hi guys.

i have seen a post somewhere on the web that i need to lift the gear gaitor and take an ignition live from the plug under the existing 12v socket.

so far, so good. however, what i will do is get an aftermarket 12v socket and plug the car dashcam plug into this. the aftermarket 12v socket has both black(negative) and red(live) cables. if i connect the red wire to the plug under the gaitor, where would i connect the black?

does that plug under the gaitor have a negative wire also?

cheers

It does, both wires.

Back of fag lighter red live black neg yellow illumination

thanks guys.

so if i scotch lock red to red, black to black, that will give me a fully functioning socket like the existing one but ignition live. is scotch lock the best way to go do you think?

thanks both

Ideally solder it

I've been looking for an ignition on fuse to tap into for a dash cam. It doesn't help that Fiat think my fuse box is on the other side of the car, but regardless. I've been poking around with a meter and I've yet to find a suitable fuse to tap into.

I didn't want to run all the way to the 12v socket if I could get away with it as the glove compartment seems ideally located to hide away the adapter, has anyone managed to power a dashcam from the fuse box in the glove compartment?

I don't know if this would work for you (or If you have a USB slot in your glove box), but I have my dash cam plugged into one of the USB slots with a long cable fed up behind the a pillar and the camera set to come on/ start recording when it senses power.
You need to modify or block off specific pins on the usb cable that goes into the glove box slot so that it only provides power and not data else the port wont send power up the cable.

Sadly I don't have USB in my 07 Active but thanks for the suggestion!

In which case, I'd probably suggest you take a 12v feed from the wiring to the cigarette socket (I've used that wiring to feed a live to my aftermarket stereo as the standard stereo uses the CANBUS system and doesn't have a 12v live feed).
It won't provide power unless the car is on anyway, and you can feed the cable around and under/into the glove box area relatively easily.

Skate2create said:

In which case, I'd probably suggest you take a 12v feed from the wiring to the cigarette socket (I've used that wiring to feed a live to my aftermarket stereo as the standard stereo uses the CANBUS system and doesn't have a 12v live feed).
It won't provide power unless the car is on anyway, and you can feed the cable around and under/into the glove box area relatively easily.

Click to expand...

I'm coming round to this being the best solution. Just frustrating when there's an entire fuse box there but no suitable circuit

Is the best method to trace the wiring back from the cigarette lighter and then tap into it somewhere under the dashboard?

Here's the related drawing,

as one can see the cigarette lighter P050 is powered via Fuse 54 by RB (Rosso/Bianco = Red/White) wire, when contact is ON ...

@ MultiPete: drawings are from eLearn...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

You'll find it easy to make the connection close to the actual cigarette lighter socket and then route the cable to where you need to, rather than following the cable back under the dash.

I'd suggest you invest in some sticky backed cable clips (I believe that's what they are called), so that you have the option to either cable tie to the existing wiring or at least keep the wiring up and out of the way.

Thanks again guys.

Bernie, I am once again in your debt, please add it to my tab I have forgotten most of what I ever knew about electric diagrams but I hopefully remember enough not to fry myself... I think fuse 50 may be hidden away somewhere, it's not in the glove box so it's definitely a wiring job.

Skate2, yes those sound like a good idea. I don't have much in the way of electrical spares so I'll have a look on eBay and see if I can find a kit which will help with connectors, clips and so on. Anything to avoid halfords...

Hola Mattyo,

you're right it's not in the glove box ; fuse 50 is located in B001, which is the engine bay distribution box...
BTW: one should NEVER connect wires by 'tape' method ! The best is to cut, stripe, solder and insulate (shrink tube BEFORE welding).
If you can't do soldering, use a 'derivator' : kind of plastic stuff you'd crimp on the existing wire AND the wire to your new device...

BRs, Bernie

Hey Bernie,

Bernievarian said:

BTW: one should NEVER connect wires by 'tape' method ! The best is to cut, stripe, solder and insulate (shrink tube BEFORE welding).
If you can't do soldering, use a 'derivator' : kind of plastic stuff you'd crimp on the existing wire AND the wire to your new device...

BRs, Bernie

Click to expand...

I think I wired my first stereo with tape!

However nowadays I have a soldering gun, some flux, shrink tube and an almost steady hand... So as and when I sort some wires out and maybe those clips too I'll try and do a proper(ish) job. I'll leave the adapter part of the dashcam power cable in the glove box then try and feed the wire down the side of the centre console and get it to the cigarette lighter.

Given I'm running a wire now I'm tempted actually to connect a second cigarette lighter in the glove box so I could run 2 usb powered devices from it. Be nice to stick a phone in there on charge maybe or a satnav. But I'll have to have another look in there to see if its plausible.