What fuse to tap for Dash cam wiring + 2016 silverado

DeathByNissan55 · June 17, 2020

I have a 2016 silverado.

Already have my rexing v3 dash cam installed, just haven't landed the wires because i'm not sure which fuses to replace with my harness.

My harness can be found here:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RN24B7V/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Here is the owners manual. go to page 406 for it to tell you which fuse box I'm running to and what each fuse is for (I'm running to the Left Instrument Cluster Fuse Block, left side of the dash, the door covers it when its closed):
http://www.american-automobile.com/2016_silverado.pdf

I really really REALLY hope I dont have to run it to the other fuse block instead since I already ran it over to the left one cleanly.

Right now my harness comes with 2x ATM style fuse taps, I know that this fuse box has micro fuses in it as well so I am prepared to cutt off the provided fuse taps to install the ones I have.

The picture in the amazon add describes that the yellow wire is for constant 12VDC power regardless of door being open/closed or ign being on/off, and red is for switching ignition power that only comes on when you have the key on.

I am getting zero support from the dealer, the mftr of the dashcam has provided me as much help as they can but they obviously dont want to take responsibility in case what they tell me affects another system which is understandable.

I reached out to a mobile car audio/electronics installer and they only seem to hardwire install things which I dont want to do. The fuse taps take the place of the fuse is a much more reliable method as this dash cam draws almost no power, and its completely reversible in case I sell my vehicle.

Hope someone can help me out.

DeathByNissan55 · June 17, 2020

oh and obviously i can't test this properly because I need to be able to test with the door closed....which isnt possible without tricking truck into thinking the door is closed....which on newer vehicles I dont know how to do. Older vehicles they'd have that plunger that gets pushed on my the door when it is closed, but I dont think these do that that way anymore.

Hoping someone just happens to have service manual or something and can tell me what the purpose of the fuses in that box are IN DETAIL so we know if its constant vs constant retained, or ignition or ignition retrained. I know retained is that period where you turn the car off but haven't opened the door yet, and I DONT want to run on that. I need the constant all the time 12vdc and switched ign with key only regardless of the door being opened or closed.

DominatorZ71 · June 17, 2020

2 minutes ago, DeathByNissan55 said:

oh and obviously i can't test this properly because I need to be able to test with the door closed....which isnt possible without tricking truck into thinking the door is closed....which on newer vehicles I dont know how to do. Older vehicles they'd have that plunger that gets pushed on my the door when it is closed, but I dont think these do that that way anymore.

Hoping someone just happens to have service manual or something and can tell me what the purpose of the fuses in that box are IN DETAIL so we know if its constant vs constant retained, or ignition or ignition retrained. I know retained is that period where you turn the car off but haven't opened the door yet, and I DONT want to run on that. I need the constant all the time 12vdc and switched ign with key only regardless of the door being opened or closed.

This may not help at all but there is another thread for this subject that involves spare constant power fuse slots. I cut out the fuse on mine and tapped into the radio fuse. Dashcam comes on when the key is on and off when off.

DeathByNissan55 · June 17, 2020

2 minutes ago, DominatorZ71 said:

This may not help at all but there is another thread for this subject that involves spare constant power fuse slots. I cut out the fuse on mine and tapped into the radio fuse. Dashcam comes on when the key is on and off when off.

Could you link it?

This is in the left instrument cluster fuse block? This would get me halfway there.

Also, the fuses that come in the harness are both 15A mini's since I forgot to mention it

DominatorZ71 · June 17, 2020

1 minute ago, DeathByNissan55 said:

Could you link it?

This is in the left instrument cluster fuse block? This would get me halfway there.

Also, the fuses that come in the harness are both 15A mini's since I forgot to mention it

Yes, one minute let me find the link, also yes my Rexing came with 1 fuse but I didn't want to go through the extra work of making it turn off with the key so I removed the fuse and tapped the wire into the fuse

DeathByNissan55 · June 17, 2020

@DominatorZ71, The reason I need a constant and switched is because this dash cam will auto come on if it feels the vehicle has been bumped into (I'm guessing via accelerometers or something) even when the vehicle is off (as long as the battery is connected and isnt dead). When wired this way it draws some power but almost nothing. I use it every day so I'm not worried about it killing my battery. The other benefit to using the fuse tap is that if I need to let the truck sit in storage for a while or something and I dont want it to kill battery, I can just pull the constant 12VDC fuse.....but if i was going to be storing it i would put the battery on a tender anyways....so either way not a worry for me.

