Dashcam for Tiguan

[IsDon]

Thanks for the advice - any chance you a please post some pics of your install?

Sure. Tomorrow afternoon. Can’t get her out of the car.

[IsDon]

Dashcam for Tiguan

As promised.

First, from outside looking in. Notice the black double sided tape for the cable clips. Much better than the standard grey. The cable is routed to the passenger side as that's where the fuse box is on the Tiguan and it made for an easier install.



Next is the view from the driver's seat. The camera is virtually hidden by the mirror. Make sure you check that you can still adjust the mirror to the desired setting for all expected drivers and seat positions. The black box above the camera at the top of the windscreen is the etag also cleverly painted black rather than the standard light grey.

Seriously, who has grey interior these days? The last one I remember was my dad's EH Holden.



Next is the rear camera. Photo taken with the boot open. Notice the cable is run behind the boot trim and then through the existing rubber conduit into the vehicle proper.



Last photo is the Celllink battery on the floor under the front passenger seat. It's attached to the floor carpet with Velcro. Never moved. The wiring runs adjacent to the existing wiring for the seat heater and then under the front passenger scuff plate into the area behind the panel adjacent to the front passenger footwell.

[spacemannz]

Thanks IsDon. Great tips and narrative.
I’m seriously considering duplicating your setup. Not cheap but goes a long way to offset insurance excess.... had some douche reverse into my last car in a car park and drive off leaving me with a smashed grille. The same week I was trying to sell it as immaculate. Dash cam with battery would’ve given me a licence plate to pass onto insurers/police, for sure.

Btw, nice idea painting the e-tag. I think UK Tigs have a smart card slot next to SD slot in glovebox for tolls. Presumably a transponder is integrated into the sensor array above the rear view mirror. Nice.

[DigitalCourt]

Thanks IsDon

How did you get through the rubber conduit in the rear?
Did you have to take trim off?

[IsDon]

Thanks IsDon

How did you get through the rubber conduit in the rear?
Did you have to take trim off?

The Grommet at each end of the conduit just pull away from the bodywork, and then push back in. Used a bit of wire to pull the cable through to where the camera is mounted. It's pretty obvious once you pull out the conduit.

I don't think I had to pull the trim off from memory, just fed it through with some stiff wire, coat hanger would do.

[DigitalCourt]

Great! Really appreciate all the help.

[drivesafe]

Hi Hillbilly and IsDon and thank you for a great info thread.


I have one question that I think I have worked out but not sure as the manual does not cover the use of a second battery to power the DR750S-2CH.


I already have a dual battery set in my Tiguan, to run a fridge, and I am planning on powering the DR750S-2CH from the auxiliary battery, via a relay, which is turned on and off via the ignition circuit ( I am using the rear cig power socket to control the relay ).


When I need to run the DR750S-2CH while parked, I will have a switch to bypass the relay and power the cameras direct from the auxiliary battery.


From what I can get from the manual, this should be a straightforward setup, but would you know if there anything with the wiring or power requirements that I have missed?

[Guest001]

Well I havent got one but as far as i am aware the rear cameras are powered off the front one

[DerTig]

Hey guys, all good stuff on dashcam installs in here, Great to see... Thx!

I have a DR650S-1CH sitting on the shelf that needs installing and keep putting it off.
Bought the hardware (fuse tap & cig socket) in case anyone is looking for:
Double Blade Fuse Socket Wire Tap | Jaycar Electronics
CIGARETTE LIGHTER INLine Socket | Jaycar Electronics

I'm just having a bit of a dilemma where to take the neutral from on my Tig, as everything around the fuse panel is plastic. Remember one of you went the "penetrating" avenue with a self tapper elsewhere on the body, but prefer not to if anyone else found a better way...

So what's the options you found for getting the neutral(negative) on the Tig?

Cheers.

[IsDon]

Dashcam for Tiguan

I found issues with the Earth also. Ended up going the self tapper route.

