HOW TO | CORRECTLY WIRE A REVERSE CAMERA 

Hi Rumercupcake21, I’m glad you find this video useful! Thanks for watching 😊

Thanks Alfonso, I appreciate you dropping a comment here and the sub of course 😊

Nice! I’m glad this video helped you solve the problem 😊

Thanks Jave, I’m glad you found this useful 😊

You’re welcome Sergei😊

Hi Lionsharz, this was a follow-up video on my reverse camera installation video. Thanks for watching this too 😊

Hi Mohammad, thanks for watching my video. CAN (aka Controller Area Network) is a protocol used by modern cars to communicate between devices or components. The CANbus decoder, decodes these signals to something that the headunit understands. In this instance, the CANbus decodes the reverse gear “signal” and sends 12v to the brown wire which is what I used to turn ‘ON’ the reverse camera. I hope this answered your question. Cheers 😊

Hi Prasanna, I think I answered this question from your other comment. 🙏

Hi Jon, I’m glad you find this useful. When you follow this method, must make sure the two RCA red wires are connected to each other.

@@AutosNGizmos yep! Just finished install! Works beautifully.

@blackfireball5 Awesome!

Thanks mate 😊

Hi Prasanna, Since you are also planning to install a reverse camera for a C-Class (I’m assuming you also have the W203), you can check out my other video on MERCEDES C200 W203 | REVERSE CAMERA INSTALL GUIDE (Link: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uf7iFzxUnoA.html) where I cover that exact topic how to ground the wire that will power-up your reverse camera when you put the car in reverse. In that other video, you can jump to the chapter called “Connecting to Ground” (its on the 20 minutes and 57 seconds mark) where it shows where the ground point is for the C-Class (W203 chassis). If you have a different car, let me know and I can provide you with some pointers how I go about finding the right grounding point. Cheers 👍

Hello ynon, thanks for watching this video. To answer your question accurately, I might need to know what kind of headunit you have on your car. But setting that aside for now, I can provide you with some basic concepts how the reverse camera system works (at least on this particular headunit). There are two things that happen when you see the reverse camera video feed projected on the headunit when you put the car in reverse: 1) The system sends 12V power to the camera to power it up so it can start capturing video. In my case, I get it from the Canbus decoder. 2) Your headunit switches to the reverse camera input video so you can see the video feed. I think this happens by default when it senses a 12V signal on a specific wire. If you want to show the reverse camera feed at a flick of a switch, this is technically possible and I think these are your options (there might be more): OPTION 1 - Constantly feed the camera a 12V power and connect the reverse camera’s Video OUTPUT jack to a Video INPUT in the headunit. When you switch to this VIDEO input on the headunit, you should be able to see the rear facing camera video feed. I wouldn’t recommend this because this will most likely shorten the life of the camera since it is constantly ON. OPTION 2 - Find a constant 12V supply, add a manual switch in then connect it to the reverse camera. If your headunit has a reverse camera input jack and a 12V input trigger (basically to tell it to display the reverse camera video feed, then thats good you can use that. But if it doesn’t, then you might need to find a separate Video INPUT (as per OPTION 1) and manually select this in the headunit. Like I said, without knowing any specific details about your headunit, this is as much information I can provide. One thing that might helpful is to have a multimeter and an external 12V power handy. In this way, you can simulate those conditions to confirm which one will work. I hope you find this helpful and please be careful when testing these options. When done incorrectly, there is a risk that you might destroy your headunit. Feel free to reach out if you have further questions. I am more than happy to help.

@@AutosNGizmos thank you very much. i have a generic Android head unit. and i do have the convenience wire attached to the rca video's input. i thought adding a separate wire to 12v. and also to the camera. with a diode..

Hi DeelitefulJestr, when I tested and installed this on my car a couple of years ago now, the reverse camera seems to receive sufficient signal to power up without any issues.

Hi Kara, it’s really hard to tell based on your description. The only way to be certain is to do a test but you will need a multi-meter test tool

Hi Ds Ms, Yeah it sounded like you are sending constant power to the headunit tricking it that reverse gear is engaged. Try to find a power source that turns On when the car is in reverse gear. It can be the 12v reverse gear trigger on the canbus decoder or the reverse lamp on the tail lights. Good luck 🍀

Hi Michael, yes that the video I’m trying finish which hopefully I can post soon. Is there any specific question you want to ask about travelling the wire from the rear of the car to the headunit?

