New Dashcam - Nextbase 522GW vs Auris 2016 1.8 Excel Hybrid

[Andrew B.]

Hi all

So I decided to upgrade my Dashcam with a bundle front and rear Dashcam.

 

Here's my angst diary so far.

I received my bundle yesterday, this consists of the 522GW Dashcam, the rear window camera and I also purchased the hardwire kit.  After empowering myself with various videos of other people installing the fuse taps, I felt ready to tackle my quest.

Tuesday after work, I remove my glove box and lower cover to access the fuse box.  I decided I wanted to install the tap in number 5 hoping this would provide constant power with ignition off (the hardwire kit and camera being able to power down if Battery voltage goes below a certain number).

I knew that theoretically, I have a fuse puller in my engine bay fuse box.  Upon opening this, and to my dismay, the container of said tool laid bare before me.  No problem, I'll go down to Halfords.  I got a blade fuse extractor there, swore lots as neither end did any good.  I ended up driving home to the fading light and rummaged for a screwdriver.  Whereupon I went against my own instincts and started levering the 20A fuse out.  I got enough purchase that I used the extractor once more and successfully removed....

A.  Low. Profile. Mini. Blade. Fuse.  Curses, I thought as I blew my fuse, foiled again.

The taps I have were for the standard blade fuse and mini fuse.  Soo I went on Amazon while on the throne and ordered a pack of low pro fuses with tool and a pack of mini fuses.  As I need one 20A mini fuse to fit in the tap.

 

Wednesday, dropped of the better half and DD to school, getting into work early.  I decided to tackle the other job, installing the rear camera cable.

Now this was much more pleasant to deal with.  I unravelled the generously provided proprietary connector with the female jack end to go near the middle brake light.

I decided to do this properly and permanently, I pulled away at the left hand side of the plastic cover which unclipped nicely.  unveiling the holes and existing cable which goes through the rubber conduit.  I pull down the headlining near the retaining clips as these are a bar steward to pull by themselves and these popped out obligingly.  Here's a tip, pull out the rubber conduit at the hatch as there's a slit to pull the cable through.  This wasn't too bad to feed through once I felt where it was headed.

So I got this part done, I replaced the cover, headlining and clips and completed the routing to the front passenger's door frame which led to five to nine.  I'm now looking forward to my deliveries.

[roks]

I'd be interested to know how long the "parking mode" will last on the 12v Battery....need to catch b*&^%$ bumping my car while parked.

I don't drive everyday so been looking into DIY power bank but not had the time to do it yet. Already got hair lines on the rear bumper

[Roy124]

Andrew, I wish you had done my Toyota.  Garage fitted my camera in a different place from where I wanted it. They made a gash hole for the cable rather than using the trunking.  They check the camera and returned the car job done.  That evening, when the camera Battery died, it was apparent that there was no power.

a bit like when the gas man came to call, and they scratched the steering wheel too.

[Andrew B.]

4 hours ago, roks said:

I'd be interested to know how long the "parking mode" will last on the 12v battery....need to catch b*&^%$ bumping my car while parked.

I don't drive everyday so been looking into DIY power bank but not had the time to do it yet. Already got hair lines on the rear bumper

Apparently on parking mode, with continuous power, it will record for five minutes straight with no movement, go to sleep, record on g sensor, then wake on further movement.  I suspect this mode will be the right one for me, it could last days like that.

Without parking mode it'll continue to record normally until the hardwire box detects low Battery voltage then drops power to the unit.  This would last around three-four hours I would think.  Unless it's a bad day in Bosnia, I'd choose the former option.

 

26 minutes ago, Roy124 said:

Andrew, I wish you had done my Toyota.  Garage fitted my camera in a different place from where I wanted it. They made a gash hole for the cable rather than using the trunking.  They check the camera and returned the car job done.  That evening, when the camera battery died, it was apparent that there was no power.

a bit like when the gas man came to call, and they scratched the steering wheel too.

That's a bummer Roy, a few cars ago, I would have got someone to do most things for me, however I'm beginning to be more comfortable to do more for myself.  I'm now yanking plastic fascias from posts!

Next step in my camera is feeding the rear camera cable round the front headlining to behind the courtesy light in order to tuck the excess neatly there.

 

I've received my fuses for the tap to hardwire so wish me luck!!

[Roy124]

7 minutes ago, Andrew B. said:

Apparently on parking mode, with continuous power, it will record for five minutes straight with no movement, go to sleep, record on g sensor, then wake on further movement.  I suspect this mode will be the right one for me, it could last days like that.

Without parking mode it'll continue to record normally until the hardwire box detects low battery voltage then drops power to the unit.  This would last around three-four hours I would think.  Unless it's a bad day in Bosnia, I'd choose the former option.

 

That's a bummer Roy, a few cars ago, I would have got someone to do most things for me, however I'm beginning to be more comfortable to do more for myself.  I'm now yanking plastic fascias from posts!

Next step in my camera is feeding the rear camera cable round the front headlining to behind the courtesy light in order to tuck the excess neatly there.

 

I've received my fuses for the tap to hardwire so wish me luck!!

Andrew, feeding the cable at the front of my Merc was easy, doing the same in the back of the Toyota (Where I wanted) I found too hard.

Regarding permanent power on rather than parking mode could give you a problem.  Depending on the size of the SD card and the time the car is parked you might overwrite critical imagery for damaged filmed earlier.

[Andrew B.]

Got home,  connected the 20a fuse to the tap, new tool still too long at the front so more screwdriver levering and swearing.

Fitted successfully in the fusebox. Grounded the hardwire kit and plugged the tap to a satisfying flashing light!

Routed power cable to the Dashcam and I now have power.

I had to redo some of the rear cam cable as the tucking in idea behind the courtesy light was a no go.

Everything functioning right which means the final cable tie and making good.

Only thing is I may have installed the cam a little too high.  So will adjust this soon. 

Now cooling down with an ice cold drink. 

So that's me done for today. 

[Andrew B.]

1 hour ago, Roy124 said:

Andrew, feeding the cable at the front of my Merc was easy, doing the same in the back of the Toyota (Where I wanted) I found too hard.

Regarding permanent power on rather than parking mode could give you a problem.  Depending on the size of the SD card and the time the car is parked you might overwrite critical imagery for damaged filmed earlier.

Yes it's very fiddly.

You make a good point.  Things have moved quickly in the Dashcam world.  This was certainly true of my transcend 200 which my new one replaces.  There are two types of recording,  normal and protected. The sd card is 128gb so I think that's good for about 4 days recording give or take.  Also the nextbase app is great connecting via bluetooth for function and then connects a direct WiFi for downloading any interesting videos and live streaming.  This means I negate the possibility of losing anything other than mundane moments with loop recording. 

[Roy124]

It might be that a G incident might well recorded and automatically locked, something  worth checking.  I know the manual switch locks the current file and the one proceeding too.