For how long lighter charger stay on after locking car

[Shadybrady]

I have one of these http://www.smartwitness.co.uk/product/984/svc1080

Fitted just under the rear view mirror with the cabling going inside the plastic cover for the rain sensor/rear view mirror and the under the trim around the windscreen, under the trim on the a pillar and then in through the side of the dashboard storage compartment and plugged into the 12v cigarette adapter.

It stays on for 30mins after parking, but i can also set a 'parking mode' in it where it pulses the power on the camera to take video at about 1f/s using the battery in the camera.

[skeet]

So I'd like to fit the camera I had in my mk7 in my Custom.
Thinkware f100.
It needs a permanent live as well as a switched live. Once the switched live goes off the camera switches from dash cam mode to security mode.
I gather I can use the dash cubby power point for the switched power but is there a permanent wire in that area I can use as well?

[sieade245]

I use a cheap chinese bullet cam. It is 1080P with night mode and uses a mini SD card. I know its cheap and chinese, but its been working fine for 5 years. I used to have it in my old car and I transferred it to the van. It runs off 12V adaptor or you can power it using mini usb lead connected to a 12V USB adaptor. It has power sensing so it only switches on when power is available and it has a very small battery built in which lasts maybe 10 minutes. You can set it to record only when the vehicle is moving (it has built in GPS sensor so it knows when its moving) or it can record anytime power is available.

On my old car, the sockets were only powered when the engine was running or igniton on. This worked really well as it would start recording when I started car and then stop when I shut the engine down.

On the van, its even better. I've got mine plugged into the 12V socket under the steering wheel cubby hole. On my van, this is powered as soon as you unlock the van or open a door. I need to measure this at some point, but I know it stays on for at least 5 minutes, I think its around 30 minutes. My rear 12V socket is the same next to the rear door. Could you just use the 12V sockets for power? You could either remove them and use an inline splice or scotchlok splice. Then you've got your switched power. Or just use the 12V socket itself, maybe with a splitter. I use a splitter as my phone is also plugged into the steering wheel 12V socket. If I need a quick charge I just open the door and plug the phone in and it charges. If I get time today I'll do a proper test while I'm cleaning the van and see how long the power stays on for.

[dumper]

Don’t use scotchlok splice they are sh@t

[sieade245]

I've never had any issues with them although personally I prefer to use inline solder splices.

There is a lot of fake scotchlok stuff out there (ebay/ amazon). I have seen these and they are rubbish. But genuine scotchlock kit is pretty good. Used them to repair stuff back in my Navy days for battle damage repair. You can get them with a gel glue filling. When you're finished running your tap, snap them together and the glue does the rest.