As far as the dual battery setup goes, I'm not entirely clear what the setup is, but I assume you're powering the cameras from the aux battery via the rear cig socket for when the cars parked. As I see it, that makes the rear cigar socket constantly powered. In normal driving through the normal car electrics, then when parked, via the aux battery. If that the case I'm not sure why you need another switch. If powering the camera while parked relies on you manually powering the camera through a switch then you know what will happen. The one time you get hit will be when you've forgotten to turn the camera on. I'd just use an automotive relay to throw the power supply to the car when you're driving then, when the ignition is off, the relay throws the power to come from the aux battery. Set and forget is what you're after.

Yes, the rear camera is powered by the front camera. Only one wire runs to it. It doesn't require a seperate power supply.

[drivesafe]

Hi Hillbilly and IsDon and thanks for the info.

Don, my intentions were, as you posted, to power the cameras via a relay powered from the auxiliary battery, which is mounted under the floor in the cargo area.

I was only using the Cig Socket in the rear to turn on the relay while the ignition was on. The switch was to allow the cameras to be powered while in parking areas.

And yes I see your point, as I already have a problem remembering to deactivate the STOP/START every time I get in, best to leave the cameras powered all the time, direct from the auxiliary battery and then no need for the relay.

As I already have had a low life dint the passenger door with his puss box van door, and he took off, so simpler to just leave it on.

Regards, Tim.

[Guest001]

However you have the camera set it wont pick up damage on the sides of your car as they only point front and rear. Leaving it on full time is not a good idea either as they tend to run a bit hot. Set it to be in parking mode and turn motion detection right down as they can pick up people walking 50m away and start recording. Or a tree branch blowing. Had mine parked with the rear facing an Aldi carpark on the other side of a 4 lane road and it was picking up the movement in the carpark and virtually recorded for the hour it was there

[IsDon]

As long as you’re happy that the dashcam will completely drain the aux battery if you’re parked for a long time, I see no drawback in leaving it on continuously. Aux batteries are deep cycle so completely flattening them won’t damage them. That’s what they’re designed for.

I concur with what Hillbilly said with reference to using parking mode and knocking down the sensitivity. To further elaborate, this is one clever little device. When you’re driving it uses the g sensors to register impact and record an “Event” which then can easily be found later. It uses the buffer memory to record 10 seconds before the event to 50 seconds after the event. Like a time warp.

Once the car has been stationary for 5 minutes, by GPS, it enters parking mode. Parking mode reduces these g sensors to a very low threshold. When driving these g sensors would register every small bump on the road as an impact which is not ideal. When the car’s parked though, every movement is registered as an impact.

There is also a movement detector that senses visible movement of people/cars/my neighbours bathroom light etc which comes into action during parking mode. Cleverly the camera doesn’t record continuously when in parking mode, only when it sees movement or registers an impact. This reduces battery drain, saves space on your SD card and thereby keeps a longer record of relevant recordings.

The factory setting (40 from memory) of this visual motion sensor is way too sensitive. It records the slightest movement of trees blowing miles away. I set it to 10 and it seems pretty much perfect.

Another thing you might consider, since you’re powering the camera from an aux battery, is a wireless hotspot. This will allow the camera to be connected to the cloud for as long as the camera is powered. You can then set it to send you a message in your phone if an impact is registered. You can also look at what the camera sees in real time remotely. It’s very clever.

[drivesafe]

Thanks again Hillbilly and IsDon, and I can see I am going to need to do a lot of experimenting before I get it to where it will do what I want.

I can see me posting a lot more questions and thanks again, for the great guidance.

I’m planning to fit these to two vehicles and while my Tiguan is used all the time, the other may sit in my garage for weeks at a time, so I will need to set them up differently for each vehicle.

I originally looked at some cheaper units but these seem to be far better in so many ways.

Regards, Tim.

[numnut]

I think i will need help with installing a 2 channel dash cam. Does anyone have a step by step on how to install one?

Would be much appreciated