket for something else in the future.

[TazManiac]

And those wire tap connectors look like a great little idea. Might have to get a few of those for the toolbox.

[rustynutz]

I didn't go the socket extention route as I wanted to keep the original power supply for those times I want to use my cam in another car.

Just as an aside, the DOD F520 power cable is actually 2 separate fittings, a usb cable and a usb cigarette plug adaptor. Whilst this is probably all ok stuck up in the roof, I thought using the Navman power option would be the easiest and tidiest option, especially when I already had the cable at hand. 

There is one downside of hooking it all up to the map lights, it does mean the cam won't be starting and stopping automatically with the ignition so you will have to remember to turn the unit on & off manually....

And those wire tap connectors look like a great little idea. Might have to get a few of those for the toolbox.

They are, Taz...I've used them for years and have never had any trouble with them...and, they are so easy to use too...bonus! 

[Shambles]

...I thought there must be a reason why the simple ploy of using a socket extension would not work.

I cut apart an adapter as (a) it was right to hand and therefore eligible for immediate bastardisation and (b) I didn't want to fork out around £3 for a trailing socket.

As it happens, the trailing socket solution works perfectly.

Word of warning though. You may have to tape the plug into the adapter as these cigarette lighter power plugs have a spring-loaded +ve centre pin which tends to push the plug out over time, as I found out.

[rustynutz]

There is one downside of hooking it all up to the map lights, it does mean the cam won't be starting and stopping automatically with the ignition so you will have to remember to turn the unit on & off manually....

Seems my efforts were all for nought.....

I hooked it all up this arvo and it worked perfectly....until I switched the cam off. A few seconds after shutting down it started itself up again...
The power being on all the time apparently tricks it...  Doh! 

Seems I have to pull the plug if I don't wanna use it....

[Shambles]

Seems I have to pull the plug if I don't wanna use it....

Not such a big deal is it? I have to pull the plug on mine to power it down, though I could have tapped into the auto-dipping mirror for power, which would have provided the on/off power toggle.


EDIT: hang on - isn't there a menu setting that changes the power-insertion feature, such that you have to power it off yourself?

[rustynutz]

EDIT: hang on - isn't there a menu setting that changes the power-insertion feature, such that you have to power it off yourself?

I did have a look through the menu but if there is a setting to do that, I didn't see it....

Maybe I'll have another look later...

[Shambles]

I think you'll have a similar option on your 520. On mine I can prevent it detecting the power on/off (tho I've not tried it) meaning I would have to hit the power button myself to toggle it on/off. Obviously, referring to the pic below, you'd set "USB Connect" to "no":

[rustynutz]

I'd already tried that option and found it only turns off the auto recording , not the auto start up....

Thanks for the suggestion anyhow, mate...

[Shambles]

Oh right