Hardwire questions

[donmontalvo]

I have a 2021 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon with a LiFePO4 battery off grid power kit. The battery easily powers my fridge, my HAM/GMRS/CB radios, and other stuff.

I finally bought a BlackVue DR900X-2CH dash cam, and I mounted the front/rear cameras. Now I want to hard wire things, so I can take advantage of the Parking Mode.

Looking at the hard wire kit, it has a black (ground), a yellow (battery) and a red (accessory) wires. The red and yellow wires have a 2A inline fuse, which makes sense.

I have a Blue Sea 12 slot fuse box, so I can easily connect it and use a 1A (minimum) or 2A (maximum) ATC fuse.

My goal is of course Parking Mode, so I won't be using the red (accessory) wire, just the yellow (battery) and black (ground).

Is it safe to remove the inline fuses that came with the hard wire kit? Seems redundant. But what do I know.

 

[rcg530]

You will need to provide power to the red wire as well since that is used by the BlackVue camera to know when to power up and/or enter/exit parking mode. There are two parking mode types supported by the DR900X-2CH Plus (I'm assuming you have a recent model which is the DR900X-2CH Plus). As long as there is a fuse with a similar amp rating as the original ones in the 3-wire hardwire harness, then you should be able to remove the inline fuses.

Motion based parking mode is active even if you have it wired for ignition triggered parking mode. When the vehicle is stationary for 5-minutes, it will enter parking mode and it will exit when the vehicle starts moving.

Ignition triggered parking mode (instant entry/exit to/from parking mode), is supported when the red ACC(+) wire is conned to switched/accessory power.

Motion based and ignition based parking mode are operational at the same time. That means even if you wire it for ignition triggered parking mode, it will still enter parking mode after the vehicle is stationary for 5-minutes. Currently, there's no way to disable motion based parking mode if you have it wired for ignition triggered parking mode.

• Parking Mode
  • Battery protection feature
    • This must be enabled in the firmware settings
      • If not enabled, the dash camera will simply power off when the Red (ACC) wire loses power.
    • Set the "battery protection" low voltage cutoff value to an appropriate voltage level to protect your vehicle's battery.
  • Motion based parking mode wiring
    • Yellow (BATT) and Red (ACC) wires are both connected to constant battery power
      • This is how the cigarette lighter adapter (CLA) provides power to the dash camera
      • The CLA takes the single 12-volt power source and feeds it to the BATT and ACC connectors on the plug for the dash camera
    • Without the Red (ACC) wire connected to a power source, the dash camera will not power up
  • Ignition triggered parking mode
    • Yellow (BATT) wire connected to constant battery power
    • Red (ACC) wire connected to switched/accessory power
    • Dash camera will
      • Enter parking mode
      • When power is removed from the Red (ACC) wire
      • Exit parking mode when power is restored to the Red (ACC) wire
• No Parking Mode
  • Yellow (BATT) and Red (ACC) wires are both connected to a switched/accessory power source

 

[donmontalvo]

Thanks for the response, very helpful. The Blue Sea fuse box will have a 1A fuse since thats the minimum, so I’ll remove the in line fuses. This will make running the wires easier. The bulky, redundant in line fuse covers won’t fit in the 1/4” sheathing, otherwise I wouldn’t care.

I have the DR900X-2CH, it is not the “Plus”. I want parking mode to be on indefinitely. The draw on the LiFePO battery will be tiny and the LiFePO4 will be tipped off daily since it is my daily driver. If I’m off-road I’ll be keeping it topped off using solar.

I'm not sure if there are functionality differences between the DR900X-2CH vs DR900X-2CH Plus. I knew I wanted the "X" model because of the built in Parking Mode functions.

Blackvue Dashcam Parking Mode

BLACKVUE DASHCAM PARKING MODE About Parking Mode Dashcams are designed to record your drive, but did you know BlackVue dashboard cameras can also monitor your car when you are away? It is a very useful feature to have if you are worried about hit-and-runs or vandalism on your parked vehicle. All...

blackvue.com

I’ll look at the firmware settjngs once I have the hardwiring done tonight.

Thanks again for the very helpful info!

 

[donmontalvo]

Worked fine. I was able to cut the end of the hardwire kit, slide the cable through some 1/4" sheath, and slide the cable from the front window, down the A-pillar, through my Goose Gear platform, to the Blue Sea switchbox. I went with the 2A fuse instead of the 1A since that's what the dash cam camewith. Parking mode works great!