[Gqcheetos]

nice install I have a think ware front and rear dash cam. only have the front right now to cold and no time to do the rear but I like it on the light better then the window too! only thing I did different so far Is I cut the fuse tap and used bullet connectors so I can take it apart If need be, and no worry about pulling the wire out by accident and having to redo it!

I never heard of a bullet fuse.... looked it up and i have no idea where to even start with it. Can you take a picture of your fuse box; how your set up is? I'm really interested to see. No pressure of you don't feel like it. but thank you for knowledge drop.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Gqcheetos]

Here is the link I relied on for the Cellink. https://www.blackboxmycar.com/pages/everything-you-need-to-know-about-cellink-battery-b It is also available on Amazon. The Cellink has a couple of installation options, including hardwiring. But I'd study the product carefully to make sure it fits your situation and dash camera model before you buy one. Its only use is to power your dash cam if the camera has features that operate when the Pilot's ignition is turned off. The issue you might encounter with a separate dash cam for the rear window is finding a power wire long enough to reach the front fuse box. Otherwise the only option may be to use the 12V output jack by the rear hatch door.

Thanks for the follow-up 2h2.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Iaschneider5]

Bullet & Receptacle Connectors - Vinyl Insulated



That would be what I'm talking about. I'll try get a picture tomorrow but right now its just kinda thrown in there because I wanted to get it done. I hardwired my radar detector in and next is the dash cam so I'll have 3 fuse taps in there. I use the bullet connector becasue i have a habit of pulling on wires I shouldn't haha. I put the female end on the wire coming from the radar detector and the male end not he fuse tap and they just slide into each other haha. I'll try get the pics asap

 

[hoang51]

My installation adventure is delayed. I ordered 4x of those GEREE USB DC DC Converter 12V to 5V Charger. It was delivered this previous Monday, but no package was found. I had to contact Amazon and the representative told me there was a technical problem with my order, and it turns out that they were out of stock, possibly never delivered. Geree informed Amazon that they would be in stock in the next couple of days, but I wouldn't risk it because it appears that Geree removed the item's page down and it now points to a different product, with a 3.5mm input/output jack instead of USB. I went ahead and ordered something similar to that of Geree and found the Drok version at a higher price and was compensated for my troubles and the price difference. Unfortunately, I'll have to contact Amazon later on, it appears that my compensation is missing about 33% of it (got $10 back instead of $15). It'll be arriving tomorrow. But too bad, I can't work on the car since my wife will be using it. I won't have the chance until next week.

My plan is to wire it straight to the power source of one of the map/courtesy lights, which appears to be better than running the USB cable wire near air bags and down to the fuse box on the driver side as in this thread is about, and avoiding the rearview mirror power source problem (my wife's car is the Elite trim).

 

[BeyondtheTech]

My plan is to wire it straight to the power source of one of the map/courtesy lights, which appears to be better than running the USB cable wire near air bags and down to the fuse box on the driver side as in this thread is about, and avoiding the rearview mirror power source problem (my wife's car is the Elite trim).

Just out of curiosity, are you planning to install a 2A inline fuse to the positive lead, or just connect the two leads straight to the courtesy lights?

 

[hoang51]

Just out of curiosity, are you planning to install a 2A inline fuse to the positive lead, or just connect the two leads straight to the courtesy lights?

I do not plan on placing any type of fuse to the positive lead. I will just tap into the power and ground directly from the courtesy lights or something similar once I figure out the optimum source of power. From my experience modding my Acura car, I haven't experienced any power issue and deemed that adding a fuse is unnecessary (I've tapped into power for various LED lighting mods). If it's electrically connected correctly, the fuse from the fuse box from the driver side is enough to protect the entire circuit loop. Just think about this: the included 12V power adapter (USB car charger) from Viofo most likely doesn't contain a fuse. Would one really go to great length to put a fuse between a 12V socket and the USB car charger?

 

[BeyondtheTech]

I do not plan on placing any type of fuse to the positive lead. I will just tap into the power and ground directly from the courtesy lights or something similar once I figure out the optimum source of power.

Thanks.

Anyone know if I should NOT get the Viofo/Spy Tec A119S and get the A119 instead? I see a growing number of users complaining about overheating or device failure.

 

[knight3136]

Installation of Thinkware F770

I decided to go with the Thinkware F770. It has everything that I need in a dash cam. I also installed the rear camera along with the external cellink batteries. It took about 1 and half hours. Here are some pictures.

