OBD-II port is an easy option for dashcam power

[Firewired]

I can confirm the OBD-II port which is to the left above the brake pedal works for power. I know that we don't have all the pins, but we do have three pins, including the pin that is connected to the 12V battery. Traveling I wanted a functional dashcam when on the road until Rivan's promised OEM solution goes live. I wanted to share both options I tried, both of which work.

I installed the Garmin Dashcam MIni 2 first, with one camera facing forward and the other facing rearward. Garmin has an optional OBD-II plug and I can confirm that both cameras worked fine using the OBD-II port. For me, I found the Garmin software extremely buggy, and at most times it was really difficult to view the recorded footage. I could see thumbnails of the clips of the recorded video, but trying to view them via the app would just spin and spin, and repeatedly reconnect to the cameras. I was unsuccessful over 90% of the time and I realized if I stayed with this I would have to pull out the SD card to download the footage. Going the Garmin route for me was $129 for each camera, $20 for each Micro SD card and $49 for OBD port adapter $327 and required running wires from front to back. Installation took me about 45 minutes carefully running the wires.

After deciding the Garmins were not working out, I next installed the new Ring Car Cam which I got on ebay because they are in short supply for $275. This has the OBD port adapter included, which works perfectly via the Rivian OBD port. This one was much faster to install, being it just has a front and cabin view. It took me around 10 minutes to install the one wire from center dash to OBD-II port. This will be the one I am staying with until the Rivian OEM solution comes out. Accessing the footage from the cameras is quick, and I think clear enough (1080p) front and back. The only downside is after the first-month remote access is $6 a month or $60 a year because the Ring has it's own cellular connection which the Garmin does not.

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[HaveBlue]

The Ring version uses the OBD port by default

 

[shumdit]

What’s wrong with the 12v outlet under the dash? Or is this for people with a “base” model R1?

 

[Firewired]

You can use the 12 volt. I thought it was cleaner to leave that open and use the unused OBD port. Just trying to let anyone interested know it works as there was speculation that the OBD port would not supply 12 volt power.

 

[jollyroger]

The only thing is I think the ODB II port is always powered. So to some degree, more likely to drain the 12v batteries

 

[Firewired]

I am not sure how much power the camera draws. I looked on the Ring website and could not find specific numbers. It does have three different power settings. I had it set to the most conservative and a short while after parking it sent me a notification it was going to power down to decrease battery draw.

 

[rkalbiar]

Yeah, I really like the idea of using that power but 12V issues with Rivian scare me off..

 

[BrianNakata]

See this thread and Litng's post a little ways down.

I used this to hardwire my V1 radar detector and it's switched power. Detector turns off when the truck is locked and turns back on when unlocked.

Additionally, there are then no wires to route around the cabin. There's a large, convenient slot at the front of the plastic cover that the wire exits to plug into the detector or camera. Absolutely no permanent modifications are needed for this.

Radar Detector Hardwiring Thread

Brian

 

[jollyroger]

Yeah, I really like the idea of using that power but 12V issues with Rivian scare me off..

I agree, I really like to have 100% time power so I can use parking mode. However when we installed a Vantrue camera in my sons Leaf. It kept killing the battery. EV's typically have small 12v batteries, and the fact that some Rivians seem to have issues keeping the 12v battery charged without accessories, really pushed me to use the switched power outlet.

For the Rivian, it's not as big a deal because of Gear Guard, so I'm just using it as a driving dash cam.

To the OP, if you have success with this, I would be curious to hear, as there is an ODB II option for my dash cam as well.

 

[Robotpedlr]

The only thing is I think the ODB II port is always powered. So to some degree, more likely to drain the 12v batteries

I think the OBD port shuts off once the car goes to sleep (a few min after getting out). Correct me if I am wrong.

 

[Firewired]

I don’t think it does. I briefly used the Garmin Mini dash cam via their OBD-II adapter and if you set the plug to infinity the dash cam would continue to be powered even after parking. I currently have the ring dash cam via the same setup of using the OBDII port and it only turns off when you set it to via the ring settings.

 

[Surferdude]

Does anyone know the max output of the OBD port? I believe the cigarette adapter outlet was 60-100 watts. I'm hoping this is similar.

 

[Polar]

See this thread and Litng's post a little ways down.

I used this to hardwire my V1 radar detector and it's switched power. Detector turns off when the truck is locked and turns back on when unlocked.

Additionally, there are then no wires to route around the cabin. There's a large, convenient slot at the front of the plastic cover that the wire exits to plug into the detector or camera. Absolutely no permanent modifications are needed for this.

Radar Detector Hardwiring Thread

Brian

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