I know this is an Amcrest Forum but I've had 2 ptz poe cameras fail in the last 6 months. Of course, both were out of warranty.
This model number I bought in 2021: IP4M-1063EW-AI
It's the latest to stop working.
This one here stopped working 6 months ago so I replaced it: IP4M-1053EW
and I've had one or two stop working before those.
I feel like an abused person that keeps going back to my abuser.
Is the life span of these really just about 2 years?
If I buy a Reolink ptz camera will it be compatible with the Amcrest NVR's?
Thank you
Should I try a different brand?
Re: Should I try a different brand?
Reolink is a Hit and Miss when it comes to working with any other Brand NVR's not only Amcrest. I have a few friends that have come to regret buying Reolink cameras because he has hard time finding NVR's to work with this cameras. I have seen some people talk about that in youtube videos as well.
So about your dead Cameras. I don't know why or how your cameras are dying. 1063 camera wish I had a dead one to find out what went wrong..
How are you powering your cameras? What type of cabling are you using? What is the distance from power source to the camera (POE or 12v)?
I have some very old Amcrest cameras that are still working today. I have 2 First Gen 850's that are still working. I will admit I got a bad Firmware installed in one of them so the Pan and Tilt and IR function isn't working as I need it to so I have it out of service right now with my 853 in the space even though it is only a 12x zoom it works well enough. I will admit I was gifted a 858 that was dead. I have tested the system and everything is working that I can tell without a Schematic, and seems like a Firmware issue. So that camera I have off to the side for now incase I need a backup part for my other 858 that is from 2019.
I would try to find someone with a Network testing rig and have your cables tested before investing on High Dollar cameras if you have already killed a couple in the past. Don't let people fool you with Cat6 cable if it isn't real Copper it will kill your camera. Even killed one of my non PTZ Dahua POE Ai Cameras that I let a friend use while he was waiting for a new camera. Come to find out after he killed that camera he had CCA cable in the attic of his house and only real copper was able to be seen at wall coming to the Switch room.
If you live in a High Lightning area I would make good and sure that your connection is being used with a POE Surge Protector at installed location and building entrance location and don't run any cat cable exposed to the outdoors that isn't shielded. (By the way no Surge Protector will work if not connected with grounded Cat cables). Your connection should be with a metal shield and a extra ground should run from 1 end to the other and both connected with metal shielded connectors.
HEre is some info about a Protector and Shielded cable. It is to Amazon and not my store and I don't Endorse them in anyway. Just for the Idea of the products I was referring to..
https://www.amazon.com/Tupavco-TP303-Et ... 1707&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/trueCABLE-Outdoo ... hdGY&psc=1
So about your dead Cameras. I don't know why or how your cameras are dying. 1063 camera wish I had a dead one to find out what went wrong..
How are you powering your cameras? What type of cabling are you using? What is the distance from power source to the camera (POE or 12v)?
I have some very old Amcrest cameras that are still working today. I have 2 First Gen 850's that are still working. I will admit I got a bad Firmware installed in one of them so the Pan and Tilt and IR function isn't working as I need it to so I have it out of service right now with my 853 in the space even though it is only a 12x zoom it works well enough. I will admit I was gifted a 858 that was dead. I have tested the system and everything is working that I can tell without a Schematic, and seems like a Firmware issue. So that camera I have off to the side for now incase I need a backup part for my other 858 that is from 2019.
I would try to find someone with a Network testing rig and have your cables tested before investing on High Dollar cameras if you have already killed a couple in the past. Don't let people fool you with Cat6 cable if it isn't real Copper it will kill your camera. Even killed one of my non PTZ Dahua POE Ai Cameras that I let a friend use while he was waiting for a new camera. Come to find out after he killed that camera he had CCA cable in the attic of his house and only real copper was able to be seen at wall coming to the Switch room.
If you live in a High Lightning area I would make good and sure that your connection is being used with a POE Surge Protector at installed location and building entrance location and don't run any cat cable exposed to the outdoors that isn't shielded. (By the way no Surge Protector will work if not connected with grounded Cat cables). Your connection should be with a metal shield and a extra ground should run from 1 end to the other and both connected with metal shielded connectors.
HEre is some info about a Protector and Shielded cable. It is to Amazon and not my store and I don't Endorse them in anyway. Just for the Idea of the products I was referring to..
https://www.amazon.com/Tupavco-TP303-Et ... 1707&psc=1
https://www.amazon.com/trueCABLE-Outdoo ... hdGY&psc=1
Be Safe.
