The camera works quite well, has a bright crisp image and is a great value. That said, I did have a problem during installation which may be tricky to resolve for users who need a little primer on installation.
The Problem:
Mounting the light is the easy part and takes only a moment, but does require some skills with a drill and wiring. If you your car has a modern electrical system and you are unlucky like me, you will be running out to Radio Shack or an auto parts store to find a mountable relay.
The first issue I encountered is that it was necessary for me to drill a 1/2" hole through my bumper cover to route the power and RCA cable. I then had to drill a similar sized hole through the trunk pan. No big deal, but think ahead and have some good marine sealant handy to close the hole and keep your wire away from the exhaust system.
THIS IS WHERE I MIGHT SAVE YOU SOME TIME. Once the wires were installed and powered to the vehicle's backup light as recommended by the seller, I was greeted by about five seconds of crystal clear image, followed by about 15 seconds of screen flicker, followed by a black screen. I checked the wiring and all connections. It was all good. I did some trouble shooting and determined that the issue wasn't the monitor. I spent hours scratching my head and realized the problem had to be power related because the devices seemed to undamaged and the wiring was double and triple checked. It turns out that some modern cars have electrical systems which will not handle even a small electrical load like a backup camera added to the backup light circuit. This is especially true for cars with LED lighting, but may apply to some modern cars with incandescent bulbs. My wife's vehicle is a 2016 Mini and it didn't take kindly to the little 300MA camera being added to its backup light circuit. I verified the theory by temporarily direct wiring the camera to a beefier circuit (the cigarette lighter), but that was not an acceptable permanent solution because I wanted the camera to come on only when in reverse, and we also wanted to keep the power source available for charging our phones.
THE SOLUTION. Chances are you will not have the same problem, as most cars should work fine with a straight splice to the backup lights, but even if you have my problem, the solution is simple with a few basic tools. I purchased a standard auto relay from RadioShack for $6.99. The relay has four connections. If you have not wired relays before, don't be intimidated. Diagrams are available online and each terminal (connection) is numbered:
First, run a wire from an adequate power source (positive wire feeding cigarette lighter). As always, don't risk frying your electrical
circuit. Use an inline fuse (available at Wal Mart and most auto stores for a couple of dollars). I used a three amp mini fuse.
Wire your relay as follows (refer to markings on relay and use standard crimped terminal ends):
#85: Connect to a GOOD ground.
#30: Connect to your fused power source.
#86: Connect to the positive wire feeding your back up light.
#87: Connect to the camera's positive power lead.
Negative camera lead to any GOOD ground (can share ground with relay).
HOW DOES IT WORK? When you place the car in reverse, power goes to to backup lights. The backup light power supply is not enough to support the camera but is enough to support the relay (the relay requires very little power (about 150MA compared to the cameras 300-500 MA). When the relay is activated by the backup light, it throws and internal switch which in turn connects the cigarette lighter circuit power to the camera which is more than enough to support the camera and any standard device(s) plugged into the cigarette lighter circuit.