[SubieDupie]

Hi everyone,

So I’m trying to install a couple of dashcams and I have these hardwiring kits (more on the way). What are the best routes & practices to run these wires from the internal fuse box to the cam so these wires seem almost factory run? 🙂

What fuse slots should I insert these cables into?

I got three cams; two on the front windshield, and one in the windshield.

 

[ZeroByte]

For the fuses to tap, I would tap the 7.5A ones because most taps are rated for a maximum of 10A. The camera usually takes around 2A, so that is perfect. You will need spare 2A Mini Low Profile fuses to go with the taps. Looking at your hardwire kit, it looks like you have two wires to worry about: power and ground. For power, I would only tap fuses that are on (or hot) when the ignition is on.

Here is a map of the fuses in the internal fuse box to what they are:

I am pretty sure fuses 9 and 17 are only on when the ignition is on. Other ones you can try are 32 and 37.

For ground, you will need to attach the ground wire to a piece of metal on the car that is unpainted. I used one of the bolts below the dash near the interior fuse box. I believe it was behind the hood release. I crimped a ring terminal to the ground wire and used the existing bolt to keep it in place.

Looking at those hardwire kits you have, I think you may have the wrong kind of fuse tap. Newer Imprezas use the Mini Low Profile fuses. They look like this:

The ones you have look like standard Mini fuses.

As for routing the cables, I went between the headliner and windshield, down the A pillar (it just pops off - pull up and away from the car), and squeezed the wire between the end of the dash and door gasket. That put me right next to the interior fuse box. You cannot see any wires except for a short bit of wire that comes from the headliner to the camera.

If you are routing a rear camera, then I would run across the edge of where the doors and the headliner meet and out through the rubber tube that carries wires into the hatch area. Then I would mount the camera on the black plastic that is at the top of the hatch on the inside. Others probably have pictures of that. Here is a post from a Crosstrek forum on how to do it, and it is very similar in the Impreza.

If you have EyeSight, you need to be careful when you are messing around in the headliner area at the front. You do not want to knock that around or put wires or the camera in places that interfere with it. This page has diagrams and more info on that.

 

[SubieDupie]

Sir this is the kind of answers that I crave; the kind that enriches forums. People like you are much appreciated. When I started this discussion, I set a little gift-card aside -I had it for quite sometime I forgot why I got it- for the best answer. Please accept it and open your DM so I drop it there.

I added a photo of the fuses that came with the kit, should I still order a mini low profile fuse or do I already have it as per the additional photo?

 

[ZeroByte]

Sir this is the kind of answers that I crave; the kind that enriches forums. People like you are much appreciated. When I started this discussion, I set a little gift-card aside -I had it for quite sometime I forgot why I got it- for the best answer. Please accept it and open your DM so I drop it there.

I added a photo of the fuses that came with the kit, should I still order a mini low profile fuse or do I already have it as per the additional photo?

Thank you for the kind words. The fuse I pointed to with the arrow below looks like a Mini Low Profile. Here is a chart that shows the different kinds of auto fuses.

Yellow mini low profile is 20A which would be too high for this application. Does that fuse have the number 20 written on the flat part of it? Most fuse taps are rated for 10A (the total of all of the circuits connected to them). The fuse tap will tell you how much amperage you should try to use with it. The fuse tap has two spots for fuses. One is for the original fuse, and the other is a fuse for the device you are adding (in this case, that would be the camera). You will reuse the fuse you take from the car in the spot for the original fuse. For the camera, I would suggest a 2A fuse assuming the camera only takes 2A. On the hardwiring kit you have, it should say something like "5V, 2A max output" or something similar. 2A low profile mini fuses are gray. They look like this:

If the camera malfunctions and starts drawing a high amount of current, you would not want a 20A fuse on there. You would want something closer to the maximum amount of power it should draw. Otherwise, it would draw a huge amount of current and the wires could burn up and start a fire.

My concern is that your hardwiring kit seems to have fuse taps that are mini (not mini low profile). Does your kit come with a red wire that has one end that looks like a mini low profile fuse? It is hard to tell from your first picture, but it looks like the hardwire kit you have comes with multiple fuse taps. It will look something like this:

 

[SubieDupie]

Thank you for the kind words. The fuse I pointed to with the arrow below looks like a Mini Low Profile. Here is a chart that shows the different kinds of auto fuses.

View attachment 25017

Yellow mini low profile is 20A which would be too high for this application. Does that fuse have the number 20 written on the flat part of it? Most fuse taps are rated for 10A (the total of all of the circuits connected to them). The fuse tap will tell you how much amperage you should try to use with it. The fuse tap has two spots for fuses. One is for the original fuse, and the other is a fuse for the device you are adding (in this case, that would be the camera). You will reuse the fuse you take from the car in the spot for the original fuse. For the camera, I would suggest a 2A fuse assuming the camera only takes 2A. On the hardwiring kit you have, it should say something like "5V, 2A max output" or something similar. 2A low profile mini fuses are gray. They look like this:

View attachment 25018

If the camera malfunctions and starts drawing a high amount of current, you would not want a 20A fuse on there. You would want something closer to the maximum amount of power it should draw. Otherwise, it would draw a huge amount of current and the wires could burn up and start a fire.

