Hi all,
So I decided it was time to upgrade my old Blackvue DR750S 2-channel (1080p front and rear) and its accompanying Cellink B battery pack. I wanted 4K front, 2K rear, 2K interior, along with a Sony Starvis 2 sensor and HDR and the only setup that checked all of those boxes was the new Viofo A329S. Blackvue has dual channel 4K/1080p stuff with the Starvis 2, but they only just released a new version with HDR capabilities, and they have nothing with three channels (plus the rear is still only 1080p). For the battery I decided on a BlackboxMyCar Powercell 8.
I already had a switched fusetap from the engine bay to power my old battery. However, when hardwired, the Powercell 8 can pull up to 9A (and in some testing I saw, a tad more than that). While that is great for rapidly charging the dashcam battery, I did not want that much draw on the fuse panel, so following the advice of RetroCarGuy530 on YouTube (he does really great reviews - I highly recommend him), I opted to run another line in from the engine bay, use a heavier gauge wire than what comes with the battery pack, and installed a relay under my dash. The old fusetap now just acts like a switch for the relay (car is off, switch disconnects the throughput, car is on, switch changes state and the power doth flow), and there's now a 12AWG wire all the way from the positive battery terminal (with an inline fuse to protect the line), through the relay, and to the Powercell 8. The wiring they include is just a bit undergauged, and that amperage draw through the fuse panel seemed a bad idea, so this completely solved that.
Powercell 8 Dashcam Battery Pack Review / Testing
Powercell 8 under the driver's seat. That input power cable is now 12AWG compared to the stock harness that is only 16AWG.
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There are so many dashcam installation posts (including ones I have contributed to) that I did not take photos of running all the wires up the a-pillars, which is pretty standard fare these days. If you just want to use a hardwire kit for the camera itself (rather than a battery pack), then you will need to tap both a constant power (there are some under the dash and in the engine bay) as well as a switched power circuit (can be found in the engine bay fuse panel), along with a ground. When wired this way, the camera goes into parking mode when the engine is switched off, but it's running on your car's battery until (ostensibly) either the timer setting runs down, or the voltage from the battery drops to some predetermined setting, and then the camera would switch off to protect the car's battery.
WIth a dashcam battery, your car's battery only ever comes into play to charge the dashcam battery pack, and that only happens when the car is running. Fully charged, the battery pack can potentially power the camera in parking mode for days (depending on parking mode settings). Once the dashcam battery pack runs out of juice, the camera would shut down.
Anyway, the rear camera uses a coaxial cable (smaller and easier to run that USB cables that some cameras use), and I ran that just like I did with the old Blackvue. Across the headliner, down the a-pillar, along the sill plates, up the c-pillar, and around into the hatch.
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Below is where you feed the cable through the wiring grommet. The right side had fewer wires than the left, but it's still a snug fit. You need to use either a small flat screwdriver or - preferably - a plastic shim (to keep the paint safe) to release those little tabs you can see on the white plastic bits. They release easily and once you've pressed in each of the ones facing you, the grommet should pop out of it's hole. I just used a small length of 12AWG wire (still in its sleeve) to feed through and then attach the coaxial cable to. Then just slowly pull it back through while helping it through the flexible accordian part of the rubber sleeve.
![Image]()
The plastic panel that cover this part just pulls straight off. There are about a half-dozen clips that hold it in place. Just leave a small length of wire for the rear camera and secure the rest of the cable to other wires or the sheetmetal so it doesn't bounce around in there and make noise.
![Image]()
![Image]()
And here's the two cameras up front. The main box is the front facing camera and everything else plugs into it. The smaller camera to the left of the rearview mirror is an interior fisheye. Great if you're an uber driver or something (I am not), but also does a fantastic job of looking out all of the windows so you can see stuff to the side of your car (along with recording any encounters you may have at your window with police, road ragers, etc.)
The two smaller wires attached to the right side of the front camera are the feeds for the rear and the interior fisheye. The cable at the back is the power feed. The cable coming out of the left side is another reason I bought this camera. While it can use SD cards to record onto (up to 512GB), you can also attach an external SSD (up to 4TB). I have a 2TB Samsung T7 Shield drive hidden away under the dash that the Viofo records everything to. I still have a small SD card in the camera in case some enterprising thief decides to steal the card (thinking they now have all the recordings). If I want pull recordings, I can either download them via 5G WiFi from the camera, or I can just unplug the SSD from the other end of that USB cable and connect it to my computer and grab them that way.
