Before we ever began our adventure, I ordered a backup camera for our fifth-wheel from Amazon because our 2017 trailer was “pre-wired” for a backup camera. I ordered the Furrion Vision S Vehicle Observation System rear camera with 7-inch monitor, but for the first nine months of travel, I never had or took the time to install it as more was required than just plugging it in and mounting it. Then, our backing up nightmare happened, and Dawn and I were committed to installing it.

Before installing the backup camera, I was pretty terrified of backing into an RV spot or really backing up, in general. In our first nine months of traveling, I had done it, but it had been with Dawn spotting for me while talking to me on our walkie talkies. On top of that, trying to tell how much room I had behind me after when passing another vehicle on the road was always a guessing game.

To see our unboxing, install, and review videos, click here.

After installing the camera, I loved being able to see who or what was behind our 43-foot fifth-wheel whether I was backing into an RV spot, maneuvering in a gas station, or rolling down the highway wondering if I had enough room to pull in after passing. I loved it, that is, until the connection between our monitor and camera started habitually disconnecting and reconnecting while driving down the highway. It shook my trust in this super-helpful tool as I could no longer reliably check to see who was coming up behind me before changing lanes or see what was behind me when backing up.

I immediately hopped on Facebook RV groups to see what others were saying. As it turned out, a lot of people seemed to be experiencing similar problems. I decided to call the manufacturer of our camera, Furrion, to find out what I could do. The tech support rep told me to pull the camera down and use the extra plug on the monitor’s cord to re-synch the camera and the monitor; this was something I didn’t even have to do when I first installed the camera, as it and the monitor came already synched. He said if I still had problems after re-synching them, that I should check the voltage at the camera; as long as the camera has 12 volts, he said the signal would be plenty strong.

On a recent trip, I pulled the camera down to re-synch it and see if Furrion’s tech was right. Removing the camera was a simple task of taking out four screws and disconnecting it from the plug on the bracket. Then, I connected it to the monitor cable and plugged it in to the 12V port in the truck. I accessed the settings menu and selected the camera I wanted to re-synch, in this case, the door camera (it automatically synched to that when I first installed it, but it hasn’t bothered me enough to change it). Then, I held down the synch button on the bottom of the camera until it displayed that it was connecting on the screen. After a few seconds, the display showed a red chain link indicating that the connection had been re-established. After that, I re-installed the camera, and we continued on with our trip.

During our latest drive, the monitor didn’t drop the connection even once. If this method doesn’t work for you, use a multi-meter to check the voltage on your camera connection to be troubleshoot any voltage problems.

As for our camera, problem solved!