Reversing camera

lex - eleven · July 4, 2023

I've just replaced mine as it completely failed. Bought a used one off of eBay for £79.99 delivered free next day.

I had a camera break down on another Ls430 I owned where the image looked like a negative on the screen.

The cars were 04 and 05 so 18 and 19 years old. I'm curious as to what actually fails. Is it the camera, the wiring or what? Any thoughts?

BigBoomer · July 5, 2023

8 hours ago, lex - eleven said:

I'm curious as to what actually fails. Is it the camera, the wiring or what? Any thoughts?

People often forget that cars and motorcycles are one of the harshest environments for electronics. The temperature extremes, changes in humidity, exposure to dirt and erosion, and worst of all the physical violence that the electronics is exposed to makes it nothing short of a miracle that it survives at all.

The most common cause is vibration which causes cracks in the crappy lead-free solder on the circuit board, much like many of the other LS430s electronics.
Lead solder has an inherent flexibility which allows it to flex a little when experiencing vibration, but the lead-free stuff used on our cars doesn't flex enough, so over time the micro-cracks get bigger until they no longer conduct electricity and hey-presto it's a failed device. Later lead-free solders have better flexibility. Whilst the solder used on the LS430 was not great, compared to the crap used on VW's, Mercs and BMWs of the same era it is superb.

My camera takes a few seconds to get it's life together after I select reverse which I assume is it warming up the circuit until it works.
I am fairly certain that when it is powered (when I select reverse) it warms the circuit which then causes the cracked solder joints to close up (expansion) and make contact and the black >> negative >> faded picture >> normal picture sequence happens. It's almost like an old CRT television warming up.

On cold days it is much worse, to the point that I may have to replace it this year. Do I need the camera? No. Is it useful and practical? Yes.
I'll probably replace with a used unit as not keen on paying £500 for what is a £30 camera with a Lexus badge.

lex - eleven · July 5, 2023

Well, unlike me, it sounds to me like you understand the wizardry of electrickery so if it could be the solder that fails is it possible to re solder the unit? If you, or anyone else feels that it would be something that could be attempted I would be happy to donate my failed camera to try to "Frankenstein" it back to life. If it proved to be a positive result then maybe there would be a nice little service there for members on a sale and exchange basis.

BigBoomer · July 5, 2023

29 minutes ago, lex - eleven said:

Well, unlike me, it sounds to me like you understand the wizardry of electrickery so if it could be the solder that fails is it possible to re solder the unit? If you, or anyone else feels that it would be something that could be attempted I would be happy to donate my failed camera to try to "Frankenstein" it back to life. If it proved to be a positive result then maybe there would be a nice little service there for members on a sale and exchange basis.

<LOL> I worked as an electronics tech in a College for 10 years and still have my anti-static mat and straps and my Weller soldering iron. Yes, I do understand electrickery to a certain degree.
I'll have a go. I have no idea how feasible it will be to get into the unit to get at the circuit board but I'm game if you fancy posting your camera to me.
Let me know if you want to go ahead and I will PM you my address.

lex - eleven · July 5, 2023

Sure. You're welcome to it. Just keep us informed if you have a result. Send me your address and I'll get it off to you.

BigBoomer · July 6, 2023

On 7/5/2023 at 10:10 AM, lex - eleven said:

Sure. You're welcome to it. Just keep us informed if you have a result. Send me your address and I'll get it off to you.

PM sent with address. I'll take plenty of photos and document the process on here, but don't get your hopes up too high. 😁

lex - eleven · July 6, 2023

Lol. I'll get it off today. Good luck, I hope you get a good result. 👍

lex - eleven · July 6, 2023

Package sent 🫡

BigBoomer · July 7, 2023

Thanks Mark. Will let you know when it arrives.

