The cable on many of the generic Chinese dashboard cameras always seems to break at the less than effective strain relief on the 12V to 5V power supply. I thought I'd video the repair I did to this one.
One moment please…
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I just love that you spent all that time & effort repairing something that most would throw in bin, and buy a new one for £4 online. Well done buddy, educational, and entertaining…
I'd like to ask for help – I need to instal longer cable in a car as power supply for dashcam. But when I do this, cam will start to blink and keeps shutting down. Several cables (also widths) tried. It seems to me that can does not have enough power to run. But power supply (powerbank or car lighter should be enough for that.
Can I replace solder with anything else? Or do I just need to give in and go buy solder and a soldering iron for the one time use?
Hi Thank you for the reply, I would assume that the connections are all 12v, the Cigarette plugin is 12v so going by what you have done should be ok, unless you're 5v. Regards welshman2081
Hi You have given me an idea, I want to change the new dashcam cable to the installed old dashcam cable, this I assume can be done direct just using connection fittings, I would Wellcome some feedback on my thoughts, it's now 2020 so hope you are still around. Regards welshman 2081
its not the aluminum ones that don't twist, they are soft. Its the steel ones that don't twist, steel doesn't like to bend.
Hi Clive, I'm a huge fan of your channel – easily THE best electronics instruction on the net. Thank you for hours of geeky enjoyment.
Have you assessed various in car usb power supplies or USB to micro USB cables? I have loads of problems with such things. Cigarette lighter type supplies almost always have exaggerated current claims ( a '3 amp' supply usually throwing its hand in at an amp) and there seems to be a voltage drop along even shortish good quality (JuiceEbitz) cables. Cheap ones with what feel like ali conductors seem to last just a few weeks. I bought a chinese '5 amp ' 4 way board supply to fit in the car but I am a bit concerned about any supply malfunctioning and zapping my gear with 12v. Any chance of one of your in-depth investigations? Thanks again…. Will
I need a fuse for mine,what fuse do I need, really glad I came across this video.
I prefer doing a knot with the cable after passing it trough the strain relief.
Remove the outer sheath by gently rolling over a circumferential line, with the cable end on the table edge at 45°, and the tickety-knife perpendicular to it, to the point where you've penetrated most of the way through the thermo-plastic; bend the sheath at the score/cut line; and, pull.
Absenting wire strippers, use the same technique on individual wires — only, in this case, twist the sheath continuously in one sense as you pull it off. This obviates the need to touch the individual strands, avoiding contamination with sebum.
There is no doubt thats a elecchickens drill. Spotless!
Dashcams hate over voltage, under voltage and ripple noise. Did you check voltage between the positive bus and ground? 4.5 V is much better than 5.5V. You could correct 0.6 Volts just adding a 1 A diode in serial at output.
The buck converters create a lot of ripple effect noise. You had a chance to add at least 470uF, 0.1uF and 0.01uF capacitors between the positive bus and ground. This can filter a big part of noise.
While you can buy a new one for $5, I hate to use this kind of power supply for my dashcams.
Instead I use a 2A 5V cigarette power supply, a” 3000V USB Isolator USB to USB isolator audio signal power supply isolation” $18 on ebay, and a 6ft male-to-male USB 2.0 to mini USB.
In another Car a did hard wiring, using a “DC 12V24V Step-down to DC 9V Converter Regulator Car Power Supply Adaptor” $7.82 on ebay, in tandem with a “12V10A Car SUV Noise Audio Filter Kill Hum 12V DC Car Stereo Installation Engine” $8.90 on ebay, in tandem with a “LM317 Adjustable Voltage Regulator Step-down Power Supply Module LED Meter O6Q4” output max 2 A $5.75 on ebay. The last one, steps down from 9V DC to 4.5 V DC, avoiding extensive heat at LM317 voltage regulator.
Squashing the stain relief in the vice closes the hole, it's better to hold the drill bit in the vice and screw the relief onto it by hand so that it follows the hole, one small drop of poundland super glue on the blunt end secures the cable nicely 🙂