Re: Should I try a different brand?
Thanks buddy. It is poe and about 100 feet from my Amcrest NVR. It worked great for a couple years so not sure why they crapped out so fast all of a sudden. No, it's not high quality cabling by any stretch but I don't know how that would denigrate a camera. You've answered several of my questions on here so I'd be glad to ship you these dead cameras once I replace them. Otherwise, they are paper weights for me. I got the REO today so let's see what happens.
Re: Should I try a different brand?
Here is the testing I performed tonight. Hooked up the 1063 directly to my NVR through a known working ethernet cable. Nothing.
Hooked it up with ethernet cable AND power cable. It does the happy dance but no picture.
Hooked up my 863 via ethernet cable, nothing. Next, hooked it up with power supply and ethernet cable, it does the happy dance, and lo and behold it connects via wifi.
Moral of this story is the ethernet connection on both camera is some how bad. Is there a place to send to fix these? Does Amcrest fix them?
Hooked it up with ethernet cable AND power cable. It does the happy dance but no picture.
Hooked up my 863 via ethernet cable, nothing. Next, hooked it up with power supply and ethernet cable, it does the happy dance, and lo and behold it connects via wifi.
Moral of this story is the ethernet connection on both camera is some how bad. Is there a place to send to fix these? Does Amcrest fix them?
Re: Should I try a different brand?
Yes, Normally the cameras will power up and make it look like they are working when powered over 12v and can even do it on POE when the damage to the camera is different then your cameras damage.
Amcrest don't repair cameras.
From what you have said, I would look at replacing your Ethernet cables. About why cables could be an issue isn't always easy to explain. So here is the best way I can in 2 different issues known.
First issue (Resistance) CCA cable is not suitable in any way for PoE (Power Over Ethernet) due to the conductors themselves heating up and potentially starting a fire (called DC resistance), or damaging a PoE device on the other end due to the inability to supply enough current
Second issue (Attenuation) CCA cable is not as capable of carrying Ethernet data signals over distance, Attenuation is a fancy word for degradation in quality, and in this context the quality of the signal.
One cause of higher Resistance is when the cable warms up in the Summer months. When the temperature of the cables rise so does the Resistance on the cable. Normally this would translate into having to feed more current into the powered device. Then there are things that try to keep the resistance at a constant, Because of that the part of the circuit burns up.
Now I personally don't know of any house that has caught fire over using CCA however from True Cable they have said that could be an issue. So here is a fast Video from them talking about CCA and Copper and why CCA is bad. Now they show on paper test results from 244 feet of one and 245 feet of the other and CCA isn't even able to prove a CAT rating even though fake cable come with UL and other things to make people trust the cable, It isn't real rating for Ethernet..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Lb7Pmj6Hg
Amcrest don't repair cameras.
From what you have said, I would look at replacing your Ethernet cables. About why cables could be an issue isn't always easy to explain. So here is the best way I can in 2 different issues known.
First issue (Resistance) CCA cable is not suitable in any way for PoE (Power Over Ethernet) due to the conductors themselves heating up and potentially starting a fire (called DC resistance), or damaging a PoE device on the other end due to the inability to supply enough current
Second issue (Attenuation) CCA cable is not as capable of carrying Ethernet data signals over distance, Attenuation is a fancy word for degradation in quality, and in this context the quality of the signal.
One cause of higher Resistance is when the cable warms up in the Summer months. When the temperature of the cables rise so does the Resistance on the cable. Normally this would translate into having to feed more current into the powered device. Then there are things that try to keep the resistance at a constant, Because of that the part of the circuit burns up.
Now I personally don't know of any house that has caught fire over using CCA however from True Cable they have said that could be an issue. So here is a fast Video from them talking about CCA and Copper and why CCA is bad. Now they show on paper test results from 244 feet of one and 245 feet of the other and CCA isn't even able to prove a CAT rating even though fake cable come with UL and other things to make people trust the cable, It isn't real rating for Ethernet..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Lb7Pmj6Hg
Be Safe.
Re: Should I try a different brand?
About your POE cameras, When you connect to POE it didn't even do the dance? Normally they will do the dance with POE and 12v just no picture..
However from what it sounds like you said is that you did testing and only got the dance on 12v side. This means that the camera has damage in the main body and at the Camera level.
