Reversing camera?

[BobbyNoMates]

Hi

ive just bought an after fit reversing camera and would like to wire it, so that it comes on when reverse gear is selected.

I have a twin electrics towbar fitted and was looking at wiring both the monitor and the camera directly into the external towbar accessory plug, via the reverse light feed supplied in there. I was also wondering to add an inline glass fuse between the towbar plug and the reversing camera.

The car is a renault laguna.

So a couple of questions I suppose...

1 - Would it it be ok to wire it up this way?

2 - What size fuse should I use, if required?

Any helpful advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys

 

[tazz]

You can wire to the towbar plug, but I would suggest everything you need would be available at the fuse box. Not knowing the current draw of camera and monitor, I can only guess to fused the supply at 1amp.

 

[ifindoubtdont]

What do the manufacturers destructions say.

 

[BobbyNoMates]

Thanks for the reply.

The reason I thought about the towbar was that being a novice, i thought it might be a safer option.

i was worried about messing about too deep and causing damage. I was also concerned about disrupting any more complex electronics with my limited knowledge and thought that if any relays or other devices needed fitting, then they may have already been fitted with the towbar electrics.

im afraid my knowledge only goes as far a wiring a car stereo, and that was in the olden days when electrics were very basic!

thanks very much for your help.

i think the screen draws 200ma but not sure about the camera. Would it hurt to put a 5amp fuse in, as have some readily available

cheers

 

[BobbyNoMates]

What do the manufacturers destructions say.

It hasn't actually arrived yet, but it did say on the description...'don't wire direct to the car battery...plug into cigarette lighter'

This is not very practical, hence looking at using a fused supply from the towbar plug.

That said, I don't want to damage my car by doing it my way.

thanks

 

[tazz]

5 amp is too high, if monitor is 200mA, the camera will only be abaut 100-150mA, so 1 amp will be fine.

 

[BobbyNoMates]

Ok thanks taz, much appreciated.

 

[telectrix]

't want it on you donlug it in the smoke lighter. you can switch the monitor off if

 

[NickD]

The reason I thought about the towbar was that being a novice, i thought it might be a safer option....and thought that if any relays or other devices needed fitting, then they may have already been fitted with the towbar electrics.

Like your thinking. The only downside will be a quite long and possible tortuous wiring run from the towbar to the monitor.

If possible, break into the towbar wiring system inside the car (but on the towbar side of any relay) rather than outside. Then your joints are in the warm and dry not in the cold and wet.

- - - Updated - - -

't want it on you donlug it in the smoke lighter. you can switch the monitor off if

Bugrit. Millennium hand and shrimp.

 

[BobbyNoMates]

cheers, yeh it is a gonna be a bit of a job running the wires, but that said, I will still have to run the camera wires from the back of the car, to the monitor at the front anyway.

good advice though thanks, and will look at access for wiring on the inside.

 

[BobbyNoMates]

[QUOTE - 't want it on you donlug it in the smoke lighter. you can switch the monitor off if

is that predictive text or broad Yorkshire talk? Ha, got at least half of it anyway!

 

[NickD]

cheers, yeh it is a gonna be a bit of a job running the wires, but that said, I will still have to run the camera wires from the back of the car, to the monitor at the front anyway

It's almost like it's easier to just look out the glass at the back although accepting that some people have bad necks and mobility restrictions etc.

 

[telectrix]

no. it's the stupid pads on the lappy. just have to brush hand on them and text gets jumbled. fed up of pressing Fn and F7 to disable it.

 

[NickD]

no. it's the stupid pads on the lappy. just have to brush hand on them and text gets jumbled. fed up of pressing Fn and F7 to disable it.

You can get free apps that detect when you're typing and inhibit mousepad clicks/activity.

 

[BobbyNoMates]

It's almost like it's easier to just look out the glass at the back although accepting that some people have bad necks and mobility restrictions etc.

Ha...true, or just keep going until the towbar hits something!

Thought it might be good when hitching up to caravan, as often have to do it on my own

 

[BobbyNoMates]

Thanks for the advice anyway guys...I can approach it with a bit more confidence now, and I have others to blame if the car goes up in smoke!

really appreciate it, cheers.

 

[NickD]

I have others to blame if the car goes up in smoke!

Dispute your use of the word "blame", it's a Laguna...

 

[Robotstar5]

Ha...true, or just keep going until the towbar hits something!

Thought it might be good when hitching up to caravan, as often have to do it on my own

The towhitch has always been my answer when asked if I have a reverse parking sensor

Land Rover have the option of a screen with "calibration" marks on to help guide you onto the trailer hitch.

 

[BobbyNoMates]

It's all fitted now. Wasn't as bad routing the wires as first thought. I managed to find the towbar electrics relay, and took the live from the reverse terminal that supply's the 12s plug, also adding an inline fuse. All done inside the car. The camera and screen works a treat as soon as reverse is selected!

