HELP! Backup Camera Alway On- 2020 S-Class 2930RL

[Vroman]

Need to address the issue with the rear Furrion camera being on all the time in our 2020 2930. So my plan is to install this 12V relay switch with remote so we can turn camera off when not needed, yet still turn it on if we want to use it as a security camera. I am hoping I can install relay in ceiling.

Can anyone confirm to which fixture the rear camera is directly wired? I read the recessed lights above couch, Maxair fan, etc. TIA

Happy Holidays

[boyscout]

Need to address the issue with the rear Furrion camera being on all the time in our 2020 2930. So my plan is to install this 12V relay switch with remote so we can turn camera off when not needed, yet still turn it on if we want to use it as a security camera. I am hoping I can install relay in ceiling. Can anyone confirm to which fixture the rear camera is directly wired? I read the recessed lights above couch, Maxair fan, etc. TIA Happy Holidays

Welcome to the forum. It's not a coincidence that just minutes ago I warned someone else about this problem... it's not at all uncommon.

Nobody can authoritatively answer your question about which circuit has been used... it sometimes seems as though the factory installers just take the first hot wire they can find.

Your wireless switch is one solution and it probably doesn't matter what circuit you're on - if it's always hot you can put your switch between the circuit and the camera *IF* there's enough space behind the camera (I'd bet against that). Elsewhere in the circuit (as you've obviously guessed) will probably interfere with something else on that circuit.

After some raucous debates here in this forum the winning consensus seems to be that running the camera off the marker lights circuit is the way to go. That way, the camera goes on and appears on the monitor seconds after the truck's lights are turned on. I'm one of many here who have poked a wire a few inches down from the marker lights to behind the camera and connected power to it.

Choices, choices. Good luck with yours.

[geotex1]

Everyone seems to have the opinion GD mistakenly wires the camera locations constant hot. Well, that's not a mistake, but a piece of strategy. The folks at LCI market dual purpose of the cameras - seeing while in transit, maneuvering and backing but also as a security measure in the campground. Hence the "door cam" and desk stand. Good strategy, but poor technical execution. Executed wisely, the cameras would have their own circuit to give users their choice.

Before you follow advice and just wire to a marker light, might want to find the draw on that circuit. The S-Class have incandescent road lighting, and consider what's powering that lighting.

If you wish to isolate where GD may have spliced it, you can ask for and get general wiring diagrams from the factory. Then buy yourself and inexpensive circuit locater with tone generator. Read and follow instructions how to use it, and between these two piece should be able to find what you want.

[boyscout]

Everyone seems to have the opinion GD mistakenly wires the camera locations constant hot. Well, that's not a mistake, but a piece of strategy. The folks at LCI market dual purpose of the cameras - seeing while in transit, maneuvering and backing but also as a security measure in the campground. Hence the "door cam" and desk stand. Good strategy, but poor technical execution. Executed wisely, the cameras would have their own circuit to give users their choice.

Before you follow advice and just wire to a marker light, might want to find the draw on that circuit. The S-Class have incandescent road lighting, and consider what's powering that lighting.

If you wish to isolate where GD may have spliced it, you can ask for and get general wiring diagrams from the factory. Then buy yourself and inexpensive circuit locater with tone generator. Read and follow instructions how to use it, and between these two piece should be able to find what you want.

@Vroman, you'll have to choose your advice; mine conflicts with the above. We had the camera wired to incandescent marker lights on two Grand Design trailers, no problem at all.

Our first trailer (2018 Reflection) came from the factory that way. Many of GD's trailers do, many others come powered full-time as yours is, and some come powered by other random circuits (some not powered at all!) Suggesting that there's a consistent plan or strategy isn't borne up by owner experience here, and IMO asking for a wiring diagram for your trailer is a waste of time. Not only is the wiring of camera power inconsistent, but after requesting it from the factory for other reasons I have the "wiring diagram" for our trailer and it is not nearly detailed enough to assist with this issue (or many others).

Our second trailer (2018 Solitude) had a broken connection from the factory - the camera wire was pulled out of whatever connector it had maybe once been in - so I don't know what it was supposed to be connected to. I wired it to the incandescent marker lights. It was no problem for months, after which for unrelated reasons I swapped the factory marker lights with LED lights.

Choose your advice and good luck with your choice.