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REVERSING CAMERA SMOKED AND CAUSED FIRE 

 

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 Post subject: REVERSING CAMERA SMOKED AND CAUSED FIRE
Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 7:15 pm 
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I tried putting in a reversing camera today. It worked fine for about three minutes and then the wires smoked and started a small fire in the boot!

I wired it to the cigarette lighter (have removed the lighter completely and made a panel to surround the DVD player and 7.5" screen, so this was a simple matter!)

I then tested it, and it worked fine. I then ran the cables through the cabin and up into roof near rear light and reconnected camera. Still worked fine. As I was stuffing left over cable into the pilar it all smoked and caught fire.

I think possibly that the wire caught a sharp edge somewhere and earthed to the car body... At least, that is what I hope!..

The camera is probably now fried, but I cannot tell without the connector cable working!

Should I shoot myself in the head for wiring it to the cigarette lighter, or what?????


And - what else is 12v constantly on (with ignition) in the boot area of a EF / EL wagon? Would like camera to be active all the time, not just in reverse (as would be achieved by wiring to reversing light)......

There was no instruction with camera on wiring, and no markings stating 12v or 4v or anything. The fact that it worked for a while would probably suggest it was about right.

Maybe the cigarette lighter socket just puts out way to much amps or I pierced the cable stuffing the excess into the pillar.
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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 8:41 pm 
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just find an accessory wire the ciggy lighter power should of been fine.. i say that yeah maybe wire earthed but thought if s**t like happened it would of f**k the fuse and radio would be non funtionally

 

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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:04 pm 
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Mate, you've obviously used the wrong guage wiring, if you used the same guage as the cigarette lighter, the fuse would have blown before a fire started.

You guys need to get on the net and do a little tutorial before attempting electrical s**t by yourselves. I know someone who wired their own headunit, the car caught fire and became engulfed in flame after they had gotten out.

 

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Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 9:06 pm 
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Froudey wrote:
just find an accessory wire the ciggy lighter power should of been fine.. i say that yeah maybe wire earthed but thought if s**t like happened it would of f**k the fuse and radio would be non funtionally


seriously, where did you learn english...

 

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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:09 am 
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smiley235 wrote:
Froudey wrote:
just find an accessory wire the ciggy lighter power should of been fine.. i say that yeah maybe wire earthed but thought if s**t like happened it would of f**k the fuse and radio would be non funtionally


seriously, where did you learn english...


from ya mum.....

 

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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:25 pm 
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I actually had some lengths of 15amp wire lying around, so used that. The camera is connected to the TV screen, and the TV screen still works fine. I think it is just due to the cheap s**t wires supplied with the camera being creased, cut or just plain shorting themselves. The guy is now refusing to supply me new wires (even tho he supplied the unit without any wiring instructions!) etc etc etc. Prick.

If I was in Auckland I'd go deal to the freak... Am now going to get a camera from someone local...

Thanks for the help... Once again...!
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:32 pm 
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his mum teaches bad english
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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:30 pm 
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In my perfect world anyone who says "Ya mum" is chemically castrated to prevent reproduction in a hope within 100 years we can breed stupidity out.

 

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Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:11 pm 
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fiend wrote:
I actually had some lengths of 15amp wire lying around, so used that. The camera is connected to the TV screen, and the TV screen still works fine. I think it is just due to the cheap s**t wires supplied with the camera being creased, cut or just plain shorting themselves. The guy is now refusing to supply me new wires (even tho he supplied the unit without any wiring instructions!) etc etc etc. Prick.

If I was in Auckland I'd go deal to the freak... Am now going to get a camera from someone local...

Thanks for the help... Once again...!


could have been the s**t wires supplied, may not have been able to take the current drawn by the camera. Your electrical installation is only as safe as its weakest link.

 

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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 1:37 am 
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smiley235 wrote:
Froudey wrote:
just find an accessory wire the ciggy lighter power should of been fine.. i say that yeah maybe wire earthed but thought if s**t like happened it would of f**k the fuse and radio would be non funtionally


seriously, where did you learn english...


He didn't.

Personally I wouldnt try anything electrical, mainly because my knowledge of electronics goes as far as what cables are which and how to fix an extension cord after its been attacked by a hedge trimmer.

 

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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:05 am 
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Bumblebee wrote:
In my perfect world anyone who says "Ya mum" is chemically castrated to prevent reproduction in a hope within 100 years we can breed stupidity out.


:lol:

 

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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:11 pm 
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fiend wrote:
I actually had some lengths of 15amp wire lying around, so used that. [...] I think it is just due to the cheap s**t wires supplied with the camera being creased, cut or just plain shorting themselves.


Which wire caught fire? the 15amp stuff or the "cheap s**t"?

If it was the thinner wire that burnt out, then it is probably still a case of the wiring being too thin for the fuse. The camera is unlikely to need much power so it will be supplied with wires capable of carrying (for example) 1amp which is reasonable. If you then hook it up to the cigarette lighter which will have a 15-20amp fuse using 15amp cable and short the thin wire to ground, that thin wire is then the weakest point of your wiring. Your wiring is only capable of carrying a certain current, and it should always be fused for less than that current, simple as that.

It's most likely not a case of the wiring being "cheap s**t" it was probably quite suitable for what it was doing.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:43 pm 
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heydonms wrote:
fiend wrote:
I actually had some lengths of 15amp wire lying around, so used that. [...] I think it is just due to the cheap s**t wires supplied with the camera being creased, cut or just plain shorting themselves.


Which wire caught fire? the 15amp stuff or the "cheap s**t"?

If it was the thinner wire that burnt out, then it is probably still a case of the wiring being too thin for the fuse. The camera is unlikely to need much power so it will be supplied with wires capable of carrying (for example) 1amp which is reasonable. If you then hook it up to the cigarette lighter which will have a 15-20amp fuse using 15amp cable and short the thin wire to ground, that thin wire is then the weakest point of your wiring. Your wiring is only capable of carrying a certain current, and it should always be fused for less than that current, simple as that.

It's most likely not a case of the wiring being "cheap s**t" it was probably quite suitable for what it was doing.


Under normal circumstances, if the bad wire was able to handle whatever the camera was supposed to draw then it should have operated correctly unless you shorted it to ground which would have blown the fuse anyway if it was a dead short.

So its 1 of 2 things,

1: you have some sort of high resistance short (such as connection to a poor earth and it could be drawing for example 10 A

or

2: if the wires you got weren't actually part of the camera and you had to wire it up yourself, they could not be big enough for the job.

 

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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:06 pm 
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smiley235 wrote:

[...] unless you shorted it to ground which would have blown the fuse anyway if it was a dead short.



Not quite, try hooking up some thin wire (the sort of stuff you might find in a set of headphones or some other low power device (I suspect a simple reversing camera would fit into this category)) in series with a 20amp fuse across a car battery, the fuse will last longer than the wire.
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Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 7:26 pm 
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heydonms wrote:
smiley235 wrote:

[...] unless you shorted it to ground which would have blown the fuse anyway if it was a dead short.



Not quite, try hooking up some thin wire (the sort of stuff you might find in a set of headphones or some other low power device (I suspect a simple reversing camera would fit into this category)) in series with a 20amp fuse across a car battery, the fuse will last longer than the wire.


if its a dead short, the wire will burn straight away, the wire wont just sit there smoking. If the wire wont break apart staright away, then miliseconds after, the fuse will blow.

 

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