88 Zed Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I recently bought a reversing camera from eBay that fits in as one of the umber plate lights, fitted it at the same time as fitting some car lab LED rear lights in the bumper. At some point ( probably in running the cables to the back of the head unit) I must have shorted out the reversing trigger and popped the reversing light fuse. This was my fault for trying to test the camera before having all the cables secured and connected but anyway this resulted in the car not starting! Just a heads up to anyone who plans on fitting a camera as it took me a while to trace the fault and work out what a massive *#+€#*% I had been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Sorry I know off topic but it is funny, when I recently bought my new double din head unit, reading the reviews and someone had given it 1 star. Was a lady who got the thing installed and was complaining about it not playing DVDs (you need to wire up the parking brake to the unit for that to work which I doubt she did because of the next comment..) and she also complained that the reversing camera didn't work either...she did to be fair write in brackets afterwards as a question whether she had to actually install a camera for it to work 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88 Zed Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Hahaha she probably read "plug and play"! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GappySmeg Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 Ooh, ouch! Got one of those number plate light cameras waiting for a dry day to be installed... apart from not frying your car's electrics, got any other hard-earned tips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88 Zed Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Its pretty straight forward really, I had the bumper off to do my lights so getting the cables through the grommet and into the boot was easy but I can imagine that bit to be fiddly if the bumper was fully attached, you might need to take a few bolts and clips off to get some access. Other that that it's just the yellow video cable to the back of the head unit, tap the power cable into the reversing light power cable and the earth to a decent earthing point and run another cable from the reversing trigger on the back of the head unit to the reversing light power cable. There's a good guide on here somwere, very detailed and pictured. I've worked with cars for the last 10 years and that's the 1st time a blown reversing light fuse has prevented a car from starting! Your always learning in this game haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88 Zed Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Scrap all that, finished off the install today after yesterdays nightmare and the bloody thing displays a blank screen! Any ideas anyone? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 I had that once because when I put everything back together, the power feed from the reverse light had severed, thus not powering the camera and showing me a black screen whilst switched to reverse camera mode on the HU Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88 Zed Posted January 31, 2016 Author Share Posted January 31, 2016 Nice one, ill check that on monday, if not ill plug another camera into it and see whats what Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydbax Posted January 31, 2016 Share Posted January 31, 2016 My tip would be to use a couple of meters of strimmer cable with the wire taped to it to pass the wire through from the inside of the boot through to the hole where you have popped the numberplate light out of. Oh and also make sure you put it in the correct side of the car for the right view Oh and check and double check the wire you splice into for the live feed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenLandy Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Also worth checking that the HU has the right setting - the polarity can be reversed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88 Zed Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Yea i had a play around with the settings on the HU, ive got power to the camera and it changes to the camera mode on the HU when in reverse but no picture Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Double check the video in cable is plugged into correct position on HU? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenLandy Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 The changeover just means that the reverse signal is getting to the HU, doesn't mean there's a signal being sent (or the correct polarity being used). Tried plugging in another camera that's known to work, in order to get the settings right? That or plug the reversing camera lead into a TV or similar, to check it actually works? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenLandy Posted February 1, 2016 Share Posted February 1, 2016 Double check the video in cable is plugged into correct position on HU? Good point - on mine I had orignally plugged it into the connector marked camera, and it was actually meant to be in another (obviously....) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88 Zed Posted February 1, 2016 Author Share Posted February 1, 2016 Sorted, (sort of) it turned out to be a dodgey RCA cable. I pulled the HU out to check connections again and with it pulled halfway out it works so I've folded it so it works for now and I'll have to find another one. Thanks for the input lads! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88 Zed Posted February 4, 2016 Author Share Posted February 4, 2016 Lastes issue :s How do you get the HU to only display the reverse image when its in reverse. Its either on all the time (obviously with no image driving forward) or off and not functioning in reverse! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Floydbax Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 I'd guess it depends on the head unit. I have to switch mine to 'AUX' then it shows :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwanprice12 Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 Double check the video in cable is plugged into correct position on HU? I did this. Had to fiddle about with the coloured jacks (as the jacks with the reversing camera didn't match the colours on the back of the headunit). Found out the hard way after putting everything back (Sat nav, heater controls etc). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted February 4, 2016 Share Posted February 4, 2016 On my pioneer, in the settings there is one for Camera Polarity. There's maybe 3 options, one is for it to switch over when there's a battery signal, can't remember what the other two are. I needed to set mine to battery IIRC for it to auto switch to cam in reverse. Try finding similar and toggling through them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t21moh Posted February 5, 2016 Share Posted February 5, 2016 I will be installing one in a few weeks on my zed so will let u guys know how it goes lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hodaka Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 On my pioneer, in the settings there is one for Camera Polarity. There's maybe 3 options, one is for it to switch over when there's a battery signal, can't remember what the other two are. I needed to set mine to battery IIRC for it to auto switch to cam in reverse. Try finding similar and toggling through them. +1 Ooh, ouch! Got one of those number plate light cameras waiting for a dry day to be installed... apart from not frying your car's electrics, got any other hard-earned tips? My tip is once it's installed, don't fiddle with it unless unavoidable. I tried to unclip it to show my friend (after it's been installed for a few months), and the clip snapped off. It seems pretty brittle. The camera is now held in via a roll of cellotape wedged where the clip was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flex Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 Cant you buy wireless ones? For a few quid more got to be worth the agro reduction. No? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 I've seen a couple of posts about interference on the wireless ones, so worth checking they are hardened to it if you do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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