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Review of the A329S and A329T models
Review of the A329S Interior Fisheye
So I decided it was time to upgrade my old Blackvue DR750S 2-channel (1080p front and rear) and its accompanying Cellink B battery pack. I wanted 4K front, 2K rear, 2K interior, along with a Sony Starvis 2 sensor and HDR and the only setup that checked all of those boxes was the new Viofo A329S. Blackvue has dual channel 4K/1080p stuff with the Starvis 2, but they only just released a new version with HDR capabilities, and they have nothing with three channels (plus the rear is still only 1080p). For the battery I decided on a BlackboxMyCar Powercell 8.
I already had a switched fusetap from the engine bay to power my old battery. However, when hardwired, the Powercell 8 can pull up to 9A (and in some testing I saw, a tad more than that). While that is great for rapidly charging the dashcam battery, I did not want that much draw on the fuse panel, so following the advice of RetroCarGuy530 on YouTube (he does really great reviews - I highly recommend him), I opted to run another line in from the engine bay, use a heavier gauge wire than what comes with the battery pack, and installed a relay under my dash. The old fusetap now just acts like a switch for the relay (car is off, switch disconnects the throughput, car is on, switch changes state and the power doth flow), and there's now a 12AWG wire all the way from the positive battery terminal (with an inline fuse to protect the line), through the relay, and to the Powercell 8. The wiring they include is just a bit undergauged, and that amperage draw through the fuse panel seemed a bad idea, so this completely solved that.
Powercell 8 Dashcam Battery Pack Review / Testing
Powercell 8 under the driver's seat. That input power cable is now 12AWG compared to the stock harness that is only 16AWG.
There are so many dashcam installation posts (including ones I have contributed to) that I did not take photos of running all the wires up the a-pillars, which is pretty standard fare these days. If you just want to use a hardwire kit for the camera itself (rather than a battery pack), then you will need to tap both a constant power (there are some under the dash and in the engine bay) as well as a switched power circuit (can be found in the engine bay fuse panel), along with a ground. When wired this way, the camera goes into parking mode when the engine is switched off, but it's running on your car's battery until (ostensibly) either the timer setting runs down, or the voltage from the battery drops to some predetermined setting, and then the camera would switch off to protect the car's battery.
WIth a dashcam battery, your car's battery only ever comes into play to charge the dashcam battery pack, and that only happens when the car is running. Fully charged, the battery pack can potentially power the camera in parking mode for days (depending on parking mode settings). Once the dashcam battery pack runs out of juice, the camera would shut down.
Anyway, the rear camera uses a coaxial cable (smaller and easier to run that USB cables that some cameras use), and I ran that just like I did with the old Blackvue. Across the headliner, down the a-pillar, along the sill plates, up the c-pillar, and around into the hatch.
Below is where you feed the cable through the wiring grommet. The right side had fewer wires than the left, but it's still a snug fit. You need to use either a small flat screwdriver or - preferably - a plastic shim (to keep the paint safe) to release those little tabs you can see on the white plastic bits. They release easily and once you've pressed in each of the ones facing you, the grommet should pop out of it's hole. I just used a small length of 12AWG wire (still in its sleeve) to feed through and then attach the coaxial cable to. Then just slowly pull it back through while helping it through the flexible accordian part of the rubber sleeve.
The plastic panel that cover this part just pulls straight off. There are about a half-dozen clips that hold it in place. Just leave a small length of wire for the rear camera and secure the rest of the cable to other wires or the sheetmetal so it doesn't bounce around in there and make noise.
And here's the two cameras up front. The main box is the front facing camera and everything else plugs into it. The smaller camera to the left of the rearview mirror is an interior fisheye. Great if you're an uber driver or something (I am not), but also does a fantastic job of looking out all of the windows so you can see stuff to the side of your car (along with recording any encounters you may have at your window with police, road ragers, etc.)
The two smaller wires attached to the right side of the front camera are the feeds for the rear and the interior fisheye. The cable at the back is the power feed. The cable coming out of the left side is another reason I bought this camera. While it can use SD cards to record onto (up to 512GB), you can also attach an external SSD (up to 4TB). I have a 2TB Samsung T7 Shield drive hidden away under the dash that the Viofo records everything to. I still have a small SD card in the camera in case some enterprising thief decides to steal the card (thinking they now have all the recordings). If I want pull recordings, I can either download them via 5G WiFi from the camera, or I can just unplug the SSD from the other end of that USB cable and connect it to my computer and grab them that way.
Review of the A329S and A329T models
Review of the A329S Interior Fisheye
