Back Up Camera Mod (That won't drain Pod battery!)

First things first, remove the license plate: 

Remove the license plate holder/light fixture assembly: 

We then fed the camera cable through the space under the light fixture itself:

 

And then into the hole that sits behind the light fixture: 

Feed the rest of the cable into the hole and place the camera on the license plate. Then replace the fixture:

 

The cable is now resting between the wood veneer and the inside of the shell, inside our pull through compartment.  Remove a few staples holding the veneer wall and pull the wall away exposing the wiring in the back. *optional step: We wired the camera to a 9 volt battery to test the position of the camera before securing it fully. 

Our next step was to run a 14 gauge wire that will carry power to the camera.  In the photo below you'll see a connector (that has a blue cover which was removed for the photo) - when the cover is removed you'll see two blade prongs inside which connects the wires together. It is also filled with some sort of clear grease. Notice in the picture the yellow wire is the wire we will connect to. This wire is the unused center pin on the 7 way plug. Whether or not your pod is the same, I'm not sure? 

Now take the 14 gauge wire and connect it to the yellow connection. I removed the terminating blades and preset them into the blue cover before inserting back into the connector. Make sure the wire is inserted all the way to the back of the connector before inserting the blue cover. Please use pliers to ensure a solid connection. 

The 14 gauge wire now has to run almost the length of the trailer to a sealed port located beneath the trailer near the water heater. We ran the cable inside the existing plastic jacket that covers all the current wires for added protection - was quite a job trying to get it into the jacket and beneath the zip ties, but it was possible and looks very clean! 

In the photo below you can see the two ports located near the water heater. I suggest choosing the port closest to the back of the trailer, as this port contains all of the automotive related wiring (ie/ taillights, etc.) Better to keep the wiring all together imo. 

The wire is fed up this port and enters the water heater compartment inside the trailer (under our L shaped dinette in the 172). This portion was easiest with two people. My wife inside the trailer and myself under - feeding the 14 gauge wire through the port with help from a wire puller. Be warned - the rubber material is very tight fitting and it's quite the struggle to get the wire through. You could add additional silicone once wire is in place, but I didn't feel it was necessary due to the strength/squeeze of the original rubber material. The black wire in the photo is our 14 gauge wire. Be sure to pull the wire into the trailer until all the slack is gone. 

We now tested for continuity between the center pin on the plug and the wire we just ran to assure our connection is good. (if you have any questions about this step, just ask) 

We then pulled the wire into the pull through compartment. 

View from inside pull through compartment: 

and then fed behind the wood veneer to meet up with the camera wiring.

Camera wire is noted with red arrow. Connect the positive lead from the camera to the 14 gauge wire using a marette (see yellow arrow) Connect the negative lead from the camera to negative bundle (see blue arrow). We then tied all loose cables and replaced the wood veneer. 

The Pod itself is now wired for the backup cam. We now move to the TV itself. 

We dismantled the socket plug and now had to determine which pin on the 7 way socket was auxiliary power. With our TV it ended up being the black wire. We came to this by using a volt meter and seeing which pin had 12 volts. We used a 14 gauge jumper wire between the auxiliary power pin and the unused center pin. We then reassembled the socket and tested the camera! 

The power to the camera now turns on only when the 7 way plug is connected to the TV; therefore, no drainage of the pod battery will ever occur. This also leaves the camera running while we tow so it acts like a rear view mirror! 

-ThePinoyPodders (Hubby)

 

I'm just not sure about the lights. Do the day time running lights of TV's activate the Pod's running lights? We always leave our TV's lights on "Auto", so it always has the day time running lights on, but won't switch to full lights until it's dark enough. 

Our Yada has a 50ft rated distance, and so far it works very well up to that distance. There was a 50% off sale, so we couldn't pass it up! 

-ThePinoyPodders (Wife)