Failed to install reverse camera

[silviaz]

Hi all, so I tried to install my new pioneer reverse camera into my head unit which is also pioneer and as per the photos, I used twisted the red wire (which is the 12 volt one) with the purple reverse wire where I snipped off the metal end and wrapped some tape around both wires before soldering it to see if I could get a signal, I also got some sand paper and scratched a metal part behind the head unit and just put some tape over it so it grounds before soldering it, but it isn't showing any signal. Where did I go wrong?

 

Worth noting, the purple wire looks like copper and the red wire looks like just regular metal? In the photo you can also see the yellow and brown rca connected and on the tag it says "rear review camera in" which I joined together and connected one end on the back of the head unit. One small question, that metal part where the black wire is sitting, will that rust because it's bare metal now?

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by silviaz

[Duncan]

I just had some trouble with this myself with a different unit. Couple of questions

What is the wiring meant to be; is there a diagram you can post?

What is the problem, does the head unit not switch to reverse when you put it in reverse?

What were you trying to do with the red and purple wires?

Your ground will develop surface rust pretty quickly but it won't stop it working. You will need to mount your ground properly but I assume you are still testing for now. Simply run a self tapper into that steel dashboard support and put an eyelet to suit on the ground

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, Duncan said:

I just had some trouble with this myself with a different unit. Couple of questions

What is the wiring meant to be; is there a diagram you can post?

What is the problem, does the head unit not switch to reverse when you put it in reverse?

What were you trying to do with the red and purple wires?

Your ground will develop surface rust pretty quickly but it won't stop it working. You will need to mount your ground properly but I assume you are still testing for now. Simply run a self tapper into that steel dashboard support and put an eyelet to suit on the ground

 

What is the wiring meant to be; is there a diagram you can post? - There is a diagram but it's not the best as there are cables from my head unit that are required as I understand

What is the problem, does the head unit not switch to reverse when you put it in reverse? - no video signal at all. 

What were you trying to do with the red and purple wires? - I twisted them together so the camera knows I'm in reverse gear. The purple wire is the reverse wire, and the red wire is the 12v+ wire. I got told I needed to put them together.

Your ground will develop surface rust pretty quickly but it won't stop it working. You will need to mount your ground properly but I assume you are still testing for now. Simply run a self tapper into that steel dashboard support and put an eyelet to suit on the ground - with this, should I put some primer on the exposed parts? I was trying to solder my connection on that part before but was unable to. So might look for an easier place to ground it.

[GTSBoy]

Did you solder a bare wire to bare steel? Crazy. Do as @Duncan said. Even better, there's already a bolted connection right there that you could slip a eyelet under.

 

As to the copper wire / plain wire question.....the silver coloured wire will be tinned/plated copper. Still copper underneath.

[silviaz]

1 minute ago, GTSBoy said:

Did you solder a bare wire to bare steel? Crazy. Do as @Duncan said. Even better, there's already a bolted connection right there that you could slip a eyelet under.

 

As to the copper wire / plain wire question.....the silver coloured wire will be tinned/plated copper. Still copper underneath.

That was what I was trying to do lol. Is the way I tried to do it dangerous or?

[silviaz]

3 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Did you solder a bare wire to bare steel? Crazy. Do as @Duncan said. Even better, there's already a bolted connection right there that you could slip a eyelet under.

 

As to the copper wire / plain wire question.....the silver coloured wire will be tinned/plated copper. Still copper underneath.

So would I get an eyelet and put the bare wire underneath it and the force of the screw would weigh it down?

[Duncan]

OK....I guess maybe you haven't done much wiring before. Grab a cheap set like this:

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-crimping-tool-kit---151-pieces/562987.html#q=crimp&lang=en_AU&start=2

Use one with an eyelet end on the ground wire, and either drill a self tapping screw into the steel dash support to hold it or as GTSBoy said, undo the nut that is holding the plastic part on and slip the eyelet under that, it will be held tight like a washer. Soldering wire to something big and heavy like the dash support is unlikely to work long (if at all). That might be your only problem

While you are at your preferred auto parts shop buying the crimp set, buy a cheap multimeter like this:

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-multimeter-digital---automotive/4405.html#q=multimeter&lang=en_AU&start=1

Turn it to 12v DC mode, put the black probe on your earth and the red probe on the reverse signal wire from the car, you should have 0v. Put the car in reverse with ignition on and you should have 12v. If you don't, your reverse signal is not OK (either the earth or the reverse signal itself)

[Duncan]

hmm on third thoughts, that wiring diagram really might help

Is the red wire only connected to your reverse camera's wire, and is the purple wire only from your head unit?  Is there any connection at the camera end of the reverse camera?