My concern is that your hardwiring kit seems to have fuse taps that are mini (not mini low profile). Does your kit come with a red wire that has one end that looks like a mini low profile fuse? It is hard to tell from your first picture, but it looks like the hardwire kit you have comes with multiple fuse taps. It will look something like this:
View attachment 25019

Yes, the kit came with a red wire that looks like the one you described as mini low profile. The red wire does have two fuse slots on its back. Also the package indeed has 5V/2A on it. The fuse that came with it, which I showed you, has number five on it, but I'll try to find a grey 2A fuse. My Camera Specs say "Hardwire – DC 12V only
CLA – DC 12V / DC 5V (USB-A)."

 

[ZeroByte]

Yes, the kit came with a red wire that looks like the one you described as mini low profile. The red wire does have two fuse slots on its back. Also the package indeed has 5V/2A on it. The fuse that came with it, which I showed you, has number five on it. My Camera Specs say "Hardwire – DC 12V only
CLA – DC 12V / DC 5V (USB-A)."

View attachment 25020
View attachment 25021
View attachment 25022

Great. It looks like you have the correct fuse tap.

Did you want to have the camera running when the car is off? If so, then you will need to tap other fuses (ones that are always on). The fuses I quoted you earlier are only on when the car is on (or when you turn the key to the ACC position). You can tell using a multimeter (probe one side of the fuse - it should have voltage). If you do not have a multimeter, you can pull a fuse, and plug in the camera in its place. If the camera turns on and the key is not in the ignition (or you have not pushed the start button), then you know that fuse will work if you want to keep the camera on all of the time.

My personal opinion is that 5A is too high for that fuse. If the camera malfunctions and draws 5A (which it could do before the fuse trips), I am not sure the wiring would handle that well. On top of that, most fuse taps can handle 10A total, and since you already have a potential of 7.5A from the original fuse, you might overload that fuse tap with 12.5A (or more) if something really bad happens. I like to be safe rather than sorry, so if it were me, I would get some 2A low profile mini fuses and use those for the cameras.

If those fuse taps work like ones I have worked with, then the camera fuse would go in the slot next to the wire. Like this:

 

[SubieDupie]

Great. It looks like you have the correct fuse tap.

Did you want to have the camera running when the car is off? If so, then you will need to tap other fuses (ones that are always on). The fuses I quoted you earlier are only on when the car is on (or when you turn the key to the ACC position). You can tell using a multimeter (probe one side of the fuse - it should have voltage). If you do not have a multimeter, you can pull a fuse, and plug in the camera in its place. If the camera turns on and the key is not in the ignition (or you have not pushed the start button), then you know that fuse will work if you want to keep the camera on all of the time.

My personal opinion is that 5A is too high for that fuse. If the camera malfunctions and draws 5A (which it could do before the fuse trips), I am not sure the wiring would handle that well. On top of that, most fuse taps can handle 10A total, and since you already have a potential of 7.5A from the original fuse, you might overload that fuse tap with 12.5A (or more) if something really bad happens. I like to be safe rather than sorry, so if it were me, I would get some 2A low profile mini fuses and use those for the cameras.

If those fuse taps work like ones I have worked with, then the camera fuse would go in the slot next to the wire. Like this:
View attachment 25023

Very useful; thank you very much. Definitely yes, I want the camera to work 24/7. If you happen to know what fuses that work when the engine is off, I would be glad to know (I need three locations). Otherwise, I will get a multimeter.

 

[ZeroByte]

Very useful; thank you very much. Definitely yes, I want the camera to work 24/7. If you happen to know what fuses that work when the engine is off, I would be glad to know (I need three locations). Otherwise, I will get a multimeter.

I have never needed to tap 3 always on fuses, but I would try 33 (Key SW A), 36 (Key SW B), and 14 (UNIT +B).

 

[SubieDupie]

I have never needed to tap 3 always on fuses, but I would try 33 (Key SW A), 36 (Key SW B), and 14 (UNIT +B).

Alrighty.

 

[SubieDupie]

ZeroByte:

All your answers worked perfectly. Thank you.

By the way, fuse locations that worked for me were 32 & 37 (while the engine was off).

 

[ZeroByte]

ZeroByte:

All your answers worked perfectly. Thank you.

By the way, fuse locations that worked for me were 32 & 37 (while the engine was off).

Glad to hear it! Thanks for documenting the fuses that worked. I thought you needed three though?

 

[SubieDupie]

Glad to hear it! Thanks for documenting the fuses that worked. I thought you needed three though?

You’re welcome; my Impreza is 2020 Japanese version though. I actually need four fuse slots, found two. My other two dashcams haven’t arrived yet so if you happen to know the other two, that would be helpful. Otherwise, I have time to research.

 

[peaty]

I used something similar to this with my Radar Detector. Tapped into my auto dim mirror's power. Luckily for me my dash cam powers off of my front one so I just had to run one wire back to it from the front one.
Amazon.com: SimpleUSBCable 12V to MiniUSB Two-Prong Universal Dashcam Adapter: Home Audio & Theater

 

[SubieDupie]

All done. Wasn’t difficult. Now I have two fuse connectors (on the right) connected together in one ACC location (for 24/7 parking mode) and the original fuse is in one of them (the one that says 7.5) next to the purple.

Now 12, 32, 36, 37, are for sure constant power.

My Impreza is a Japanese version,