Stumped on electrical issue connected to backup camera installation | FerrariChat

Stumped on electrical issue connected to backup camera installation

Discussion in '348/355' started by ready321now, Oct 1, 2014.

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  1. ready321now

    ready321now Formula Junior

    Jan 5, 2013
    484
    New Jersey
    #1 ready321now, Oct 1, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    The problem is that the engine skips a beat when the camera is turned on.
    My backup camera is wireless and it is connected to the right rear running light as a trigger. When the running lights are turned on, so too is the camera. when the camera is turned on... there is a distinct skip in the idle that is not subtle.
    So, thinking that the camera itself was pulling too much on the electrical system we hooked a relay directly to the battery terminals in the back of the car...so that the load would be pulled directly from the battery and not from the yellow power wire connected to the running lights. (see picture of relay.) The running light now merely triggers the relay to power it up from the battery.
    The problem went away for a couple of days but now the problem is suddenly back.

    The system is wireless. The monitor is powered through the fuse box on the passenger floor but the problem goes away when I unhook the camera not when I unhook the monitor. The monitor is turned on and off by a toggle switch. See picture.

    The install was done by someone I trust and consider a professional. I thought he could correct whatever I did wrong... but he traced the entire system and is stumped as well.

    Any feedback? Stumped!
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  2. Dave rocks

    Dave rocks F1 World Champ
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    #2 Dave rocks, Oct 1, 2014
    Side note, I see your ash try is broken - I may have a spare. PM if you want me to check.
     
  3. DavidJ

    DavidJ Formula Junior

    Feb 12, 2012
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    #3 DavidJ, Oct 1, 2014
    I seriously doubt that a solid state micro camera will draw more than a few milliamps of current (unless it is wired incorrectly). It is more likely turning on the camera is sending a spike through the electrical system and the ECUs are getting "confused" by this noise. Sometimes it is the switch that is "bouncing" and actually turning on/off several times within microseconds. I suggest a filter (capacitor) on the power source to the switch to suppress this spike.

    DavidJ
    (from the Mondial section)
     
  4. ready321now

    ready321now Formula Junior

    Jan 5, 2013
    484
    New Jersey
    #4 ready321now, Oct 2, 2014
    Thanks for the great response. I spoke to the installer, and he said he thinks there is a chance that the frequency of the wireless camera might possibly be the issue, or the issue is a spike as you say. He wants to run it off of an ignition wire in the engine bay, or snake one through from the dash, and try that first.

    At one point, the car SHUT OFF twice when I turned on the running lights, but that was before the relay was installed.

    He said Lexus had a similar problem when cabs in NYC were pulling up next to Lexus vehicles, using a certain radio frequency, and the Lexuses were shutting off!

    Hmmmm, still stumped.
     
  5. junglistluder

    junglistluder F1 Rookie
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    #5 junglistluder, Oct 2, 2014
    Just an FYI... by hooking up the relay to the positive terminals in engine bay, you are NOT directly connecting to the battery. You are still hooking up to a post that shares electrical current with the ECU. I would run a dedicated cable to the battery in the front bumper instead and see if that fixes it.
     
  6. SoCal1

    SoCal1 F1 Veteran
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    Tim Dee
    #6 SoCal1, Oct 2, 2014
    Yup

    The battery is the best noise filter

    RF can hit unshieled wire that go to the ECU causing issues when the camera is on

    Isolate it fully like the guy in NJ said

    RF is a common issue ask any ham operator, enough will light a florescent bulb just in the area
     
  7. ready321now

    ready321now Formula Junior

    Jan 5, 2013
    484
    New Jersey
    #7 ready321now, Oct 2, 2014
    Thanks guys. I think I'm going to run that wire up to the battery. As of right now I have absolutely no idea where to snake it through but I guess I will figure that out
     
  8. ready321now

    ready321now Formula Junior

    Jan 5, 2013
    484
    New Jersey
    #8 ready321now, Oct 3, 2014
    I noticed that when I turn on the monitor to the camera, my radio reception gets instantly worse. Hmmmm. Starting to think the wireless frequencies are possibly the issue.
     
  9. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

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    #9 treedee3d, Dec 18, 2014
    Did you ever get this figured out?
     
  10. treedee3d

    treedee3d F1 Rookie

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    #10 treedee3d, Mar 29, 2015
    BUMP

    I was also thinking that if you're gonna go through the trouble of running a cable for power all the way to the battery or the ignition, might as well add a cable and make your camera wired as opposed to wireless.
     

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