Furrion Cameras & late model GMCs

[Tusche]

In case you missed it, Furrion has finally (after a couple years) produced an adapter 7 pin plug so you can use your cameras with 2021+ GMC/Chev tow vehicle power.
Camera System 7-Way Adapter with Power Switch is now available for purchase*. Plug and play solution to ensure that your wireless camera operates trouble free when powered through the 7-way connector on your tow vehicle.
*Limited stock available. In case it runs out of stock before you can buy, you will need to sign up again for in-stock notification

[pcmem]

I'm curious as to what it is actually doing. Is this a problem with all their cameras or just the units needing more power? Like at night. Or is this for the side camera power while driving? Thank you for letting us know it is possibly available if needed.

[Tusche]

I bought a 2021 Jayco 321 5th whl, towing it with a 2013 GMC, the cameras worked fine with parking lights turned on to power the clearance lights on the trailer which in turn power the cameras. When I acquired a 2021 GMC, the cameras stopped working. The cause is that the new model Chevy/GMC trucks have a PWM power signal transmitted by the vehicle. This stands for pulse-width modulation, which is a method of reducing average power delivered by an electrical signal by effectively chopping it up into discrete parts which "fakes" an analog-like result by applying power in pulses, or short bursts of regulated voltage.
In plain English, this method of power distribution doesn't provide enough current for the transmitter to boost the image signal out to the monitor and the wave/pulse of electrical signal for the lights is just the right frequency that it causes resonating in the relay and doesn't close in order to route power from the coach battery to the camera.

This apparently occurred first on 2020 GMCs and Furrion came out with an adapter 7 pin plug that fixed the issue. Then in 2021 GMC changed their system again and that adapter would not work. It's taken almost 2 yrs for Furrion to get this fix out. GMC is not the only automaker going to the new system so expect it on other tow vehicles too. Without this fix you have to power the trailer running lights by the house battery in order to use the cameras. Hope this helps.

[tbarkermn]

Curious if anyone has tried out the new Furrion adapter? Does it work? Any issues with in vehicle diagnostics display? I have a '21 Silverado HD and learned about the need for adapter after failed Furrion Vision S install attempt on my '21 Jayco Whitehawk. It seems the new adapter is now $100! I spoke with my TT dealer and he had me speak to a tech who suggested installing a relay in order to power the camera from the camper battery vs. the vehicle. I'm debating this approach as -
1) I'm not super comfortable modifying the trailer wiring although I'm sure I could do it vs. just buying the adapter (if it works and doesn't cause unintended issues)
2) There may be some benefits of the relay approach - i.e. if you power the camera from your rigs battery my understanding is you can use the monitor in your rig as a security camera. Although, I think you need to add a switch in order to turn it on/off so camera isn't on all the time (which isn't ideal when boon docking and limited battery capacity)
3) Or I could just bite the bullet and buy the darn adapter.....

SOOOOO, I'm debating and looking for any suggestions or anyone with any real world experience on this matter. Thanks in advance.

[Tusche]

Well I've tried both. First I added a boost buster switch to trailer wiring to power cameras & trlr running lights off the trlr battery. (See post on this forum about the boost buster..not under my name, another forum member about fall 2020) it cost about $20, has a switch as part of it. Not too hard to install, lots of testing with multimeter & jumper wires. I have about 5k miles using it & only complaints are having to remember turning it on & off AND getting a trlr wiring warning on dash everytime I signalled or hit brakes. Then I bought the adapter from Furrion. Easy to use, but I still get the trlr wiring on the dash and now I also have to turn vehicle parking lights on to power the cameras. So it's a toss up, neither is a total issue solver.