At my wits end with my dashcam.

ciao_chao · May 1, 2021

So after a week of having my dashcam sitting perfectly, suddenly it’s won’t stay on for more than two hours. It’s the suction cup style so the usual things have been tried...

- clean the suction cup and windscreen

- pressing out as much air as possible

- wet the suction cup (this helped and went from 15 minutes to 2 hours before falling off)

I know that the outside of the window has a coating to encourage water to roll off...but is there’s something similar on the inside that is messing with adhesion. Yes, the dash cam is due for an upgrade, but in the meantime I will be thankful for any advice so that I don’t have to be pulling over every few minutes to reattach a dash cam.

Herbie · May 1, 2021

Just so you know you're not being ignored - as far as I know you've done everything that could work. Time for either a new suction cup or a new camera now, I'd say.

ciao_chao · May 1, 2021

1 hour ago, Herbie said:

Just so you know you're not being ignored - as far as I know you've done everything that could work. Time for either a new suction cup or a new camera now, I'd say.

Thanks for getting back, I thought as much.

Something for everybody to chew over...has anybody else has noticed there are so many products out there, many of whom are selling snake oil? The past month I’ve been looking to upgrade to a dual aspect after my FIL was involved in a road rage incident where he was followed and harassed for an hour. Any of your experiences (good or bad) on what you have installed is appreciated.

Also few of the owners here own the Lexus approved unit from Nextbase, and what your experiences having them installed to older vehicles? It looks like it’s designed for pretty a steep windscreen rake more common with cars of the last decade.

ColinBarber · May 1, 2021

Clean the screen and suction cup with isopropyl and make sure the area of the screen you are sticking it to is just glass and doesn't have any black dots or other markings on it.

ciao_chao · May 1, 2021

@ColinBarber Thanks, had to Google what isopropyl was, seems like the pure stuff is more volatile than the wipes I’ve been using. I’ll give anything a try!

Herbie · May 1, 2021

I recently bought the Viofo A129 Duo front/rear Full HD set (plus the hardwire kit and the circular polarising filter, about £188 in total) and installed it myself, which took a couple of hours to do.

Unsurprisingly, the hardest part of the job was getting the cable from the front cam to the rear cam. I discovered that the supplied cable was just not quite long enough to go at low level (under the scuff plates etc) in my RX450h so I took it along under the head lining.

I previously had a Viofo A119S in my previous RX (that I forgot to take out) which was excellent, so I knew that I wouldn't need to look any further than Viofo again when we got this car a few weeks ago.

LenT · May 2, 2021

7 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Clean the screen and suction cup with isopropyl and make sure the area of the screen you are sticking it to is just glass and doesn't have any black dots or other markings on it.

Sound advice, Chao. But I think suction cups are doomed to fail eventually. So why do you want to use a suction cup in the first place? If it’s because you want to be able to remove the camera frequently for security, then doing that is likely to reduce its effectiveness. Also, being plastic, sunlight will gradually harden it, reduce its flexibility and. again, increase its tendency to drop off.

Did it not come with a double sided adhesive pad? Applied to clean glass these are more effective. But you also say you’d like to fit a dual camera system. I have a BlackVue example and I can certainly confirm that the extra cost is a worthwhile investment. But you would soon tire of removing both cameras if they were fixed by suction cups!

Incidentally, I have on a few occasions observed cars doing risky overtakes in order to get up to my back bumper - but instead of doing a similar manoeuvre to get past, they drop back!

My guess is that the drivers have got close enough to spot the rear camera. But that’s already too late!

Grumps · May 2, 2021

I had the same problem with the nextbase dashcams on both our cars. Tried everything above and resorted finally to these.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-3M-VHB-DOUBLE-SIDED-PADS-Self-Adhesive-DASH-CAMS-Electronics-Tape-5952-/201744997771?var=&hash=item2ef8f05d8b

The dashcams have never fallen off since using them, but the problem may well be when removing them. The bonus is no car alarm going off everytime the dashcam fell off whilst vehicle locked.

ciao_chao · May 2, 2021

@Grumpsthats the perfect stopgap for me, didn’t realise that would work with the suction cups.

@steve2006 all of this shopping around has got me thinking. I saw there was a car reviews section. Would there be space for a reviews from real world owners who have bought the product rather than had it sent like many online sources? Maybe you’ve tried it but found that people aren’t too keen to share? I’ve definitely found a lot of help from responders in this thread, as well as elsewhere on the forums.

jpjsavage · May 5, 2021

Our first dash cam is being fitted by Lexus tomorrow. Please to say that I'm getting a 10% discount thanks to the gold membership here. I'm hoping their one won't fall off! Hope you got yours fixed ok.

