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

ktmrfs
Explorer II
Dec 01, 2016
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.
hedge
Explorer
Nov 30, 2016
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.
GordonThree
Explorer
Nov 30, 2016
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.
Chuck_thehammer
Explorer
Nov 30, 2016
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.

Forum Discussion

How did you install your Garmin camera?

14 Replies

About Technical Issues

Related Content

Back up camera

Inverter install

Garmin BC30 Camera Install

Garmin BC 20 backup camera install?

Truck Camper A/C instalation