Dashcam Install
 

hey guys i need to know a place or a private that can install a dash cam for me.
i want them hardwired not plugged into a cigarette jack.

its a 2 channel dash cam for front and rear. It will be going in my e46 m3
thanks

Soundsgood

Wire strippers
Something to crimp the connectors with
Fuse tap
Switched 12v power source
?????
Profit

Future Shop does hardwired installs now too. I think $129.99 for a single or dual-camera configuration.

Why on earth would you want future shop to go near anyone's vehicle is beyond me. Shitty overpriced work.

I'm thinking of doing mine soon. gonna hard wire it to my fiat. we can do it together.

NO crimping, solder for quality.

In a similar boat except gauges for me. On an older car I had no problem chopping and soldering wires for what ever. Now that a have a newer, nicer vehicle I'm kinda scared to play with any wiring.

Sounds good!
The speed syndicate!

Any mechanic you trust that has wiring experience I would feel comfortable with.

Are we being trolled into another "private modder" thread?:lawl:

But as suggested above, try Sounds Good, they're a site sponsor as well.

Actually, for Automotive/Aerospace/Marine/Off-road, this isn't true. Properly crimped connections will typically be safer and outlast soldered connections. In Aerospace, only crimped connections are allowed...except for very specific situations. Think about that, planes aren't allowed solder-joint repairs. Theres a reason for it!

Vibration is the death of soldered joints, the copper wire strands fail at the end of the soldered joint. You can minimize or eliminate the problem by using lead-content solder, heatshrinking the joint with sufficient support before and after the solder joint, and mechanically fixing the wire so that the joint cannot vibrate. In an automotive solution, however, this may not be possible.

To do a proper crimped connection, however, you need the right tool. The $9.95 wire cutter/stripper/crimper tool is useless, and only creates poor joints that will fail. The best crimping tools use swapable dies, and you change out the die shape depending on the connector type you're doing. They are adjustable, and crimp the exact same way, every-time, regardless of how much or how hard you squeeze the handles. The only problem? They're $3-400. The next best thing, in my experience, is to use these Channel-Lock pliers:
http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/Hom...fbdf34b8_4.jpg
Channellock | Crimping/Cutting Plier for both insulated and non insulated solderless connections and terminals | Home Depot Canada

They're $30, and if you only use them to cut wire and crimp electrical connectors...they'll last you a lifetime. I've had mine for over 15 years and they still look like new. The last tip is never use pre-insulated (colored) connectors, only use bare metal ones and heat-shrink for protection afterwards. You'll get a better crimp, everytime.

-Dave

As someone that works on airplane electronics, crimping is far better than soldering. I use wire crimps probably 10 times more than soldering on a regular basis. And I have *awesome* soldering technique so you can imagine my disappointment...

Soldering two wires together is generally doing it wrong. I really only use solder for situations where I can't crimp something, like wiring to switches, for example. I mostly install Garmin comm and navigation systems and most of the soldering connectors are outdated and replaced by wires crimped into pins or sockets and then shoved into a locking connector.

For any work on my car, I use crimp splices and then a heat shrink jacket on top of it, the same standards I use on plane wiring. Make sure you use proper crimping tools and correct procedures and you have a cleaner, stronger connection.

If you insist on soldering, make sure your wires have a mechanical connection as well as the solder...like twist the wires into hooks that interconnect.

Phil@Rise on the forum here installed my camera.

Stupid question, but wouldn't a crimped connection have that same problem (breakage where the flexible wire meets the stiff connection)?

I prefer soldering because it's versatile, getting the proper connectors if you end up with different wire sizes and such is a pain and honestly most of us will never ever connect anything terribly critical (it's just a dash cam after all). And for the people that don't deal with electrical very often, usually a bad solder job holds up better than a bad crimp job. That said, properly insulating the connection afterwards seems to be the biggest problem people have.

No, properly crimped connections have strain relief and should stand up better than solder. I find crimping is idiot proof as long as you have the correct supplies.

Go ahead and read AC 43 if you want to really get into it.

N-motion

*Waves*

Phil @ Rise is actually now Phil@BPG Btw guys :P

Wait i thought Phil owned rise...? Or am i nuts?

hey jpark, mind sharing the info on the 2 channel dash cam? my sister is looking for one as well and she wants a 2 channel. thanks!

He does. He still has the fab shop. He's just over @ BPG during the daytime. After hours he's at the shop monkeying around still.