And then the switched is for when you're actually driving.

DominatorZ71 · June 17, 2020

https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/204942-2016-silverado-dash-cam-and-power-options/#comment-2032312

DeathByNissan55 · June 17, 2020

1 minute ago, DominatorZ71 said:

..., also yes my Rexing came with 1 fuse but I didn't want to go through the extra work of making it turn off with the key so I removed the fuse and tapped the wire into the fuse

JUST A HEADS UP, someone did that to this truck with the fuse box in the engine compartment (I'm guessing for external lights or something).

You can PERMANENTLY screw up the fingers that the fuse slides into by jamming a wire in with the fuse....this caused my truck to lose power and not start intermittently and ended up being covered by my ext. warranty where they replaced the ENTIRE engine bay fuse box and harness.....all because someone decided to jam a wire in with a fuse. Definitely do the fuse tap, preferably the one that you can replace the fuse independently so you don't have to cut out the whole fuse tap if you pop the fuse on accident.

I didnt have the truck for like a week, so it can definitely affect plans haha

DeathByNissan55 · June 17, 2020

7 minutes ago, DominatorZ71 said:

https://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/204942-2016-silverado-dash-cam-and-power-options/#comment-2032312

Oh yea I read that one, it doesn't get me my switched power with confidence though, its just a guess. But like you said, this will give me my constant 12VDC.

catpartsman · June 17, 2020

Ill look at my 15 fine box and see which ones I used and post back.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

DeathByNissan55 · June 23, 2020

So far, @catpartsman said to use fuse position 9 for constant power, and then position 31 for switched/ignition power. (9 and 31 are from the fuse list in the owners manual that I linked above). Position 9 just has a dash for description, so I'm not sure its populated. This might just be a difference between 2015 and my 2016. He also believes these require Micro style fuses, not ATM (mini).

I will confirm when I get home (if I remember haha)

DeathByNissan55 · June 28, 2020

They are in fact ATR micro fuses.

However, I'm not getting it to work. Going to see if its my fuse taps.

DeathByNissan55 · June 29, 2020

Was able to verify that those in the left fuse block work as described (did not test if any of them go away after a while with the key off though) on my 2016 silverado....However, the camera is still not coming.

So either my crimps are bad for the fuse taps or the little harness module is dead. I reached out to Rexing regarding it not working, waiting for them to respond.

I will be probing the wires after the crimps to see if the crimps are good or not. If its good, then i'm guessing the harness was a dud out of the box or my camera doesnt like the harness for some reason.

I did verify the camera works with the cigarette adapter, but I want to hide it away while not taking up my outlets in the truck, so hence the harness purchase.

SO long story short:
When using the left side fuse block between driver door and dash

- fuse position 9 has constant power (has a 15A ATR style fuse (called Micro blade fuse))

- fuse position 31 has switched/ignition power (has a 10A ATR style fuse)

Whether it can be used long term on a 2016 I cannot vouch for yet, but it works for @catpartsman in his 2015.

DeathByNissan55 · June 30, 2020

Turns out I was using the fuse tap incorrectly.

For those that are trying to use the fuse taps from autozone from Eaton Bussmann, here are some instructions for how it works since their packaging doesn't say it (ignore Lumision):

The pictures advertised only show one fuse in it so thats what I did. That was not correct.

Once I actually probed on it, here is what I found:

- The top right slot, closest to the wire, has continuity constantly with the wire.
- The top left slot will only have continuity once you have a fuse inserted.

- The top left and bottom left slots and the left blade have continuity constantly.

- The bottom right slot and the right blade have continuity constantly.

DeathByNissan55 · July 14, 2020

So I've had it in for a couple weeks now and it works...mostly.

Sometime when I get in and start the truck, it seems like its actually working but instead of seeing the Rexing logo, its just all white screen and will stay that way until you power off. But the recording light still blinks and it makes the same chimes when you power on and power off, I still have to check the memory to see if its recording on the days that its all white. Even if I power cycled it it wouldnt go away, it usually goes back to normal the next time I use the vehicle or the next day.

Another time, the image was rotated and somewhat off screen, but once I power cycled it it went back to normal.

And I understand this is 100% because of COVID, but Rexing customer service is super slow right now. I dont hold it against them cuz of COVID, but still annoying.

Still waiting for answer on what size fuse to use just for the camera circuit. The fuse size they note is for a combined existing circuit plus the camera circuit, so if i were to reuse the same sized fuse just for the camera circuit - it would most likely be oversized.