Front camera:

Rear Camera

Cables for the Batteries

Batteries

 

[2hondas2]

Looks stealthy! :29:

 

[Gqcheetos]

I decided to go with the Thinkware F770. It has everything that I need in a dash cam. I also installed the rear camera along with the external cellink batteries. It took about 1 and half hours. Here are some pictures.

Front camera:

View attachment 101345



Rear Camera

View attachment 101353


Cables for the Batteries

View attachment 101361


Batteries


View attachment 101369

Great Job!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PeteyPablo]

I decided to go with the Thinkware F770. It has everything that I need in a dash cam. I also installed the rear camera along with the external cellink batteries. It took about 1 and half hours. Here are some pictures.

Front camera:

View attachment 101345



Rear Camera

View attachment 101353


Cables for the Batteries

View attachment 101361


Batteries


View attachment 101369

Love it.

How did you run the wires - any tips? For example, did you pull any trim (lol) or just push and tuck?

Also you mentioned batteries - where is the second installed?

Which fuse locations did you decide to utilize for the hardwire charging? What kind of add a fuse did you use - ATO - Mini, Low Profile, Micro 2, etc?

 

[knight3136]

Love it.

How did you run the wires - any tips? For example, did you pull any trim (lol) or just push and tuck?

Also you mentioned batteries - where is the second installed?

Which fuse locations did you decide to utilize for the hardwire charging? What kind of add a fuse did you use - ATO - Mini, Low Profile, Micro 2, etc?

To install the rear camera I did remove the plastic trim (around the rear windshield) to me able to run it along the driver side of the car. I wanted the camera as close as possible to the windshield. Then you can use trim remover to pull just a little to run the cables.

Both batteries were installed. I wanted to have a backup because I do leave my car parked for about 48-60 hours. The batteries are right next to each other. The main one is on the left side, right where you see the cable that electric tape around it.

I used slot 5 since its a 20 amps, acc, only turns on when vehicle is on.

 

[2hondas2]

Since this thread already deals with a dash camera installation, I decided to add to it by showing how I routed the wires in my Pilot EX. Like knight3136 I installed a Thinkware F770 and Cellink B battery power source. I'm not completely finished yet with that install, but here is how I ran the power wire and rear camera wires. In my case I was focused on avoiding the SRS side curtain airbags, especially after watching the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety videos of their 2016 Pilot crash test and how the air bags deployed. Suffice to say I simply wanted to steer clear of those bags. Essentially, I ran the camera power wires down the inside of the A-pillar behind the side curtain air bag and ran the wire to the rear camera above the headliner down the center of the ceiling. Thus I avoided crossing the air bag path by routing the wires down the front door weather strip and above the door pillar trim to the rear camera.
Removing the A-pillar trim was easy, maybe a 2-minute job. Simply open the bolt cover and remove the 8mm screw, gently pull the trim away from the headliner ... gently as there is only 1 snap-in clip holding it in place once the bolt is unscrewed, and lastly unhook the speaker wire. That's it. Then I routed the power wire in the small gap between the dash and fame totally avoiding the door weather stripping and ran it up to the headliner behind the air bag.

 

[ykwak]

Those are some very nice and clean installs. Makes me reconsider getting a backup battery instead of solely relying on the voltage drain protection in the dash cam unit.

Thank you for posting pics on the pillar trim removal - I personally did not do this, but am going to do it this weekend and see if i can get a cleaner install myself.

Very appreciative!

 

[2hondas2]

For the rear camera, I pulled the attaching cable down the center of the headliner, and did not tuck the wires under the headliner edges or near the side pillar trim. My EX does not have a moon roof which made this approach very easy. Doubt you could do the same if a moon roof was installed. So basically, I snaked a string above the headliner with a plastic tube, and then used that string to pull the cameras wire from the front to the rear on top of the headliner. In retrospect I could probably just as easily used the plastic tube with the camera wire without using a string. I then ran the rear camera wire thru the power cable boot that bridges the opening to the rear hatch door and finally thru the rear door frame to the middle of the door where the camera will be mounted. I installed a couple of rubber grommets in various frame holes to protect the camera wires from rubbing against sharp metal corners and also slipped conduit (the blue colored stuff) around the wires in a few places as added protection. Thinkware's rear camera wire is 20 ft. long so I simply labeled the excess wire and tucked it above the headliner.

