Have to splice your backup camera wire to replace your backup camera or install a new one? We’ve got you covered!
If you’ve ever owned a car, you know how important a backup camera can be. Be it while you’re driving in reverse or trying to park in a tight spot, these cameras are essential for preventing collisions. Backup camera wires don’t go bad often but if you need to splice them for some reason, it’s super easy to do.
In this short post, we will talk about the steps to splice backup camera wires so you can restore your car to its full glory!
Wires On The Backup Camera
The wiring on your backup camera does depend on the brand and model, but commonly, you will find three wires- power, video, and ground.
Power is usually red but can also be white or blue or purple and you will also find it being referred to as ‘hot’. If your camera didn’t start the last time, it’s probably a faulty power wire or the connection is loose.
The video wire, usually yellow, carries a signal from the camera to your car monitor so you can see what’s happening on the rear end. The video wire can also be red or white or black depending on the camera manufacturer, so all the more reason to check the device specification.
Colored black or sometimes brown, the ground wire is connected to a clean metal surface and will remain connected to the vehicle chassis.
You can also find audio wires, control wires, trigger wires, RC wires, power antenna wires, and IR/ Night vision wires depending on what kind of backup camera model you have.
We recommend checking out the camera specifications to ensure you know exactly what the wires are for.
How To Splice Backup Camera Wire?
Before you proceed to wire up the backup camera, it’s essential to make sure that you have the right kind and size of connectors and that the connection is correctly insulated in order to prevent any damage from moisture or rust.
Some options to insulate spliced wires can be heat shrink tubing or a weather sealant – just make sure the wires aren’t under strain and won’t tear apart easily after you splice them.
- Figure out where the backup camera wires are and which ones are which. You can refer to the camera specification to check which wires are the video, power, and ground.
- Remember which one’s the power wire- use a multimeter if you cannot make it out from the color coding.
- With a wire cutter, cut off the existing connections, and with a wire stripper, leave about an inch off from both ends.
- Put the ends into a splice connector, and use some heat to crimp the connectors into place.
- With the multimeter in continuity mode, check if the connections are working. If you don’t have a multimeter, just start your car and check if the camera works like it’s supposed to.
If you’re comfortable soldering the wires in place, you can follow these steps:
- Proceed by stripping the insulation, leaving about an inch off the wire
- Place the terminal ends on a clamp or hold them steady so the exposed ends are touching
- Put a small amount of solder to the tip of a heated soldering iron
- Make the soldering iron touch the connection and make sure the solder melts and flows into place
- Once the solder cools down, make sure the connection is firm- if it’s not, repeat the process till you are happy with the connection
- Finally, insulate the connection with shrink tubes or weather-resistant paste so it’s not affected by corrosion or moisture.
Tools You Will Need:
- Wire stripper
- Wire cutter
- Multimeter (optional, you can test connections with a multimeter in continuity mode)
- Splice connector
- Soldering iron (optional, helps if you know how to solder properly)
Before you connect anything, you will need to figure out which wires are which- usually wires in electronics are red (hot) and black (ground) but some cameras might have white and black instead. White wires are more common if you’ve got mono signals.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the trigger wire for a backup camera?
The trigger wire connects to the backup camera and makes sure the display turns on when you put your vehicle in reverse. This works by passing a signal from the engine TCM or reverse light to the camera that then lets you see what’s behind it so you don’t crash into it!
How many volts does a backup camera need?
In general, a backup camera needs 12 Volts, and it’s usually the same for lights as well. Different camera models can have different voltage requirements- and most let you hook up anything between 9 and 16 Volts but you should check the device specifications to be on the safe side.
How do you find a reverse light wire?
The easiest way to find a reverse light wire is to use a multimeter or a tester to see which wire has power when the car is put in reverse. You can also check the tail light wiring or the vehicle schematic if you feel confident enough to make sense of it.
Conclusion
It’s usually best to get a professional to look at it or get an adapter but if for some reason, you need to do it yourself, you need to make sure you know which wire is which. Take appropriate precautions, make sure everything is connected, and disconnect everything before you start stripping the cables.
If you liked this post, you may also find our post on flying drones with just one hand very interesting. It’s a bit harder but definitely fun!
