which wire is the backup wire- rearexterior backup, stop turn light

[waninae39]

i am installing the gramin backup camera ion my sport 22

i have the camera mounted wit 3m tape instead of drilling more holes.
the cable comes though above the bathroom sink shelf.

since the camera is wireless to the GPS, they suggest powering the wireless transmitter from the rear back up lights

when i pulled out the light there is a sealed unit with three wires white , back and red, i assume that

white is ground(-), red is positive(+) and black is the second positive(+).

which two can i use to power the wireless transmitter such that it gets engaged when i put the TV in reverse

[Bobbo]

I didn't know the trailer had back up lights. My factory installed rear view camera is powered by the marker lights/tail lights. (I do have to turn on the tow vehicles marker lights to activate the camera.)

I bet your 3 wires are ground, marker lights/tail lights, and turn signal/brake lights.

Stick a pin or needle through each wire, turn on the marker lights, see which wire has power.

[waninae39]

ok tnx

i thought that all vehicles had BU lights, since the lamp assembly is all red i and i could not see any clear ones i wondered if it even had BU lights

I googled the part number
1T-L13R

i can find the product , but none have and wiring info

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Easy answer:

Plug in the TV, flip the light switch(s), see what happens.

Bob

[Bobbo]

What he needs to know is which wire powers the tail lights/marker lights. Merely seeing the lights come on won't tell him that.

[switz]

Call the Airstream factory customer service desk and ask for the wiring schematic for your specific tailer (have the last six digits of the VIN ready).

[waninae39]

hi switz

i have the schematics. they dont help me with this problem

they only tell you the internal wires. They do not tell you much about the vendor items ie the external light or the vendor colors

the rear lights are sealed units and have three wires coming out, they are about 18" long and go into the inner shell. I cant reach my hand far enough or see through the insulation to see the wire junction connection.

i will have to test the power on trick and see which cable is power when the TV light go on..

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Bobbo

What he needs to know is which wire powers the tail lights/marker lights. Merely seeing the lights come on won't tell him that.

Hi

His multimeter or circuit tester will very much tell him *exactly* that.

Bob

[cliffcharb]

I don't think you'll find the bu wire in the trailer. Don't think Airstream runs them anymore. Generally the black wire on the light is running lights. I would probe the wire with a test light to verify. If you don't have a sharp test light probe the wire with a needle.

[Bobbo]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

His multimeter or circuit tester will very much tell him *exactly* that.

Bob

With a sealed unit, how will he touch metal to test it? He can't get to the bulb base. He can't get to the wire connections. Unless he does like I suggested in the very first response?

[Trons4u]

You should be able to use one of these I think.

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-volta...p-03482174000P

[waninae39]

those units only detect AC power. the tail lights are DC

[Boxite]

Waninae39... my little 22' Sport electrical schematic shows that the BU wiring is BLACK. Now to clarify... my Sport did not have BU lights...they had only running lights and tail/turn lights. And the FIXTURE for the lights came from an outside vendor to Airstream and that vendor had 6-inch long white, black, and red wire pigtails on their fixtures.... So my point is you cannot utilize the color-codes found on the fixtures to determine what Airstream used to supply power to them. (Normally, yellow, green, brown and white are what are used to supply pwr to running and tail/turn lights..... so you need to find the AIRSTREAM HARNESS wire which is used to feed BU lights.)

To further add to your dilemma... Airstream likely did not connect the "tail lamp harness" all the way forward to the umbilical-connection. Not only that.... but the universal color used by umbilical mfr's is YELLOW for BU power.

Therefore, in MY trailer, in order for me to add BU lights... I had to open up the cabinetry in the bath to access the BLACK wire AS has in the "taillight harness" ....and connect it to my own wire (I chose black for "consistency... and I had to run my own wire beneath the toilet, thru the wardrobe-basement, behind the galley area, beneath the forward bed, and connect it to the M-3 connector at the front of the trailer just inside the wall/beneath the bed....and be certain to connect it to the terminal which also connected to the YELLOW-UMBILICAL wire!

Now, ....look at your schematic again and find out which color was used...and is likely dangling around unconnected to anything at all in the rear-wall of your trailer.... AS intended for BU light circuits.

