Furrion Camera fogged up

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Wi1dBi11

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Feb 11, 2020
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Our Furrion rearview camera worked great for several years. Over the past 12 to 18 months it seems to be fogging up. Tried cleaning it with a Q tip thinking maybe road film...didn't help. Wondering if the lens or the lens cover is fogging like headlight covers on cars or monitor going bad. Before I spend $4 to 500 on a new one, just wondering if anyone else is/has experience this and found a fix.


Wi1dBi11
 
Is yours behind a cover? Ours is, and I've had to get up there and pull the cover off and clean the camera lens and inside of the cover because it can load up with dust and other crud.
 
Fogging on the inside of the camera lens is caused by a bad or failed seal. The camera will need to be replaced however if it is in a protective box as Shookum has mentioned, disassembly and cleaning will correct the problem.
 
Mine did the same thing. I used some Novus plastic polish on it. A very mild polishing compound would probably work also. I think the lenses are plastic. CHEAP
 
Thanks to all that replied and offered suggestions...
HOWEVER... I tried to contact Furrion directly(Won't go into that). I called one of my favorite RV dealers with whom I've done a fair amount of parts business. They called Furrion and found out that this is a common problem that happens 2 to 3 years after install. It seems that Furrion gets a lot of call about this.
The seal around the lens and the case allows moisture to enter and fogs up the len. No fix from Furrion except buy a new camera for over $200. The contact at Furrion suggested to seal the the area between the case and the lens. It wasn't clear if Furrion has fixed the problem with their current production.
I'm going to remove the camera and put it in a container with those dehumidifier crystals and see if that will drawn the moisture out and then seal the lens and case. I'll report back in a week or so to let you know if this works.
I'm also bewildered as to there wasn't more comments or views as this Furrion setup is on a lot of rigs. Since Furrion is aware of the problem and get a lot of calls about this, make me wonder if people are just buying a new camera. So no need to fix the problem.
 
Maybe you could find a cheaper replacement camera. I do not know what you have on the Furrion but my system (about 8 years old) has 2 cameras mounted in the rear. Both seals eventually failed and I found replacements for $20 each. They are 4 pin/wire direct cameras. Not wifi compatable.
 
Possible, as I removed the camera and it appears to be in another mount. Finding the direct replacement that would mount may be difficult as the Furrion uses an over the air signal from the camera to the monitor.
After several hours in a sealed container with dehumidifier crystals the lens looks clearer. I'll reinstall it in a day or so to see it there is any improvement.
 
If the dehumidifier treatment is clearing up the lens, there's still an air leakage path going into the lens.
 
And...... If dehumidification is working, the seal will leak again. If the seal to the lens has failed, it becomes difficult to reseal that but if it is a seal away from the lense, you could try tightening up the case screws a little bit and plastering some of the original GE silicon anywhere that looks suspicious or where a seal exists.
 
I can't speak for furrion system ?, but i know when i was checking into back up camera's for my trailer, i priced this brand, and i could not see it !. after a ton of research, i went with a brand called haloview, and love it so far !. i mounted one camera at the back of my trailer, and the other on my license plate to help me hitch up. both camera's are out in the weather all the time, have not had a single issue with either camera fogging up in the year i have installed them. this system is wireless.
 
Had the camera sealed in a container with dehumidifier crystals until Friday. Reinstalled the camera and it was noticeably better, but not 100%. Weather was humid and we experience some rain. Sunday the camera was the same. In looking over the camera there seems to be some type of air vent at the bottom of the case. Back in the container to see if it will clear up any more.
Thanks for the tip on Haloview
 
Wi1dBi11 said:
Had the camera sealed in a container with dehumidifier crystals until Friday. Reinstalled the camera and it was noticeably better, but not 100%. Weather was humid and we experience some rain. Sunday the camera was the same. In looking over the camera there seems to be some type of air vent at the bottom of the case. Back in the container to see if it will clear up any more. Thanks for the tip on Haloview
Click to expand...
Wi1dBi11 said:
Had the camera sealed in a container with dehumidifier crystals until Friday. Reinstalled the camera and it was noticeably better, but not 100%. Weather was humid and we experience some rain. Sunday the camera was the same. In looking over the camera there seems to be some type of air vent at the bottom of the case. Back in the container to see if it will clear up any more. Thanks for the tip on Haloview
Click to expand...
 

