Dash Cam cable tidy/cable management

Mutton_Geoff

I wish motor manufacturers would put a 12v socket on the centre top of the dash. Easy short wiring for dashcams/sat navs etc.

neilmcl

Just get a pry tool an push the cable in behind the roof trim, down behind the A pillar trim, then route down the side of the dash under the door rubbers then up behind the passenger footwell.

I don't know about Audi's but some cars have a hidden 12V socket in or under the glove box.

JustAnotherSaver

DiddyDavies said:

JustAnotherSaver said:

I don't know what's going on with mine but it's refusing to power up as I turn the key when it's cold. Does it after work no problem when it's a little warmer. Past two days though it wont power it at all or it wont power it properly first thing in a morning.

I was told bad power supply so i bought a dearer one from another seller and it's doing the same.

2 bad supplies is possible but chances shouldn't be too high i would imagine.

Do you have stop-start (or whatever your particular car manufacturer calls it) on your car?
If so and you've piggybacked off a fuse that is connected to that system, it might help explain the problem you are experiencing as the operation of this is often disabled if it's too cold outside or if the battery voltage is too low.

Nope. 
Last car that had no problem even down to -5c ~ -8c was a 2001 Astra. This is a 2006 Mondeo. Just saying this for reference. No stop/start or push button starts. 

I have piggybacked in to the 12v fuse for the camera and Monday/Tues at 0c it has not turned on at all (Monday) or displayed a white screen (Tuesday) and on both occasions I had to pull the USB plug, reinsert and then it worked. On both days it fired up no problem when leaving work 10hrs later. 

Last night I unplugged the hardwired USB cable, inserted the supplied 12v power cable that came with the camera and put the 12v male end in to the 12v socket as its ignition live. 

This morning at -1c I turned the key as normal and started the car as normal. It powered up no problem. 

This to me means it must be something with the hardwire kit or the way it's wired. I just don't know enough (anything) about electrics to say what. It's too coincidental that the supplied 12v power cable gives absolutely no problem whatsoever. 

poppasmurf_bewdley

Remove the cover of the A pillar and hide the cable behind it.  At the top of the windscreen, it's usually possible to tuck the cable behind the windscreen surround/headlining, but don't forget that during the present cold weather this may be more difficult to do.

That's how I've done it on my last three cars (Ford, Vauxhall and Dacia).  

neilmcl

poppasmurf_bewdley said:

Remove the cover of the A pillar and hide the cable behind it.  At the top of the windscreen, it's usually possible to tuck the cable behind the windscreen surround/headlining, but don't forget that during the present cold weather this may be more difficult to do.

That's how I've done it on my last three cars (Ford, Vauxhall and Dacia).  

Just need to be careful when doing this if your A pillar contains an airbag so as not to disturb the airbag when removing the trim or crossing the cable over the airbag. Personally a tucked mine behind the front of the trim and down to the dash and crossed over where the dash meets the pillar, again all using a pry tool to push the cable in out of the way.

Scrapit

I used my fingers. Cheaper is better.

DiddyDavies

When I fed the cable for my dashcam along behind the roof trim at the top of the windscreen, it kept coming out when I was driving.
I read somewhere online that one way to help stop this happening was to wrap a few layers of tape around the cable every 6" or so before putting it behind the trim. This then gets squashed slightly between the trim and the roof which holds it in place.
I did this and haven't had a problem since.

LudaMusser

I just bought a Garmin mini from Halfords. I’ve got a plastic trim removal tool and the other day I spent 10-15 minutes slightly pulling back the plastic panels in my Kia and pushing the wire out of sight

The wire is routed from the cigarette lighter, under the passenger front seat and then I’ve hidden it under the plastic sill, up through the B post, along under the plastic at head height and finally just under the roof lining where it meets the windscreen. You can only see a few inches where it comes down to the cam behind my rear view mirror

On a side note, hard wiring means the cam is receiving power 24/7. It doesn’t mean the cam only gets power when you turn the ignition on 

AdrianC

LudaMusser said:

On a side note, hard wiring means the cam is receiving power 24/7. It doesn’t mean the cam only gets power when you turn the ignition on 

Depends on where you wire it to.

Hard-wiring means it's permanently wired in, not just plugged in to the ciggy socket.

Some cars have permanently-powered ciggy sockets, some are ignition.
When you hard-wire it, you can connect it to an ignition live or a permanent one.

EssexExile

DiddyDavies said:

When I fed the cable for my dashcam along behind the roof trim at the top of the windscreen, it kept coming out when I was driving.
I read somewhere online that one way to help stop this happening was to wrap a few layers of tape around the cable every 6" or so before putting it behind the trim. This then gets squashed slightly between the trim and the roof which holds it in place.
I did this and haven't had a problem since.

Or put a cable tie around the cable every few inches and cut the tails off.