Wiring for camera

[Alan Zoff]

I have a RH drive LDV van in the UK used by all in the family for runs to the tip, picking up bulky purchases, helping the kids' friends and half of Gloucestershire to move house, etc, etc and at least once a year to cart stuff back and forth between UK and French houses.

The van does not have electrically operated mirrors so, given the lack of visibility on the passenger side, particularly at junctions at an angle to the road being joined, I normally make sure I have a passenger with me when driving in France. However, this isn't always possible so I think I have found a use for a reversing camera kit I have had for a while but have never fitted. The plan is to mount both the 7" monitor and the camera on the dashboard, the latter near to the passenger door window, and wiring directly to power rather than via the reversing lights. I will then be able to check the left hand view via the monitor, with the camera "looking" through the passenger door window.

As ever, I am unsure about the wiring aspects. The crude diagram in the Chinese leaflet is confusing to me, particularly as none of the leads are labelled. (I suffer with a "blindness" when it comes to diagrams, graphs, etc.)

Surprisingly to me, the camera and monitor appear to require independent power sources - I would have expected one to feed the other. The leaflet seems to suggest connecting them to the cigar lighter socket. I normally use that for the satnav but have a splitter to create 2 sockets. I don't really want to have 3 and I wonder if it is a case of splicing the power cables together, observing polarity of course. The kit comes with bare wires for the power leads anyway and it would mean soldering them to suitable plugs for the cigar lighter so splicing and soldering to one plug would seem much easier. I always get confused though about series and parallel connections and thought I should check that splicing wouldn't affect resistance and cause a voltage(?) problem.

I would be most grateful if someone could put me straight on that before I cause any damage.

[AnOther]

If it's a reversing camera kit it makes perfect sense for the camera and monitor to be powered separately but ultimately they they both work off the same 12v so yes, just splice the power leads together and job done.

[Alan Zoff]

Thanks for that. I will press ahead now.

I think I had in mind the warnings I was given when I used to experiment with hi-fi speaker construction some years ago. Parallel connections could upset the amplifier. But presumably not a concern with what I am doing here.

[PaulT]

The norm is for the reversing camera to be powered by the reversing lamps, hence it only operates when reverse is selected - both would normally be located at the rear.

[AnOther]

Paralleling loudspeakers and potentially presenting too low an impedance to an amplifier is a wholly different situation.

[Alan Zoff]

Thanks again for the comments. Yes, the need (when used for its intended purpose) to power the camera via the reverse light wiring dawned on me after I had posted but too late to withdraw the daft sentence. I was fooled by the wiring diagram which shows both the monitor and the camera connected to cigar lighter plugs.

So all should be working now, but unfortunately not. I am pretty sure I have wired it up as indicated but the monitor just flashes a blue screen with no image. I have checked that there is 12V at both the monitor and the camera but only had a few minutes to play this evening so will try again tomorrow. From what I have picked up from Googling, it seems likely that the camera is not sending a signal to the monitor (they are connected with a long RCA type lead)

[Alan Zoff]

It was just a dodgy connection on the back of the cigar lighter socket. Nothing wrong with the camera kit which now works a treat.

This will have been a completely boring thread for most readers but if anyone is faced with a similar predicament (i.e. driving a RH drive panel van solo on the continent), I can recommend it as a cheap and simple solution. The kit cost £20 on Ebay. And when I stop using the van, I can transfer it to one of the cars to use as it was originally intended.

But for now it's boulevard peripherique, here I come.

[powerdesal]

Just an ''off the wall'' thought.

You could mount the camera on a short arm, facing forward, on the passenger side of a RHD vehicle which would replicate a passenger who checks if it clear to overtake.

Are such cameras weatherproof ?

[Théière]

Any modifications to the vehicle?

Yes I have a reversing camera in the passenger side window [:D]

[Alan Zoff]

Doesn't everyone?

Camera is weatherproof but I have it on an adjustable plastic arm I have screwed to the dashboard, facing sideways and slightly to the rear. It has 170 degree viewing angle so, combined with the door mirror, I seem to have everything covered. Surprisingly clear colour picture on the monitor, given the low price. It is already proving useful at awkward junctions in the UK - the test comes next week when I hit Paris.

It's not the first time the van has been fitted with a camera as it started life as a police surveillance vehicle. The hardware had been removed but I stripped out the wiring and a console when I bought the van.