The reverse camera installation video for this car is now live on my RU-vid channel. Please make sure to check it out here >> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uf7iFzxUnoA.html

ur video is straight foward and understandable but i dont get where i could connect the ground

Hi yrn_sean, thanks for watching my video. I should have probably explained the ground connector because that is as equally important to get right. I might create another explainer video about that in the future. So to answer your question where to connect the ground wire on your 2006 Chrysler 300 (beautiful car by the way). I must preface this with a disclaimer, I don’t own a 300 but I watched video where it shows where it is. I’m basing my answer on that video so I’m not sure if that is correct. But generally speaking, any bare-metal (i.e. no paint) you see on the car should be connected to ground. If you skip directly to 6 minutes and 42 seconds you will see on the top right corner of the frame where several black wires are connected with a single bolt into the body of the car (the one next to the battery). That is your ground. I hope this helps and if you have further questions, just pop them in the comments. Also if you haven’t done so yet, I would appreciate if you can subscribe to my channel. If you are already a subscriber, a million thanks! 🤩 Reference video for Chrysler 300: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-tIC8svZgTPA.htmlsi=S_iQ5DwS9xDHlCa4 Reference video for my car (MB C200) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uf7iFzxUnoA.htmlsi=LpbpnHFHMx4SZaVl

Hi Jamie, Firstly, thanks for watching my video and I hope I can help you with this issue. Is the existing reverse camera also an aftermarket accessory you installed or did it come with the car as an official product option? The reason I’m asking is because I suspect the reverse camera is not properly grounded hence the 12v is unable to power up the reverse camera. If you are not sure which canbus wire to tap into for the reverse power signal, an alternative is tapping into the reverse light bulb. Note: Please take all necessary precautions that you don’t damage the electricals of your car and more importantly that you dont hurt yourself.

@@AutosNGizmos it’s a added camera and I have 12v in the wire when I’m in reverse but I don’t know where to install that wire in the radio harness I have now it’s a 8 inch plug and play for a 08 GMC pickup

Oh I see, now I understand. If you have a multimeter and you can access the wiring harness coming out of the car, you can do a trial-and-error and test which wire returns 12v when you put the car in reverse. Just make sure you have the multimeter connected to the right ground. Alternatively if you cant find the 12v reverse signal from the car’s wiring harness, you can always tap into the reverse light bulb to power the reverse camera. In both cases, you need to have the black/ground wire connected to a proper ground point. I hope this helps and good luck 😊

@@AutosNGizmos update I had to go into the radio and change some settings. It now works but it’s a little fuzzy . Any ideas on how to get a better picture?

Yes this method works as long as you can confirm the RCA red wire on your reverse camera wires as connected to each other. This method has been confirmed to be working by myself and other watchers of this video.

@@AutosNGizmos thanks. I figured out my my android ts7 headunit back camera connection. In my case I get the reverse camera supply directly from the reverse trigger of the head unit. I use the regular video cable without tapping any supply voltage on the rca cable which has a supply wire in it.

Mine has a camera wire, and you need to connect over there, not reverse,

@@freddyalfarodavilla2463 my android headunit is a TS7 and I did not put a supply on the red wire of the video rca.. only the reversing supply I connect to reverse camera input and it worked

The key step in the video is to confirm the red wires on both ends of video cable are connected.

Sounds like you went through a lot there. I may not know all the details about your setup but there are these important things to consider when wiring a reverse camera: 1) The headunit/display needs a 12v signal so it switches video to show reverse camera feed. In my case, this headunit gets it from the canbus decoder. 2) Ideally, you can use the same 12v signal from #1 above to turn on the reverse camera. However, you can also use the reverse light if that is more convenient. 3) You need to properly ground the system. Were are able to make your reverse camera working? Cheers 😊

@@AutosNGizmos unfortunately no , still nothing. Thank you for the tips definitely going to check everything over and grounds and clamp them on tight.

@@kirk422 Ok good luck 🍀

Got the replacement cam installed, works great! Thanks for help, maybe going to remove guidelines by cutting small green loop wire.

@kirk422 Oh thats good news! I’m glad you were able to fix it 😊

What seems to be the problem? 1) Is the headunit switching to the reverse camera video feed and you see a blank screen? 2) Is the headunit NOT switching to the reverse camera feed?

Hi Earl, It was tricky showing the working result in this video because I dont have access to an account external 12v power supply and a tv/display to output the video signal. I know this works because the method I showed here is the exact method I used on my reverse camera install video -> ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uf7iFzxUnoA.htmlsi=brSIZmOBMt4MzKP3 So if you have access to an external 12v DC power and a Tv/display with an RCA video input, you can test the camera this way. In your other post you said the headunit does not detect any video signal from the reverse camera. To me this means the reverse camera is provably not getting 12v, so check that you have properly connected the black wire (ground) to a proper grounding point in the car.

@@AutosNGizmos yes but the camera isn’t working no matter how I try

Yikes! Thanks for pointing that out. In my head I was referring to the black/red striped wire but understand how it maybe misunderstood. I've edited the video and it now says "ground the black wire to a grounding point".

Yeah the the black wire must be connected to body gnd.. the diagram shows double reverse supply one comes from the headunit harness and one comes from the other end close to the camera itself.. if the reverse supply wire on both end is actually connected to each other then why bother make other supply to other end😅

Hi Edward, Thanks for watching this video. I would to know why you think the method I presented in this video is incorrect since this is the method I used to install this exact reverse camera to my W203. Video here: MERCEDES C200 W203 | REVERSE CAMERA INSTALL GUIDE ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-uf7iFzxUnoA.html

Thanks for the tip. I did that on my follow up video when I installed this reverse camera on my C200.