Just wanted to share something I came across recently. If you have (or are thinking of buying) a Nextbase dashcam for your Fiat, they offer the 'hardwire kit' which is fairly DIY friendly, but does involve making a judgement over which fuse to piggyback off of and finding a grounding point etc.. For a lot of people, this is still beyond a job they're willing to do. Even for the benefit of a constantly powered dashcam for parking mode etc.
Even if you do that job... I've had the kit still kill my battery when wired to a 'live' fuse, installed as it's intended to be. Allegedly, this is because even if you pick a fuse that is the right power rating to 'piggyback' off of, cars sometimes use them for multiple processes / functions so the actual power draw may be unpredictable. With the same model of car to the next potentially having a slightly different fusebox configuration etc... it can be tricky right? This happened to me. And despite the hardwire kit guaranteeing to kill the power to the camera when the battery drops to 11.2v - it didn't save me. Many threads online from other forums and sites complaining that for a lot of modern cars, even 11.2v can be too little to start, especially in winter and with other power draws (blower, heater, lights, etc)
The solution to both problems...
They've brought out, for the same price, a new cable set which plugs into the OBD port. No more fuse box. No more grounding point needed. No more judgement needed over the best fuse to use. And on top of this, it now cuts out at 11.6v (slightly less room for failure to start). Just plug it into your OBD port, tuck the excess wiring into somewhere near there (seriously, why do they make it SO long - must be designed for the US market vehicles too), and that's it. Your camera is powered constantly with a live, will cut off if the battery gets run down enough - and all you need to do then is tuck it in around the edges of the headliner and under the rubber sill.
I thought this is worth sharing as it costs no more and is much more beginner friendly / less intimidating. If you're searching the forum looking for advice on this and are considering Nextbase, or need a hand, hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you want any advice as I've done this on a few cars now. It is easy, but anything involving 'wiring' can seem intimidating.
Even if you do that job... I've had the kit still kill my battery when wired to a 'live' fuse, installed as it's intended to be. Allegedly, this is because even if you pick a fuse that is the right power rating to 'piggyback' off of, cars sometimes use them for multiple processes / functions so the actual power draw may be unpredictable. With the same model of car to the next potentially having a slightly different fusebox configuration etc... it can be tricky right? This happened to me. And despite the hardwire kit guaranteeing to kill the power to the camera when the battery drops to 11.2v - it didn't save me. Many threads online from other forums and sites complaining that for a lot of modern cars, even 11.2v can be too little to start, especially in winter and with other power draws (blower, heater, lights, etc)
The solution to both problems...
They've brought out, for the same price, a new cable set which plugs into the OBD port. No more fuse box. No more grounding point needed. No more judgement needed over the best fuse to use. And on top of this, it now cuts out at 11.6v (slightly less room for failure to start). Just plug it into your OBD port, tuck the excess wiring into somewhere near there (seriously, why do they make it SO long - must be designed for the US market vehicles too), and that's it. Your camera is powered constantly with a live, will cut off if the battery gets run down enough - and all you need to do then is tuck it in around the edges of the headliner and under the rubber sill.
I thought this is worth sharing as it costs no more and is much more beginner friendly / less intimidating. If you're searching the forum looking for advice on this and are considering Nextbase, or need a hand, hope this helps. Feel free to PM me if you want any advice as I've done this on a few cars now. It is easy, but anything involving 'wiring' can seem intimidating.
