Eddieboi Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Hi all, So I decided to get a dash cam for my 2008 mk5 fiesta primarily due to my drive to and from my new work location as the drive can be full of idiots in the area I drive through etc. Also so for a bit of piece of mind when the car is parked. Ive ordered the Thinkware F800 pro 2ch dash cam with a hardwire kit and had to order separately the micro piggy back wire adaptors for the hardwire kit. Now im not sure when I’ll be able to get a volt meter to test the two locations I need to connect the hardwire kit for a live and live on ignition connections. (I know I need to connect earth wire to a bolt connected to car chassis. So Was wondering if anyone can advise me which fuses to connect to? I plan to for now to install both rear and front cameras as it seems simple enough and researched into best way to do it and will be using the cig power cable to power for now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikstryker Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Thats a pretty tasty camera. Usually these things should be attached to the cigarette lighter fuse. Directly from my Zetec manual:- "When you switch the ignition on, you can use the socket to power 12 volt appliances with a maximum current rating of 20 amps." I personally just use a Gopro and the usb socket to power it - means i can remove the cam and continue filming outside the car when some noob bumps yer car with their shopping trolley or you need evidence from that nasty pothole lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lukew1985 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Mine is hardwired into the fusebox for the wipers or reverse light I think it is. I followed a guide on here somewhere. And theres a few bolts behind the glove box to attach to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jace1969 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Yes hardwire it to the rear wiper on a piggy back fuse and yes thats a Dam good camera kit you are getting there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Wait the hardwire kit doesn't come with a piggy back fuse holder? So what does it come with? You might aswell have bought a cigarette lighter adapter for a few quid off amazon and it would do the same thing. Anyway mine's wired to the wipers, but any ignition live one will do. You shouldn't need a multimeter if you have a fuse box diagram. It's just red wire crimped to piggyback fuse holder wire and black wire to any piece of bare metal (best bet is to wrap around a screw with a washer on). Does the camera not need power all the time if it is going to record/wake up when you're parked? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonro2009 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 The hardware kits normally only come with mini and standard fuse holders, or they used to anyway. When I put mine in I had to get the holder off eBay.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarksST Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 1 hour ago, Luke4efc said: Wait the hardwire kit doesn't come with a piggy back fuse holder? So what does it come with? You might aswell have bought a cigarette lighter adapter for a few quid off Amazon and it would do the same thing. Anyway mine's wired to the wipers, but any ignition live one will do. You shouldn't need a multimeter if you have a fuse box diagram. It's just red wire crimped to piggyback fuse holder wire and black wire to any piece of bare metal (best bet is to wrap around a screw with a washer on). Does the camera not need power all the time if it is going to record/wake up when you're parked? Best bet is to put a ring crimp on the end of the wire not wrap it around the screw. even with the diagram it will be trial and error as to what is and isn't live with the ignition off. there are different size fuseholders so they probably supply the most common which is the standard size 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Just now, MarksST said: Best bet is to put a ring crimp on the end of the wire not wrap it around the screw. I don't even know why I didn't say that. Anything that has been hardwired into both our cars has crimped forks/rings on them rather than wrapping them around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taffy Pete Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I have just fitted a mirror mounted dashcam. HOWEVER the integral gps is now not working. Display of GPS lined out. Indeed some interference with the dashcam so close to the windscreen stuck on gps receiver. But today i have resolved this by removing the black plastic cover behind the rear view mirror and putting some metal mesh inside to screen the gps receiver. I used a Simple aluminium fine mesh cut up to fit within the plastic cover. The mesh used was the type for car body repair. £2 from Halfords and it works. I hade tried covering the plastic gps cover in cooking foil and put some chokes on the power cable, but screening the inside oh the gps receiver did the job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taffy Pete Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I forgot to mention my car is a fiesta zetec 1.0 eco 2016. