Adding Camera to blind side of trailer - power source???

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PapaJerry69

PapaJerry69

Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2019
Posts
21
Location
Southeast Virginia
I currently have a camera mounted on the rear of my trailer, powered by the Furrion connector that was supplied by the vendor.  I want to add another camera to the passenger side and need to get power from one of the running lights.  When I open the cover, there's a tiny lamp with two wires attached to the glass portion and two spring-loaded clips where the lamp mounts and gets power.
My question is this: are the two contacts power and ground? Do I merely insert the red and white wires from the camera inside the contacts and push the lamp into the socket, over the top of the wires? Small wires, but both cameras work when plugged into another 12vdc source. Just kinda worried I'll create a place for water to get into the circuit if I do this wrong.

Thanks in advance.
 
One problem with using a running light to power a camera is the camera will only be on if the running light is on.  I'd run a pair of wires from another accessible power source.

If you're mounting the camera near the front of the trailer, look for a junction box coming from the tow vehicle umbilical cord.  There should be a fulltime live circuit going to the tow vehicle's charging wire.  Another source of house battery power is the hot side of the breakaway switch.  Or maybe a light inside a storage compartment.

Be sure to fuse the added wire close to the source point.
 
Good catch, thanks. 
After looking just inside the primary entry door, I can get power from the kitchen area. That wall is shared with the entryway, just a small drill hole for power and then mounting.

Thanks, again.
Jerry
 
PapaJerry69 said:
Good catch, thanks. 
After looking just inside the primary entry door, I can get power from the kitchen area. That wall is shared with the entryway, just a small drill hole for power and then mounting.

Thanks, again.
Jerry
Click to expand...

Just my preference... I would put a switch in the circuit to allow turning off the camera when not in use.  One less drain on the trailer batteries.
 
Personally,  I found the rear view camera to be not so useful due to the extreme wide angle and I was always misjudging distances when I used it.  I have good side mirrors on my truck so I rely on those as well as my wife spotting and talking to me using walkie talkie.  But the right side mirror is not too good at seeing everything on my blind side of the fiver.

So I added a side view camera on the right side of the fiver, and I used the same harness and view monitor that I used for the rear view camera, so the side camera is powered by the same harness that powers my monitor....... only on when I'm pulling it down the road, because I disconnect the monitor when I get to my site.

I like this setup.  It allows me to see everything that is on my blind side, and it makes it easier to change into the right lane in traffic without running somebody off the road.  Recently, it kept me from backing the fiver into a ditch  when I backed into a site on the right side of the campground road.





 
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