Fault Finding Guide for Reversing Camera Systems

This page has been created to assist people with identifying what could be causing a fault with their current reversing camera system. The first section will deal with cabled reversing camera system faults; the second section will cover wireless. *Please note that this help page does not cover factory-fit car reverse cameras, which requires parts from the manufacturer.

Cabled System Faults on Kits with a Monitor (Mirror or Dash)

The monitor fails to load up at all

  • If this is a new install, check and remake the power/earth connections. Bad crimp connections are a common reason for new installs not working; soldered connections are the "gold standard". 
  • If this system has previously been working, check the monitor is still getting +12V or higher power and that any inline fuses on the power supply haven't blown. 
  • If you have recently removed and re-installed the monitor, check that none of the pins have become bent out of position when re-installing (often, this can also blow the fuse). 
  • Look closely at the screen. Can you see any slight change between darkness of the display when toggling on/off with the power button - if it looks like there is an extremely black image trying to display then it may be a LCD panel backlight failure (if one of ours we may be able to replace/repair). 
  • Some monitors will not load up if they have short circuit protection; this means that if you have a short in either your extension cable or reverse camera, the screen may appear "dead". To test this out, find the channel inputs (usually hidden under the dash) and unplug the extension cable to see if this allows the monitor to return to life.
  • If all of these checks have been performed, you may have a problem with the monitor. If it is one of ours, we can test it to confirm. If it is in warranty, we will either repair or replace the faulty item. If it is outside of warranty, we can attempt a low-cost repair (roughly 1 in 2 monitors can be successfully repaired).
  • If it isn't one of our monitors, please see our guide page for replacing reversing camera parts.

The monitor loads up but displays either a screen saying no signal or a blank blue or black screen.

  • Check the power supply to the reversing camera. If the connection type is phono/RCA, which uses a separate power supply, check the voltage going to the camera. If this is a new install and you have taken your power supply from the reversing lights, these may be CANBUS-controlled or pulsed. In this case, obtain your power feed for the camera from an ignition-based feed. If the connection type has 4+ pins, then the power supply is likely to come from the monitor; check the power supply to these pins by removing the camera and testing the connector pins on the side that runs from the monitor. Touch your black probe of the multimeter to a chassis earth point whilst simultaneously touching the red probe against the pins inside the connector until you find one that returns a result that looks like a power supply, i.e. 12V or thereabouts. If there are no pins with power, it points to a problem with the monitor or wiring from the monitor to the camera. If there is a low voltage, e.g. 7V, it points to either a problem with the monitor power regulator or, more commonly, a bad power/earth connection to the system. Remember that the monitor can load up at lower voltages than the camera, so a poor crimp connection could cause the monitor to work while the camera doesn't. Soldered connections are the best type to use.
  • You could try a new extension cable (if it is a universal type of cable) or remove the camera and inserting directly into the monitor wiring harness (if it is any other type of cable). This would rule out any cable issues. But to be honest, this is a long shot; cable failures are infrequent and usually only occur if physical damage occurs, e.g. rabbits/rats chewing cables on motorhomes stored in farms that have cable on the underside of chassis with no conduit fitted, or cable tied extension cables with no protection against rubbing and crushing of wires inside.
  • It could be a faulty camera. If it is one of ours and under warranty, we will exchange the camera for a replacement. If it is not one of ours, please see our replacement guide for reversing camera system. We may have adaptors for fitting replacement reversing cameras available.

Cabled System Faults on Systems going into an aftermarket stereo head unit, e.g. Sony/Pioneer/Kenwood

  • If this is a new install, please check the power and earth going to the reverse camera and that the camera is being fed into the correct channel input socket. Also check to make sure that the power supply going to the camera is a non canbus supply with no issues of pulsed voltage. We recommend sending power back from an ACC/ignition +12V feed to avoid any of these issues.
  • Check to ensure that the trigger wire that tells the head unit when to display the image is receiving a power feed when in reverse. If you have a camera button that causes the camera to show, you can skip this step and press the button instead.
  • If this is an existing install it may be a camera fault. Out of any part of a camera system, this is the most likely part to fail (it has the most challenging life). It is still a rare event; our aim is below 0.5% faults within a 2-year period, and we are always very safely below this rate on our range. If it is one of ours and within warranty, contact us and we will arrange a replacement. If it isn't one of ours, check our replacement guide for reversing camera system. We may have adaptors for fitting replacement reversing cameras available if we did not initially supply them.