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieboi Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 8 hours ago, Luke4efc said: Wait the hardwire kit doesn't come with a piggy back fuse holder? So what does it come with? You might aswell have bought a cigarette lighter adapter for a few quid off Amazon and it would do the same thing. Anyway mine's wired to the wipers, but any ignition live one will do. You shouldn't need a multimeter if you have a fuse box diagram. It's just red wire crimped to piggyback fuse holder wire and black wire to any piece of bare metal (best bet is to wrap around a screw with a washer on). Does the camera not need power all the time if it is going to record/wake up when you're parked? As Jonro said this hardwire kit doesnt come with any piggy back adaptors, and from what I remember most of my fuses are mini/micro fuses since last year my cig fuse blew so had to replace it. I ordered from direct from the UKs thinkwire website which is a approved seller for Thinkware in the UK from what I read. Luckily my car has the fuse diagram so it will be easy to find which 2 fuses to use for the two cables (live and live/off) and then find a nice screw to attach the earth wire to. The kit does come with a cig lighter cable as standard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonro2009 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Why does it need two feeds? Genuinely interested as I would have thought all you would need is a constant live if you plan to leave it on full time. Are you concerned about potential battery drain? It’s only a small draw I know but the potential is there, you could use one of those magic power boxes that monitor the battery voltage and behaves in a pre programmed way depending on the voltage. Strangely enough I was only just talking to my dad about the exact same camera, he was saying he has his eye on a dual channel one. Is there a new one coming out, or is this the new one? He’s hoping the older version dual Chanel might come down in price lolSent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieboi Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 44 minutes ago, Jonro2009 said: Why does it need two feeds? Genuinely interested as I would have thought all you would need is a constant live if you plan to leave it on full time. Are you concerned about potential battery drain? It’s only a small draw I know but the potential is there, you could use one of those magic power boxes that monitor the battery voltage and behaves in a pre programmed way depending on the voltage. Strangely enough I was only just talking to my dad about the exact same camera, he was saying he has his eye on a dual channel one. Is there a new one coming out, or is this the new one? He’s hoping the older version dual Chanel might come down in price lol Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk From my understanding the F800 came out towards end of last year or some point a few months before at least. The F800 pro is the more recent one and I think comes with the hardwire kit as standard if your getting the dual cam kit. Plus a few extra features but not by much I think cloud features is one or might just be a general update they didn’t realease when the F800 was originally released. in terms of two wires, you only need the hard wire kit if you plan to use parking mode Etc. So that the cam has constant power as not all cars have a constant live on feed from the cig lighter. Also theres a feature when hardwired to set the min voltage to the cam to stop it draining your battery dead when car battery hits that set level. Im going away in July and will be parking in the long stay car park so it’s ideal so I won’t come back to a dead battery lol i do plan to get one of those magic pro batteries or whatever the ones that are recommended to work with this particular model to extend battery amount. Done A lot of research lol so one wire will go to a constant live feed (wiper fuse) and the other to probably my ignition fuse for the live on/off to enable the parking feature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonro2009 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Great explanation, thanks. I currently have a DrivePro but fancy a change. I don’t have BlackVue money and I think the Thinkware cam might be a great higher end alternative.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieboi Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Great explanation, thanks. I currently have a DrivePro but fancy a change. I don’t have BlackVue money and I think the Thinkware cam might be a great higher end alternative.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk The F800 pro 2ch with hardwire would normally cost I think £349 if you look about. I found a thinkware discount code and got like £41 off. However found out today when it was delivered that kit version doesn’t come with cig cable charger as you’d be using the hardwire kit lolHowever I managed to install the front camera and hardwire and it’s a pretty nice. Video quality is very good.Just need to sort the settings out and work out if I’ve hardwired it properly to get parking mode to work lol Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonro2009 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Do you still have the code? I’m going to have a look online later today, just heading off to work now, the joys! Hope the wiring is all good, I’m sure it will be, you said you had done a lot of research. I don’t have a problem with wiring so should be fine to do it, my dad has just bought one of the new style VW Polo. He’s placed the order at the dealer but they can’t process it until they are build week 10 as my dad has ordered the HUD and that isn’t an option until week 10. He is getting VW to wire it in, apparently they can enable an unused fuse socket to do the job.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieboi Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Do you still have the code? I’m going to have a look online later today, just heading off to work now, the joys! Hope the wiring is all good, I’m sure it will be, you said you had done a lot of research. I don’t have a problem with wiring so should be fine to do it, my dad has just bought one of the new style VW Polo. He’s placed the order at the dealer but they can’t process it until they are build week 10 as my dad has ordered the HUD and that isn’t an option until week 10. He is getting VW to wire it in, apparently they can enable an unused fuse socket to do the job.Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Well not 100% sure I have wired right although the cam does turn on I turn accessory or engine ignition on. Will be wiring and connecting rear cam this Sunday. I guess I need to check the settings and read the manual more lolSent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikstryker Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 If you want park mode to work for more than a few mins then you need to wire it into a permanently live fuse or connection point (unless it has a li-ion battery for that purpose - hence why i recommended the aux fuse)!. It depends whether you just want the thing on when you are at the local shops in the car park for a few hours or whether you want it on all the time when its at home if you live in a dodgy area! I just presumed you wanted it when you are out and about! Something i wouldnt do personally just in case and I am a qualified electronics engineer. The cheap dashcams can suck your battery dry when they go wrong, I've even seen one go up in flames - they have LI-ION batteries inside and they are non removeable on the cheapos. Luckily you bought a decent one so you should be ok Most quality ones have a decent high capacity LI-ION which should last for hours so wiring to a permanently live connection isnt necessary or recommended unless you want it as a 24hr spycam! You have to be careful how you wire up things that were not in the original cars design spec - the electronics are now a bit more complex than they used to be when I had a Ford Escort MKII lol I have seen cheap Chinese obd bluetooth tools completely wipe out ecu's and subwoofer boxes and amps halve a 12v battery lifespan and more. Some "independant" garages even wire stuff up to the battery without even a fuse or relay to do what you want - complete nuts! https://dashboardcamerareviews.com/battery-discharge-prevention/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieboi Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 If you want park mode to work for more than a few mins then you need to wire it into a permanently live fuse or connection point (unless it has a li-ion battery for that purpose - hence why i recommended the aux fuse)!. It depends whether you just want the thing on when you are at the local shops in the car park for a few hours or whether you want it on all the time when its at home if you live in a dodgy area! I just presumed you wanted it when you are out and about! Something i wouldnt do personally just in case and I am a qualified electronics engineer. The cheap dashcams can suck your battery dry when they go wrong, I've even seen one go up in flames - they have LI-ION batteries inside and they are non removeable on the cheapos. Luckily you bought a decent one so you should be ok Most quality ones have a decent high capacity LI-ION which should last for hours so wiring to a permanently live connection isnt necessary or recommended unless you want it as a 24hr spycam! You have to be careful how you wire up things that were not in the original cars design spec - the electronics are now a bit more complex than they used to be when I had a Ford Escort MKII lol I have seen cheap Chinese obd bluetooth tools completely wipe out ecu's and subwoofer boxes and amps halve a 12v battery lifespan and more. Some "independant" garages even wire stuff up to the battery without even a fuse or relay to do what you want - complete nuts!https://dashboardcamerareviews.com/battery-discharge-prevention/ At the moment I have my acc wire wired up to one of my wiper fuses and the batt wire on what my diagram says is a “IGN” fuse slot. Earth is wired/screwed to a metal part connected to the chassis behind the glove box. I’m guessing the IGN fuse slot I chose isn’t a live one as the camera doesn’t turn back on when engine is off Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikstryker Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Does the camera not have a park mode setting - that means it switches a mosfet on the main circuit to allow the battery to power the camera (usually)! I would have thought that camera would definitely have all the top features. I would recommend RTFM! >;O) The best idea is to use the fuse plugin device - i thought that was what you had ordered? Never been a fan of ***** or tying wires around lol I am an Edd China fan he does the job 101% - crimps it , solders it then heatshrinks it thats the pro way! If you spend over £300 squid on a dashcam you ideally want to do the job 101% the right way - i wouldnt want to see the dashcam go up in smoke because of a dodgy wire somewhere - screwed and tied stuff quickly comes loose when you have a bump or something works loose. I know that only too well having built a few kit cars - wiring is always the biggest headache in car mechanics! Just ask any Lotus or TVR owner lol As I said above you have to watch the amps draw of these things - I notice it has a wifi chip and especially broadcom chips suck a lot of power - leaving these things on all the time is not a good idea! Thats why you are recommended to switch of wifi on smartphones laptops etc to conserve battery power. RTFM first. Always a good idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieboi Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Camera works fine well the front one at least. Haven’t had a chance to install rear camera. Yes it does have feature to enable parking mode which I enabled. I need to have a look at the manual a bit more lol I will post pics up tomorrow to show how I have installed the front camera / wired up etc Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikstryker Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Yeah always best to RTFM If you check the website it has a new firmware update and a rather swoopy PC application and the manual lol http://www.thinkware.com/Support/Download#1 From the manual (page 20) it looks like you have to switch off the continous impact monitor and enable park mode otherwise the camera goes to sleep after 3 mins! It also seems the rear camera is wired to the front camera for power. The product is powered