Thinkware OBD II Power Cable, for Select Dash Cams, Parking Surveillance Mode, Plug-and-Play

The OBD2 cable is a bit pricey but it is also an excellent option to hardwiring. It works great and makes installation basically plug and play. If you're not intimidated by hardwiring, by all means save yourself the money and hardwire but if you want the easiest fool proof wiring option, the OBD2 cable is the thing for you.

I installed a dash cam for a neighbor and used this cable for ease of connectivity. However, since their car is a HONDA HYBRID, the dash cam would not stay on and it kept turning on and off at intermittent times. After the dash cam got hardwired into the fuse box, no other issues came about and the dash cam stayed on.2025 UPDATE!Since last year, there has been a few steps in order to get this cable to work on HYBRIDS and ICE vehicles. First, you plug the cable in and out of the OBD port 3 times while the vehicle is turned on. After that, you MUST ENABLE PARKING MODE in the memory card settings in the free downloadable THINKWARE app where you would have to pull the memory card from the dashcam and inserted it into a computer or laptop or enable it from the THINKWARE app on your smartphone. Make certain to do these 2 steps or PARKING MODE may not work.

Used to have my u1000 fuse tapped into my Honda, but when I transitioned to a 2014 Prius C, I could not get easy access to my fuse box. This item solved that issue and the parking monitor works with it. This is supposed to be able to detect when battery voltage gets too low and stop pulling power to prevent a dead battery in the morning. Time will tell if this function works with this item.

The Thinkware OBD-II connector is the easiest way to provide constant power to your camera. I was going back and forth on buying this cable or tapping into a constant in my fuse box.The problem with going into your fuse box is finding a constant power source that you can tap off of. You'll most likely end up using a fuse tap that piggybacks off of an existing circuit. I believe they're also called "add-a-circuit" taps. My concern on doing something like that is adding excessive load to whatever circuit you're tapping into. Similar to when your home circuit breaker trips because your circuit is overloaded. The fuse could potentially pop at any time while on the road. I'm not saying the Thinkware cameras use a lot of power, but I did have a generic dashcam blow the fuse on my cigarette lighter/aux power. Basically the reason why I now have a Thinkware camera system.This OBD-II power connector eliminated all my concerns. Installation was really easy. You just need an idea on how you're going to route the cable and a little understanding on how car panels are installed and you're good to go. Now I'm able to utilize the parking record and event detection feature on my camera.

This made installation so much easier and cleaner look

It works!

All initial research indicated that this would work for my 2021 Ford Explorer... it did not. Dash cam would constantly power on / off. Return window was too short to return for refund as I dragged my feet on the install, removal, and refund process so now I have to eat the $50 cost. After much additional "research" online. I found that this is quite common. DO NOT PURCHASE IF YOUR VEHICLE HAS PUSH-BUTTON START AND/OR AUTO START/STOP

Works great.