Wireless System Faults

My Screen fails to load up at all.

  • If this is a new install, check and remake the power/earth connections. Bad crimp connections are a common reason for new installs not working; soldered connections are the "gold standard". 
  • If you have a lighter plug for the monitor, try this instead of the hardwire kit.
  • If this system has previously been working, check the monitor is still getting +12V or higher power and that any inline fuses on the power supply haven't blown. 
  • If you have recently removed and re-installed the monitor, check that none of the pins have become bent out of position when re-installing (often, this can also blow the fuse). 
  • Look closely at the screen. Can you see any slight change between darkness of the display when toggling in/out with the power button - if it looks like there is an extremely black image trying to display then it may be a LCD panel backlight failure (if one of ours we may be able to replace/repair). 
  • If all of these checks have been performed, you may have a problem with the monitor. If it is one of ours, we can test it to confirm. If it is in warranty, we will either repair or replace the faulty item. If it is outside of warranty, we can attempt a low-cost repair (roughly 1 in 2 monitors can be successfully repaired).
  • If it isn't one of our monitors, it may be tricky to replace due to the numerous technologies involved with wireless kits.

My screen loads up but says no signal or has no signal bars on the icon.

If you have a modular wireless system (one that uses a receiver box connected to a cable monitor), check to see what is causing the no-signal message. You can get the no signal message from the monitor or the receiver box. Change the monitor channel using the CAM button (or V1/V2). Do the two channels have different no-signal messages? If they are the same, there would appear to be a problem with the receiver box, as the monitor is not getting any signal. If the channel that the receiver box is plugged into has a no signal message AND a signal bar indicator at zero or a red circle where the signal bar indicator would be, that would indicate a problem with the two boxes talking to each other. If you have an integrated aerial monitor and it says no signal on the monitor, then it would mean there is a problem with the two boxes talking to each other. See suggestions below:

  • Check the wireless camera/sender box has a healthy 12V+ power. Depending on the installation, some systems may need the caravan connected and the side lights turned on to supply power to the wireless camera.
  • Check that the earth/ground is good. Caravans/trailers are notorious for earth issues. My caravan had this issue on the earth to the rear light cluster. Symptoms of bad earth to the rear lights (that are often used for power supply) include side lights dimming in rhythm with the hazard lights when they are turned on.
  • Check there is no damage to either aerial; attempt to line them up so they are in the same alignment, e.g. if the aerial on the camera is pointing to the sky, make sure the camera side is also pointing to the sky (they work best when orientated the same way as each other).
  • Try re-pairing the camera or sender box with the monitor or receiver box. Please keep in mind that there is usually a specific order for pairing. On our most popular 60M wireless products, this is always the CAMERA side first, then the monitor side, whereas on the 100M systems, it is the opposite. If you were to try pairing from the incorrect side first, it would fail (just counts down and then has a fail message). Check your wireless reversing camera instructions for more details on the pairing procedure.
  • If the system is still under warranty, get us to check and replace the wireless parts. 

I have signal bars but no picture or signal bars and a band of random colours at the bottom of the screen.

This usually indicates no problem with the wireless parts of the system as the two chips are talking to each other. The camera is likely not providing a picture for the sender to transmit.

  • Check the wireless camera/sender box has a healthy 12V+ power. Depending on the installation, some systems may need the caravan connected and the side lights turned on to supply power to the wireless camera.
  • Check that the earth/ground is good. Caravans/trailers are notorious for earth issues. My caravan had just this issue on the earth to the rear light cluster. Symptoms of bad earth to the rear lights (that are often used for power supply) side lights dimming in rhythm with the hazard lights when they are turned on.
  • If the system is one of our 100M wireless products, the monitor will display "No Video Signal" (not "NO SIGNAL") when the boxes are talking to each other but there is a problem with the camera. There is usually a sticker on the equipment saying "for use with 100M equipment only" if this is the case. This is not the symptom of a camera failure with our 60M wireless equipment.
  • If the system is one of ours and still under warranty, it may be that the camera has failed. Contact us to try a replacement camera.

No one likes a problem with their reversing camera system. Luckily it is very rare with our equipment. We hope that the guide helps rectify any issues you may find with equipment from any supplier. If you would like to troubleshoot any symptoms you may find, please see our contact us page.