12V Accessory Wire for Dash Cam? (Non-Powered Mirror)

[dudemind]

Could anybody point me towards which wires could be used to hard-wire a dash cam if my mirror is un-powered? I've got the hard-wiring kit and the camera, but can't seem to locate any wires that shut off when the vehicle is off.

There are some wires leading to the garage door controls and visor mirror lamps, but all appear to be live even when the vehicle is turned off.

Thank you in advance!

Sponsored

 

[FatBoy01]

You say you DO have the HomeLink Universal Transceiver buttons on your JLU's driver's side visor?

 

[dudemind]

You say you DO have the HomeLink Universal Transceiver buttons on your JLU's driver's side visor?

I do. Are those powered off when the vehicle is locked? I was under the impression that they were always live, but come to think of it I admittedly don't think I tested that specifically.

 

[FatBoy01]

I do. Are those powered off when the vehicle is locked? I was under the impression that they were always live, but come to think of it I admittedly don't think I tested that specifically.

There is one there, the yellow wire, that is switched (powered on and off with ignition) so you could easily use that.

Go to this thread for info to include pictures: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/homelink-mod.3596/

 

[dudemind]

There is one there, the yellow wire, that is switched (powered on and off with ignition) so you could easily use that.

Go to this thread for info to include pictures: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/homelink-mod.3596/

Glorious. Thank you!!

 

[FatBoy01]

Glorious. Thank you!!

Let us know how you make out. Also, when you get a minute, check out all the threads at the DIY forum. Lots of info there for the guy/gal that is doing things themselves, lets call it to their JLU/JL.

DIY forum.. here: https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/forums/diys-and-write-ups.16/

 

[dudemind]

Thanks again, FatBoy01. This worked perfectly. One note: the power to the camera depends on ESS not being activated. Meaning if you come to a stop and your engine shuts off, your camera will turn off as well. It will turn back on when you release the brake (or step on the clutch). Lucky for me, I try to always remember to shut ESS off as soon as I start the car, but if you like that feature, you may want to consider another method (like tapping into a fuse).

For anybody else looking to do this, full steps below...

1) Remove driver side freedom top (or soft top). Might help in final step if you remove passenger side as well, but it's not strictly necessary.

2) Pop off the trim piece above/around the mirror. Just grab on both sides and yank diagonally down.

3) Open the driver's door and undo the four T-25 Torx screws holding in the plastic trim piece on the bar above the driver's door.

4) Pull the plastic piece off by first pulling towards the inside of the vehicle, then pull straight towards the back of the vehicle

5) Carefully cut into the white/blue wire shielding to expose the three wires inside (red, yellow, black).

6) Tap your dash cam hard-wiring kit into the yellow and black wires. I snipped both wires, stripped them, twisted them together with the hard-wiring kit wires, then used Posi-Twist connectors, but you can achieve this in less-invasive methods if desired.

7) Wrap the hell out of your work area.

8) Route your wire as needed to get to your dash cam. You can gently pull down on the trim piece from step 2 in order to route the wire.

8) Re-assemble everything. For the trim piece above/around the mirror, it's helpful to get to eye-level with the opening and and use your fingers to guide the clips into place as you re-align. There are three clips on each side of the mirror and haphazardly trying to shove the piece back on will likely bend/break some of them. Once the clips are surely lined up, a firm press will snap it back into place. Also, there's enough flex in the piece to do one side at a time.

 

[FatBoy01]

Thanks again, FatBoy01. This worked perfectly.

Great! ... Glad the info I pointed you to made your mod go a tad easier.

Thanks for taking the time to come back here to be a giver. A lot of guys/gals just come to threads, suck up / glean info they need and then never bother to come back and share their results... share the info that would be helpful to others. You did come back and your post, with your mod/how you made it happen, will be helpful to others.

 

[RussJeep1]

Maybe a bad idea, but for now, because:

* I want to try keeping my Blacksys CH-200 on all the time, and
* May want to change this, and
* Because I don't have a power mirror and am unaware of whether FCA puts the wires there regardless of JL mirror type, and
* Because I do have a cargo area 12V adapter, which FCA wires as always on

I plugged my dual dash cam n there and snaked the wires-long enough with the Blacksys (one electric to the front camera, one from the front camera to the back camera)-- under my driver's side Mopar grab handles (front a rear) and through a channel in the space between the front windshield (which I will likely never take down) and the "A" pillar and called it a day.

I'll be watching battery power carefully to see if my Blacksys holds to its claim of not draining both batteries (regular and ESS) beyond cranking thresholds.

If this solution is bad, technically it's not hardwired.

