Second Dash Camera

We’ve purchased a second dash camera for the 4x4.  The first camera was fitted in late 2017 shortly after we purchased the vehicle.  At that time I selected a Viofo A119 camera with the gps option.  Not the most expensive camera and certainly not the cheapest.  Good value for money. 

Why buy a second camera?  We’ve decided to fit one in the rear window.  Too many people are getting hit from behind.  I blame driver inattention… damned mobile phones!  It’s also easy for the vehicle to get hit whilst parked unattended in shopping malls.  A camera with the ability to record “incidents” will assist in solving “who dun it”.  We’ve purchase another Viofo A119, but this is the latest model (version 3) which has ‘buffered parking mode’.  What does that mean? The camera records continuously, and saves the video footage to internal memory. When an impact or motion is detected, a couple of seconds (typically 10 or 20) before and after the event will be saved to the camera’s SD card, in a special write protected folder so it doesn’t get overwritten. An alert will also be shown when you get back to your car, so you will be aware something happened.

In order to have the parking mode always active the camera requires continuous 12V power, even if the ignition is off.  However this presents it’s own potential hazard as the camera could flatten the starter battery if the vehicle was operated infrequently.  Fortunately I’ve already solved that problem by fitting a voltage sensitive relay (VSR) between the starter battery and the existing electrical accessories I’ve fitted since purchasing the vehicle (eg, front dash cam, TPMS, 2 way radio, etc).  Moreover I’ve already run wiring from the VSR to the rear of the vehicle for the fridge and camper trailer.

Today I installed the wiring for the camera.  The only complicated part of the process was not knowing how the plastic trim was secured to the metal body of the vehicle.  I had to do some investigating to find an accessible route for the wires which needed to run from the rear floor of the vehicle up the passenger side pillar and through the flexible rubber hose into the hinged rear door.  I won’t go into detail on how I managed to install the wires because no reader (apart from Ken) has this model vehicle. 

Red arrows for Pip on Oleanna

Remove the plastic cap and the screw underneath to pull away the top of the pillar trim

   Remove both ends of the flexible rubber hose between the body of the vehicle and the rear door.

Remove the top of the 3rd row armrest to gain access up and down the pillar

Remove the plastic cap off the back of the high brake light

Run the wires from the brake light to the floor and reinstall the trim.  I’ve run two sets of wires which I’ll connect together as I think using one set might result it too high a voltage drop.  One thing I noticed when completing this task was the amount of Central Australian desert dust had permeated into what might thought to be inaccessible areas.

When finished go into the bathroom and apply band aids to torn hand.

Now we wait on the delivery of the camera.