Rear camera install recommendations on a single rear door?

[chmac]

Thanks, I really appreciate the tip on head units. Somebody's opinion without being paid a commission is like gold dust when trying to sift through the mountain of products out there!

How does the head unit know to show the camera view? Is that triggered by the camera being powered on? Presumably that's triggered by the reversing lights.

I'm foolishly thinking of using a Shelly device to put a timer so the reversing lights would activate a rear camera and front sensors for ~2 minutes, plus I could mount a button to do the same. But I guess this is all fantasy land and I should just stick with an easy option!

[The_Evil]

The head unit is connected to the canbus and activates the camera when you use the rear gear.

[chmac]

Okay, that sounds like it's easier to hook up then. Does the camera stay on for a while after reversing then? I was thinking if it's only on with the reversing lights, it'll go off as soon as I move forward which seems suboptimal.

Thanks to all the folks who've replied here, I've really learned a lot, I appreciate it.

[Javito]

If you install a generic camera you'll have to add a relay

e.g. https://a.aliexpress.com/_EHqPO44

If you power the camera directly from the reverse light it won't work (at least not properly). It's not a straight 12v but pwm (I think).

The relay will get the signal from the reverse light and stay energised for a few seconds after the lights go off.

[chmac]

Nice, the relay has that function! Great, thanks for the tip and the link.

[jren]

Thank you for posting that link to the relay. Very useful!

[RatFink]

Looking at doing the generic camera made into the top brake light for my 2012 tailgate Maxi, something like this -



Any recommendations, or they all much of a sameness?

[chmac]

@RatFink I tried to find a similar option for mine, but eventually I figured out that it doesn't seem to exist. However, before that, I looked at all the ones I could find on amazon.de. Sadly, there didn't seem to be any which came with good reviews. Lots of options on ebay, but there's hardly any product reviews on ebay, so hard to know what the quality is like. Most of the reviews I read complained that the plastic was brittle, seals weren't very good, and that the cameras broke after a while.

I'm currently testing a magnetic camera stuck on the back door. It's wireless, has a solar panel, and I wired in the monitor on the dash. It's not linked to the reversing lights, so it's on whenever the ignition is on. Definitely not as slick as an OEM option I'm sure, but so far it really works fine. I turn it off when I'm driving on the motorway, but otherwise I leave it on and it doesn't disturb my driving even though it's a 7" screen. YMMV.

[RatFink]

Have ordered a camera in the rear light and will see what turns up... will post results.

[stu_b]

@ chmac
Would be interested to see some pics and an update / review / feedback etc on this magnetized model your testing
Would also like a link if you have
How did you go about wiring in the monitor in the dash (thought you said it was wireless ... Is that just for power feed ??)

Cheers
Stu

[chmac]

@stu_b: It was out of stock for a while, and seems to be back in stock now. It's only on amazon DE and FR, the product code is B0DH27QKQV. I can't find it on their own website www.parkvision.ltd either. I ordered a couple of cameras, I didn't realise how gigantic the other one was. I think the standard magnetic, solar cameras are the size of a coke can. So it'd be hard to place it high up on my Caddy. The one I got is small enough that I could attach it just above the brake light.

Here's the product picture of mine (no idea why it's in Spanish, this is taken from Amazon DE!):



Also, it did not include the dashboard mount, and there wasn't space in the box for it. So I messaged the seller and they offered to send me one from China. I asked for a €20 refund instead, and they sent that.

In terms of wiring, I wired it into the fuse box with a power tap onto one of the empty, ignition switched fuses. It was pretty straightforward because I mounted it on the dash just above the fuse box. Sadly the sticky pad didn't stick at all, so I bought some tape, but it's been so cold here that I need to drive the car a few hours, or put a heater in it, to get everything warm enough for the adhesive to work. The car is also currently covered in snow so I can't easily get a picture of the camera or monitor in place.

I had a real struggle with it in the beginning, because it takes ~10s to start. I was thinking to wire it onto the reversing lights, but that would make it next to useless because I'd be waiting ages every time I went into reverse. Then I got a delay-off relay, so I could keep it on for a minute as soon as I went into reverse. But so far keeping it on all the time has been okay. The battery seems to charge a little bit every day on the solar, even though it's cloudy 24/7 at the moment. The snow covering it right now probably doesn't help either!

I can only 80% recommend it. I didn't have to run any cables, I didn't have to drill any holes. The wiring up was an hour or two getting the cover of the fuse box off and finding a place to wire onto the chassis. So far it's worked pretty well. I also like the position of the camera being so high up, in the centre, and looking downwards. But it's definitely not an elegant, slick, setup. YMMV.

[stu_b]

Looks an interesting set up
Would love to see some pics of it installed when the snow melts
Thanks for the reply, feedback, review
Always nice to hear first hand situations

[C13skn]

I'm looking to put in one of the combo 3rd brake light and camera things as well. I've got a head unit that can take a camera input but I'm thinking I will just get one of those rear view mirror overscreen kinda things and see if I can work the camera to be live all the time. My van has blacked out rear windows and coming from driving a car its taking a bit of getting used to!

[chmac]

Somebody earlier in the thread recommended the wolfbox. They do exactly that, mirror overlay with rear camera, and you can swipe up and down to go from "rear view" to "parking view". They look pretty slick, I was tempted, but mine is a car, so running the wire along the vehicle would be a hassle, and getting it from the rear hatch door into the body is also a real pain. If you have the side opening doors I think it could be easier.

[Rob.]

I'm well into buying stuff from AliExpress, but the brake light rear camera I got was garbage. The curve didn't match the boot lid and the fixing holes were top small to accept the OEM screws. I sent it back and got a refund.