I saw the comments on hard wiring a dashcam and thought my experiences may be of interest.
I used a Nextbase hard wire kit to power a 322GW in my Niro 3 (2020 model) . The kit comes with 'piggy back' connectors to fit into the fuse box in a circuit controlled by the ignition switch. Unfortunately, the kit only provides larger ATC and ATS fuse connectors rather than the smaller Micro2 sized fuses used by Kia on the Niro. I was able to purchase a Micro2 'piggy back' connector on Amazon but was unable to find the 2A fuse required for the Nextbase dashcam. It appears that the smallest fuse rating available for Micro2 is 5A so I purchased an inline fuse holder and 2A fuses from Halfords together with bullett connectors to fit to the ends of the inline fuse holder.
I used the heated steering wheel circuit as the source of supply. The 15A fuse fits into the 'piggy back'connector to maintain the circuit, together with a 5A fuse for the cable providing the new supply. The inline fuse/holder is connected between this cable and the Nextbase power supply cable.This cable can be hidden in the gap between the headlining and the top of the windscreen and then behind the lip of the rubber door seal down to the fuse box.The excess cable has been cable tied to an adjacent bracket and the earth cable secured to a metal stud on the bracket.
You can of course use the standard power cable, which is fused at 2A, but this does utilise the only availabe outlet and means the cable is more difficult to hide. Overall, I feel it was worth the trouble for the neater installation.
I did speak to my dealer, Hendy Kia Portsmouth, for advice on the best fuse circuit to use but they just advised any switched circuit. Also Kia Parts Dept could only supply 7.5A fuses and above so maybe that was why one dealer was reluctant to carry out a hard wire installation.
I hope this is helpful to anyone contemplating a hard wire installation.
I used a Nextbase hard wire kit to power a 322GW in my Niro 3 (2020 model) . The kit comes with 'piggy back' connectors to fit into the fuse box in a circuit controlled by the ignition switch. Unfortunately, the kit only provides larger ATC and ATS fuse connectors rather than the smaller Micro2 sized fuses used by Kia on the Niro. I was able to purchase a Micro2 'piggy back' connector on Amazon but was unable to find the 2A fuse required for the Nextbase dashcam. It appears that the smallest fuse rating available for Micro2 is 5A so I purchased an inline fuse holder and 2A fuses from Halfords together with bullett connectors to fit to the ends of the inline fuse holder.
I used the heated steering wheel circuit as the source of supply. The 15A fuse fits into the 'piggy back'connector to maintain the circuit, together with a 5A fuse for the cable providing the new supply. The inline fuse/holder is connected between this cable and the Nextbase power supply cable.This cable can be hidden in the gap between the headlining and the top of the windscreen and then behind the lip of the rubber door seal down to the fuse box.The excess cable has been cable tied to an adjacent bracket and the earth cable secured to a metal stud on the bracket.
You can of course use the standard power cable, which is fused at 2A, but this does utilise the only availabe outlet and means the cable is more difficult to hide. Overall, I feel it was worth the trouble for the neater installation.
I did speak to my dealer, Hendy Kia Portsmouth, for advice on the best fuse circuit to use but they just advised any switched circuit. Also Kia Parts Dept could only supply 7.5A fuses and above so maybe that was why one dealer was reluctant to carry out a hard wire installation.
I hope this is helpful to anyone contemplating a hard wire installation.
