AD110 Doorbell Camera Freezes During Live View at Nighttime

[punwannabe]

Hi Everyone. The first AD110 I received had a bunch of issues, with the main issue being that it would freeze during “Live View” whether it be during the day time or nighttime. The live video feed would eventually freeze after viewing for about a minute, followed by "Play error, click to refresh" 30 seconds later. If you click to refresh the view a couple of times right after receiving the message, the unit itself will make a click sound, then the speaker will say "successfully connected to network". The live view will display again after refreshing, but only for about another minute before the same issue repeats itself.

Amcrest support deemed the unit as defective, so I returned it to Amazon and re-ordered a new one. After the new AD110 was installed, most of the problems experienced with the original unit have been resolved except for:

1) The “Live View” freeze issue is still happening with this unit, but ONLY during nighttime view. Live View works perfectly during the daytime on this unit. This issue only happens during the dark, whereas the original unit I received happened both during the day and night.

2) Motion was detected and the recording would not play. The AD110 captured a screenshot of the mailman, but when trying to play the footage, it would display the "Play error, click to refresh". This only happened a few times and appears to be an intermittent issue. I am using a brand new Samsung microSDXC Evo Select 128GB card, class 10, formatted FAT32.

Has anyone else experienced similar issues? Both units received have the same manufacture date of 2019-09. Could it be possible this was a bad production batch? Is this something that can be fixed through a future firmware/software update? Other than the Live View issue at night, the doorbell has been working fine.

I have reached out to Amcrest Support and they have escalated this case to a higher team. Hopefully there is a solution to this issue. Below are the questions Amcrest have asked along with my responses:

Q: Has a licensed electrician tested all internal wiring for any possible breaks. This could be the issue here.
A: Yes, all internal wiring has been tested by a licensed electrician with no breaks.

Q: Does the camera see the SD card. I am assuming by you mentioning the card being formatted to FAT32, that has already been done externally first. If not this may be necessary.
A: Yes, the camera sees the SD card. I purchased a brand new SD card at the same time as this new doorbell and formatted the card on my computer before inserting it into the doorbell. The issue has only happened a few times.

Q: Which application you are currently using to view live? Both amcrest pro and smart home app?
A: I am using the Amcrest Smart Home app only and have not tried the Amcrest Pro app.

Q: May I know the Model and OS of the phone you are using? Also what is your Mobile Service Provider?
A: I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 8, running Android 9, build# PPR1.180610.011.N950USQS7DTA5, Mobile Service Provider is Sprint.

Q: Only thing I could think of would be a possible lag due to WiFi range or just not getting enough data transmitted via WiFi. As for the transformer, it should be 16 V and 30 VA. Have you tried reinstall the application and tried re add the device?
A: My wifi router is located only 15ft away from the doorbell receives a strong signal. I purchased a TP-Link AC1200 WiFi Extender, model# RE300 and unfortunately it did not make a difference. My old transformer was replaced with a new more powerful transformer before the installation of the doorbell. My transformer is a Broan-NuTone 16-Volt 30VA, model# C907. I have tried rebooting the device and also deleting and re-adding the device and the issue still happens.

Q: Is this device connected with Mechanical or Digital Chime?
A: The device is connect to a Honeywell RCW3505N digital chime.

Thanks,
Henry

[amcrest168]

hi @punwannabe and welcome to the forum. the doorbell is drawing more current during nighttime because of infrared than during daytime. disconnect the doorbell and measure the voltage from the two wires. you should be getting around 18v. voltage reading directly from the transformer will be higher than from the doorbell wires but if the voltage drop is substantial, then you may need to try a bigger transformer because of the amount of resistance from your current wiring.

choose digital for your chime.

[Revo2Maxx]

@punwannabe Hello and welcome to the Forum

While I am glad that you have a new updated Transformer there is are issues that can be related to wiring. Please understand that your camera doorbell is taking more power then a normal push button switch that I have seen now 2 different installs besides my own where the button wires are not sized for the power that the doorbell needs... Think of it like a Water Facet and your pipes are new the FLOW of water is very nice and even without delay.. Now you also live in a hard water area and 10 years has gone by without any type of cleaning of the pipes and now your pipes are constricted to the point that water trickles out.. Now you need to replace the lines or your facet can't flow even...

To be Fair to your camera I wouldn't use anything under 18ga or awg depending on what or where you get the wire.... This is because now your camera will take about 1.5amps to 2amps and needs a good sized wire to keep it happy... Where before when you had only a button only time power was going though the wires was when it was pushed and times pushed was very short so flow was easy even a trickle was enough to make your bell ring....