Garmin BC20 "Wireless Backup Camera"The power cord coming from the transmitter box is super long, but the non-weatherproof fuse holder and camera connection are short. What's up with that?I figure I can cut out the cheapo fuse holder and solder in a weather proof one. The camera connection will get a good dose of dielectric grease and then some self vulcanizing tape.My trailer is all aluminum on the outside, roof included, not friendly to radio signals. I'm thinking I want the camera centered up high on the back wall... I can run the power cord down my gray tank vent along with the gps, cell and wifi antenna cables already installed. The transmitter, depending on length of the camera's cord, could go on the front of the A/C shroud. If that doesn't work, I can stick it on the vent pipe, facing toward the front of the trailer. It won't have line of sight to the truck, the aluminum roof will be in the way, but maybe enough will spill / reflect to make it work.Ideas?

I went thru this with my BC-30 2 months ago. power is from the tail light. camera mounted below rear window of trailer.. about 7 feet high.trailer is 30 feet fiberglass type.. not metal.worked poorly.. and screen refresh was very slow.needed to get the 50 foot extension cable ($30.00).. mounted transmitter under the propane tank cover. and power again is from tail light wires near front battery area. camera itself was NOT moved. worked very well and refresh is fast.and Garmin is mounted on top of dashboard.. both the 2597LMT and 770LMTHD units.truck is F 250 supercab long bed.

Good to hear there's an extension cable. If if plan A and B don't work, I can extend the transmitter up to the front and stick it on the fiberglass nose window cover, I have a large 12v electrical junction box near by to source power from.

Mine's the BC-30 but I assume pretty similar. I also purchased the extension. I installed mine on a truck camper so I drilled a hole through the wall above the back door and ran the wire inside, from there I hooked to the extension and ran the transmitter up to the front to be as close to the truck as possible.I then wired it in to the 7-pin plug to get power when in reverse. I also wanted to be able to turn it on at will so I ran a wire from one of my upfitter switches under the truck and back to a disconnect where it goes into the camper. I also had to install a diode on the reverse connection so that it wouldn't back-feed the backup lights when i turn it on via the upfitter switch.It's worked great for me this way and I get great reception but of course with a truck camper the transmitter is only a few feet away from the gps device.

Chuck_thehammer wrote:I went thru this with my BC-30 2 months ago. power is from the tail light. camera mounted below rear window of trailer.. about 7 feet high.trailer is 30 feet fiberglass type.. not metal.worked poorly.. and screen refresh was very slow.needed to get the 50 foot extension cable ($30.00).. mounted transmitter under the propane tank cover. and power again is from tail light wires near front battery area. camera itself was NOT moved. worked very well and refresh is fast.and Garmin is mounted on top of dashboard.. both the 2597LMT and 770LMTHD units.truck is F 250 supercab long bed.sounds exactly like what I did. works perfect. In fact that is why garmin has the extension cable. get the transmitter right near the tow vehicle.

I will be following this thread for ideas. I too have the Garmin backup camera but since my TT is winterized in offsite storage, I'm going to need to wait for a bit to get it installed. I've got the Garmin 660, matching camera and 50ft ext cord for the transmitter.One bit of info for suggestion... I too thought that I would like the camera mounted up high but then considered the road grime that adheres to the back of the trailer when traveling in rain, even up high. If the camera is mounted up high, it will be difficult to clean off the camera lens since I do not have a factory mounted ladder, so I will be mounting my camera lower for easy cleaning. I know on my truck the backup camera does need to be cleaned more frequently than I'd like... so keep the Garmin camera location into consideration if you don't have a factory mounted ladder.

How did you install your Garmin camera? | Good Sam Community

14 Replies

JJnLilly
Explorer
Nov 14, 2017
Just got my BC 20 camera and this topic very helpful before I install. But, I would like to be able to move the camera from the rear of my 5th Wheel to the rear of my truck when not towing.

Understand I need a long extension from the transmitter/receiver to the camera for the RV part but where to put the transmitter/receiver so it can work with both the RV and just the truck. Realize it will have to be on the truck but where to install it is the question.
Chuck_thehammer
Explorer
Dec 12, 2016
myredracer wrote:
Chuck_thehammer wrote:

and with the extension.. less grain and faster refresh. as transmitter is at the front of trailer. under propane tank cover, but near the top of it. so it can see GPS over tailgate.( radio wise )

I mounted the transmitter inside the above-bed cabinet. Are you saying it would be better to have as direct a line of sight as possible? I probably could move the transmitter inside one of the bedside cabinets and get it a bit lower.

it does NOT need a TRUE line of site.. but having the transmitter as close to receiver (GPS) the better... and without METAL between them.