You will need to find a reverse signal from the car. That is often at the reverse camera where you can tap into the reverse light. Alternatively if your dash has a reverse signal (eg auto dash) you can find and tap into that. Otherwise you have to find it in the wiring loom somewhere which may not be easy

[silviaz]

47 minutes ago, Duncan said:

OK....I guess maybe you haven't done much wiring before. Grab a cheap set like this:

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-crimping-tool-kit---151-pieces/562987.html#q=crimp&lang=en_AU&start=2

Use one with an eyelet end on the ground wire, and either drill a self tapping screw into the steel dash support to hold it or as GTSBoy said, undo the nut that is holding the plastic part on and slip the eyelet under that, it will be held tight like a washer. Soldering wire to something big and heavy like the dash support is unlikely to work long (if at all). That might be your only problem

While you are at your preferred auto parts shop buying the crimp set, buy a cheap multimeter like this:

https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/sca-sca-multimeter-digital---automotive/4405.html#q=multimeter&lang=en_AU&start=1

Turn it to 12v DC mode, put the black probe on your earth and the red probe on the reverse signal wire from the car, you should have 0v. Put the car in reverse with ignition on and you should have 12v. If you don't, your reverse signal is not OK (either the earth or the reverse signal itself)

Here is the wiring diagram. I was curious, the camera should work without a ground technically yeah?

[silviaz]

45 minutes ago, Duncan said:

hmm on third thoughts, that wiring diagram really might help

Is the red wire only connected to your reverse camera's wire, and is the purple wire only from your head unit?  Is there any connection at the camera end of the reverse camera?

You will need to find a reverse signal from the car. That is often at the reverse camera where you can tap into the reverse light. Alternatively if your dash has a reverse signal (eg auto dash) you can find and tap into that. Otherwise you have to find it in the wiring loom somewhere which may not be easy

Yep the red wire is only connected the the purple reverse wire (which comes from the plug and play cable behind the head unit. There is a connector end on the camera end as per the diagram I sent above.

[GTSBoy]

18 minutes ago, silviaz said:

the camera should work without a ground technically yeah?

No. You can't power something with just 12V. You need somewhere for the electrons to go.

[silviaz]

Just now, GTSBoy said:

No. You can't power something with just 12V. You need somewhere for the electrons to go.

Ah ok, I didn't realize that, thanks for letting me know. I thought ground was just for discharging extra electricity. I'll try again with the recommendations above. With the 12v wire I believe that's only for when the gear is in reverse so I guess it should work without it? I thought the power cable is that one that attached into the head unit.

[GTSBoy]

So the RCA is of course the video signal cable. The 12V and earth wires associated with the camera itself are meant to be connected all the time (by the looks of that wiring diagram).

I am guessing that you are supposed to provide a signal from the gearbox's reverse switch to the head unit so that it knows that you're in reverse. I have no idea which wires you have shown us are these. Where is the purple wire from? The head unit? Where is the red wire from? The camera, or the car's 12V supply?

From what I can gather, you will need to do as I said above. Camera gets power and earth all the time (switched from ignition, of course). Head unit reverse wire gets a signal from the cold side of the reverse switch. That's it.

[Duncan]

Well, you are right, the information in the manual is junk. I think it is saying the camera wiring has 3 parts - the yellow video output, a red 12v+ wire and a black earth wire, is that correct? 

For testing, you can just hold the stripped end of the black wire against that steel dash frame.

If the purple wire only comes from the head unit, it is probably reverse camera 12v+. They would do this because that lets you either turn the camera on manually (through some button in the head unit) or automatically (when you put the car in reverse).  If it works this way there would only be 1 power wire to the camera from the head unit.

For the automatic part to work, the head unit needs to know when the car is in reverse.  As that might not be part of the camera, you need to check if the head unit wiring has a reverse signal input. Do you have a wiring diagram for the head unit?

What is the model code of the head unit and camera?

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, GTSBoy said:

So the RCA is of course the video signal cable. The 12V and earth wires associated with the camera itself are meant to be connected all the time (by the looks of that wiring diagram).

I am guessing that you are supposed to provide a signal from the gearbox's reverse switch to the head unit so that it knows that you're in reverse. I have no idea which wires you have shown us are these. Where is the purple wire from? The head unit? Where is the red wire from? The camera, or the car's 12V supply?

From what I can gather, you will need to do as I said above. Camera gets power and earth all the time (switched from ignition, of course). Head unit reverse wire gets a signal from the cold side of the reverse switch. That's it.

The purple wire is from the headunit cable that is connected to the head unit. The red wire is from the camera. 

[silviaz]

1 hour ago, Duncan said:

Well, you are right, the information in the manual is junk. I think it is saying the camera wiring has 3 parts - the yellow video output, a red 12v+ wire and a black earth wire, is that correct? 

