[gpjlytham]

Hi All

i have bought a dash cam for my daughters 2002 cougar. The issue is that the dash cam gets its power from the cigarette lighter and the cigarette lighter power is always on and therefore the dash cam will always be on and that will drain the battery. I want the dash cam to start when the engine is running and shut off when the engine is off.

I am thinking that i will tap into a circuit in the interior fuse box, but which circuit? The dash cam wont take much power but i don't want to blow a fuse. Which circuit have other owners used?

Reason for dash cam: - my wife was in an accident a few years ago and they said she was at fault and our insurance went up. I wasn't convinced that the accident was her fault but she didn't have a camera as proof. Now all our cars have dash cams, front and rear with back up cams.

 

[mmc757]

Take a look at section 700-02 of the wiring manual. You can see which circuits are powered under different conditions and pick one.
The Central Junction box is the one in the cabin, and is largely unpowered with the key off.
If you have a sunroof, that would probably be ideal. Just splice into the power supply to that. Especially since the roof probably doesn't work anyway.
If you don't have a sunroof, the easiest solution is probably to splice into the radio power supply. It's centrally located close to where you need it, and easy to access without having to get into the footwell or take a bunch of stuff apart.

 

[skater]

The dash cam won't draw enough current to overload either of the circuits mmc757 mentioned - they don't draw a ton of power. Personally I'd go with the radio circuit.

You may already know this, but there are wiring kits available on Amazon for ~$15 that will let you "splice" in right at the fuse panel without altering the original wiring at all, and they provide a micro-usb (or mini usb or whichever one it is) connection for the camera. Very convenient. I used one to wire one up in our truck.

 

[gpjlytham]

Hi All.

Update: -
Fuse slot 32 of the interior fuse box (under the steering wheel) isn't used on my daughters 2002 cougar and it is only powered when the ignition is on, so i used a "add a circuit adapter" (see picture) to get the power for the dash cam. The wires that came with the dash cam were 10" too short but I was able to get a short extension. All the wires are hidden and the dash cam is recording front and rear and also works as a reversing camera.

 

[mmc757]

Great! Do you think we can get some pics of how you've got it mounted?

 

[ocondan223]

Hi All

i have bought a dash cam for my daughters 2002 cougar. The issue is that the dash cam gets its power from the cigarette lighter and the cigarette lighter power is always on and therefore the dash cam will always be on and that will drain the battery. I want the dash cam to start when the engine is running and shut off when the engine is off.

I am thinking that i will tap into a circuit in the interior fuse box, but which circuit? The dash cam wont take much power but i don't want to blow a fuse. Which circuit have other owners used?

Reason for dash cam: - my wife was in an accident a few years ago and they said she was at fault and our insurance went up. I wasn't convinced that the accident was her fault but she didn't have a camera as proof. Now all our cars have dash cams, front and rear with back up cams.