backup light switch

M3 x 0.50mm

if you can’t find some locally I’ve got about half a dozen and can ship you a couple. Just let me know.

Larry

Thank you Larry. I should be able to find them now that I know the size, but I'll keep your offer in mind.

Tom

I bought this:

https://www.amazon.fr/gp/produ...00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and it came with a fairly detailed manual, in several languages including French. Installation is really very simple.

Thank you Larry,

I got some and they fit.

Tom

The backup lights ONLY work if the parking or headlights are on if you are planning to tap off that switch.

Panterapatt,

I don't see any correlation between backup lights and parking/headlights.

I forget where on the forum I learned this but I verified it on my own car.   With the headlights off, the backup lights do not activate.  

I figured this out the long way. One pole (1)  is only hot when the lights are on, and the other pole (2) becomes hot when shifting into reverse, sending power to the reverse lights. I plan to make pole (1) hot all the time, so shifting into reverse turns on the reverse lights even without the lights being turned on.

thank you, correct.   The joke was "what were the Italians think when they wired it this way?"   Only work in the dark with headlights on!!!  I just left it that way.

Some of the '72 cars had the +12v for the backup lights connected to fuse 3, which is one of the parking light fuses.  That required the parking or headlights to be on in order for the backup lights to work.

Most of the cars had the +12v for the backup lights connected to fuse 12.

If your backup lights only work when the parking or headlights are on, find fuse 3 and look for a small gauge green wire that is connected to fuse 3. Disconnect that wire and verify that the backup lights no longer work. Connect that wire to fuse 12. Any spare terminal on fuse 10, 11, or 12 will work.

John

First about backup lights in general. It was determined that backup lights were originally invented for the tanks of the Italian army. I don't know if this is true, but this forum will likely include a military historian who can shed light (ha ha) on this matter.

As for the alternate wiring for the backup lights, that's worth a go.

Thank you,

Tom

In case you still need the answer, the power to the reverse lights goes to red wire at camera end and the other red wire connects to your head unit, to tell it to display the camera signal on the screen.

If you're going to use this as a rear view mirror system, ie continually, and you don't need to switch the display over, then you don't need to use the red wires at all...

Most rear view mirror systems will put the reverse guiding lines on the display when you put the car in reverse.

The Master Tailgater rearview mirror system that I bought is quite short on directions and so far the results have been less than impressive. Thinking it's the fault of the camera, I placed an order for a better one which should arrive shortly. The biggest unanswered puzzle are the trigger wires that appear on the wiring harness and both ends of the extension wire connecting the rear mounted camera to the mirror connection near the front (under the dash). See attached photo of a 12 foot extension cable that comes with the system. It has a 6 inch long red trigger at both ends. Do any of you know how to connect them, and to what?

As per my post above, they are there to convey the signal to the head unit that you're in reverse. It's a generic reversing camera cable. If you are using a dedicated always-on display, you don't need them. Or you can use them to supply power from the front of the car (dash) to the camera.

I guess I'm still not smart enough to understand the trigger wires. The attached diagram is my understanding of the situation. Why is there a trigger wire at each end of the extension cable? do they connect within the cable? What do they need to connect to?

The mirror and the camera each have trigger wires and power supply capability,

Your question has already been answered. To perhaps better explain, you connect the red wire to a wire going to your back up lights. This will send 12 V through the red wire to your dashboard area where, as previously explained, the 12 V will tell your device to activate the video screen circuit.

I too was a bit confused when hooking up my back up camera to my Kenwood. Once it all goes together, you will realize it really is quite simple

Larry

Yes, the two 6 inch pieces of red wire are the same wire.

Larry

To spell it out even more... it's confusing that red wires appear to exit the connectors - they don't... it's just easier to make the cable that way. There are 3 wires in total in that cable:

1- video signal - between the centre of each connector.

2- video ground - between the outer ring of each connector.

3- a red wire - each end sticks out near the connectors.

So the RCA connector only covers two wires and the third red wire that hangs out of each end needs to, or can, be connected to a positive source if needed.  Am I getting closer to understanding this? I am an artist, not an electrical engineer.

Tom,  Here is what I see you need to do.

1. The camera needs power to operate and it will get its power from the Transmission Switch when you put your car in reverse.

2. The Mirror also needs power to operate hand gets it power from the separate + & - wires in your diagram.

3. Now you need to tell the mirror to tun on, so you need to connect the triggers wires together at each point so the mirro know to turn on.  See my diagram with the blue lines.  I am assuming the trigger wires send ground to the mirror to activate it.  The red wires I think are connected to the ground of the cable for the camera.

You can PM me if you need some more help.

The wires at the back up switch are a constant hot and a switched hot. You can confirm this by studying the SOBill diagram posted early in this thread

The red trigger wires do not carry a ground, they carry a +12 V.

It is best to tap into the back up light wiring in the tail light bucket area to make sure you are getting the switched tail light power, not the constant 12 V hot that goes to the switch.

Larry

thank you all for advice and information so far. Some of what you've given me so far should have been made clear in the instructions for the mirror and camera. Maybe the minimal instructions provided would have been enough for some, but not me. I'll let you know how things ended.

Tom