(Finished product)
BTW I know about the DONGAR brand and others but thought I show you guys a fun and low cost alternative.
What you’ll need:
12V to 5V DC-DC buck converter
Staple gun steel staples (hammered flat)
Soldering iron, solder, and flux
Heat shrink tubing
Location of installation is completely accessible without tools.
These little converters come in many flavors. I have a Garmin DC 2 mini so I chose one with a male micro USB right angle connecter. I paid $11 for 2 on Amazon. Everything else I had already.
Step 1: prep cable by stripping a little of the insulation and adding solder.
Step 2: solder the converter leads to the flattened staples. Be patient.
Step 3: protect contacts with heat shrink tubing.
Step 4: On my 2017 LC200 I located the black connecter coming from the mirror that connects to the white connecter coming from the headliner. Once unplugged locate the Black, Blue, and Red/ black striped cables on the front of the black connecter.
Black on the mirror harness connecter is ground or negative. Simply push the black lead from the converter into the pin-in with the black cable until it stops.
Blue on the mirror harness connecter is +12 DC switched on with ignition. If you want your device to power on and off with the ignition simply push the red lead from the converter into the pin-in with the blue cable until it stops.
Red on the mirror harness connecter is +12 DC constant. If you want your device to be in an always on configuration simply push the red lead from the converter into the pin-in with the red/ black striped cable until it stops.
Enjoy or run a long cable from you cigarette light to your camera
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