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Morocco, Rabat
1 Level
682 Review
34 Karma

Review on 🚘 Dongar Technologies Dash Cam Power Adapter for Ford Vehicles with 16-Pin Connection by Chris Scalia

Revainrating 5 out of 5

Works perfectly. in Tools & Equipment

Installed on a 2014 Ford Flex SEL, took 5 minutes, works great. UPDATE: Well, it only "worked great" for a day. I connected it to a Garmin DashCam 55 and it seems that this dongle does not charge the camera battery, the camera turns off after a few hours. I doubt it's an issue with the amount of power available, most likely the camera has some way of detecting its own charger and refusing to charge anything else's battery. UPDATE 2 (December 13, 2020) was quick to offer me a replacement or refund. I gave up on both as I thought the "mirror to dash cam voltage converter" (dongle) was a great idea and suspected there would be a quick fix. I exchanged several emails with Kevin and he was very supportive and concerned about my issue. I'm giving a 5 star rating because it's a great device. After doing a little research, I found that some Garmin DVRs have strange requirements for power cords. You need a 17.5 kΞ© resistor between pins 4 and 5 of the connector. The type of USB connector used by Garmin typically has pin 4 unused and pin 5 grounded. The presence of this resistance tells the device that the currently connected cable is providing power and is capable of powering the device while charging the battery. As I mentioned before, if the resistance is missing, the device will turn on, but the battery will not charge. As soon as the battery is empty, the device switches off. The A17.5k resistor is built into the Micro USB connector on the Garmin power cable. Here's a quick and easy fix if you have soldering skills. Cut off the end of the Garmin micro USB power cable and also the end of the 6 inch micro USB cable that came with the dongle. Solder the end of the Garmin cable to the dongle cable. Since there is a resistor at the end of the Garmin cable, the dongle now charges the battery in the camera. I did that and now my DVR works as it should and is invisible behind the rearview mirror.

Pros
  • GOLS certified
Cons
  • Waiting too long