Rear dashcam powered from rear12V accessory socket

[Devaprem]

Hello. Has anyone powered a rear dashcam from the rear 12V accessory socket in the boot space on right hand side? I've read various people's experience of feeding the power from either the front camera (if that's an available option) or one of the fuse boards (under seat or behind dash). I want to avoid what seems hard work running the cable from the front to the back. I even asked Halfords or a VW dealer if they'd do it. Halfords said they wouldn't and VW said they'd charge around £600 just for the labour. That rear power socket seems a good option, perhaps feeding a dashcam external battery power pack to avoid draining the batteries? Some dashcam external battery have bluetooth monitoring to monitor charge status. Any suggestions welcome!

 

[WelshGas]

Hello. Has anyone powered a rear dashcam from the rear 12V accessory socket in the boot space on right hand side? I've read various people's experience of feeding the power from either the front camera (if that's an available option) or one of the fuse boards (under seat or behind dash). I want to avoid what seems hard work running the cable from the front to the back. I even asked Halfords or a VW dealer if they'd do it. Halfords said they wouldn't and VW said they'd charge around £600 just for the labour. That rear power socket seems a good option, perhaps feeding a dashcam external battery power pack to avoid draining the batteries? Some dashcam external battery have bluetooth monitoring to monitor charge status. Any suggestions welcome!

Why not just get a hard wire kit and wire into the rear leisure battery?

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

Why not just get a hard wire kit and wire into the rear leisure battery?

And add a Power Magic Pro to avoid battery drain below a preset level.

 

[Wildcamper]

We have a recording camera facing the rear that is usb powered, cable tucked into the gap between cupboards and rear window, and then WiFi connect to a smart phone. We use this when the towbar bike rack is fitted as the rack plus bikes obscures the fitted rear view camera. Set everything up on departure then wake up the smart phone when about to reverse. The camera runs all the time and records everything behind. Works for us.

 

[Meoncoast]

Has anyone powered a rear dashcam from the rear 12V accessory socket in the boot space on right hand side?

I have run as a dash camera from there since being rear-ended in 2016. plugged in all the time never turn it off - daily drive so no issues with draining leisure battery due to non-topping up. I also run front one from 12v socket on kitchen unit behind the passenger seat. The solution works for me.

 

[Devaprem]

Thanks for your suggestions and feedback on usb and rear leisure battery powering. I want to avoid splicing into a cable for the positive feed as the vehicle is still under warranty, so is there a fuse board near the rear battery where I could take the power from using a fuse tap cable (easier to remove if needed)?

 

[Alan Andrews]

Thanks for your suggestions and feedback on usb and rear leisure battery powering. I want to avoid splicing into a cable for the positive feed as the vehicle is still under warranty, so is there a fuse board near the rear battery where I could take the power from using a fuse tap cable (easier to remove if needed)?

No fuse panel in the rear. To connect to the leisure batteries simply connect a fused connection to the leisure battery direct at the +'ve and -'ve terminals.

A permanently connected dashcam can quickly drain any battery.

I have done this but have a solar panel on the roof.

 

[Devaprem]

Thanks. I may install a Power Magic Pro (or similar) between the battery and the camera, assuming the current draw from this to trickle charge will not drain the leisure battery.

 

[willwander]

Running a cable from the front camera to the rear is a pain, but it does mean you get coverage front and back on the same camera system and they are both controlled by the ignition via a single hardwire kit.

There are alternatives, run two separate cameras, one for front and one for back. You lose some functionality and it would also be more expensive having two full dash cams rather than one cam with a separate rear camera module.

If you ran two cams, I suppose you could consider using a separate hard wire kit for the rear camera as the hard wire kit cable is much thinner and easier to route to the front fuse box than routing the rear camera 'connection' cable to the front cam.

 

[Devaprem]

Thanks, Willwander. I think there's a drop in resolution with the rear camera connected to the front one, although quality may still be acceptable. I'l continue to look into options for connected to the rear 12V accessory socket or leisure battery for now.