thanks to all. This is something I will do in the warmer months as i decide which model to purchase. I might just replace my radar detector with a newer model which as a built in dashcam.
Has anyone done a dash cam install and tapped power from the rearview mirror (2021 Ultimate, auto-dimming w/HomeLink mirror)? I haven't removed the plastic shroud around the mirror yet, but I assume there is a connector (or 2) in there that are possibilities to tap into. Mostly just checking out feasibility right now. My default plan is to just do as others have, and hardwire the dash cam all the way down to the fuse box. But power from the mirror would make things a lot easier!
Link to a previous thread about using the mirror for power, but unfortunately the amazon link no longer works:
Anybody mounted a dash cam or radar detector? Getting ready to install my radar detector, looking for a dash cam and don't want to "reinvent the wheel". I'll 3M tape the detector and use a mirror mount for the camera. I would like to use "mirror tap" to power both. Anybody know if there is...
In the US Ultimate model there are a few accessories that are hidden under here, but the mirror connector appeared to be the easiest to access. It's a black 10-pin (2x5) connector and based on previous posts the red and blue wires (left side of car while facing forward) are supposed to be power and ground. I'll verify this before I go further.
Overall, this should be quite straight forward assuming the two-prongs on the wire fit into the connector, and I can find some place to hide/store the cable without it being an eyesore behind the mirror. I'll provide an update next week when everything arrives.
My install did not go as well as I had hoped. The mirror connector did not want to be penetrated by the pins from the amazon wiring gadget I purchased. With a lot of encouragement I was able to get the pins to sink far enough into the connector to make positive contact, but I don't think what I did was stable or viable long-term. I tried to remove the red and blue wires from the connector, but I could not figure out to remove them at all (plus I didn't feel like I wanted to apply too much force). The one good news story is that there is plenty of room under the plastic shroud to bury a good bit of cable. So I have plenty of USB wire hidden away to support placing the dash cam just about anywhere.
I need to find a much better way to tap into the power and ground connection in the mirror. For now the dash cam is working, but I'll be looking for a better solution.
I ordered a custom t-connector from Bob at bobsmirrors.com. I found him via ebay (tons of Homelink mirror connectors for sale) and emailed him what I needed. He built the connector and shipped it out to me in about 1-2 days. $35 out the door. The connector is perfect. One side fits into the mirror connector itself, and the other side connects to the wiring harness arriving from above the windshield. Coming out of the connector is a power and ground wire that I then spliced into a micro-USB cable. This let me install the dash cam with no changes to the Kona wiring, and in theory if I ever wanted to, it can be completely removed with minimal effort. Overall its an awesome solution and means I didn't have to run wires across the top of the windshield, across/around the airbags, down the A-pillar etc... One possible complaint is that the Kona Ultimate Homeline/Bluelink mirror (2021) is only powered via the ignition (quite a strange thing - you have to turn your car on to open the garage....). If you need a constant power source for a dash cam (parking mode), then you'll need to find another source. I have no interest in parking mode, so no issue for me at all.
Bottom line, with the custom t-connector, installing the dash cam is about a 20-30 minute project. Hopefully the pictures help others out there.
Overall its an awesome solution and means I didn't have to run wires across the top of the windshield, across/around the airbags, down the A-pillar etc... One possible complaint is that the Kona Ultimate Homeline/Bluelink mirror (2021) is only powered via the ignition (quite a strange thing - you have to turn your car on to open the garage....). If you need a constant power source for a dash cam (parking mode), then you'll need to find another source.
It's a debate for sure.
On one hand, I would like to be able to open the garage before I exhaust fumes into my garage.
On the other hand, if I parked in the driveway, I feel safer that any break-ins cannot open my garage.
If you entered the garage from the house side (or side door - if stand alone garage structure), then you should be able to open the garage door BEFORE you step inside the car from the wall switch...
If you think about, it is the same principle as a regular garage door opener remote control - if you take out the batteries, then it is not operating anything. You power it up, then you're able to operate the garage door.
If your "uplink" would operate without the ignition on, then it would mean you have a constant source of power drain - then people would bitch that their battery gets drained over night, something similar with people installing aftermarket head units and not hooking them up correctly to a switched power source.
Conversely, as you have the "uplink" powered up when you come home, you're able to open the garage door from the driveway so you just park the car directly inside the garage, then you can close the door from the same device before shutting off the engine.
No matter how you do it a small amount of exhaust fumes gets released inside the garage no matter how fast you do either maneuver, either exit or enter.
Yes I'm much happier with the t-connector than my original approach. Actually my original approach really didn't work well, so this connector is absolutely the way to go.
As far as the garage goes, I live in a part of the country where we use the air lock system. We do not open the garage door until we are in the car. I'm sure there are places in the US where you can safely venture outside in February, but I prefer to leverage my garage as much as possible. All joking aside, it's relatively easy to just push the start button twice, open the garage, and then start the car. It just takes getting use to it, so my complaint isn't that big a deal. But this is the first car I've ever owned where the garage door button did not have constant power. And that includes a Palisade. Same company, different teams, different decisions on how the mirror should be powered.
Are you referring to a "curtain" of air blowing right by the entrance, as you might find in a store? Otherwise I honestly have no idea what "air lock system" is all about when it comes to a garage.
My life was pointless up to this point, didn't learn much about life in my part of the country.
Care to enrich my genuine curiosity about the said system?
