I ordered a reverse camera and installed it. I ran the red and black wires from the camera to my sub amp. Then, I put the video input cable into the back of my headunit. However, the unit would not come on so i ran an additional wire from my reverse light to my HU's reverse wire ( or so I thought, its violet/white). The camera works great, the only downfall is the camera comes on and changes my HU screen constantly. It works all the time instead of just when I put the car in reverse. Any help? I understand that the amp is giving the camera power constantly, but wouldnt it go off when I switched out of reverse since I have it wired to the reverse wire behind the HU?

 

What head unit do you have?. I have a pioneer. There is an icon on the screen for the backup camera. It toglles between "always on" or "on when in reverse". If your head unit has something like that, then it might be on the "always on" mode. As far as power for the camera goes, you could have tapped into the heaunit power and leave the amp power alone. Not saying that is a problem though

 

my best answer to this is to run the reverse 12v signal wire from your headunit to a constant 12v source and wire a switch in the middle so you can flip it on/off. plus you get the benefit of using it when ever you want it even if you are on reverse lol

 

You were exactly right, I started pushing all the buttons on the screen because I did not know what they meant and it worked. Haha, I should have read this first, but figured it out. Thank you for the help guys.