Best Way To Wire In Reverse Camera?

[Brigante]

I'm going to wire in a reverse camera to my mondeo

When I did it to my focus it was easy as my aftermarket head unit had an input for the camera

On my mondeo though I can not change the factory head unit and it doesnt have a camera input

I have a camera that is built into a number plate light, and I intend to wire the camera directly into the reverse light wire feed.

I will be routing the video wire through the car, to a little 4.3 monitor that i will discreetly mount out the way until needed

My question is really, do I need to connect the monitor to a power supply also, or do I just need to connect the camera to a power supply and the monitor will automatically come on when in reverse gear?

[Micro]

You need a power supply for the monitor also.

[Brigante]

Thoughtso. Does this not cause the monitor to be permanantly on even when not in reverse gear?

[Micro]

Most automotive monitors have probably got an auto-on function - if not, you could wire it to the reverse lights also?

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[Brigante]

was thinking about that, but wouldnt having the monitor and camera wired into the reverse light overload the circuit? maybe have to wire in an extra fuse?

if i was not going to wire the monitor into the reverse light and instead wire it to a local live, i'd probably tap it into the 12v power socket. but i have already wired an additional 12 socket to this.

is there another suitable live source i could tap into in the dash/headlining area?

[troy45]

I'd think you've still got scope for using the reverse light circuit to power the monitor.

For the Focus at least it looks like there's a 10A fuse protecting the circuit, with a 21W reverse bulb taking 1.75A there's lots of spare capacity there. Or if you wanted to play on the safe side then use the reverse lamp feed plus put a smaller fuse inline to the monitor.

[Brigante]

this should suffice shouldnt it?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/In-Line-standard-waterproof-Blade-Fuse-Holder-fuses-10a-10amp-kit-car-boat-bike-/300640464789?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item45ff916f95

[Phil 87]

I'm by no means an electrician, but from a little bit of research I did for wiring in dash cams I have an idea. Would it be possible to connect a relay to the reverse light circuit and use that to switch on a separate circuit for the monitor? I may be talking nonsense so please correct me if that's the case lol.

[Micro]

I'm by no means an electrician, but from a little bit of research I did for wiring in dash cams I have an idea. Would it be possible to connect a relay to the reverse light circuit and use that to switch on a separate circuit for the monitor? I may be talking nonsense so please correct me if that's the case lol.

Exactly what I did, except I switch my center cigarette socket. The lights circuit should have enough oomph though I imagine.

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[jeebowhite]

I did mine (check my build thread) I powered it off a relay, and this powered both cam and and lcd mirror. I just fed two fused lines from the relay going with the wiring to the endpoints.

[Brigante]

would rather not fit a relay if it wasn't absolutely necesary

think i might just tap into the reverse light in the tail gate n add in an inline fuse holder

dont want to route anything into the boot

[jeebowhite]

I just routed it from the boot, triggered by reverse, then going one up the boot to the cam and the other down the car under the doors up the a pillar over to the lcd mirrof

I would trust it maybe to power the cam only buy I wouldn't overload it. But it's the best way to power both matey.

[Micro]

A relay will suck about 200mA to latch, and then 100-200mA to keep it latched.

I'd check to see what current consumption your screen and camera will use together - if less than 200mA then a relay is only going to use the same amount - automotive relays are pretty small, can be screwed to a surface / taped to a surface (preferably metal, they can get a bit warm).

Wrt fuses - use a suitable size fuse to protect the wire - if you are only using wire suitable for 10A over the distance you're running it, use a fuse less than or equal to the rating of the wire. Never exceed that rating.

[Brigante]

I dont think i'm gonna go down the relay route. dont like the idea of it getting hot and i just dont think its needed

had a test run of wiring in the camera tonight

first i tried wiring both the live from the camera and the live from the monitor to the reverse light live, this didnt work amd just resulted in a blank screen

then i tried wiring the live from the camera to the reverse light live, and used the rear fog light live for the monitor

i turned the rear fogs on, and magically the the monitor turned on

however, when i put it in reverse gear, the monitor turned off

so it appears the camera is functioning in reverse of how it should

saying that.. does putting it in reverse gear turn the rear fogs off? as i'm sure they went out. so that explains why the camera went off

i still need to suss out a way of having it so the monitor only comes on when in reverse gear though

why would i not be able to have both the camera and the monitor connected to the reverse light?

[Micro]

My parking sensors work with rear fogs on (aftermarket x-vision). I'll have a look at the wiring diagram when I get home.

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[jeebowhite]

I don't believe reverse affects fogs, I might try it later on... But I muat say my relay doesn't get hot. It's not even on the side of the car, its just laying between the Shell and the boot fabric never had a problem

Honestly it's the easiest way. U fuse tapped live into a spare fuse in the rear box. Reverse closes the circuit and powers both devices. It's on for as long as I'm in reverse and I haven't had any issues at all over the last year in any respect with reverse functionality, or any issues with the cam

[Brigante]

made a discovery into why i couldnt get the reverse camera to turn on in reverse gear..

turned out i was tapping into the wrong wire..

after reading numerous posts around the forum and other forums i was led to believe that the reverse light wire was green, turns out this is the fog light wire.. hence the screen turning on with the fogs and not when selecting reverse

i then tried tapping into what looked like a green/white wire.. wrong again.. this is the side lights..

by process of elimination it turns out the reverse light wire colour is actually black/white

I tapped into this an hey presto the screen now turns on when in reverse gear

now that i finally deduced how to get the camera working i started the faff of routing the video wire from the outside of the tail gate to the inside of the tail gate, through the conduit into the car to the front of the car

all cabling is now in place where it should be so now all thats left to do tomorrow is put the monitor in place where its going to live

oh and reattach the conduit onto the plastic clippy things as by the time i tried doing it it was night and i was trying to do it by torch light. got fed up and abandoned it

[jeebowhite]

yeah I broke my conduit clips lol, and I couldnt thread the wires through the inside of the conduit, so I had to pierce holes on the conduit rubber, and then secure them in and seal the conduit with rubber seal.

[Brigante]

Is there a way of removing the clips so the conduit can be put back on properly and then popping the clips back in?

I tried taping the plug of the video cable to a section of wire coat hanger, thread the coat hanger through relatively with ease then used it to pull the plug through.

Except it was very very tight n plug got jammed half way through the conduit and pulled away from the hanger.

Had to pull the video cable back out the way it went in n lost my patience with it. Simply hacked off the plug, pulled through the beheaded cable streamlined cable n spliced back on the plug once it was in the car

[jeebowhite]

I honestly haven't managed to get the clips back on, so I just water tightened it and it works well enough for me lol but yeah it's a nuisance!

[Brigante]

Not long after I posted that post I actually managed to do it

Dont get me wrong it was a right faff n i partially broke the clips but managed to get them out with the aid of some tiny screw drivers

Popped the clips out completely, attached the conduit back on around the lip n popped the clips back in

All water tight n secure so im happy