If anyone knows this solution to be bad, please chime in.​

 

[RussJeep1]

Here are some pictures:



The above photo is shot from outside the driver's door. The sun visor obscures the front camera of the dash cam, but two wires lead from it. One provides power, the other communicates with the back camera. I positioned the rear camera on the rear of the middle cross member of the Sports Bar, as attaching it to a potentially removed hard top's back glass, for example, would cause issues upon said hard top's removal.

The hardwired power cable that came with the Blacksys camera I bought, which I use and recommend you do as well (as opposed to the cigarette lighter cable that also comes with some kits) has 3 wires: red which is to battery (or always hot, regardless of the engine's state** or electrics on or off in the rig) yellow/accessory, which is suppose to be energized only when the engine** or electrics of the rig is on, and black for negative/neutral/ground/earth--call it what you will.

(**when I say that the engine is on, I include those times it may turn off under ESS. ESS, on or off, engaged or not, is not relevant to this discussion. )

If you use the cigarette lighter plug that comes with the kit, it has only red and black wires. The dash cam will be on only when the cigarette lighter plug is on, which by default is only when the engine is on** or the electronics are on for the cigarette lighter plug in the front of the rig, and always on for the plug in the back of the cargo area irrespective of the rig's engine/electric status. (I hear that the one in the cargo area can be changed to not always be hot, but this install is predicated on the fact that by default from the factory it is always hot.)



I snake only the power cord down in a section between the "A" pillar and the front windshield with no other attachment points. If you take your windshield down, I would not consider this a sufficient wire snaking method.

The cord to the back dash cam rides along the frame of the rig, under the grab handles I happened to install.



These handles, if you pull them once installed a little in the direction of outside the rig and towards the sky, lift up somewhat temporarily and provide a good place to tuck in cable, like that I have headed to the middle cross member of the sports bar, where it heads to the center of this cross member (in the direction of the driver's side to the passenger's side) and plugs into the rear camera, which I placed on the back center of the middle cross member of the sports bar.

I have rear seat grab handles too and use the driver's side front and back handles to take up slack in the cable that leads from the front dash cam to the rear one (i.e. NOT the power cable). I'll be the first to admit that with the top off, there are cleaner looks than this.

Ultimately, if I find out that FCA provides power mirror wires at the site of the rear view mirror, even for rigs like mine without a power mirror, then I may opt to choose a different path for not only the power cable, but the camera pairing cables I have under the grab handles.




This shot is from an open driver's door where the door's hinge point is. I snake my power wire (not also the camera to camera wire, that's up top as mentioned prior) towards the front of the rig, and drop it down under the driver's floor mat (I happen to have the heavy duty mats but suspect this irrelevant) to a point to where the wire ends its length, just under the driver's seat front most point, just beyond the back of the driver's floor mat.

A cigarette lighter cord with spliced ends is plugged into the front cigarette plug outlet (an outlet that is only on when the engine or rig's electric is on). It's wire also snakes under this driver's side mat, from center of the rig to the driver's side, and meets up with the dash cam's power cord's aforementioned location.



An identical cigarette lighter cord with spliced ends is plugged into the rear (always on by FCA default) outlet in the cargo area as well, as pictured above. It travels to the front of the rig, under the rear seat, its flood mat, and the front seat, stopping at the point where the dash cam power cable and the front cigarette lighter cord with spliced ends cable meet, before heading any further forward and going under the driver's seat floor mat.

The (always) hot wire from the rear cigarette lighter connects to the red/hot wire of the dash cam's power cord. The (only when the engine/electric is on) hot wire from the front cigarette lighter connects to the yellow/accessory wire from the dash cam's power cord, and the grounds from each cigarette lighter cord are twisted together and connected as a pair to the dash cam's black (neutral/ground) wire.

I connected the spliced end of the wires with crimps and electric tape, although shrink wrap might be better.

With this setup, the dash cam "knows" when the rig is on or not, and can switch into parking mode when the wire from the front cigarette lighter is not energized (the rig is off) which saves not only memory card space as the camera only engages in parking mode when it detects motion, but more important, in parking mode, this Blacksys CH-200 I'm using monitors the rigs battery voltage, and will turn off if that voltage drops below user configurable thresholds.

I'm told the Blacksys doesn't monitor these thresholds when not in parking mode, which would be the case if the cigarette lighter cord the unit comes with were connected to the always on cargo area cigarette lighter.

Conversely, connect this wire to the front cigarette lighter and battery draw won't be an issue when the rig is off, but the camera won't monitor your rig while parked (because the camera will have no power.) That's why I opted for the hard wired cable install, even though I'm using (two) cigarette lighters anyway.

I don't recommend this dual cigarette lighter approach for power mirror and Homelink rigs. You've got all the battery and ground and accessory wires you need within inches of the front dash cam. I only like my setup for its impermanence should a better "mousetrap" be disclosed to me.

I hope this helps others.

Sponsored