Dashcams!

Is a rear window heater fuse likely to be a constant 12v live?

Fairly confident that the rear window heater F53 fuse will be a switched live and it seemed to work that way though she's mentioned the car seemed sluggish to start today. Perm. live is using the 12v sockets fuse F40. (2016 Audi A3.)

Aside from parking mode running the battery low and/or failing to shut the camera off at the 12v limit set perhaps it's not?

I'll switch it to F26, seat heating, if there isn't a consensus! thanks.

https://fuse-box.info/audi/audi-a3-s3-8v-2013-2018-fuses
 
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F53 could be a permanent supply rather than switched and may well be a permanent supply to the relay which turns the window heat on and off. Can you not check if F40 turns off after ten minutes of the car being locked and use that?
 
Dandle said:
F53 could be a permanent supply rather than switched and may well be a permanent supply to the relay which turns the window heat on and off. Can you not check if F40 turns off after ten minutes of the car being locked and use that?
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Thanks, will report back at the weekend.

Should have said I'm using F40 for the perm. live. F26 and F40 seem to be the recommended but at the time of googling F53 seemed to be recommended too.
 
After coming across today’s daily idiot I think it’s time to take the plunge.

What are my options? Am I crazy considering Halfords to fit a dashcam? Not confident to fit it myself.

Dashcam recommendations? Either from Halfords or equivalent or perhaps Amazon offerings? I’m looking at the next base 422gw currently.

Thanks!
 
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CaptainRAVE said:
After coming across today’s daily idiot I think it’s time to take the plunge.
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Definitely get front & rear cameras; do consider getting front & rear & interior to counter any accusation of you being on your phone or otherwise distracted.

They're easy to fit and you don't need to hard-wire them. Indeed, I think that an initial hardwire is a mistake in case you find the dashcam is not what you want. Have it hardwired once you're happy with it. If you have an Audi / VW / Skoda / Fiat then beware draining your battery. Get a Rearmaster OBD cable.

I have an Aukey DR02 dual dashcam with which I am very happy; my next one will be a triple.

Some reviews here.
 
Quartz said:
Definitely get front & rear cameras; do consider getting front & rear & interior to counter any accusation of you being on your phone or otherwise distracted.

They're easy to fit and you don't need to hard-wire them. Indeed, I think that an initial hardwire is a mistake in case you find the dashcam is not what you want. Have it hardwired once you're happy with it. If you have an Audi / VW / Skoda / Fiat then beware draining your battery. Get a Rearmaster OBD cable.

I have an Aukey DR02 dual dashcam with which I am very happy; my next one will be a triple.

Some reviews here.
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That’s an interesting thought about front and rear - I guess being a soft top it prevents a problem for the rear camera?

Would a dashcam hold a charge for a short journey? I didn’t consider not having it hardwired in - I guess if needed I could temporarily plug it in somewhere? I haven’t worked out what connections I have in my car yet - I think there’s some USB’s down there.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
That’s an interesting thought about front and rear - I guess being a soft top it prevents a problem for the rear camera?
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Just put the rear camera on the back shelf. Or you could do the James Bond thing and mount it so it's by your number plate. You'll need to route the cable carefully, though.

CaptainRAVE said:
Would a dashcam hold a charge for a short journey?
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Dashcams need to be plugged in to some source of power. They typically work off the 12V cigarette lighter socket; mine is plugged into the OBD socket after I killed the battery after accidentally leaving it plugged in too many times.
 
Quartz said:
Just put the rear camera on the back shelf. Or you could do the James Bond thing and mount it so it's by your number plate. You'll need to route the cable carefully, though.



Dashcams need to be plugged in to some source of power. They typically work off the 12V cigarette lighter socket; mine is plugged into the OBD socket after I killed the battery after accidentally leaving it plugged in too many times.
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Interesting points. Thanks. Looks like I need to look at my options more closely.
 
CaptainRAVE said:
After coming across today’s daily idiot I think it’s time to take the plunge.
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Same here, Iv been considering one for sometime now and this last week had a close call when some pulled out in front of me when they should have been giving way as they where pulling out of the car park. Then a few mins later the same car, decided change lanes without indicating and forced me to brake hard from 70mph.
 
So I’ve taken the plunge and have ordered a Nextbase 522GW, 64gb SD and also the rear view module that plugs in. I think this is the best solution for what I need given the nature of the soft top. I’ve seen videos and the rear view video seems decent enough. Halfords offered mobile fitting on this one, so I’ve gone for that option.
 
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CaptainRAVE said:
So I’ve taken the plunge and have ordered a Nextbase 522GW, 64gb SD and also the rear view module that plugs in. I think this is the best solution for what I need given the nature of the soft top. I’ve seen videos and the rear view video seems decent enough. Halfords offered mobile fitting on this one, so I’ve gone for that option.
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Might be best cancelling the HellFraud's "Fitting",

https://www.manchestereveningnews.c...s/mums-christmas-ruined-after-cowboy-22599688
 
i just bought 2 dashcams from blackvue's outlet site of their homepage for my 2 cars. They included the hardwire kit in addition to the normal socket plug and an SD card in the box which for a lot of other sites I looked at would be additional costs. Watching threads and videos like above was the reason taking the plunge.
 
ShiWarrior said:
something like this ?

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Has anyone used anything like this? Recently got a van, and while I don't have any major issues reversing it - some others do - and this would be handy if I could add in a camera at the same time. They seem to go for about £50 on Chinese import sites.
 
Begbie said:
Has anyone used anything like this?
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I've seen a few videos about that style of dashcam. IIRC they're primarily designed for LHD cars / countries which drive on the other side of the road. They don't work so well over here. Just fix a camera behind the RVM where it's hidden.If you get a dual or triple camera dashcam (and you should), just route the cable to the rear dashcam via the door hinge.
 
Quartz said:
I've seen a few videos about that style of dashcam. IIRC they're primarily designed for LHD cars / countries which drive on the other side of the road. They don't work so well over here. Just fix a camera behind the RVM where it's hidden.If you get a dual or triple camera dashcam (and you should), just route the cable to the rear dashcam via the door hinge.
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I'm not fussed about the cameras really, it was mostly to aid reversing just a bonus if they done the dash cam stuff for a few extra quid.I assume they don't work so well due to the camera being mounted on the left?
 
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