Reverse Camera and DVD

I have a 2006 Hummer H3 that I installed a reverse camera, two 7 inch screens and an in dash dvd player and a playstation.  I hooked the power up to the wiring harness and hooked the video inputs up with the rca adapters provided.  I have a video apmlifier that came with the kit and have my video running through this.  I turned on the system and got a terrible squeal for the revese camera and the dvd player only, the playstation was perfectly fine since I am using the original ac plug and an adapter to my cigarette lighter and is grounded there.  I had everthing else, the dvd player and two lcd screens and the video amp, grounded at one point the frame (camera was grounded seperatly) and installed a ground loop isolator.  This solved nothing.  I then tried to ground all units seperately and that increased the problem.  I even tried taking the video amp out to see if that was the problem and it is not.  I tried to isolate the problem and the best I can tell it is coming from the lcd screen I then took the ground loop isolator off and removed all grounds and now it works with a managable squeal. How can I get rid of the squeal and why does my electronics work without a ground?

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Ricky

What do you mean by " squeal " ? Is that a sound that it's making or is it affecting the video image ?

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Jeff
Velocity Custom Home Theater
Mobile Audio/Video Specialist
Morden, Manitoba CANADA

It is the sound it is making.  No video image is being effected.  The squeal is nominal at idle, and gets worse as it goes through the gears, but once cruisine in high gear over 60 mph it settles down.  Today I have tried to ground everything (including the reverse camera) together and it did not help.  I have tried grounding the rca plugs and that did not help. 

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Ricky

I took the system to a professional, they checked it out and said it was weird.  They told me to wrap as much of the wiring in aluminum foil-something about my wiring may be picking up interference from alt/computer and the foil would prevent that.  That didn't help.  If I add another ground to the reverse camera and ground it to everything else the problem goes away-that is until I turn off the vehicle and restart, the the issue resurfaces-almost like the new ground takes over the ground loop and then is restored upon turning the vehicle off/on again.  Any suggestions are welcome.

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Ricky

Sounds to me like something is defective in either your audio system (you did not mention what gear you are using) or in your vehicle.  Could be a bad ground on the engine or alternator, defective spark plug wires or a cracked distributor cap, a bad battery or a bad ground on the ECU.  It could also be a pinched or cut RCA cable or speaker wire, or a grounded speaker wire somewhere.  I suggest isolating the problem by disconnecting everything and going through one component at a time.  If it is an engine related ground issue, it will be difficult to isolate, but sometimes you can see the problem if you open the hood, disable any under-hood lights and run the car at night in a dark location.  Sometimes if it's a bad ground or defect in the ignition system you can actually see the spark or glow.

Good luck!  Problems like this can take weeks to isolate, I do not envy you.

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Support the12volt.com

FIXED IT!!!  I installed an FM Modulator and had to buy extension adapters to fit my GM radio, this forced me to put extension RCA cables on my ground loop isolator and forced me to  move it.  I now have it under the dash on the passenger side close to the back of the radio away from the vehicle wiring harness and problem solved.  I do not know why, but when I put the ground loop isolator on top of the door seal plate that the wiring harness is under I get a HORRIBLE squeal, but now the problem is solved.

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Ricky