Ford Focus 2019 Dash Cam

[johnH]

Hi folks,

Long time no speak. Just abit of an update. Basically Lookers in Gateshead rang me up and wanted to buy my mk3 off me and give me a mk4 ST Line. So now im a proud owner of one.

Anyways im trying to hardwire a dash cam into the car but it appears the fuses i try are perm live. Does anyone have advice on which one i should use for switched live. (So camera shuts down when car is off).

So far ive tried fuse 7, fuse 14, fuse 10 and its now in fuse 24. (Fuse diagram will be attached).

[johnH]

Well in my inability to leave things alone...to answer my own question. Fuse 3 in passenger compartment (10amp for parking aids) is a switched live feed.

On another note you will need a micro2 fuse tap to connect into this.

[Comares2001]

That's the one I used. There are others but I couldn't get a piggyback on them.

[johnH]

1 hour ago, Comares2001 said:

That's the one I used. There are others but I couldn't get a piggyback on them.

Yeah its very awkward and compact space to work in and only a few of them seem able to hold a piggy back on them.

 

You may also know the answer to my next question...on the digital screen theres an option for digital speedo, whats the circle that surrounds this and why does it keep changing thickness? Ive read the owners manual and there is nothing about it.

[andy2086]

Yeah its very awkward and compact space to work in and only a few of them seem able to hold a piggy back on them.
 
You may also know the answer to my next question...on the digital screen theres an option for digital speedo, whats the circle that surrounds this and why does it keep changing thickness? Ive read the owners manual and there is nothing about it.

The blue circle is Ford’s eco driving coach, the thicker the circle, the more economical you are driving.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Guy Heaton]

The ECO display is in addition to the digital speedo.

[johnH]

Thanks Guy/Andy. I had no idea and nothing was written in owners manual...unless i missed it. 👍

[kevster755]

Thank you for this, I’ve been searching for weeks to find the right fuse, I have no idea how I missed it! But finally my dash cam switches on and off without me needing to remember!!

[PaterAnt]

On 9/2/2019 at 4:23 PM, johnH said:

So far ive tried fuse 7, fuse 14, fuse 10 and its now in fuse 24. (Fuse diagram will be attached).

I am looking for a permanent live so that I can have my NEXTBASE in parking mode. Are the fuses that you mention all permanent live (with the ignition off, doors locked)?

[Betamax_man]

2 hours ago, PaterAnt said:

I am looking for a permanent live so that I can have my NEXTBASE in parking mode. Are the fuses that you mention all permanent live (with the ignition off, doors locked)?

Fuse 24

[Betamax_man]

On 9/2/2019 at 8:54 PM, Comares2001 said:

That's the one I used. There are others but I couldn't get a piggyback on them.

The "Circuit Breaker" fuse (F25), which mine was not populated, is ignition live. Just used an inline fuse with mini spade on the end in the side closest to the left.

[PaterAnt]

On 6/27/2020 at 7:27 PM, Betamax_man said:

Fuse 24

Thanks. I discovered that 11/12 was always live and fitted a 3 pin piggy back fuse there. Works great.

[leesider]

I came across this topic when googling a problem I have with my dashcam (Nextbase 322G). I want to wire it to the fusebox and I want to use the circuit breaker fuse that Betamax_man  used in his post above. I managed to remove the fuse that was in it (the green one in the pic below). The fuse cable from the hardwire kit is in the pic and seems to be the same size (see first and second pic). However I can't get it to go in because the slot where the circuit breaker fuse was is within a plastic bay (see last pic). This is blocking the fuse because the cable is attached to the side of the fuse. if it was attached to the top it would be fine.

I could use another fuse but they all seem to be three blade fuses and the fuse cable in the hardwire kit is a two blade fuse. Anyway I read that the Nextbase 322G needs a 30 amp fuse to work properly (the circuit breaker fuse is 30 amp).

if I could get a fuse extender to go in the empty circuit breaker fuse slot and then put the fuse cable into that then it would work. I have only seen those kind of extenders on sale on eBay from China and I am not even sure it is the correct one.

The other alternative would be to break off the plastic bay but I don't really want to do that in case I damage the fuse box.
Any help would be appreciated.

[unofix]

On the Ford Focus Mk4 it is normal to use Fuse 3 for the dashcam.

On 10/14/2023 at 9:52 AM, unofix said:

Very probably Fuse 3 unless the fusebox has been changed since 2020

 

 

[unofix]

24 minutes ago, leesider said:

and I want to use the circuit breaker fuse that Betamax_man  used in his post above.