my unit. transmitter WAS at rear of trailer and had to go thru 2 inner wood type walls and the vinyl front cap, and rear glass of truck .... it had problems.. when doing turns...
moving transmitter with extension to front of trailer made a major improvements in speed and quality of display.
Z-Peller
Explorer
Dec 12, 2016
On 26 ft pull trailer I mounted the camera about half way up ladder with a hose clamp and transmitter on top of roof maxair vent. Wired into lic plate light at bottom of ladder. Camera powered up with running lights on......mine worked fine, but if extension cable needed then I would just run it forward on roof and a few daubs of Dicor along cable to hold it in place.
As far as usefulness?....other than safety of seeing what is very close behind the trailer or using parallel lines for backing trailer alongside a curb I never found it very useful.
Lantley
Nomad
Dec 10, 2016
Camera is mounted to rear ladder about 7' up. With extension cable transmitter is up front under nose of RV. Power is from main junction box located on pin box.
Working well for about 3 years now.
myredracer
Explorer II
Dec 10, 2016
Chuck_thehammer wrote:

and with the extension.. less grain and faster refresh. as transmitter is at the front of trailer. under propane tank cover, but near the top of it. so it can see GPS over tailgate.( radio wise )

I mounted the transmitter inside the above-bed cabinet. Are you saying it would be better to have as direct a line of sight as possible? I probably could move the transmitter inside one of the bedside cabinets and get it a bit lower.
Chuck_thehammer
Explorer
Dec 10, 2016
when i installed my BC-30.. I was using a Garmin 2597... 5 inch screen..

just before departing first of November. I got a Garmin 770LMTHD.. a 7 inch screen..

the backup camera is much less grainy . not as good as a small television.. but better

and with the extension.. less grain and faster refresh. as transmitter is at the front of trailer. under propane tank cover, but near the top of it. so it can see GPS over tailgate.( radio wise )

I think Garmin is overly generous on the 50-80 foot range.... more like 30 feet.
F 250 with 8 foot bed. Garmin on dashboard... trailer is 33 feet and fiberglass body.. had signal problems till extension was installed.

best of luck .. with spring... In South Texas till April.

I seen on the news.. Holly, Mi.. I 75 closed because of 40 car crash.

STAY SAFE.
GordonThree
Explorer
Dec 10, 2016
extended cord finally arrived, as did the 20F degree weather. Looks like this is now a project for spring
myredracer
Explorer II
Dec 01, 2016
We bought the BC-20 camera and also the extension cable.

I welded up some scrap steel and made a mount to sit on the bumper. There is absolutely no place to mount the camera on the rear wall without drilling through the fiberglass, which I am not going to do. The camera does not have to be in the center of the TT and the mounting height isn't critical as the image is adjustable on the screen for left/right and up/down.

The connector is a bit of an issue because it's not watertight - not sure why they do that. I used some heat shrink tubing on the connection. I ran the wiring from the camera to the ceiling via an interior wall at the rear wall of our TT. Then I fished the extension cable through the ceiling to the storage cabinet above the bed where the transmitter is.

I also ran a wire from the junction box in the A-frame to the transmitter so that the camera is activated only when the truck is in reverse. There is no way to get a wire from the junction box to above the bed without pulling down the underbelly sheeting. So I ran the wire underneath the coroplast and zip-tied to the gas pipe and then up into the ceiling at the rear of the trailer and then along with the extension cable to above the bed.

The camera does work, but... Once in a while the image does not come up on the screen. Kinda strange and will have to check connections on the power wire. What really bothers me is that the image on the screen is quite grainy and to the point that it is hard sometimes hard to see what's really happening at the rear of the TT. It might be due to the length of the extension cable and too much signal loss? There are some reports on the internet of some folks having a poor image too. Also, with the grainy image, it's harder to see in bright daylight even with a sunvisor/hood on the screen.
GordonThree
Explorer
Dec 01, 2016
RedRocket204 wrote:

One bit of info for suggestion... I too thought that I would like the camera mounted up high but then considered the road grime that adheres to the back of the trailer when traveling in rain, even up high. If the camera is mounted up high, it will be difficult to clean off the camera lens since I do not have a factory mounted ladder, so I will be mounting my camera lower for easy cleaning. I know on my truck the backup camera does need to be cleaned more frequently than I'd like... so keep the Garmin camera location into consideration if you don't have a factory mounted ladder.

Great thing to point out for folks with bigger trailers and rv's.

I'm almost seven feet tall, and the roof of my RV is about 8'6", so it's no trouble cleaning anything on the back side. Traveling in the winter, there is a crust of ice and grime that forms up there, and on the license, the spare tire, everywhere pretty much.
RedRocket204
Explorer
Dec 01, 2016
I will be following this thread for ideas. I too have the Garmin backup camera but since my TT is winterized in offsite storage, I'm going to need to wait for a bit to get it installed. I've got the Garmin 660, matching camera and 50ft ext cord for the transmitter.

One bit of info for suggestion... I too thought that I would like the camera mounted up high but then considered the road grime that adheres to the back of the trailer when traveling in rain, even up high. If the camera is mounted up high, it will be difficult to clean off the camera lens since I do not have a factory mounted ladder, so I will be mounting my camera lower for easy cleaning. I know on my truck the backup camera does need to be cleaned more frequently than I'd like... so keep the Garmin camera location into consideration if you don't have a factory mounted ladder.