Actually the opposite. We have a curtain of cold air outside the garage in February Airlock system is just an expression/process versus any actual device. We prefer to be safely in the slightly cold car before we open the garage and let the rush of arctic air in.
Air lock just means two sets of doors which are mutually exclusive.
So for the attached garage, the man door and car door are never open at the same time.
Leave the house, close man door; get in the car, open garage door.
If you open the man door to open the garage door, then there is a straight path for the outdoor air to get indoors.
Purpose of an air lock is that there's outdoor temperature air, a inbetween temperature of air in the garage, then the indoor temperature of air. Indoor and outdoor don't mix directly.
I mean no disrespect, but still have no clear understanding what you're trying to picture for me. @SkiBum20 keeps alluding to "safety" while you're talking solely about AIR.
About the appreciated attached garage explanation, who would at the same time open a "Man" door and the "garage" door? Who would open the access door to the garage (and leave it open) while opening also the big garage door in the middle of February? Moreover, how would that relate the "air lock system" to the "SAFETY" issue SkiBum appears to have in his arctic neck of the woods? (is it Alaska? - are we talking about potential physical BEARS or WOLVES outside the garage door?)
Conversely, when you talk about a detached garage I still have hard time understanding who opens on purpose both (side and main) doors at the same time. Moreover, I genuinely haven't seen yet a garage where the outside air (on one side of the main garage door) does not mix DIRECTLY with the indoor air (on the other side of the main garage door).
Maybe you can draw a diagram as to how a garage you suppose to exit your car from does not mix directly the outdoor air and the indoor air upon opening the door.
I'm not "Debbie against what you people say" - I just genuinely can't understand what you're explaining.
To me the only concept of "in-between" air would be exactly what I mentioned, an "air curtain" blown "vertically" (from the ceiling down) at the entrance of let's say big stores which to a certain degree prevents the outside cold air from "directly" mixing with the indoor warm air...I haven't see a garage with a such feature, but then again, I don't frequent high society circles. Maybe are people who do have that type of garage.
Disclaimer (just so we have a common ground):
I do have a garage and park our both cars inside the garage. I too open the main garage door after I'm "safely" inside the car - in both cars with the help of garage door battery-operated remote openers. Neither the Kona, nor the Sportwagen have rearview/sunvisor with programmable door opener.
I ordered a custom t-connector from Bob at bobsmirrors.com. I found him via ebay (tons of Homelink mirror connectors for sale) and emailed him what I needed. He built the connector and shipped it out to me in about 1-2 days. $35 out the door. The connector is perfect. One side fits into the mirror connector itself, and the other side connects to the wiring harness arriving from above the windshield. Coming out of the connector is a power and ground wire that I then spliced into a micro-USB cable. This let me install the dash cam with no changes to the Kona wiring, and in theory if I ever wanted to, it can be completely removed with minimal effort. Overall its an awesome solution and means I didn't have to run wires across the top of the windshield, across/around the airbags, down the A-pillar etc... One possible complaint is that the Kona Ultimate Homeline/Bluelink mirror (2021) is only powered via the ignition (quite a strange thing - you have to turn your car on to open the garage....). If you need a constant power source for a dash cam (parking mode), then you'll need to find another source. I have no interest in parking mode, so no issue for me at all.
Bottom line, with the custom t-connector, installing the dash cam is about a 20-30 minute project. Hopefully the pictures help others out there.
No part number. I just sent him multiple pictures of the male connector. Actually all the pictures I sent him are in the gallery for my install. Here is the extent of my email description to Bob which got it built:
There are 6 wires coming into the connector. Red (I believe pin 10) is ignition switched power. Blue (pin 9) is ground. I don't believe this specific model of mirror has a constant power source but the good news is I just need ignition power for the dash cam. I am not interested in "parking mode" for the dash cam which requires constant power. Grabbing power and ground from 10 & 9 should be sufficient. There are also wires in positions 1 (red), 3 (black), 6 (yellow), & 8 (black). Let me know if this enough to get started, or if there is anything else you need.
In addition to the T-connection, I still ending up using the amazon part which provided a 5v micro-usb connection. I cut off the pin ends and just spliced the pigtail from the connector into the USB wire. The micro usb wire includes the converter to get from 12v to 5v, so you can't just use a random USB wire and cut off one end.
No part number. I just sent him multiple pictures of the male connector. Actually all the pictures I sent him are in the gallery for my install. Here is the extent of my email description to Bob which got it built:
There are 6 wires coming into the connector. Red (I believe pin 10) is ignition switched power. Blue (pin 9) is ground. I don't believe this specific model of mirror has a constant power source but the good news is I just need ignition power for the dash cam. I am not interested in "parking mode" for the dash cam which requires constant power. Grabbing power and ground from 10 & 9 should be sufficient. There are also wires in positions 1 (red), 3 (black), 6 (yellow), & 8 (black). Let me know if this enough to get started, or if there is anything else you need.
In addition to the T-connection, I still ending up using the amazon part which provided a 5v micro-usb connection. I cut off the pin ends and just spliced the pigtail from the connector into the USB wire. The micro usb wire includes the converter to get from 12v to 5v, so you can't just use a random USB wire and cut off one end.
www.hyundaikonaforum.com
Airlock system is just an expression/process versus any actual device. We prefer to be safely in the slightly cold car before we open the garage and let the rush of arctic air in.
