12 volt plug always hot?

[HawkeyeOD]

Just tried to get a new Vantrue dash cam up and running and the thing is always on when plugged into the 12 volt outlet. Even when I walk away and lock the truck.

I don’t really want this thing draining battery. It’s not going to pull a lot of current but I’m just paranoid

It’s looking like I need to find a different brand of dash cam for the truck. Any recommendations? Maybe a brand that works with the power connection on the rear view mirror?

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[Merccat]

The mirror power adapter is pretty universal unless your camera needs more than typical USB level power.

Myself I bought a hardwire kit separately from the camera manufacturer I went with and I am planning to hook it up at the fuse box.... which doesn’t yet exist.

One nice thing about a hardwire kit is you can have a wire that provides constant power and a switch wire that tells the camea when the truck is running.

 

[HawkeyeOD]

The mirror power adapter is pretty universal unless your camera needs more than typical USB level power.

Myself I bought a hardwire kit separately from the camera manufacturer I went with and I am planning to hook it up at the fuse box.... which doesn’t yet exist.

One nice thing about a hardwire kit is you can have a wire that provides constant power and a switch wire that tells the camea when the truck is running.

I hadn’t considered a hardwire kit. Don’t those drain the battery as well? I don’t know how to wire one of those up and I haven’t tried before.

Most of the cams on the market need a 12 volt power supply or a hardwire kit. I guess the power from the mirror just doesn’t cut it.

 

[Merccat]

I hadn’t considered a hardwire kit. Don’t those drain the battery as well? I don’t know how to wire one of those up and I haven’t tried before.

Most of the cams on the market need a 12 volt power supply or a hardwire kit. I guess the power from the mirror just doesn’t cut it.

Yeah that’s what I gathered from the camera I bought as well.

As for the hardwire kit draining the battery it really shouldn’t be an issue. The camera will be off until it gets a signal from the switch wire (similar to a stereo amplifier). Many cameras do have a “parked mode” which would still be active unless disabled in the camera setup but won’t be using full power as it isn’t recording most of the time.

Wiring up a hardwire kit should be pretty simple if you’re moderately comfortable mechanically. There are fuse taps that will make tapping into the fuse box as easy as replacing a fuse making it just a matter of identifying which circuits are best to tap into for your needs.

 

[HawkeyeOD]

The problem with a hardwire kit is that it doesn’t eliminate wire clutter.
The reason I wanted to try and use the mirror connection was to eliminate having to hide much wire. Seems like I’m out of luck though.

 

[Chewza]

Here's the write up I did on installing my hardwire dash cam kit.
It includes a module called a Power Magic Pro that allows you the ability to enable or disable the ability for the camera to run off the battery when the vehicle is off.
It also monitors the voltage of the battery and will shut down if it detects a voltage dip before draining the battery.

Blackvue DR900s-2CH Dashcam + Power Magic Pro Hardwire Install | F150gen14.com -- 2021+ Ford F-150, Lightning EV, Raptor Forum (14th Gen)

 

[xtraman122]

I could be wrong, but I thought those power outlets didn’t stay hot forever, I thought they had some sort of delay after the truck had been shutoff. I think my ‘15 was like that anyway. I originally thought it was going to stay one forever, but after coming back after 30 minutes or an hour had discovered it did indeed eventually shutoff.

 

[Chewza]

I could be wrong, but I thought those power outlets didn’t stay hot forever, I thought they had some sort of delay after the truck had been shutoff. I think my ‘15 was like that anyway. I originally thought it was going to stay one forever, but after coming back after 30 minutes or an hour had discovered it did indeed eventually shutoff.

Hmm, if that's the case, I'll need to do some more research. There must be a constant hot in that panel somewhere, they wouldn't just shut off the entire BCM fuse box for sleep mode...

 

[xtraman122]

Hmm, if that's the case, I'll need to do some more research. There must be a constant hot in that panel somewhere, they wouldn't just shut off the entire BCM fuse box for sleep mode...

Whatever is in the box is probably hot, I was replying to the OP who I think was just plugging into the regular old 12v outlet in the dash. Or maybe I completely misunderstood what he was doing all together.

 

[Chewza]

Whatever is in the box is probably hot, I was replying to the OP who I think was just plugging into the regular old 12v outlet in the dash. Or maybe I completely misunderstood what he was doing all together.

Oh my bad! Haven't had enough coffee this morning apparently

 

[HawkeyeOD]

Whatever is in the box is probably hot, I was replying to the OP who I think was just plugging into the regular old 12v outlet in the dash. Or maybe I completely misunderstood what he was doing all together.

Yeah, I was just plugging right into the 12v outlet in the dash.

That hardwire job is impressive. Way beyond what I ever want to mess with though. I still haven’t found a good solution for my dash cam dilemma.

 

[Infotroll]

This may work for you plug and play cam front and rear. With the obd plug so plug and play . You can also just get the front cam cheaper and buy the rear at later point in time

 

[Roady]

I can't speak for the Fords but on a Chevy, I believe you can switch a specific fuse to a different set of pins to change the behavior of the 12 volt plugs. Default is always on but you could set it to only be hot when truck was running. I'm only bringing this up because Ford may have something similar.

 

[JerseyGlock]

I could be wrong, but I thought those power outlets didn’t stay hot forever, I thought they had some sort of delay after the truck had been shutoff. I think my ‘15 was like that anyway. I originally thought it was going to stay one forever, but after coming back after 30 minutes or an hour had discovered it did indeed eventually shutoff.

I have both front and rear cams plugged into rear 12v outlet and they stay hot even ignition has been turned off and doors locked. So I manually unplug the outlet every time I leave the vehicle. For whatever reason the 12v outlet will remain hot when sensed a accessory is plugged in.

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