Help with wiring backup camera
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 118
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From: N. Illinois
Help with wiring backup camera
So I'm not afraid to tackle nontraditional jobs, but electrical wiring is not one of my strong suits and I was hoping to get a bit of advice.
I want to wire up a backup camera to the rear tail light reverse wire. I looked at the wiring diagrams in the tech folder but I don't speak E.E. apparently. I took a picture of my reverse bulb and attached it below. Two wires, one all black, and one black/pink. Anyone know which one I should wire my camera power to?
Thanks,
Karen
I want to wire up a backup camera to the rear tail light reverse wire. I looked at the wiring diagrams in the tech folder but I don't speak E.E. apparently. I took a picture of my reverse bulb and attached it below. Two wires, one all black, and one black/pink. Anyone know which one I should wire my camera power to?
Thanks,
Karen
New User
Joined: Sep 2014
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black with pink should be the power side. you can always verify by using a test light and hooking the clamp to the chrome bumper then probe the BLK/PNK. depending on the camera setup up you may want to tap into the power for the trailer connector.
New User
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 4
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Correct. Put you meter on dc 12v connect the black lead to a good ground(chrome bumpers make for great grounds) then touch the red lead to the terminals in the socket 1 at a time and chick ever one shows 12v on the Meter with the vehicle in reverse is your power side.
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 118
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From: N. Illinois
Ugh, one more question please. Red lead that supplies power to the camera goes to pink/black wire of bulb. Does the black lead then connect to the black wire of bulb, or do I need to find a ground on the body to connect it to?
Laughing Gas
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,219
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Are you doing a wireless camera or hardwiring from camera to screen? BTW post up how the camera is working out and which one you bought. I've wanted to do one of these for a while just never pulled the trigger.
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New User
Joined: Sep 2014
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I ran my ground seperate to the ground bolt on the driver side of the frame next to the spare tire, it's the ground for your tail lights. I ran an oem 08 superduty handle camera on a 13 tailgate to my in dash. I drew power from the 12v supply for the trailer tow connector then the head unit gets the reverse light trigger
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Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 118
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From: N. Illinois
It is wireless, so the transmitter also has red and black wires that I need to hok up. I'm assuming they go to the same place the wires from the camera connect to?
Cargo Master
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,066
Likes: 4
From: North Texas
You can power the transmitter from the bulb + and - if you want, I dont believe they take much power. I personally did what everyone else here is suggesting and tapped into the trailer reverse wire behind the bumper. You have a lot of wire to splice into there vs the short run going to the bulb itself. Follow the big round trailer plug back until you get to a connector about 3 feet down the wiring bundle, you can unplug it there and pull it out for easy access to the right wire. It is also less wiring to run when you tap in here as it is right there where you want to mount the transmitter I always tie the camera power and transmitter power together and run them both to the same reverse light power when doing wireless installs. I prefer hard wired cameras though as the signal is cleaner and I don't have to power two devices. Let us know how its working when you get it hooked up.
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 118
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From: N. Illinois
Thanks everyone for the help. Less than successful outcome. Everything powers up, but first the monitor blinked on and off every second, then I finally got a video feed but it looks bad. Colors are messed up and the bottom of the screen is blurry. Don't know if it's the monitor, the camera, or the wireless transmitters. Yuck. This troubleshooting is going to stink.
Cargo Master
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,066
Likes: 4
From: North Texas
Step one for troubleshooting that is to isolate the power to the transmitter. Power it from an external source and see if it improves. If so you might need a better ground or power connection. What system do you have?
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 118
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From: N. Illinois
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 118
Likes: 0
From: N. Illinois
I think you are right. that would explain the flickering and crappy picture. I am looking on Amazon for one with 12V output now.