Help. Fried my dashboard front camera

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notcool

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I had learnt an expensive lesson today. I fried my dashboard front camera, but the bigger issue is i did not even know what i had done wrong. I did all my research like which fuse to piggy back on and which blade size to get for the add a circuit etc.

There was a small snap sound, and followed by burnt smell. :(

I hope someone can point out my mistake besides i should have gone to certified car mechanic instead of wiring it up myself. I thought i can be proud of my achievement but i have obviously failed big time.
The hardware kit i have used is thinkware. The red is the ACC or ignition switched wire which i have piggy backed on fuse 1 (Accessory 10 A) while the yellow is the constant or battery wire which i have pigged back on fuse 38 (Driver's side door lock 10A). I have also connected the ground wire to a bolt which is connected to the body of the car.
The add a circuit is a 15A Micro Fuse Holder Mini which i have used.
So what have i done wrong :(
https://ibb.co/ex8uPc
https://ibb.co/f7t5VH
https://ibb.co/nhGncx
https://ibb.co/f63iHx
 
The Thinkware hardware kit is specifically made for Thinkware cameras.. It can not.. be used for other brands. So, my question would be... what camera are you hooking up to? If.. it was a Thinkware camera.. as in, you have a matched set.. your mistake.. at some point... mixed the colors of wires and you created a short... inside your camera.. Perhaps...
 
Check that yellow is permanent live and red is switched live, and not the other way round.

I doubt that you have got it wrong, but confirm it.



EDIT I have checked out the connections and you have indeed got them right.
 
Last edited:
Where did the snap sound come from, and the burning smell, was it from the camera.

If you have wired it correctly it is difficult to come to any other answer than that the camera, or its PSU, was faulty.
 
Ralph2 said:
The Thinkware hardware kit is specifically made for Thinkware cameras.. It can not.. be used for other brands. So, my question would be... what camera are you hooking up to? If.. it was a Thinkware camera.. as in, you have a matched set.. your mistake.. at some point... mixed the colors of wires and you created a short... inside your camera.. Perhaps...
Click to expand...
Thinkware f770. I bought the full package front and rear dash cam with hardwire kit.
 
franka said:
Where did the snap sound come from, and the burning smell, was it from the camera.

If you have wired it correctly it is difficult to come to any other answer than that the camera, or its PSU, was faulty.
Click to expand...


The sound came from the camera the moment I started my engine, and followed by burnt smell.

Is the camera fully non functional now?

I read some has even wrongly wired the yellow and red, but nothing happened like mine.

Did I pick the wrong fuse to piggy back or the 15a fuse I have used was incorrectly?

I didn't use voltmeter to test the voltage because the fuse itself has indicated the A thus I thought it should be alright if I presumed it to be the same.

I doubt thinkware or the merchant will take responsibility even if the psu was the cause since I have fried it and nothing to verify.

I should have checked the camera using the ciggy plug first. :(
 
jokiin said:
If you only wired power to power and ground to ground then there's not really anything you could have done wrong
Click to expand...
Assuming if I have wired the ground to a bolt but it was actually to a plastic part of the car then what would really happen. Will it short the camera or simply doesn't start?
 
Surley the camera hardwire hasreverse polarity protection...which leads me to believe its an internal fault.
 
wasyoingonce2 said:
Surley the camera hardwire hasreverse polarity protection...which leads me to believe its an internal fault.
Click to expand...

it may or may not but nothing mentioned so far suggests he hooked it up the wrong way around, could just be a faulty component that's the root cause of the problem
 
Just guessing the big picture... the hardware kits provide 12v power after the car is turned off. I hope you did not send 12v to a camera that requires 5v ???
 
poor choice of location for the ground, look for a bolt near the fuse panel where there will be a few wires grounded, that aside nothing you've done there is going to fry a camera, a poor ground may not allow it to power up though
 
jokiin said:
poor choice of location for the ground, look for a bolt near the fuse panel where there will be a few wires grounded, that aside nothing you've done there is going to fry a camera, a poor ground may not allow it to power up though
Click to expand...

i agree the it is a bad choice, but i can't find that bloody bolt near the fuse panel which w1 as why i decided to wire it to the bolt behind the pedal.

So my choice of using fuse 1 ( 10A ) and fuse 38 (10A) are correct and it shouldn't fry the camera?

Thank you.
 
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