So as some of you might remember. I had fitted an aftermarket reverse camera on my LR2.
I used all proper wiring, fuses, good grounds and had routed the wires properly.
Two days ago, my wife was driving the LR and she said the cabin just filled up entirely in smoke. She had to pull over immediately and get out of the vehicle.

I arrive there a few minutes later only to discover that the wiring of the reverse camera was faulty and in fact was on fire when she called me. The only thing that save the Lr to burn down to the ground (I believe) is that the wiring was in between sheet metal and the plastic trim on the rear door. The small space ran out of oxygen and put the fire out.

I forgot to take pictures but the side plastic trim is melted a little and the camera was all toasty!

I am very happy that this didn't go to anything serious and possible injuring my wife and baby (on the way).

Easy to assume that all aftermarket wiring and equipment that I had put in, is now out of the vehicle.

Thought I would share with you all.

Happy week! Cuatro Por Cuatro

Was it made it China?

one would assume that.....and would assume correct.

Yeah the quality I guess wasn't there. It had a fantastic picture, go figure. Cuatro Por Cuatro

could the wires have rubber against the metal and shorted? Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

That was my first thought when the camera arrived.

I had all wiring wrapped in bishop tape. So it was protected. I also made sure the wires did not had any contact with any sharp edges. I know I am not perfect, it could have got caught on an edge or something but I honestly doubt it.

I inspected all the wiring and it was weird how the part that burned was the original power wiring from the camera at the video and power splice point.

As you may know the camera has all the wiring coming out of it in one wire and then it splices into the idea and power wires separately. Cuatro Por Cuatro

Glad to hear no one was injured, could have been a lot worse. Gone, 2007 TD4 SE Auto Baltic blue, clear side repeaters, full sized alloy spare.

English by birth..... Yorkshire by the grace of God.

I agree. My wife is 7 months pregnant and I don't think i could have been able to deal with anything major happening to them.

Luckily it didn't. Cuatro Por Cuatro

If the cable has caught fire by rubbing chaffing etc then the circuit has NOT been properly fused at source. General rule of thumb is when ever there is a reduction in cable size the it should be fused accordingly. I have seen many times items wired and fused down part way down the circuit.
This will ONLY protect the circuit there on, any part of the circuit before the fuse down is NOT protected. Regardless of faulty cable or not. The FUSE is always the weakest link designed to fail on overload whether it be slow overload or short circuit.
If correctly fused at source the fuse will go every time as this is the safty feature for that circuit. Cables that catch fire can only mean that the fuse is not equal to but greater than the max load its designed to protect or not at the source.

Thanks for the input superspark.

What fuse would you have used? I had a fuse at the 12volt source (10) but I did not had one at the splice where the wiring gauge changed. (The wire I spliced to extend the reach to a power source. Cuatro Por Cuatro

It's not always the fuse size that matters. It's the total circiut resistance. The more resistance there is, the longer it takes for the fuse to rupture.
As you've added extra length and possibly a reduced cable size, the circuit resistance has been increased and this affects the time it takes for the fuse to rupture as you will get a reduced short circuit current. The fuse may not even blow at all.

Get an auto sparky to check it out, he should be able to check if the fuse will rupture in the event of a short circuit.

This was part of my job which i did for donkeys years! Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

Pegleg I added a thicker gauge wire to the smaller gauge wire that came with the camera. Cuatro Por Cuatro

You've still added resistance though.
What about the return (ground)? Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

ground was the stock length. It was attached at the rear gate. Just under the tail light cover. Cuatro Por Cuatro

And the stock cable size too?
Did you splice into an existing ground cable or provide a dedicated ground with a stud/eyelet?

I'm trying to help you, not critising  Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

I appreciate the help.

I didn't "splice" into a ground wire. I just mounted an eyelet to an existing ground bolt.
The wire for the ground was the stock size and gauge. Cuatro Por Cuatro