Im sure there will have probably been an easier way of doing it, but I think this was the easiest way for me to get my head round.

Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Richard Burns]

Thank you for letting us know how it turned out.

 

[UNG]

Land Rover have the option of a screen with "calibration" marks on to help guide you onto the trailer hitch.

The on screen "calibration marks" are actually from the camera if you get a Discovery 4 rear camera and adapt it to your application you will get the reversing guide lines on screen although the positioning of the camera would need to be similar to the D4. Done this a couple of vehicles and it works well

 

[Robotstar5]

The on screen "calibration marks" are actually from the camera if you get a Discovery 4 rear camera and adapt it to your application you will get the reversing guide lines on screen although the positioning of the camera would need to be similar to the D4. Done this a couple of vehicles and it works well

Hmmm, might have a wander down the production line to where they fit the reversing cameras

They seem to fit them all over some Range Rovers, even got them in the front bumper looking sideways to give you a better view when pulling out of sideroads, just need image recognition software to apply the brakes if they see a motorcyclist!

 

[UNG]

Hmmm, might have a wander down the production line to where they fit the reversing cameras

They seem to fit them all over some Range Rovers, even got them in the front bumper looking sideways to give you a better view when pulling out of sideroads, just need image recognition software to apply the brakes if they see a motorcyclist!

Had an invite to a Land Rover promotion a few years back had a fully load D4 for one of the sessions with all the cameras which was quite impressive

Retro fitted one of these D4 reversing cameras to a mates D3 and the lines are a useful reference when reversing up to trailers or into tight spots

 

[PEG]

...Another useful function of the forward facing cameras on a Range Rover,is the hours of footage you can obtain,of the winch on that recovery truck...:yawn:

 

[mollydog]

hello, I have one of these rear view cameras fitted to my head units, not sure what head unit you have but from my experience, I would not connect it to come on when the gear is in revers, what you will get is the screen go on and off as you try to do a three point turn or go back and forth in to a space, as the screen goes off once you are out of reavers and takes a few more seconds to come on once you are back in revers, I can a sure you after one week you will be pulling your hair out or not bother using it. with my head unit I have the factory fitted reversing camera plug and two Aux in plugs, I connected my rear view camera to one of these Aux plus, so when I'm reversing I can if I wish switch the camera on and it will be on till I have finished needing it.

not sure about your camera but mine came with 2 cables, one for the video signal and another with a black and a red wire for power, both were long enough to thread from the back of the car to the dashboard, myself I wired my camera to switch on when the head unit comes on, so one selection of the Aux in and the rear view camera is on, I'll have a look and see if I have a youtube clip I can link you to

 

[mollydog]

I have had a look but these are the only clips I have that will show what I'm trying to say, they don't show the revers camera in action but will show you the Aux icon I can select to have the rear view camera on

right at the very end, 7 seconds in you will see the two Aux icons on the top left of the screen

ES842a - YouTube

or here in one of their adds, menu 2, top left Aux1 and Aux2




sat3 - YouTube

hope this is of help to you

 

[BobbyNoMates]

hello, I have one of these rear view cameras fitted to my head units, not sure what head unit you have but from my experience, I would not connect it to come on when the gear is in revers, what you will get is the screen go on and off as you try to do a three point turn or go back and forth in to a space, as the screen goes off once you are out of reavers and takes a few more seconds to come on once you are back in revers, I can a sure you after one week you will be pulling your hair out or not bother using it. with my head unit I have the factory fitted reversing camera plug and two Aux in plugs, I connected my rear view camera to one of these Aux plus, so when I'm reversing I can if I wish switch the camera on and it will be on till I have finished needing it.

not sure about your camera but mine came with 2 cables, one for the video signal and another with a black and a red wire for power, both were long enough to thread from the back of the car to the dashboard, myself I wired my camera to switch on when the head unit comes on, so one selection of the Aux in and the rear view camera is on, I'll have a look and see if I have a youtube clip I can link you to

Yeh, i what you mean! However it doesn't matter too much to me, as i don't use it all the time. Only when hitching up, or when I really need to. I'm quite pleased with the setup as it is...but can understand your frustration if it's something you use all the time.

cheers

 

[mollydog]

my error for not fully understanding your needs maybe a thought for the future, if you want to keep an eye on the coupling without having it in revers

 

[BobbyNoMates]

my error for not fully understanding your needs maybe a thought for the future, if you want to keep an eye on the coupling without having it in revers

No, it's a good point. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to do for the best regarding wiring. Lucky for me though, the way I have wired it wouldn't be too much hassle to change to permanently on if it niggles me.

I can see it could be an advantage to have it permanently on.