Rear Camera Intermittent

[theHueg]

When I place the Winnebago ERA 70X into reverse, it only intermittently activates the camera. Often it flashes “No video detected” and it flickers. Other times it works like a champ. Ideas?

[KitsapEra]

What year Era do you have? And which nav/camera system?

[theHueg]

2018 ERA. Not sure of the camera manufacturer. I’ll check that. Dealer suggested cleaning connections at the rear camera as intermittent operation may suggest it needs cleaning/tightening. If that doesn’t resolve it, maybe the camera itself.

[KitsapEra]

We have a 2018 Era with the upgraded nav system/computer by Riverpark. It was really buggy when we bought the Era earlier this year - frequent lock-ups/crashes. I called Riverpark tech support and then send me instructions on installing a firmware upgrade to the nav system (on SD card). I installed that and it appears to be somewhat better, but still crashes sometimes. Through trial and error I found that it works much better if it leave the power switch set so that it gets power from the house batteries, rather than the engine battery. It nothing else, doing that eliminates the need for it to boot up each time you stop and restart the engine - which is a really annoying characteristic if the first thing you are going to do after starting is back out of the driveway!

I did try dis-assembling the dash and removing the display to check all the connections. There was nothing visibly wrong, which surprised me given my observation that it runs better off of house power. The CPU (brain) is below, it is the box in the dash with the USB and SD card ports. There was a rat's nest of wiring behind it, I'm guessing most of it being the wiring for the MB factory display/nav system, which I'm guessing Winnebago simply removes and throws in the trash when they install the Riverpark system at the factory. I did find at least one fuse buried behind the display, which is really bad. So if it ever fails to power up entirely, that's probably the first place to look.

I ended up spending $140 to buy a backup backup camera (pardon the pun) on Amazon. Having it installed enables me to start backing up even if the Riverpark system is still booting.

Your symptoms are somewhat different, I've not observed any issues with the connection between the cameras and the Riverpark system.

-dm

[theHueg]

May I ask which backup you bought and is it wireless? Also, do you have a TPMS system?

[KitsapEra]

This is what I bought:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It is wireless. I do not have a TPMS. To install one safely I would need to have the tires de-mounted and the rubber valve stems replaced with metal.

-dm

[theHueg]

I see TPMS systems that attach to the valve stems, replacing the existing caps. I have such a system on my BMW motorcycle. That precludes the need to dismount tires and my bike has rubber valve stems.

[avanti]

Originally Posted by theHueg

I see TPMS systems that attach to the valve stems, replacing the existing caps. I have such a system on my BMW motorcycle. That precludes the need to dismount tires and my bike has rubber valve stems.

Having had a stem failure on our van due to mounting TPMS caps on rubber valve stems (official MB "heavy duty" stems, BTW), having such a configuration on my motorcycle would terrify me.

[theHueg]

80,000 miles and no issues.

[KitsapEra]

I have a motorcycle and put TPMS on it last year when I swapped in new tires and metal valve stems. For what it's worth, numerous folks advised me not to put the TPMS valve stem caps on rubber stems.

[magicbus]

I had the same issue on my 2018 Era 70A. My nav system is the Rand Mcnally built in model. It would freeze up, not find the rear camera, and was generally useless. I went to their software upgrade site, installed their Dock software, and during the upgrade I got a message to contact their support team because my SD card was one of a suspected bad batch. They sent me a new card and now it never freezes and only can’t find the camera on very rare occasions.

BTW their support guy I spoke with was surprised the Dock tool told me that, so if it doesn’t give you that message you should use their support contact page and send the number on your SD card. You can also just buy an SD card because IIRC once you log in with your card inserted there is an option to load onto a new one. I only use Dock once a year when I upgrade the maps and software.

[theHueg]

Once you had the new SD card, where on the unit do you insert the card? Can you send me the contact info for the Rand McNally site that helped you? Thanks,

[magicbus]

Originally Posted by theHueg

Once you had the new SD card, where on the unit do you insert the card? Can you send me the contact info for the Rand McNally site that helped you? Thanks,

Here is the link to the Dock Software. As I recall, to install the software you must have your SD card inserted into your PC before the software will start.

https://www.randmcnally.com/support/...ware/truck-gps

The SD slot in my Era is by the left USB port on the CPU module shown between the arrows in the picture. If the picture isn't showing here is a link to it https://postimg.cc/t7R6TJjV

[KitsapEra]

This is the same update that I did. As I said, It seemed to make our situation better, but not perfect. It still crashes or loses power (impossible to tell which) periodically.

It is particularly annoying that the system doesn't seem to have even basic diagnostic features, like a LED power light in the cpu unit to tell you when it is powered on.

[magicbus]

Since you are still having issues I would replace the SD card. I’m not sure I understand what you mean by not being able to tell if the CPU is off. Mine is always on when the engine is running so the display is active. When I had the bad card and it froze I only would realize it because the speed display wouldn’t change.