He did not have a Circuit Breaker fitted on his model.

On 6/27/2020 at 7:32 PM, Betamax_man said:

The "Circuit Breaker" fuse (F25), which mine was not populated, is ignition live. Just used an inline fuse with mini spade on the end in the side closest to the left.

I would not recommend using the Circuit Breaker location if your model has one fitted.

[leesider]

10 minutes ago, unofix said:

He did not have a Circuit Breaker fitted on his model.

I would not recommend using the Circuit Breaker location if your model has one fitted.

I took the green fuse that is in my pic out of that circuit breaker  slot. It says "Not used" in the car manual. So I thought it was OK to take it out

[leesider]

31 minutes ago, unofix said:

On the Ford Focus Mk4 it is normal to use Fuse 3 for the dashcam.

 

I am fairly sure that is a 10 amp fuse. Would that be enough for that dashcam?

[alexp999]

15 minutes ago, leesider said:

I am fairly sure that is a 10 amp fuse. Would that be enough for that dashcam?

1 amp should be enough for a dashcam.

[unofix]

42 minutes ago, leesider said:

I took the green fuse that is in my pic out of that circuit breaker  slot. It says "Not used" in the car manual.

If it is fitted then it is used. The manuals are not always up to date and don't always cover every version and every option that a vehicle has. Personally I do not recommend using that location, but at the end of the day it's your car.

Fuse F3 is a simpler and safer option (standard 2 blade fuse) and has been known to work well for dashcams.

[leesider]

3 hours ago, unofix said:

If it is fitted then it is used. The manuals are not always up to date and don't always cover every version and every option that a vehicle has. Personally I do not recommend using that location, but at the end of the day it's your car.

Fuse F3 is a simpler and safer option (standard 2 blade fuse) and has been known to work well for dashcams.

OK I will try F3 but I must get a proper tweezers, the one I have is not able to remove them.

[mjt]

5 hours ago, leesider said:

I read that the Nextbase 322G needs a 30 amp fuse to work properly

I carried out some tests to a Nexbase 312GW a while ago and found the current consumption to be around 500mA so 30 Amps is rather overkill . As @alexp999 says 1A should be plenty.

[tarbyonline]

5 hours ago, leesider said:

I came across this topic when googling a problem I have with my dashcam (Nextbase 322G). I want to wire it to the fusebox and I want to use the circuit breaker fuse that Betamax_man  used in his post above. I managed to remove the fuse that was in it (the green one in the pic below). The fuse cable from the hardwire kit is in the pic and seems to be the same size (see first and second pic). However I can't get it to go in because the slot where the circuit breaker fuse was is within a plastic bay (see last pic). This is blocking the fuse because the cable is attached to the side of the fuse. if it was attached to the top it would be fine.

I could use another fuse but they all seem to be three blade fuses and the fuse cable in the hardwire kit is a two blade fuse. Anyway I read that the Nextbase 322G needs a 30 amp fuse to work properly (the circuit breaker fuse is 30 amp).

if I could get a fuse extender to go in the empty circuit breaker fuse slot and then put the fuse cable into that then it would work. I have only seen those kind of extenders on sale on ebay from China and I am not even sure it is the correct one.

The other alternative would be to break off the plastic bay but I don't really want to do that in case I damage the fuse box.
Any help would be appreciated.

A 30 amp dash cam?!? Surely this should be more like 3 amp. Mine is on a 5 amp fuse and that’s overkill for powering both front and rear as I didn’t have a smaller one handy.

Edit: plus I have the fuse tap wired to a 12v female socket and use the Mio supplied charger which is fused anyway, but won’t have that luxury with the focus by the looks of things!  Easy way to see what you need would be to look at the rating on the charger in the box.

[unofix]

2 minutes ago, tarbyonline said:

A 30 amp dash cam?!? Surely this should be more like 3 amp

Yes I think there is an error of some sorts here. Either the OP has miss read or there is a printing error. Perhaps it's listed as a "3.0 fuse" or a "300mA fuse"

I have the dashcam fuse in my piggyback fuse holder as 1 Amp and it's working just fine.

[leesider]

I took out the 3 amp fuse but the fuse on the end of the cable in the kit doesn't fit in the slot. There is a larger fuse cable in the kit but that doesn't fit into any of the fuse slots either. I need a different fuse cable.

Edit; I think I have the wrong hardwire kit. I have googled it and there are a number of different series; Series 2 and series 3.

 

[alexp999]

You need a micro fuse tap