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Power usage when boon docking and back up camera

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  • Power usage when boon docking and back up camera

    I have a 2015 397TH. Does anybody know if they put a switch to turn off the back up camera when it's not in use? Found the draw on the battery when boon docking to be excessive. Trying to conserve power when boon docking.

    thanks for the help

    harleyfire300

  • #2
    Originally posted by Harleyfire300 View Post
    I have a 2015 397TH. Does anybody know if they put a switch to turn off the back up camera when it's not in use? Found the draw on the battery when boon docking to be excessive. Trying to conserve power when boon docking.

    thanks for the help

    harleyfire300
    I have a 303RLS. On mine too, the camera was on anytime I had 12 volts. No switch. So as long as I either had battery power or shore power, it was on.

    So...
    I pulled the camera off, drilled a hole through the back into the cabinet behind the camera, and then spliced in a wire and switch to the camera power. A piece of speaker wire worked well. You only need to switch the hot wire, although I do not believe there is a chassis ground on the camera, so it wouldn't matter which wire you mounted the switch on. I used a on off switch that the toggle locks into position so it will not accidentally switch while on the road for some reason. Now I only turn on the camera when I need it.

    Not sure what is behind you camera on your model. If a cabinet, you should be good to go. The hole I drilled was just big enough for the wire. I just let the wire and switch sit on the bottom of the cabinet. You could mount it in a box and secure it if you wanted to.

    Hope this helps,

    Tony
    Tony G
    2020 Chevy Silverado 3500 Highcountry
    2016 Grand Designs Reflection 303RLS
    KTM 250XC

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    • #3
      Originally posted by Harleyfire300 View Post
      I have a 2015 397TH. Does anybody know if they put a switch to turn off the back up camera when it's not in use? Found the draw on the battery when boon docking to be excessive. Trying to conserve power when boon docking.

      thanks for the help

      harleyfire300
      The other option to putting a switch in a cabinet is to wire to the marker light that is either above or beside the camera. The light wires run either in the same tube or right beside the camera wires. Remove the camera and the mounting plate and the closest marker light and see what can be done. You should also find out where the power is coming to the camera now and you might be able to put a switch there. It may get power from a vent fan or ceiling light.
      Let us know what you find.

      Also if you remove the light and camera do not forget to reseal them with the proper silicone.

      Brian
      Brian & Michelle
      2018 Reflection 29RS
      2022 Chevy 3500HD

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Harleyfire300 View Post
        I have a 2015 397TH. Does anybody know if they put a switch to turn off the back up camera when it's not in use? Found the draw on the battery when boon docking to be excessive. Trying to conserve power when boon docking.
        Further on Country Campers advice above, our marker lights are a few (five or six?) inches above the camera mount. Since I was unable to find the marker light circuit among the wires in the hole behind the camera mount, I spliced a new wire into the circuit behind the marker lights. Since the wall is a sandwich composite with styrofoam in the middle it was easy to probe a tunnel for that new wire a few inches down through the styrofoam inside the wall and bring it out the hole behind the camera mount.

        Now, whenever the truck is connected I can turn its lights on and the camera is immediately powered up. When the truck lights are off or the truck is not connected the camera is off, not drawing power. **

        Even without current draw from the camera though (and even with the battery kill switch turned off) a lot of these GD trailers draw about half an amp of power all the time, enough to kill a typical dealer-installed battery in a week or two. Circuits for trailer brakes, leveling system, alarms in the trailer, radio system, and maybe others I'm forgetting all draw a little power constantly, adding up to 0.4 to 0.6 (in cold weather) amps current draw.

        Someone really serious about boondocking would probably either spend a lottery win on enough batteries and solar that he doesn't have to care about these parasitic loads, or would find these circuits and reconfigure them so that he could turn them off until he's about to move and needs them again.

        Good luck.

        ** A few owners say they want the camera to be powered when the truck is not connected; they want to use it as a security camera to view behind their trailer when camped. That requires not only the switch you asked about, but it requires that a 12-volt circuit be installed inside the trailer with an easily-accessible female socket on it so that the camera system's monitor can be brought in from the truck and set up in the trailer to see what the camera is seeing.
        Last edited by boyscout; 07-16-2020, 05:03 PM.
        Mark - 2018 Solitude 310GK - Ford F-350 SRW diesel short box - Pullrite Superglide hitch

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        • #5
          I was able to pull down a light on one of my Reflection cabinets and found the wire going to the camera. From there, it was easy to place a switch in the circuit.

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          Click image for larger version

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          Jim and Ginnie
          2024 Solitude 310GK
          GDRV Technical Forum Moderator
          GDRV Rally Support Coordinator

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          • #6
            Thanks everybody. Wanted to check if they seen a switch GB put in I was missing before I wired one in myself.

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