Advice on BlackVue Power and using Leisures as Perm Live

[dspuk]

Hi,

Have recently and with sucess, albeit taking several days and a lot of swearing, installed a BlackVue DR900X front and rear cameras with all cables fully threaded and hidden.

Not my question - just a flex.

I have it happily connected to perm (to the starter battery) and switched power in the fuse box, no issues there and works fine. This unit has the in-built battery protector which I have set to 12V and after about 24h on time-lapse mode the unit switches off to save battery. So far all good, all to spec.

But - I also have a 100w Solar panel fitted to the roof (Roger version) which happily trickles the leisures through the day, even in winter, but sits at float most of the time as there is nothing to (re)charge.

It occurs to me that, as the panel sits and charges the leisures anway, if I have a low draw on them from the BlackVue that is permanently topped up by the panel I could run the BlackVue in parking mode indefinitely as the top up would always be more than the draw.

Finally - a question - is there an EASY way for me to get the perm power on the BlackVue connected to the leisures? Without having to dismantle the van and feed a wire under the carpet. Ideally in the main fuse box.

Tagging @Loz as they seem a guru here.

July 22 6.1 Ocean.

TIA. DP

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Just piggy back off the fuse for the leisure battery 12v cigarette/ power socket, this is a permanent live.

(Assuming that your new camera wiring is already running to the dash)

 

[dspuk]

Just piggy back off the fuse for the leisure battery 12v cigarette/ power socket, this is a permanent live.

(Assuming that your new camera wiring is already running to the dash)

Well, It's running from the screen along the headlining down the inside of the grab handle trim and into the top of the fuse box under the steering wheel.

I had assumed that front cigarette was ran from the starter battery given the rule of thumb is that everything in front of the seats apart from inverter is from the starter.

If not would the fuse of this not be in the secondary fuse box nearer the leisures?

 

[Ch1pbutty]

Well, It's running from the screen along the headlining down the inside of the grab handle trim and into the top of the fuse box under the steering wheel.

I had assumed that front cigarette was ran from the starter battery given the rule of thumb is that everything in front of the seats apart from inverter is from the starter.

If not would the fuse of this not be in the secondary fuse box nearer the leisures?

Ours is a 5.1 beach so 1 dash socket (top of dashboard) is powered by leisure. So we could have put a fused spur off of this I/o running back to fuse board.

But thinking about it we piggy backed it off the heating/vent fan fuse, as only wanted it drawing power when ignition was switched on…as our next base dashcam had its own back up battery which has never run flat, even when parked up for a while.

 

[AlanC]

I fitted a Blackvue system to my Cali and powered it off the two leisure batteries.

As my van was an auto I was reluctant to drain the engine battery unnecessarily and thought the twin leisure batteries a better longer lasting option.

I routed the power cable under the headling, as you have done, but over the top of the passenger door and down behind the B pillar cover ahead of the kitchen. It is easy then to pick up a permanently live feed from a fuse under the passenger seat using a piggyback fuse holder to power the Power Magic Pro power supply.

On my van, the row of fuse sockets that have the 3 three blue 15 amp fuses fitted, which supply the various 12 volt power sockets, is permanently live. So using one of these sockets for a 12volt supply off the leisure batteries is easy.

In addition, I fitted a switch in the plastic cover at the bottom behind the passenger seat in order to turn off the camera when we were sleeping in the van. There didn't seem to be much point in recording the back of the windscreen cover!

On my T5.1 there was a small angled plate on the seat frame, driver's side (adjacent to the split charge relay), which was perfect for mounting the Power Magic Pro using double-sided tape.

Running the switched live feed under the middle of the front carpet behind the central plastic covers to the dash fuse board was also relatively easy once the lower dash covers were off.

As the fuse layout is not published by VW, my local dealer (Heritage Bristol) kindly interrogated the VW online system and supplied a list of 3 switched dashboard fuses and their numbered location in order to piggyback the switched feed.

"As requested, please see below the fuse locations.
Sc28
Sc22
Sc10
or if you need it to be at the top section use Sb22. These will all be active when the ignition switches on and turn off when the ignition is off."

These apply to a T5.1 so may not be correct for your van.

Hope that helps.
Alan

 

[dspuk]

I fitted a Blackvue system to my Cali and powered it off the two leisure batteries.

As my van was an auto I was reluctant to drain the engine battery unnecessarily and thought the twin leisure batteries a better longer lasting option.

I routed the power cable under the headling, as you have done, but over the top of the passenger door and down behind the B pillar cover ahead of the kitchen. It is easy then to pick up a permanently live feed from a fuse under the passenger seat using a piggyback fuse holder to power the Power Magic Pro power supply.

On my van, the row of fuse sockets that have the 3 three blue 15 amp fuses fitted, which supply the various 12 volt power sockets, is permanently live. So using one of these sockets for a 12volt supply off the leisure batteries is easy.

In addition, I fitted a switch in the plastic cover at the bottom behind the passenger seat in order to turn off the camera when we were sleeping in the van. There didn't seem to be much point in recording the back of the windscreen cover!

On my T5.1 there was a small angled plate on the seat frame, driver's side (adjacent to the split charge relay), which was perfect for mounting the Power Magic Pro using double-sided tape.

Running the switched live feed under the middle of the front carpet behind the central plastic covers to the dash fuse board was also relatively easy once the lower dash covers were off.

As the fuse layout is not published by VW, my local dealer (Heritage Bristol) kindly interrogated the VW online system and supplied a list of 3 switched dashboard fuses and their numbered location in order to piggyback the switched feed.

"As requested, please see below the fuse locations.
Sc28
Sc22
Sc10
or if you need it to be at the top section use Sb22. These will all be active when the ignition switches on and turn off when the ignition is off."

These apply to a T5.1 so may not be correct for your van.

Hope that helps.
Alan

Cheers - will digest that a bit.

I guess I could have brought the cables down the other side but I'm pretty reticent to drag them all out now. The new blackvues don't need the power magic, which saves me a faff and I can switch off from the app, so even easier as well.

I'm hoping there is a magic fuse in the main fusebox that is a perm live from the leisures but given they have their own fusebox under the passenger seat it's likely a distant dream.

Sounds like yours is a different design as well as ours sits in front of the screens when closed, front and back, so still record anything outside.