Best place to get constant 12 volt power

[SCY7H3]

Anyone know where the best place to get direct constant 12 volt power even when the engine off? Aside from going direct from the battery?

I know there's probably a few places to get it, but trying to see what experiences you guys have had wiring up additional electronics.

 

[pmanliu]

Pinging Soonstaz as he needed a constant 12v for his dash cam install

 

[santiagodraco]

Just saw this, a bit late. What do you need the 12v for and where do you need it? Can't really answer the question without knowing the use case.

 

[meme405]

Just saw this, a bit late. What do you need the 12v for and where do you need it? Can't really answer the question without knowing the use case.

Agreed, it really depends if you are in the trunk, or if you are by the drivers area. Easiest place for the dashcam is to just use piggy backs and just tie directly into an appropriate fuse in the drivers footwell.

 

[SCY7H3]

Now if you wanted to power a dash am at all times even if the ignition is off, can you still piggyback off a fuse by the drivers side?

Sent from my SGH-I747

 

[meme405]

Now if you wanted to power a dash am at all times even if the ignition is off, can you still piggyback off a fuse by the drivers side?

Sent from my SGH-I747

Yes, there are certain fuses which are live even when the ignition is fully off. You just have to make sure you tie into one of those. Unfortunately I don't have access to a second Gen to find out which fuses are live all the time.

The only thing I will caution about tapping into live fuses, even for low draw items such as dash camera's is that you run the risk of draining your battery if you don't drive the car for a while.

I solved this issue by running a "power magic pro" its basically a relay which you can program to cut the power to the dash camera after a set period of time, or if the voltage dips below a certain level.