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Just dealt with this myself. I bought my trailer July of 2019, and since there was a pandemic and parks were closed, I think we only went out once in 2020, so it sat parked the entire time. 2021 we didn't take any long trips as well. So the trailer has spent it's life parked with the exception of the first 6 months of owning it... We took a trip to New Mexico and Colorado. I called Furion and asked if there was anything they could do, but it was outside of warranty. I asked if they could send me a different lens as I believed the lens to be the issue, and the answer was no. Well.. When you're outside of warranty and they refuse to do anything, that's when I start being creative and attempting to do whatever I can to fix it.

I tried cleaning the lens and it continued to look dirty, I couldn't see anything when I connected to the camera the picture was too poor to make anything out. I took the camera off the back of my RV, and examined it. Internal moisture will appear as beads and bubbles on the inside of the lens. This is not what my issue was.

I believe thier lens material (plastic) has a UV issue and that it fogs or develops what looks like a cataract after being exposed to sunlight after a period of time. This is just my thought, but I'm going to put a hood onto my camera when parked so the lens won't be exposed to direct sunlight. I'm willing to bet this will extend the life of the lens by quite a bit. If you can afford to build an environmentally controlled garage for your trailer, that would be the best way to preserve your investment.. I'm not rich, or I would have just chucked this camera and bought a new one. I'm an engineer, so that means I make other people rich and suffer poor design choices in what I buy.

I removed and disassembled the camera. The lens is a tube that is weather sealed. I didn't attempt to take it apart since there wasn't a moisture issue, the weather seal is good and intact. If you don't have a sealing issue, I wouldn't recommend taking it apart, the tube could be filled with nitrogen or some other inert gas to keep it clear from condensation. You could take the time to reinforce the weather seal by just lapping some good silicone sealant ontop of theirs.. won't hurt it.

After removing the lens tube I applied sewing machine oil to 3000 grit sand paper and ground the lens in a circular pattern with my index finger. I took a photo before and after and I noticed a significant improvement to the clarity of the lens.

Reassembled the lens and put it back on the RV. I trailiered up Thursday for a trip and I took a look to see how much of an improvement it was. The picture looked as good as it did when I first bought it.

I would have posted pictures, but my cell phone recently died.. I ordered parts for it, so hopefully I'll have something in the future.
 
Maybe you can find a cheaper replacement camera, there are many budget-friendly backup cameras compatible with Furrion brackets, and the installation is just like the original camera. I have installed a haloview rearview camera on my RV, and it still works great.
 
Fusion camera FIXED!!!!!!!!!! Hey I'm back... got a new computer the lets me get back on to this site. Oh well 8 years is probably long enough for any laptop til they crap out.

Anyway, the fix. I removed the camera from the trailer and laid it as flat as possible so the lens would be level. Took some of my DW's CLEAR NAIL POLISH and put "a drop" on the lens. Let it dry and reinstalled it. Cleared the fog, good as new. No problem on the trip from 6 day Ohio to Arizona (2200 Miles) Checked it camera before the return trip still clear as new. When we were parked nose t the north I was wondering is the UV ray's would cause the lens to fog. Didn't seem to bother it.

Wi1dBi11
 
pappi49 said:
There are several fixes on youtube. I tried this one and it worked well.
Click to expand...
My camera was EXACTLY like shown. After, competely clear like new. Thought about this and even tried toothpaste method, didn't seem to affect it much.. The nail polish is a lot easier and cheaper.

Wi1dBi11
 
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