Replacing the factory fitted reversing camera

What a pain. I’m no longer going to recommend DRW, my experience was so different. What a shame.

Tim

Good news.. I now have working reversing camera. After debacle with DRW I ordered brake light camera for Boxer TYPE 2, for screw fitting from Reversing Cameras UK. Next day delivery.

Fitting was fairly straightforward.

1. Unscrew existing light and remove KEEP SCREWS SAFE these are need to attach new light fitting.

2. Unplug brake light power cable. It is possible to remove innards of brake light and inser into new fitting, with a slight bit of surgery to remove silvered plastic to allow camera cable to fit neatly in grove in new fitting 

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3. Need to cut 4pin connector of camera cable. This exposes 6 wires, later found red, black and yellow needed, others can be taped off. 

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Sorry, cant undo photo entered twice and can't upload next picture here, will do in additional post.

4.  Cut existing camera cable, I used this to practice stripping. Twisting etc. Then cut existing camera cable vanside of voltage regulator mentioned by Kemdrtonbath. Strip back wires, I had red, yellow and unsheathed. 

5. Got SWMBO into driver's seat following strict safety briefing, foot on brake, engine on, put in reverse but DO NOT release clutch. Multimeter confirmed red was power cable. ENGINE OFF.

6. Twist connected red to red, black to unsheathed and secured with insulating tape. Twist connected yellow to yellow, tried reverse and got picture. Made yellow to yellow good, taped off other three wires from camera.

7. Reconnected brake light cable, all wires into cavity and offer new light fitting to hole. Some gentle persuasion needed then screws from 1. Above to reattach. Importantly didn't need to remove old camera as sufficient clearance.

Photos to follow in next post.

Well chuffed.

Brilliant, glad it worked out.

Tim

Thanks Tim, wouldn't have attempted it without you leading the way and your helpful posts.

Excellent update on post. I too have camera from Reversing cameras UK on way and am now clear on how to proceed.  
Many thanks to you both - Chris

Advice please:
Have attempted to fit same camera as bilbobaggins.
The monitor VEBA said 'no signal' before and still says so.
I have the 12v to the camera and as far as I can see the yellow/video lead is connected too.
Checked all connections in footwell and one by windscreen.
Any ideas?

Chris

Update:  I have succeeded.( A joint in the video feed was not perfect.)
I also needed cut notch in light bar to enable camera cable room when fitting it all back.

That's good news. Cutting the light bar is easy, I used kitchen scissors for side cuts and small pliers to twist the remove the excess. After that putting it all into place is straightforward.

Glad it worked out.

As you'll have realised, it sounds as if the camera wasn't the problem. I would guess that if the display is able to show "no signal" then it too is probably working correctly. So that suggests it's a connection problem.

A few quick points first: you say you have 12V at the camera - is that as measured with a meter?  And are you sure you have the polarity correct in the power feed to the camera? I assume the 12V is only present when you have the engine running and reverse gear engaged. You've presumably established that by having someone in the cab in the way Bilbo described, while you've been doing your meter checks.  In that same mode, I'd next check the connectors you've found along the cable route and manipulate them to see if that causes a video image to break through on the display. It's rare for a cable beak to occur unless something has been disturbed, but connectors are obvious weak points along the route. Finally in this faultfinding phase, are you sure there isn't another connector in the vicinity of the camera location? 

Sorry if you've already checked and doubled-checked those points, but the next phase is more difficult and invasive, so it's best if you've already checked out the easier stuff. If you're OK at how to continuity-check cable runs using a multimeter, then here goes.  If not, just ask. 

You need both ends of the cable run exposed, with the individual cores available and their ends stripped for putting the meter probes onto.  You'll have the rear end of the cable exposed already but the display end is more difficult because I think the cable is hardwired into it. You therefore have two options, either to take the back off the display to expose the cable inside, or to break into the cable somewhere near the display but in a location where you can subsequently joint it and hide it.

The other difficulty is that you won't know which core carries the video signal. In most video systems it's the yellow core, with the cable screen providing the ground connection. Furthermore, the Veba display can accept two video signals and an audio signal, so you might find there are more cores than just the one you're interested in.  The picture below is the only information I've seen for the Veba display and you'll see what I mean in the connections schematic. 

Consequently there's going to be some degree of trial and error in testing the continuity. For this reason, but also to gain confidence that the camera and display are communicating, I recommend you make a temporary connection between them once you've exposed the cable at the display.  You could use the 12V outlet in the cabin to power the camera and display and then try to make a direct video connection between the them. This at least avoids the faff of working at both ends of the van and having to select reverse while keeping the clutch depressed. If you can get it working in that way, it will give you greater confidence that the fault is in the cable run and hopefully make continuity checking slightly easier.

Hope that all makes sense. Doing it for real is one thing, trying to write it up is another!

Tim

 
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Posted the above and then saw your update. Good news.

Tim

I have been looking at this item. It's a bit more expensive but looks to be the right fitting.
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Any thoughts?

That looks a perfectly good unit to fit and its NSTC video standard should be compatible with the Veba display. If it isn't then the worst case scenario is that you'd need a new display, but worth a punt.

The fact that it's a German supplier in part explains the cost, given that import tax is now incurred.

Tim

Check the fitting. It seems that there are two types (I bought wrong one first). One has bolt fittings and the other has screws from outside. They are not interchangeable. My Symbol was screws from outside.

Chris

I hadn't noticed page 2 of this forum before posting the alternative light option, but the fittings look to be correct from the fitting instructions. Just need to decide which one to order and away we go. Thanks for all the info and photos, much appreciated.

To conclude my story. I opted not to buy the reverse light camera due to concerns with fitting our winter cover. I was worried the protrusion at the rear would be too much. In the end I opted for a Parkvision pal-120 mini camera. This was £32 from Amazon with prime. Autosleeper quoted around £180 for a direct replacent. Luckily I didn't go the direct replacement route, because I found it impossible to remove the existing item. It is sealed with a hard rubber sealant that is packed in one large solid blob around the fixing to the rear. After 3 hours of trying, I packed in and decided to mount it elsewhere....the rear brake lens.
I first tested that it would work and following earlier descriptions it was relatively easy if not extremely fiddly to connect red to red +ve, black to copper sleeve neutral and yellow to yellow video. There was one spare black in the camera video cable that was unused. All worked fine but the image was upside down, this was corrected by cutting the blue wire shown. Fitting into the lens involved microsurgery and care. I dismantled the lens and light fitting. Drilled thro both for the camera m8 fitting and cable. Filed a flat on the lens for it to seat on. Fitted to the van and bingo all is good. The picture is great. I have opted to leave the lines on, but the can be turned off by cutting thro another cable loop. Hope this helps others.

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Very neat. If only AS had fitted a decently spec’d camera in the first place!

Tim

v8oholic wrote:Is partially obscuring the high level brake light not illegal? Mine is mounted above it.

A vehicle must show 2 rear facing brake lights to be road legal and comply with construction and uses regs. The high level is a third light (if the other two are working)