The Basic of Camera Installation

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xtrons
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The Basic of Camera Installation

Postby xtrons » Mon Jan 16, 2017 9:05 am

The issue I have experienced in writing these guides is they will ultimately keep crossing paths as you cannot install the camera without involving the stereo and vice versa and as you will eventually see this is true of the roof monitor also.

This guide is best written in 3 parts.
Pre installation
Camera Installation
Stereo Connection

And so it begins.
1)Pre installation (given the sub title "thing to remember if you don't want to waste half a day")
This part of the guide will talk you through everything I think should be done in advance of installation do it before you start, do it the night before whilst the other half watches Coronation Street (or whatever the given countries equivalent Trashy Soap Opera seems to be at time of reading), just make sure you DO IT. Yes, it will take you a little time but in the long run it will save you wasting time and most likely you will thank me for it.
We will begin by explaining the connections you have received.
Connections.jpg
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From Top to Bottom
*Live and Earth Wires - Simple enough these form the part of the power cable that connects to the reverse lights
*Power Jack - The other end of the power cable that connects to the Camera
*Reverse Switch - Carries a 12V feed from the reverse lights (not always available but a good time save)
*RCA Connection - One on each end of the cable 1 for camera 1 for stereo
*Tag Wires - For connecting the Reverse Switch to the stereo (not always available but a good money and time saver)

I wasn't sure the best place to put this but the sooner the better I suppose, not all installation kits will have the Reverse switch or Tag wires but do not worry it is not the end of the world. The reverse switch simple carries a 12V feed from the revere lights in it's absence you can connect the Tag Wire to the same connection as the Live wire. In the absence of the Tag Wire things get a little annoying as you will need to run a wire from the reverse lights to the stereo, alternatively you can run a wire from the reverse switch on the gear box, or piggy back the reverse fuse in the glove box there are a couple of options as long as it is a feed that is live only when the vehicle is in Reverse.*******

So now we have established what we have in our possession we can begin to prep it for installation, for the purposes of this guide I used a soldering Iron however Crimps and Bullet connectors work just as well.

Firstly take the power cable and one end of the RCA cable and connect the Tag Wire to the Reverse Switch, be sure to insulate the connection and Bind the ends of the cables together (just makes things a little neater)
Reverse-TAG.jpg
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Insulate.jpg
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Also not as important but strip and tin the remaining connections.
Tin.jpg
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Finally make sure you test your new connections to make sure everything works, this can be done on a bench where facilities are available or in the vehicle.
Test.jpg
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I will roughly explain how to test this in car, so obviously you will need the stereo out of the dash and switched on, at this point plug the RCA and Power jack into the camera, next you need power to the camera ideally you would use crocodile clips attached to a cigarette lighter adapter but you can get away with pushing the Live and Earth down the same colour connections on the ISO (take care, do it right and make sure they are the right way round). Connect the RCA to the rear of the stereo to the camera input. The stereo will display the standard screen, now take the remaining tag wire and touch this to the reverse wire at the rear of the stereo if you have done everything correct the camera should now be displayed on the screen.
If not you will need to trouble shoot the connection

2) Camera Installation (given the subtitle "Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time")
Unfortunately this is where things begin to fall apart as there are so many differences in how this will be achieved so I just stuck to the basics.

In general all installations will begin the same wit the stripping out of the boot hatch, generally there may be a couple of screws and plastic trim removers will most likely be required, so with the boot stripped there are a few key points to be noted
* How do I get the cable from the outside to the inside
* How do I get the cable from the boot hatch to the car

In nearly all installation I have done where the camera is located in the boot hatch the cable needs to be threaded through the number plate light by drilling out or filing a Notch to allow the cable to be passed through with out risk of damage.

Remove the number plate light and work out the best access point on the light cover it is worth mentioning you only need a small notch to the width of the cable we are not trying to feed the RCA connection through, this is placed through before the light is refitted.

Work out the best location for the camera and either mark out the mounting plate or camera and affix in position, feed the RCA cable through the open light fitting leaving a just a little bit more flex than is required (too tight and you will damage the connection at the camera), replace the light fitting and we are done for now with the outside of the vehicle.
Mount.jpg
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Simple enough so far?
However this is where things can get tricky, the thoughtful people of Honda left a nice easy access channel on the boot hinge this is easily unclipped and the cable fed through with relative ease.... However this is not the same on the hatchback version or indeed most other vehicles, you will tend to find you are faced with the prospect of feeding an RCA cable through a rubber grommet with about the internal diameter of about the connection you want to get through (this would be fine if it wasn't already full of cables). This is where Electricians rods will come in handy securely tape on the connection and gingerly feed through patience is the key.
Access.jpg
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Now that you have hopefully managed to feed the cables through into the hatch connect them to the camera connections and secure with insulation tape tuck them out the way in the boot hatch but leave them accessible in case you ever need to change or remove the camera.
Tape.jpg
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Any inquires, please leave a message on XTRONS Forum or contact [email protected] for further advise, thanks.
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Insulate.jpg
Insulate.jpg (22.14 KiB) Viewed 24283 times

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