Anyone here wire up a dashcam on their XJS properly or know what to do for making the cigarette lighter 'always-on' ? I'm terrified of automotive electrical it's the one thing I can't stand doing...

 

Many different ways to go about this.

If you wanna use the cig lighter and convert it to constant power.......

On these old Jags a solid brown wire is constant "12v +" . If you remove the ski slope you're almost certain find one. Cut, and then splice the cigarette lighter wire (probably light green on your car) into a solid brown wire. Add an inline fuse to the wire; 10 amp should do the trick

If you can't find a solid brown wire in the console you can look elsewhere in the dash or we can explore different options

Cheers
DD

 

Vancouver, you might even find that your cigar socket is always live, mine is.

 

Might add, if you want to leave a dash cam and plan to use the cigar lighter, it may be worth your time to grab a solar charger meant to trickle charger batteries through the cigar lighter.

 

I've wanted a secondary battery, not entirely confident on hooking it up or with isolators etc? My cig lighter is dead unless the key or the running light switch is turned on I was hoping to avoid removing the ski slope thing again...doing the USB plugs was annoying enough, and I'm running out of arm rest lid clips you have to break it to get it out most of the time.

 

They were until 1989-ish. I think it was a mid-year change for '89 cars.

Cheers
DD

 

Hi.
Or You can use 12V to 5V USB converter (it seems like this):
GEREE DC-DC Converter Step Down Module 12V to 5V Micro USB Output Buck Power Adapter | RPiOVN Store
or direct USB output (it seems like this):
https://www.google.cz/search?q=12v+t...=1519130938490
It is necessary to connect to wire that gives 12V continuously after turning on the key.
Or on hard 12V then it will work without the keys.