I am trying to wire up an back up camera in my C5. Alpine HCE-C1100 and it is going into a new head unit, an Alpine ilx-w770. I have called tech support for Alpine 3-4 times. I have watched multiple videos on how to install a back up camera and and the best I can get are the lines that help guide you backwards, but no video.
There are 2 wiring harnesses that come out of the back of the 770 radio. One harness has RCA connectors on the ends of the wires. The other harness has just wire ends. On the RCA harness there is a camera input and on the other harness there is a camera trigger.
The back up camera has a harness with 3 wires. One of the wires has an RCA connector and I have that hooked to the harness with the RCA connectors to the one that indicates the rear camera. The other 2 wires are 12v power and ground. I have the ground connected to the ground behind the right rear taillights. The 12v I have connected to the right rear back up light.
I also have a 12v acc source that is connected to the right rear back up light. I also have a 12v source hooked to the harness without the
RCA connectors for the back up camera trigger ( Purple with a white tracer ).

If there is a 12v tech out there that can help me with my wiring dilemma I sure would appreciate any info. I'm sure I have not put in all the details so ask away and I will answer.

 

While not an A/V tech by any means, I have seen a camera be bad right out of the box.

 

In the last couple of days I have been pondering just that thought. But I guess I don't know how to check to see if it is bad.

 

Have you hit that trigger wire with power? Most of the ones I have seen installed hooked up the trigger wire to the back up light so when you put it in reverse, the back up light circuit goes hot and triggers the camera to turn on.

 

Missileboy, I have hit the trigger wire with 12v from both the back up light and from ACC . In talking with Alpine, they do not recommend tapping into the back up light to trigger the camera to come on. They want 12v from the ACC. In this way you can see the back up camera while you are driving if you chose.

But most use the back up light for the trigger, and I will do the same.

So I think I have the camera wired correctly. From the back up light positive wire, Light Green, I have 2 taps. One tap , red goes to the camera to power it on when you go into reverse. Then another wire comes off and runs all the way to the radio where I hook it to the camera trigger wire , Purple/white. This wire is in the main harness wires coming from the back of the radio. The other group of wires with the RCA ends, called the A/V input harness has a yellow "camera in" RCA. That is hooked to the cameras yellow RCA. That supplies the video from the camera

I'm pretty sure I have it all hooked up correctly now but still only get the guide lines on the screen. I called Alpine and they are sending me out a complete now camera kit, HCE-C1100. I'm willing to bet that when I install the new camera, it will work. So Redzg, you may be correct. We will see and I will post on here my results.
Thanks to everyone.

 

I wanted to offer my spare camera, but damned if I can find it.

 

Try the Audio/Electronics forum. There are lots of posts on this subject.

 

Thanks Redzg, but I have that covered. And Gunn I will look into that. Especially I think it will be handy for future stuff.

 

Did you take the lens cap off the camera?

 

Dude, I took you for real, until I saw the laughing emoji.

 

Well, I don’t know if they actually have a lens cap, but maybe check if it’s not something else stupid simple like that.

I’d love a backup camera in my car but stories like yours show why it’s daunting.

 

Go to Crutchfield's website, they have several videos showing back up camera wiring.

 

I will check when I get home to see if there is such a thing as a lens cape for this camera. If there is I will feel really stupid.

I have been chatting with Crutchfield's tech department 2-3 times regarding this camera issue. And I have been talking with Alpines tech support 2-3 times also. it is with the combination of talking with the different tech departments and looking at videos I have finally been able to piece together how it is actually suppose to be wired.

 

Update: I talked with Alpine Customer service, explained my conversations with the techs at Alpine and Crutchfield, and am now convinced that I have the camera wired up correctly, And I think my problem ( only shows the guide lines on the screen and not the actual video feed from the camera ) is the camera itself, and could he send me out a replacement camera. His response was to send me out a whole new camera kit HCE-C1100 no charge ( $160 ). Now that I will have a new kit I will switch out the old camera for the new camera and I hope/suspect/pray that will take care of my problem. I will let everyone know the results.

 

Since it has RCA I always try it it indoors on a tv (or take a small spare flat tv to the garage) and apply 12v and ground to camera wiring to make sure the camera is good before bothering ot install.

 

I installed 2, just to be sure, lol! One is b/u, other is recording (rear dashcam)

 

Moved to C5 Tech.

 

OK guys, I got the rear back up camera to work. I discovered I had something wired incorrectly and discover it almost by accident. One of my conversations with Alpine tech indicated they wanted the trigger wire on the Alpine radios main wiring harness to be powered by the ACC ( accessory ) wire which I tapped into just below the ignition switch. But for some reason I thought they also wanted this acc tap to run up to the rear back up light. So along with the camera wiring harness, I added an additional wire which ran from the rear back up light all the way to the radio which I was going to tap into the acc. I sat in my car, all the center counsel trim items removed and the additional wire which had a bare exposed end touched one of the bolts sticking out of the counsel and it sparked. I didn't realize I had it hot. I then took the camera trigger wire , which had the red wire from the camera harness attached, and stuck this wire to touch the trigger wire and the camera came on. That is what the red wire was supposed to do. But the red wire was plugged into the trigger wire but was not hot.

So I traced the red wire back to the camera and it turns out I did not have it attached to the rear back up light, but it only went straight to the camera. So I then cut the red wire back at the rear tail lights, soldered it to the rear back up light and the camera worked when I put the car in reverse.

So this is how everything is wired:
1. red wire from the camera harness is attached to the rear back up light,( light green). this powers the camera up when you put the trans in reverse.
2. I ran an additional wire which also attaches to the rear back up light to the camera trigger wire of the radios main harness. So when I put the trans in reverse, it triggers the radio to show the input of the camera
2. I grounded the black wire to the ground on the frame behind the right rear tail lights.
3. The video out from the camera is RCA plugged into the RCA " rear camera in" at the Audio Visual harness of the radio.

That's it. FYI: the Alpine ilx-w770 radio has 2 main wiring harnesses coming out of the back. The harness with all the RCA ends is called the AudioVideo harness. The other harness that has only wire ends , about 5-6 inches long, is called the Main Wiring harness. both are needed to install and wire correctly a back up camera.

I just want to thank everyone with input for all you time and assistance.