Then one you have working on Wifi will be the easiest one to fix at the camera level. I would have to look over the dome part to find out what died in the dome body. I say this because my parts 858 will power up POE and 12v just camera is dead.. Also took my 853 apart and it works the same way. Even without a camera in the face I can power the camera over POE and 12v and it will do the dance.
Now that might be still the case in your camera as well. I was using a POE+ switch and not my NVR' SO it might have been powering the camera over pins that the POE NVR's don't normally use maybe?
I have fixed cameras that have been killed by CCA cabling so in the camera body I am sure I know what the issue is. I would need to troubleshoot the camera dome. That makes the fix even longer. To fix camera level issue, The repair is about 45min. Most of that time is just taking the camera out of the face, and taking the camera cage off the PCB and zoom lens as it all has to come apart. Fixing the power board would take longer if it is in the center part of the body..
If I was doing repair, I would test it on POE+ Switch to confirm bad POE portion before I took it all apart save some time lol.
However from what it sounds like you said is that you did testing and only got the dance on 12v side. This means that the camera has damage in the main body and at the Camera level.
Then one you have working on Wifi will be the easiest one to fix at the camera level. I would have to look over the dome part to find out what died in the dome body. I say this because my parts 858 will power up POE and 12v just camera is dead.. Also took my 853 apart and it works the same way. Even without a camera in the face I can power the camera over POE and 12v and it will do the dance.
Now that might be still the case in your camera as well. I was using a POE+ switch and not my NVR' SO it might have been powering the camera over pins that the POE NVR's don't normally use maybe?
I have fixed cameras that have been killed by CCA cabling so in the camera body I am sure I know what the issue is. I would need to troubleshoot the camera dome. That makes the fix even longer. To fix camera level issue, The repair is about 45min. Most of that time is just taking the camera out of the face, and taking the camera cage off the PCB and zoom lens as it all has to come apart. Fixing the power board would take longer if it is in the center part of the body..
If I was doing repair, I would test it on POE+ Switch to confirm bad POE portion before I took it all apart save some time lol.
Be Safe.
Re: Should I try a different brand?
I would carefully check the ethernet connectors both on the cable and the camera pigtail for corrosion before anything else.
Re: Should I try a different brand?
IF it was one camera I would say it might be an issue, however seeing the first camera was replaced with another that worked for some time before it no longer worked, My guess is Internal issue not RJ45 related. Would be nice to find out that was the problem. Plus the OP said they used a Known good Ethernet cord in the testing where the camera didn't power over POE. Again this leads to the issue of bad POE in the Camera Module. I have repaired a good few in the last few years.
Be Safe.
Re: Should I try a different brand?
The above still doesn't eliminate a bad pigtail ethernet connection nor indicate a good one.
Re: Should I try a different brand?
Looking forward to find out how his ReoLink camera has turned out? Did he get one that works well with the Amcrest NVR that he has.
Also keep in mind that this next part isn't always needed but might help..
If you are trying to connect your Reolink using POE and it don't work. Try this as a first step in setting it up. Power the Reolink on using the stand alone method. Connecting it to a 12v power supply, Log into the camera, and setup as if you only had the camera.. Once you do this use the Amcrest NVR and do a search for your camera on the normal network for your NVR.. Once your NVR locates the camera install it on the channel you want to use (Lets say Port 5 or Setup on Channel 5. Once you get the NVR on your normal network to view the Reolink camera. Take the camera and connect it to the Port5 of the NVR. The NVR should now tell you that there was a camera connected to that channel do you want to take over for the new connection and choose yes. This should then let the Port5 (Or what ever one you were dealing with) work with the camera over the NVR's POE port..
Just an Idea..
Also keep in mind that this next part isn't always needed but might help..
If you are trying to connect your Reolink using POE and it don't work. Try this as a first step in setting it up. Power the Reolink on using the stand alone method. Connecting it to a 12v power supply, Log into the camera, and setup as if you only had the camera.. Once you do this use the Amcrest NVR and do a search for your camera on the normal network for your NVR.. Once your NVR locates the camera install it on the channel you want to use (Lets say Port 5 or Setup on Channel 5. Once you get the NVR on your normal network to view the Reolink camera. Take the camera and connect it to the Port5 of the NVR. The NVR should now tell you that there was a camera connected to that channel do you want to take over for the new connection and choose yes. This should then let the Port5 (Or what ever one you were dealing with) work with the camera over the NVR's POE port..
Just an Idea..
Be Safe.