 

[Gqcheetos]

Since this thread already deals with a dash camera installation, I decided to add to it by showing how I routed the wires in my Pilot EX. Like knight3136 I installed a Thinkware F770 and Cellink B battery power source. I'm not completely finished yet with that install, but here is how I ran the power wire and rear camera wires. In my case I was focused on avoiding the SRS side curtain airbags, especially after watching the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety videos of their 2016 Pilot crash test and how the air bags deployed. Suffice to say I simply wanted to steer clear of those bags. Essentially, I ran the camera power wires down the inside of the A-pillar behind the side curtain air bag and ran the wire to the rear camera above the headliner down the center of the ceiling. Thus I avoided crossing the air bag path by routing the wires down the front door weather strip and above the door pillar trim to the rear camera.
Removing the A-pillar trim was easy, maybe a 2-minute job. Simply open the bolt cover and remove the 8mm screw, gently pull the trim away from the headliner ... gently as there is only 1 snap-in clip holding it in place once the bolt is unscrewed, and lastly unhook the speaker wire. That's it. Then I routed the power wire in the small gap between the dash and fame totally avoiding the door weather stripping and ran it up to the headliner behind the air bag.

That's pretty cool to see you take the side pillar panels off.

Im still in the premeditative state, so I'm anxiously awaiting for more pictures! Thanks in advance.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[2hondas2]

IMHO, I think the A-pillar is the most critical one to avoid crossing with a wire. That air bag deploys down against the side of window and I worry that it would pull any wire in it's path down with it. Air bags going off are bad enough without having a camera on the end of a coaxial cable flinging about the passenger compartment too. I'm not so concerned about the rest of the side curtain air bags by the 2nd and 3rd row seats. My guess is that those bags would push past any wire tucked into the edge of the headliner. But that's just my guess.


I found taking the A-pillar trim off to be the easiest. The rest of the headliner trim (B, C, D, and upper quarter panel trim) is held in place with special metal clips. Not hard to remove, but those clips are not reusable and cost about $5 each to replace. These are pics from when I gutted the interior of my Pilot to install sound deadening. Have to whack the trim with a mallet to push the green plastic around the metal clip back in order to remove it. Used clip on the left in my hand, new one on the right.

 

[knight3136]

For the rear camera, I pulled the attaching cable down the center of the headliner, and did not tuck the wires under the headliner edges or near the side pillar trim. My EX does not have a moon roof which made this approach very easy. Doubt you could do the same if a moon roof was installed. So basically, I snaked a string above the headliner with a plastic tube, and then used that string to pull the cameras wire from the front to the rear on top of the headliner. In retrospect I could probably just as easily used the plastic tube with the camera wire without using a string. I then ran the rear camera wire thru the power cable boot that bridges the opening to the rear hatch door and finally thru the rear door frame to the middle of the door where the camera will be mounted. I installed a couple of rubber grommets in various frame holes to protect the camera wires from rubbing against sharp metal corners and also slipped conduit (the blue colored stuff) around the wires in a few places as added protection. Thinkware's rear camera wire is 20 ft. long so I simply labeled the excess wire and tucked it above the headliner.

Nice Work.

 

[lukasz74nj]

I decided to go with the Thinkware F770. It has everything that I need in a dash cam. I also installed the rear camera along with the external cellink batteries. It took about 1 and half hours. Here are some pictures.

Hi, I'm also thinking about buying F770. Just curious, why didn't you opt to hardwire it to a fuse box instead? Does the camera with the official hardware kit offer voltage protection?

 

[knight3136]

Hi, I'm also thinking about buying F770. Just curious, why didn't you opt to hardwire it to a fuse box instead? Does the camera with the official hardware kit offer voltage protection?

I have the stop and go on my elite. If the car stop and go is active then when it is on depending on the fuse you attach the camera it may turn off. Also I wanted the camera for the parking mode feature. If you live anywhere where there is a lot of motion or activity as is in my case since I live in NYC then your camera will turn on which means taking power from the battery and you may come back with a dead battery. If you have you car in a garage then you don't need the parking mode.


I connected the dash cams to cellink battery (including backup battery) then batteries are hardwire to the fuse box. This way cams get their power from the batteries and never having to worry about the stop and go turning the cam off and I can have parking mode on for two - three days without taking power from the car's battery. Since when I work im driving for 40-80 minutes the batteries get charged.

I especially wanted the cams for parking mode because I had my elite which was legally parked was hit by a car and side view mirror was damaged. The only thing that save me for paying for the broken mirror was that a police officer saw it. But once someone hit my Range Rover Evoque causing almost $5000 in damage and no note was left.