OEM Backup Camera Voltage

I forget, I'll see if I can dig up my notes where I wrote it down. I still have the fuzzy issue, it seems that the pis great in daylight but a little fuzzy at night. I put high intensity backup lights in so when I back up it sort of illuminates what's behind me and helps a little.

 

I worked in the Deer Park (North Bab) location for a week to cover someone's vacation back in 1991

 

Hey everyone,
Everything you need to know is in post number 2 of this thread. Im opening up the dash tomorrow to replace my XM tuner so I'll verify the color codes but I'm pretty sure what I wrote in post 2 is correct. I did not buy a new camera, I'm using the OEM camera and stepped the voltage down to 6v using the parts mentioned in the link I put in post 2. I decided to wire the the camera's power to my backup lights since that's the only time it turns on anyway. I didn't want to chance overheating the transistor and starting a fire. (It did get that hot when I wired it wrong)

Remember to replace the colors on that page (21-24) with the colors I posted instead in post 2. If you can't follow along with that article, you shouldn't be doing this anyway... One wrong connection and you can cause a lot of damage or even a fire.

BTW, the picture quality is perfect during the day, just fuzzy at night. I think it's because my screen is much larger than the OEM screen was. I changed out my backup bulbs with super-bright LED bulbs and that helps illuminate the area when I'm backing up a night and the picture is better that way.

I did not test out that other voltage reducer which was posted, I'm sure it will work fine but you'll need a multimeter to adjust the voltage and make sure you're only outputting 6V.
Good luck!

 

Hey Felice, I got your message but figured I'd reply here so others can benefit if they have a similar issue.

First off, the Prius backup camera is only 6V not 12V, so you need to make sure you step the voltage down to the camera. You need to put something in like what I mentioned in the thread to tap into the 12v constant and step it down to 6v. Then take the 6v output and supply it into the red and black wires assuming those are the European power wires for the camera.

Once you supply power to the camera (only 6v!!) then see if you have a pic from the camera by activating it via your stereo... Usually there is a feature to turn it in manually. If not, you'll need to trigger your backup camera wire coming from your car stereo by either applying ground to it or 12v. Once you make sure you get video, connect your car's backup light lead to your car stereo's backup camera trigger. Usually it's your backup light to the car stereo and set the stereo to trigger the camera on 12v not ground.

 

Hey Felice,
The original stereo had a transformer in it that stepped the voltage down and sent it to the camera, I'm not sure what color wires your car needs the voltage on; I would definitely check a wiring diagram before applying voltage to wires if you aren't sure, you could blow the camera out or another component. You might want to plug the original radio in and use a multi tester on the camera harness to make sure the camera still works and then check the wires for which one has the power and ground. Also it might be wise to verify your camera's voltage at the same time to make sure the European model uses 6v too.