Garmin Dashcam 20, keep and hardwire, or return?

[atalarico]

Hey all,

I just got a Garmin Dashcam 20 (older model) from a family member. They knew I was interested in dash-cam's since getting hosed by a lying cop for a speeding ticket a while back, but I was looking at a couple of the non-Garmin ones. I appreciate the gift regardless because they actually remembered that much!

Two questions;
1.) They got it from Amazon and it looks like I could return it without any issues. It looks like I'd get about $140-ish for it, and I could apply that to another better recommended dash cam. Should I?

2.) If I should just keep it, I really need to hardwire this thing. It's rechargeable, but I don't know how long the battery lasts, and I frequently take 4 hour round-trips on the weekends to the mountains and such.

I'm having a hard time finding this thread I saw that showed how to hard-wire a radar detector in a 3rd Gen somewhere up around the reading lights or something. Any opinions or thoughts on that? Should I even mount it behind my mirror, or does a 2.5" lift on my 3rd Gen allow me to mount it just above where my wipers rest and still get a great view?

 

[atalarico]

I remember seeing something else about an add-a-fuse kind of deal too where you hook it up to a fuse, ground it by the steering wheel ground screw, and run it up through the side pillar and stuff the wire into the headliner with cardboard?

That seems pretty easy-ish as I just replaced my weather stripping on my driver's door and had to remove that pillar plastic. It was pretty easy to do.

 

[jeremyc74]

I have a RADAR detector hard wired and I was able pull power from the map lights. Its' been a while since I did this so I can tell you a specific wire color or anything, but there's not much to it.


And before anyone laughs about me putting a RADAR detector in a slow ass 3rd gen, let me just say that I upgraded the one in my car, and this was the leftover. :flipoff:

 

[atalarico]

I have a RADAR detector hard wired and I was able pull power from the map lights. Its' been a while since I did this so I can tell you a specific wire color or anything, but there's not much to it.


And before anyone laughs about me putting a RADAR detector in a slow ass 3rd gen, let me just say that I upgraded the one in my car, and this was the leftover. :flipoff:

Yeah, the cable that Garmin sells for hard wiring (which I know I could just get a generic version of for cheaper, so please post links to recommended ones) is only 36" long, which I'm guessing isn't long enough to get from the fuse-box, up the pillar, and over to the rear-view mirror.

Also, trust me, I'm not one to criticize putting a radar detector in your 3rd gen. Cops can lie, and I had one screw me over. I think if I had a dash-cam, I could have saved myself a lot of hassle. Let's not open that can of worms though, so please, just keep the thread focused on hard-wiring stuff.

Thanks! I'll probably be going the map-light route.

 

[cashmoney]

You can tap the power into pretty much any 12v wire and run the ground to a ground. Tie into the cigarette lighter power.

 

[atalarico]

You can tap the power into pretty much any 12v wire and run the ground to a ground. Tie into the cigarette lighter power.

My hesitation about that is that I always am charging my work iPhone (unlimited data so streams music and Waze) and my personal iPhone off of an Aukey 4.8A/24W dual-port charger. I don't want to overload the fuse, but I'll plead ignorance as to whether or not I'd risk that.

 

[cashmoney]

So find another circuit to tap into. You could even make your own circuit with a relay and a switch.

 

[atalarico]

So find another circuit to tap into. You could even make your own circuit with a relay and a switch.

I mean this constructively; I know that sounds super simple to you but just keep in mind that maybe not everyone else has the same experience or skill set that you do. I'll look around for an explanation or what you suggested. Thanks.