[uvdevnull]

Hi all,

When this first happened, I assumed it was a bad camera and replaced it, but now I'm on number three of different brands and models, so it's gotta be me as opposed buying three broken cameras.

I have the power cable connected to reverse lights. I tested with a multimeter that it gives 12.8 volts when reverse is geared. So the power cable seems ok. I then tested the video cable by using a different source, a VCR, starting at the back where the camera would plug in and resulting in 1.18V in the cab. So the video cable seems ok, too. Now, when I plug in the cameras into both the power and video cables, nothing happens. I get 0 volts on the video cable in the cab. I even bypassed the long video cable and tested the voltage directly on the camera's output, but keep getting 0 there. What the heck am I doing wrong? It's not making any sense right now. My original assumption was the camera device was broken and it wasn't transmitting a video signal. However, three brand new devices later, I'm starting to think it's me, not them.

Any ideas?

Thank you,
Peter

 

[Elkhunter]

Might be a silly question, but have you tried measuring the voltage when the vehicle is in reverse :act002::act060:

 

[uvdevnull]

Yes, the measurement results I was giving were in reverse, so that 12.8V only comes on in reverse.

 

[Smokey619]

did you ground the camera? I connected mine to the negative of the reverse wire so it was + to + and - to -. Is it an aftermarket headunit? if it is and it is a Pioneer, check the settings and have it set to NTSC instead of PAL and on polarity to Battery. Also if it is an after market headunit and you dont have the reverse wire connected then there will be no video signal to your headunit. Pioneer has the setting to turn on the camera manually.

Here is the link to my install just so you know which is the positive and which one is negative.
http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/showthread.php?t=73530

The way I have it connected now is to the license plate lights, so if I want to have it on all the time, I just have to turn on the parking lights and the camera can be on full time.

 

[uvdevnull]

It's the stock head unit. I also connected the negative from camera to negative of reverse light and I get 12.8V there. To bypass that equation, I just hooked up the camera directly to the battery and it came on and output video at that point to a TV I connected to it. It's the same power voltage, as proven by my multimeter. WTF? How can it work there and not from the other power source? Is it possible that the reverse light circuit is somehow limiting its Amperage output, so the camera doesn't get enough juice from that circuit but gets enough when hooked up directly to the battery without any limiters?

 

[uvdevnull]

Btw, I got the camera working. I originally wired the power incorrectly by following color codes instead of diagrams/notes. Somehow the Japanese manufacturer of Honda chose to use orange as ground and black/green as positive. So I was thinking it was the reverse and did it wrong. Then I must have not paid attention to the "-" (negative) sign on the multimeter display and only pay attention to the number 12. Now I corrected it and got the camera working. I can connect the camera to a portable TV in my read cab and get the video when shifted to reverse. However, I get nothing on the stock screen, I'm stuck again. I did this once before some years ago, so I know it's possible, but I have no idea how to do it now. Anyone?

 

[Dnick]

Not good practice to "trial & error" to find correct connections. It's possible you fried something along the way.
FYI, for future reference, you can confirm polarity (+ vs. -) by connecting each wire to chassis ground with a 12V circuit check tool (light or buzzer). The one that lights you up is positive.
'Don't know if wrong polarity alone would have killed your hardware, but the one-by-one 'jumpering' of wires might have.

One last 'dumb' question: You're not missing any on-off switches or blown/missing internal fuses anywhere are you???

 

[uvdevnull]

Not good practice to "trial & error" to find correct connections. It's possible you fried something along the way.
FYI, for future reference, you can confirm polarity (+ vs. -) by connecting each wire to chassis ground with a 12V circuit check tool (light or buzzer). The one that lights you up is positive.
'Don't know if wrong polarity alone would have killed your hardware, but the one-by-one 'jumpering' of wires might have.

One last 'dumb' question: You're not missing any on-off switches or blown/missing internal fuses anywhere are you???

Good point man, I sure hope I didn't F it up.
As far as your last question at the end... No, there are no switches for the camera, it comes on right away when it's given power from the backup lights. That part seems to be working since I get video on a portable TV every time if I connect the camera RCA to it and shift into reverse.
I have no idea about the fuses, but the backup lights work, and the radio and screen do as well, so it doesn't seem like any are busted.

 

[uvdevnull]

I'm all set. All done. It finally works. The reason why it took me two weeks instead of a few hours is because the OP never mentioned the fact that he was using a 6-pin connector in a 7-pin hole, skipping one pin altogether. The pictures show it, sure enough, but I didn't see that, I only followed text, which didn't mention this. So I did the rest of it two weeks ago, but that piece of the puzzle had me scratching my head for two weeks. Finally done, thanks to schwejo, who pointed this out to me and made me see the light. Also thanks to everyone else who contributed and made me stay interested, thinking, and sane