Dashcam Mk7.5

[sn809]

I never considered a powerbank, but that's a pretty ingenious solution! (as long as it can remain charged enough).

The new ones take a type C input for charging and display remaining battery very well. If too pedantic you can just replace.

@The Hawk, could you link up a few pics of ur setup of USB connectors

[The_Hawk]

@The Hawk, could you link up a few pics of ur setup of USB connectors

Sadly no I don't have pictures of this install, it was done a very long time ago now and it's all hidden away under the dash.


In the olden days of early mobile phones and car chargers, a trick I learnt when putting hard wired docks into cars was to use the 12V lighter socket for power. If you piggy backed one of these bay boys off the stock lighter and hid it away under the dash, you kept the functionality of the OEM lighter (if you wanted it), had switched power and kept the factory look and the ability to add additional 12V accessories on the fly. Using this also meant if/when you updated your phone and needed a new charger (or when the one you just installed failed) you just pulled the trim panel off, unplugged the old charger and plugged in a new one.
You don't even need to fuse the extra socket (although it's probably worth doing) and it's designed to put out enough power that running a couple of USB ports (even when using a lighter in older cars) works without issue.




When I installed mine I just used something like this with a little electrical tape to make sure it wouldn't pop out of the socket. This provided two USB ports, one for my phone dock and one for my camera.




I had done a similar thing in the Multivan as well and can tell you than in 10 years, both have failed once and needed replacement which was as simple as unplugging and plugging in a new one.

These days I might consider something more like this, then all you need to do is tap the 12V socket with a couple of wires with spade connectors and a little heatshrink.


Narva |
Heavy-Duty Dual USB Socket