Good luck.

[Silver.Sanctuary]

Originally Posted by waninae39

those units only detect AC power. the tail lights are DC

The larger picture only shows AC but the words say the pair detects both. Anyone trying to work electrical should really invest in a meter. You can even get them free at times at Harbor Freight with a purchase.

[waninae39]

when i get back to the trailer in my free time. i will follow the running light suggestions

ie. connect the BU power to come on when the running light are ion vs the reverses.

why? this way i can turn the camera on at will, strictly by switching the TV lights on.

i will use a voltmeter to see which of the wires is the running light

[guskmg]

The easiest way to solve this problem is to power up what circuit you want to tap into and go looking. Use a straight pin and a pair of pliers to penetrate the insulation on the suspect wire(s) and then use a light tester to ground. When you are done wrap a couple of turns of tape around the exposed hole in the wire. I just did that on my 4 wire harness to the electric over hydraulic pump harness on my brake to make sure I had power. Works great.
guskmg

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by waninae39

when i get back to the trailer in my free time. i will follow the running light suggestions

ie. connect the BU power to come on when the running light are ion vs the reverses.

why? this way i can turn the camera on at will, strictly by switching the TV lights on.

i will use a voltmeter to see which of the wires is the running light

In my previous response to you I (inadvertently) disregarded the reason you wanted to find the BU-lights power-wire.... forgetting you were only wishing to hook up a camera. Your present solution may be better for you when you discover you will actually use the camera....not just when backing up, but... when driving down the road to observe the tailgaters about to attempt passing you ...just as you are about to turn LEFT!

I use my trailer's rear-view camera continuously.

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Boxite

I use my trailer's rear-view camera continuously.

Hi

How did you hook up your camera for continuous power? What circuit did you tap into? How do you power it on and off?

We might as well get the whole story in the thread

Bob

[Boxite]

Originally Posted by uncle_bob

Hi

How did you hook up your camera for continuous power? What circuit did you tap into? How do you power it on and off?

We might as well get the whole story in the thread

Bob

I did refer to my project some time ago...in this thread:
http://www.airforums.com/forums/f312...se-134386.html

Basically, I had a (aftermarket) backup camera I installed in my TV (Ram PU), so I purchased the camera again and installed only the camera on the back of the AS. The camera I chose was a license-plate-frame mounted style.
In the TV, it automatically powers up the camera with the backup lights of the TV. I installed my monitor above my rear-view-mirror using a "stalk-mount" from "RAM" (not the automaker...the GPS/CAmera/etc mounting mfr'r).

I mounted the 2nd camera on the rear of the AS, and ran the coax/power cable for it up to the hitch-area and, using a 4-pole trailer-light plug-assembly, wired it to plug into the TV at the rear bumper. In other words, when I plug in my umbilical for the AS.... tie-wrapped to that umbilical is another cable with a 4-pole plug...which I plug into it's receptacle beside the 7-way on the TV.

I next installed two automotive relays I bought at an auto parts store. These are cheap, 40-Amp relays which, when supplied a "ground" from a switch on my panel, will switch between the TV rear-view-camera to the AS rear-view-camera.
Why 2 relays? One relay normally allows power from the TV backup lights to power the TV camera, and the other supplies pwr to the AS camera... but when I press a switch on the panel... the first relay disables the TV camera and the 2nd relay lights up the AS camera.
Now, when I back up to hitch-up... I can see my TV's trailer ball approach the AS hitch precisely (makes hitch-up much easier). Once hitched up, I push a button on my TV panel and my monitor (above my rearview mirror) is now viewing the scene from the back of the AS. It really helps in traffic and when backing into a campsite or back into my storage-area at the end of a trip.

The links to the products I used are in the article referenced above. My total cost was about $100 and a six-pack. The most difficult part was running the cable from the camera at the rear of the AS to the front of the AS. But after I screwed-up my courage to tackle it... actually was not difficult at all.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

So basically you ran all the "important" stuff up to the hitch and did the control there? That's the same approach as Ford wants you to do with their aftermarket camera.

Bob