PCM · May 5, 2021

On 5/2/2021 at 9:41 AM, Grumps said:

I had the same problem with the nextbase dashcams on both our cars. Tried everything above and resorted finally to these.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-3M-VHB-DOUBLE-SIDED-PADS-Self-Adhesive-DASH-CAMS-Electronics-Tape-5952-/201744997771?var=&hash=item2ef8f05d8b

The dashcams have never fallen off since using them, but the problem may well be when removing them. The bonus is no car alarm going off everytime the dashcam fell off whilst vehicle locked.

Brilliant.

In the past I have used a 3D printed bracket. NEVER let me down. I bought it on eBay but cannot find them now. It also used super-sticky tape, so basically the same thing I guess.

Suction cups are fine until... they're not!

ciao_chao · May 5, 2021

Well, I can report that 24 hours in and the double sided pads are holding strong. Thanks for all the advice, especially on the recommendations!

ciao_chao · May 9, 2021

On 5/1/2021 at 11:51 PM, Herbie said:

I recently bought the Viofo A129 Duo front/rear Full HD set (plus the hardwire kit and the circular polarising filter, about £188 in total) and installed it myself, which took a couple of hours to do.

Unsurprisingly, the hardest part of the job was getting the cable from the front cam to the rear cam. I discovered that the supplied cable was just not quite long enough to go at low level (under the scuff plates etc) in my RX450h so I took it along under the head lining.

I previously had a Viofo A119S in my previous RX (that I forgot to take out) which was excellent, so I knew that I wouldn't need to look any further than Viofo again when we got this car a few weeks ago.

Hey Herbie! So I’ve done some shopping around and your recommendation seems the right one for me. Would you be mind if I asked you some more questions, mainly regarding the hardwiring? I know that we have different cars but it will help me make a decision.

Herbie · May 9, 2021

1 minute ago, ciao_chao said:

Hey Herbie! So I’ve done some shopping around and your recommendation seems the right one for me. Would you be mind if I asked you some more questions, mainly regarding the hardwiring? I know that we have different cars but it will help me make a decision.

Fire away my friend, if I can answer them I will 🙂

ciao_chao · May 9, 2021

Thanks Herbie, I appreciate all the help already!

1) Did you buy your camera from amazon?

2) Is there a specific wiring kit that is needed, or does a generic kit work?

3) What did you end up wiring it to? Anything systems that you would advise avoiding piggybacking off? I know that @steve2006 wired it into the map light!

4) You mentioned wiring the rear camera via the headlining, does that imply that it takes power from the front unit?

5) I’ve done my share of photography, so I get what the polarising filter does, but I can’t quite figure out what it’s for on the dashcam.

Thanks again!

Herbie · May 9, 2021

31 minutes ago, ciao_chao said:

Thanks Herbie, I appreciate all the help already!

1) Did you buy your camera from Amazon?

2) Is there a specific wiring kit that is needed, or does a generic kit work?

3) What did you end up wiring it to? Anything systems that you would advise avoiding piggybacking off? I know that @steve2006 wired it into the map light!

4) You mentioned wiring the rear camera via the headlining, does that imply that it takes power from the front unit?

5) I’ve done my share of photography, so I get what the polarising filter does, but I can’t quite figure out what it’s for on the dashcam.

Thanks again!

No worries :thumbsup:

Yes - This is the link and if you look under the main image you'll see three items under "Frequently Bought Together" so I bought all three for £188.39
See above - I bought the wiring kit together with the camera. I thought it best because it gives you control over Battery voltage in parking mode
I know it sounds daft but I truly can't remember. I'm on a couple of meds, one of which has a side-effect of making you forgetful. All I can say is that I used a multimeter to find a circuit that is only energised when the ignition is on - probably cig lighter or power socket fuse
Yes, the rear camera gets power from the front camera
The polarising filter minimises reflections from the dashboard/screen

Hope that helps; just ask if you need anything else.

ciao_chao · May 9, 2021

@Herbie amazing, your answers let me pull the trigger now! I did see the frequently bought together when browsing, just assumed that it was the same generic one that was suggested immediately above that. amazon can be so confusing.

It’s super helpful to know what type of circuit I need, auto electrics isn’t something I’ve dabbled in much.

P.S. I don’t need pills for my memory to be bad! You’ve helped more than I could expect. Thanks for being so patient with some of these slightly stupid questions.