Re-using Dash Cam Hard Wiring?

[Ocean Spirit]

When the Cali was new I had a Kenwood Dash Cam fitted at the dealers at about £250+ (I can't remember exactly).
The resolution has always been knocked into the weeds by £40 efforts from amazon that are fitted to the 12v cigarette lighter socket in my daughters and my other half cars.
Registration plates are always difficult to read in the best light and any night time images are to poor to bother with so I thought I might swap it out.
I appreciate the connection from the wiring must fit the new cam and that the new cam will need its own new mount but is that all I need to think about or could there be something else?

The one I have is Kenwood of course but I guess its just a power supply from a suitable fuse so any brand of camera with the right connection is going to be OK?

Thanks all.

 

[lohr500]

Do you know what model the Kenwood Dash Cam is?

A lot of Dash Cams actually use a 5 volt USB connection with a voltage dropper either built into a cigarette lighter socket or a separate unit which is wired to a 12 volt fused supply.

The ones wired to a 12 volt supply often monitor the vehicle battery voltage and shut off when the vehicle battery falls below a preset limit. This to stop them draining the vehicle battery if parked up for a long time.

Does your Kenwood Dashcam appear to have a USB type lead plugged into it?

If it does use USB, the only problem with replacing it with another 5V USB powered camera is the USB plug may be different. Our Nextbase and Blueskysea dashcams have different USB plugs.

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Hi @lohr500
Thanks for sharing your knowledge with me and pushing me on.
It's a Kenwood DVR - 410 I just found the manual on line thanks to your reply and Whilst I'd pictured a mini DV type socket in my mind the manual doesn't look like it so I guess that limits me quite a lot to Kenwood again at the very least or go with getting it newly hard wired again.
Also the fuse is 2A
Here is what I found.

 

[lohr500]

Yes, from the wiring diagram it looks like the unit has a 12v input through the plug marked number 4 .

I had a quick look at a few of the current model Kenwood webcams and they now seem to use a 5V USB power connection so you may struggle to find a plug and play replacement.

However, all may not be lost because if you can find the Red, Yellow and Black wires on the other end of the power lead, you could use those to wire in a newer 12v to 5V power supply and then just run the new power cable fitted to the power supply up to wherever you mount the new dashcam. This would save having to find new permanent and switched 12v supplies as you would be using the existing ones that are already in place for the old power lead. If you do this, just make sure they are fused and that whoever installed the old cable, didn't tap directly into any unfused circuits!!

 

[Ocean Spirit]

Thanks again @lohr500
Based on this, it might change from a Christmas time though to a summer project when I'm more inclined to spend time outside scratching my chin about whether to do it myself / totally new kit / mix and match etc.