BigBoomer · July 11, 2023

The camera arrived Saturday Mark. I should have time to take a look at it this coming weekend.

lex - eleven · July 11, 2023

Great stuff. If I remember right the box is screwed together so at least it's not sealed

BigBoomer · July 13, 2023

It is. I've opened it up already and there was quite a lot of corrosion on the inside that I need to clean out.
There is a rubber seal between the parts but the corrosion was forcing it open and the inside has corroded a bit too.
The CCD (the light sensor) had a lot of that corrosion on it's sides and since that corrosion is aluminium oxide, it may have been causing the problems.
So far the solder joints look to be OK, but I'm going to manually reflow then anyways.
We shall see.

lex - eleven · July 13, 2023

Ooh you could be on to something! Fingers crossed ☘️

cruisermark · July 14, 2023

On 7/13/2023 at 4:13 PM, BigBoomer said:

It is. I've opened it up already and there was quite a lot of corrosion on the inside that I need to clean out.
There is a rubber seal between the parts but the corrosion was forcing it open and the inside has corroded a bit too.
The CCD (the light sensor) had a lot of that corrosion on it's sides and since that corrosion is aluminium oxide, it may have been causing the problems.
So far the solder joints look to be OK, but I'm going to manually reflow then anyways.
We shall see.

looking forward to the outcome . . . .

BigBoomer · July 17, 2023

Here are some pics of the inside.
You can see the corrosion on the inside of the case and on the sides of the CCD chip.
I have cleaned up the case inside and out with a wire brush on a Dremel and have cleaned all of the corrosion I can find on the CCD and on the circuit boards with nylon brushes and compressed air.
I can't see any cracked solder joints but I haven't fully disassembled it yet either.
First I am going to test it with my car, hopefully this coming weekend (without the case fitted) and see what I get.
Then, if it still doesn't work, then I will disassemble further and start the fiddly job of reflowing all the solder joints I can get at.

lex - eleven · July 17, 2023

Wow that is a lot of corrosion. The rest of it looks OK though. 👍

BigBoomer · August 21, 2023

It's been a while but I finally managed to test the cleaned up, partially reflowed camera, and it's no good.
All I got was a black screen so something in the camera (probably the CCD) has died.
It was worth a try and I learned a little whilst doing it.
When I get some spare time I will disassemble it completely and reflow the solder on the pads I couldn't reach with it all in one piece, but it might be a while.

lex - eleven · August 21, 2023

Ah that's a shame. I really had my fingers crossed for you.

Dezi · August 27, 2023

I've got 2 cameras and they both do the same for me, both just black no picture but if I unplug the connector and plug it back in I get a weird VCR like scan lines and it resumes to go straight black.

I think my Television ECU might be gone or very unlucky with 2 cameras.

BigBoomer · August 29, 2023

On 8/28/2023 at 12:42 AM, Dezi said:

I've got 2 cameras and they both do the same for me, both just black no picture but if I unplug the connector and plug it back in I get a weird VCR like scan lines and it resumes to go straight black.

I think my Television ECU might be gone or very unlucky with 2 cameras.

It might well be that you are unlucky with both cameras. You need a known good camera to test with, and that can be difficult to find.
Either that or else a known working LS430 that you can test your cameras with.

There is a camera on eBay at the moment that should work.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254025868235
If that doesn't work, you can send it back for a refund.

Dezi · August 29, 2023

11 hours ago, BigBoomer said:

It might well be that you are unlucky with both cameras. You need a known good camera to test with, and that can be difficult to find.
Either that or else a known working LS430 that you can test your cameras with.

There is a camera on eBay at the moment that should work.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254025868235
If that doesn't work, you can send it back for a refund.

Ah thanks, I've bought the last one!

Hopefully, that's it, I think I'm going to order an AliExpress head unit and a separate camera in case this doesn't fix my problem.

Dezi · August 31, 2023

Well, that £79.99 camera from eBay worked!

Thanks @BigBoomer for the link

lex - eleven · August 31, 2023

Exactly the same company on eBay I bought my camera from

BigBoomer · October 16, 2023

Ok, and to add to my damp problems, now my reversing camera has finally given up the ghost giving me a gray screen.
It was kind of expected as it has been flickering and being slow to show any picture for a while now.
I have ordered a used one from eBay. Lets hope that works.
Once I've replaced it I will take mine apart and see if it has the same corrosion as Mark's had.

BigBoomer · October 22, 2023

Well, the new camera works perfectly. In the attached pic you can see the old and replacement cameras side by side. Corrosion was once again the cause of death, as it was for Marks camera.

Once I removed the trim to get at the bolts I saw that the metal around the number plate lights was starting to rust so sanded that back and painted with Kurust and then Smoothrite. It's hidden by the trim.

Was quite a PITA to get that trim off as the 2 clips on the extreme ends were bent over. Done now and happy with it again. 😁