on when the ACC mode is turned on or when the engine starts. Also from the manual (page 15) it looks like if you wire it up to the fusebox and dont use the proprietary power cable via the cigarette lighter socket you invalidate the warranty so if it goes wrong you are right up the Thomas Titter! Major Bummer! • Parking mode operates only when the hardwiring cable is connected. The hardwiring cable (optional) must be professionally installed to the vehicle by a trained mechanic. • To use all recording modes, you must insert a memory card into the product. • Depending on the battery charging status of the vehicle, the duration of parking mode may differ. If you want to use parking mode for an extended period, check the battery level to prevent battery depletion. Wow it doesnt use a LI-Ion from the circuit diagram it actually uses a Super-Capacitor (funny the manual refers to it as a battery lol) and its pretty well designed - Nice! So be gentle with her! She needs to be treated like a Lauren Bacall and not a Jordan. >;O) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieboi Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Yeah always best to RTFM If you check the website it has a new firmware update and a rather swoopy PC application and the manual lolhttp://www.thinkware.com/Support/Download#1 From the manual (page 20) it looks like you have to switch off the continous impact monitor and enable park mode otherwise the camera goes to sleep after 3 mins! It also seems the rear camera is wired to the front camera for power. The product is powered on when the ACC mode is turned on or when the engine starts. Also from the manual (page 15) it looks like if you wire it up to the fusebox and dont use the proprietary power cable via the cigarette lighter socket you invalidate the warranty so if it goes wrong you are right up the Thomas Titter! Major Bummer! • Parking mode operates only when the hardwiring cable is connected. The hardwiring cable (optional) must be professionally installed to the vehicle by a trained mechanic. • To use all recording modes, you must insert a memory card into the product. • Depending on the battery charging status of the vehicle, the duration of parking mode may differ. If you want to use parking mode for an extended period, check the battery level to prevent battery depletion. Wow it doesnt use a LI-Ion from the circuit diagram it actually uses a Super-Capacitor and its pretty well designed - Nice! I’ll take a look after work. I think I have parking mode and continuous both set as on together which might explain. The hardwire kit version doesn’t come with the cig lighter power cable unless I was going blind when I opened it this morning. I’m pretty sure I’ve wired it up ok since it does turn on like it should when I go int o access or ign mode. I noticed the firmware update the other day when I was looking on the site so will update that stuff when I get home. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikstryker Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Almost forgot remember and buy a (CLASS 10) SD/TF-Card anything less and you will get nasty dropout and frame jitter! Class 4 cards and other are just for stills and storage! http://www.thinkware.com/Products/AccessoryView/Hard_cable1 Looks like you do have a peachy product if you bought the hardwire kit it is an active monitor so your car battery is protected. If I didnt have use my GOPRO i might even go for this kit myself! The only problem is these static ones are a magnet for thieves! Hammer to the windscreen and its gone! I also use an old android phone with a few dashcam apps - its really good as it uploads the video to the cloud via wifi so even if someone broke the windscreen and stole the camera or even car the video would be available for the polis! It connects to my home wifi when outside the house and its setup for virgin wifi hotspots , asda, boots etc to autoswitch when i am out so it is always connected (AND FREE lol) I like it free but then I am Scottish! Maybe you can upload a vieo clip let me see how good it is and i can show you how good a simple Smartphone can be! Nightvision is the killer though - it is the real giveaway if the product is good or not - if you can still see number plates in the dark clearly then its a winner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddieboi Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Almost forgot remember and buy a (CLASS 10) SD/TF-Card anything less and you will get nasty dropout and frame jitter! Class 4 cards and other are just for stills and storage!http://www.thinkware.com/Products/AccessoryView/Hard_cable1 Looks like you do have a peachy product if you bought the hardwire kit it is an active monitor so your car battery is protected. If I didnt have use my GOPRO i might even go for this kit myself! The only problem is these static ones are a magnet for thieves! Hammer to the windscreen and its gone! I also use an old android phone with a few dashcam apps - its really good as it uploads the video to the cloud via wifi so even if someone broke the windscreen and stole the camera or even car the video would be available for the polis! It connects to my home wifi when outside the house and its setup for virgin wifi hotspots , asda, boots etc to autoswitch when i am out so it is always connected (AND FREE lol) I like it free but then I am Scottish! Maybe you can upload a vieo clip let me see how good it is and i can show you how good a simple Smartphone can be! Nightvision is the killer though - it is the real giveaway if the product is good or not - if you can still see number plates in the dark clearly then its a winner! I’ll get pics and a video up once I finish installing it by Sunday hopefully. From the footage I’ve seen on nighttime on YouTube it’s pretty good. And to me seems better nighttime wise compared to the blackvue 750. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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