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Keeping the back up camera clean.

NC_Overland

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I had to put electrically tape over half of my back up lights since their poor design creates so much glare at night. It’s way worse when the back up camera is dirty.
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ThatStinging_Jeep

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Man that's exactly what i did its pretty annoying having to deal with that glare
 

syreeves

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RainX is a product I really like - but it's worthless on that camera. I have photos to show how I applied it multiple times, then went to town and back and can show how it's caked with slush in one case, just plain dirt in another. Like the camera on other things I've owned, location location location - the rear of a pickup or SUV collects slush and dirt.
Rain sticks to it - proof in the photos I took after using rain-x. Slush sticks - again, I have a photo or two. And lately, the sand and dirt left after winter here - 10-12 miles to town, camera half hidden, barely usable. It's just how they are.
So unless you guys have a triple-duty, military/industrial rain-x product you get direct from the maker somehow - it may work for you but come here and drive 10 miles and see how it doesn't work.
Doesn't matter how many times, how I apply it, even leaving it on very wet, or applying multiple times and following the directions to the letter - doesn't stay clean and even rain droplets still gather on it.
Totally agree 100 percent. The worst is 3 days after snowfall when temps get above 15 degrees or the sun comes out. Snow starts to melt that that road spray coats the camera. Putting a washer back there should have been on the list - they did it up front so effortlessly and it is AWESOME. Also - the new LR Discovery has a washer on its lower rear camera. And its not nearly as cool as the front washer on the JT.
See here and skip to 5:50 :
 

KurtP

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Ive got laminx on the way for the reverse lights to tint them out a little. When its wet out or i notice the camera get dirty In between washes, i just give my thumb a lick and give it a light wipe. 🤷🏼‍♂️
 
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I have found that RainX helps.
 

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ShadowsPapa

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I have found that RainX helps.
See my prior post on that - sorry, but I have to laugh. RainX does nothing in our weather and on our roads. You still have water droplets and in the winter, it's snow and slush.
Even in a rain the fine spray and the dirty water that gets tossed up there, naw, it didn't work.
Been there, tried that.
And I'm a huge RainX fan - I apply it to all of our windshields, and run their washer product as well as their wiper blades on some of our vehicles.
 

Binfordtools

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Believe it or not, I worked for the company that makes these cameras. In fact, I worked in Warranty for the company so I have seen every possible customer induced atrocity that people can do to these cameras. Adding a wash nozzle is probably your best bet. It's not going to hurt the camera in the slightest. Wiping a muddy camera with any sort of dry cloth or even your finger over time can scratch the lens and cause further vision issues. That said, I do it all the time in the winter here in the salty state of Michigan.
Interesting comments about the glare at night. I have the same camera on my JLU and haven't noticed that issue. My JT is on order, but when I test drove one I didn't notice glare. The camera on the JL and JT are fairly high-definition for lack of a better word (actually just the way that the image is processed) so maybe it's picking up more light details at night and show the glare more. After some quick searching, I see that the license plate lights are pointed up at the camera! Probably not the best design. I'm sure the light spread could be controlled more by design if FCA (or that god-awful name "Stellantis") wanted to.
 

surfsnake2

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i know this is an old thread, but i too hate how dirty the rear camera gets. i finally ran a hose back off main washer, drilled a small hole for a 90 into the camera housing and there ya go.
Slight problem, it does drip when the rear bed is down, but that is far less of an inconvenience that the dirty camera.


jeep camera washer.jpg
 

Gatorized

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i know this is an old thread, but i too hate how dirty the rear camera gets. i finally ran a hose back off main washer, drilled a small hole for a 90 into the camera housing and there ya go.
Slight problem, it does drip when the rear bed is down, but that is far less of an inconvenience that the dirty camera.


Jeep Gladiator Keeping the back up camera clean. jeep camera washer
maybe add a check valve would prevent leaks? What switch did you add the rear spray to?
 

azmojave

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I usually turn my head and use my mirrors. 😉
I’m still getting used to having a camera.
 

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ShadowsPapa

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I usually turn my head and use my mirrors. 😉
I’m still getting used to having a camera.
When you park in the tight spots I have - and do, and back down a long driveway at night or hook up to a trailer, you appreciate the camera. Those of us with no depth perception (and one working eye) REALLY appreciate the camera.
 

azmojave

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When you park in the tight spots I have - and do, and back down a long driveway at night or hook up to a trailer, you appreciate the camera. Those of us with no depth perception (and one working eye) REALLY appreciate the camera.
I did find it useful on the trail last weekend. I needed to back up for about 100 yards and I kept the camera lines on the tracks and stayed on the trail. Kinda fun.
 

ShadowsPapa

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I did find it useful on the trail last weekend. I needed to back up for about 100 yards and I kept the camera lines on the tracks and stayed on the trail. Kinda fun.
Really nice when it's dark out after an evening of eating out with friends (and playing some bingo and both of us call bingo at the same time) when your wife is standing on a corner where the snow was cleared and there's steps there and she's waiting for you to back up half a block so she can get in - and do so without hitting the curb (mirrors only see the snow). That camera with the 1 billion lumen backup lights make it easy and she thinks you are a great backer-upper.
 
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surfsnake2

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maybe add a check valve would prevent leaks? What switch did you add the rear spray to?
Not sure what you mean by check valve?
I just tapped into the existing washer line, so when I run the windshield wiper washer up front, it sprays in back.
I think its because I ran the line under the truck, so its lower than the washer pump, therefore the water doesnt run back to the pump when turned off.
 

ShadowsPapa

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Not sure what you mean by check valve?
I just tapped into the existing washer line, so when I run the windshield wiper washer up front, it sprays in back.
I think its because I ran the line under the truck, so its lower than the washer pump, therefore the water doesnt run back to the pump when turned off.
Running the line low like that will have a siphon effect. The tank up front is fairly high, if the fluid is high in the tank, then once you use the rear washer, there's fluid in the line and lowering the tailgate will cause that fluid to run out, "pulling" fluid from the tank. Same principal I used to drain our pool down each fall (when we still had it, I gave it away). I started the flow with a small pump, then lowered the end of the hose over the edge of the deck and the water continued to flow as long as the end of the hose was lower than the water level in the pool.

Would be nice to have a dual-pump reservoir like my SX4 has - one pump for the rear window washer, the other for the windshield. Same tank, two pumps, two switches. Likely wouldn't take much at all to make a setup like that in these - but you'd have to tap into the tank for another pump.

Oh, a check valve won't work because the problem is continued flow, not flow back to the tank. Check valves are one-way valves as you know - you need the flow going BACK, a check valve would prevent flow to the front, and that's not your problem, siphoning effect is the problem here. Running the hose higher so that when you stop "Squirting" the fluid would run back into the tank and there'd be air in the line, breaking the siphon.
Either that, or a type of valve that takes a bit of pressure to open it, and it would prevent any siphoning as there's no real pressure to that.
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