For testing, you can just hold the stripped end of the black wire against that steel dash frame.

If the purple wire only comes from the head unit, it is probably reverse camera 12v+. They would do this because that lets you either turn the camera on manually (through some button in the head unit) or automatically (when you put the car in reverse).  If it works this way there would only be 1 power wire to the camera from the head unit.

For the automatic part to work, the head unit needs to know when the car is in reverse.  As that might not be part of the camera, you need to check if the head unit wiring has a reverse signal input. Do you have a wiring diagram for the head unit?

What is the model code of the head unit and camera?

I'll need to check for the manual if there is one for the head unit, but I believe you are correct about the 3 parts. I just tried again to wire my car in the meantime, and i found a better access point below. Just used the tools that I have. Still no luck.

 

Model of the double din is a pioneer a4450bt.

Camera is a pioneer RCAMAVIC 

the image with purple and red joined together, i taped it but untaped it for the image. I found a better ground as you can see in the image, though I didn't fasten it down as I don't have a hex key but it's decently firm in there. and the black wire on its own photo is the ground and the sort of connector that I used. I put a washer inbetween the frame and the bolt. 

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2022 by silviaz

[Duncan]

OK, per the head unit manual

You need to connect the "violet/white" wire to a reverse signal in the car. You haven't mentioned how you connected the rest of the head unit to the car (or maybe someone else did that already), but I can see ISO connectors in the background of some of your pics so maybe you have a car to ISO harness and a ISO to pioneer harness.  ISO connectors cover the speakers and a few power supply items, but they don't carry a reverse signal from the car.

You can see there is no reverse signal in those plugs from the car to the head unit, so your head unit does not know when the car is in reverse, so it can't turn the camera on.

So, the head unit will not switch to reverse camera automatically until you find a reverse 12V inside the car, and connect it to that purple wire. As I said earlier the easiest place to find that is at the tail lights (but then you need to run another wire all the way to the head unit) or maybe at the dash if you have a reverse indicator light or maybe a signal to a reverse beeper. I think you will have trouble finding that unless someone has specific advice.

Then, this is the instructions for the reverse camera from the head unit manual:

You can see that this generic instruction do not show you how to wire the ground and red (12v) that come with your camera. So, to get this to work you need to earth the black (per your picture) and supply ACC or IGN 12v to the red wire. Per the ISO wiring picture above, A7 is 12v switched (probably ACC), so you need to splice the red from your camera into the wire at that pin.

But, I think you need to either give this to a professional, or get a crimper set and spend some youtube time.  If you don't make the connections securely you can get failure over time including burning your car to the ground.

[Duncan]

I should add, you probably need to earth the green wire (9) from the head unit too (you can use the same place as the camera) if you want to be able to have video while the handbrake is off.

[silviaz]

14 minutes ago, Duncan said:

OK, per the head unit manual

You need to connect the "violet/white" wire to a reverse signal in the car. You haven't mentioned how you connected the rest of the head unit to the car (or maybe someone else did that already), but I can see ISO connectors in the background of some of your pics so maybe you have a car to ISO harness and a ISO to pioneer harness.  ISO connectors cover the speakers and a few power supply items, but they don't carry a reverse signal from the car.

You can see there is no reverse signal in those plugs from the car to the head unit, so your head unit does not know when the car is in reverse, so it can't turn the camera on.

So, the head unit will not switch to reverse camera automatically until you find a reverse 12V inside the car, and connect it to that purple wire. As I said earlier the easiest place to find that is at the tail lights (but then you need to run another wire all the way to the head unit) or maybe at the dash if you have a reverse indicator light or maybe a signal to a reverse beeper. I think you will have trouble finding that unless someone has specific advice.

Then, this is the instructions for the reverse camera from the head unit manual:

You can see that this generic instruction do not show you how to wire the ground and red (12v) that come with your camera. So, to get this to work you need to earth the black (per your picture) and supply ACC or IGN 12v to the red wire. Per the ISO wiring picture above, A7 is 12v switched (probably ACC), so you need to splice the red from your camera into the wire at that pin.

But, I think you need to either give this to a professional, or get a crimper set and spend some youtube time.  If you don't make the connections securely you can get failure over time including burning your car to the ground.

I'll take a look at that and look it in more depth. As always I really appreciate all the effort you put to help me. Also yeah i do have the ISO harness along with another that is specific for my car. You to @GTSBoy

Edited December 2, 2022 by silviaz

[silviaz]

16 hours ago, Duncan said:

I should add, you probably need to earth the green wire (9) from the head unit too (you can use the same place as the camera) if you want to be able to have video while the handbrake is off.

I ended up getting some pro to do it, he ended up running a reverse wire to the tail light, but did a lot of the same config that I did. So I'm mind boggled. Will dissect the wiring later see what's different.