It is hard to say what or Why they are failing..
Keep in mind if you had your system on a 24vac transformer of any range VA 30 to 100va I have tested 6 and all 6 chime kits are dead.. My last Chime kit as you could tell in the Video I made was at one time good before I took that unit and tested it on a 30va 24vac transformer.. Sadly in all the ones I have used and tested were non regulated and because of this went into a short causing transformer on the one that I tested anyway to drop volts to 2.4vac and produced 10amps of current.. Had this been on a Regulated power supply and not a Transformer I am sure the power supply would have went into a protection mode and saved the Chime Kit.. However 10amps that chime kit was not made to handle that load..
So my doorbell cameras are fine.. They will and at this time working as Stand alone units without being connected to a indoor doorbell until I replace or repair the Chime Kit...
Chime kit is a double duty working unit it makes it so your Transformer don't short out under normal 16vac power and also makes it so the doorbell in your home don't chime all the time.. Now mine are only able to work single duty and protect the Transformer...
There was some talk at first (2019) that you didn't need a Chime Kit if you were working stand alone.. I can tell you that you don't want to work your Amcrest Doorbell camera on a Transformer or Regulated Power supply without the Chime Kit installed... Doing so over time will burn out your Transformer... Without a Chime Kit installed it is like you are taking the 2 power wires and sticking them together and default time is 3 seconds...
Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
Well, I may have to eat my words from my above post because I see that my AD110 got the firmware update notification pushed out to it in the last couple days and I just did the update.
It seems that the reboot issue is solved, at least from my limited testing. Way to go Amcrest programmers!
I did notice another change as a result of the firmware update that I am hoping is another positive. The grid overlay in the Motion Detection Zones setting is gone and it is back to being the semicircle with the three sections that can be turned on/off and the distance or sensitivity can be set with a % slider. I am hoping that this means the PIR motion detection is now working. That should drastically cut down on the alert notifications that have been caused by cars driving by well past the detection area. If the PIR is not working, then hopefully they will push out another update putting the grid overlay back.
And luckily, my chime kit seems to be fine and survived the 24v transformer. Now the main reason it survived is probably because over the last couple months that I had it hooked to the 24v the doorbell button was probably only pressed less than once a week. I guess it was able to withstand the 24v kick those few times. It is now on the 16v so hopefully it will be happy. If it decides to let the magic smoke escape at a later date as a delayed reaction to the higher voltage, then fortunately I have a spare chime kit in my parts bin.
It seems that the reboot issue is solved, at least from my limited testing. Way to go Amcrest programmers!
I did notice another change as a result of the firmware update that I am hoping is another positive. The grid overlay in the Motion Detection Zones setting is gone and it is back to being the semicircle with the three sections that can be turned on/off and the distance or sensitivity can be set with a % slider. I am hoping that this means the PIR motion detection is now working. That should drastically cut down on the alert notifications that have been caused by cars driving by well past the detection area. If the PIR is not working, then hopefully they will push out another update putting the grid overlay back.
And luckily, my chime kit seems to be fine and survived the 24v transformer. Now the main reason it survived is probably because over the last couple months that I had it hooked to the 24v the doorbell button was probably only pressed less than once a week. I guess it was able to withstand the 24v kick those few times. It is now on the 16v so hopefully it will be happy. If it decides to let the magic smoke escape at a later date as a delayed reaction to the higher voltage, then fortunately I have a spare chime kit in my parts bin.
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
I'm thinking maybe if you are using the doorbell as you mentioned as stand alone with no chime and you make sure you have No Chime selected in the No Chime, Mechanical Chime or Electronic Chime screen then the doorbell doesn't send a short out on the bell wires so you wouldn't need the chime kit but like you said, the chime kit would not hurt anything in this case and would still be a safety factor for both the transformer and doorbell. I could be 100% wrong about that because I haven't put any time into testing like you have but that would be my semi-edumacated best guess LOL
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CrazyAsian
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2020 4:41 pm
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
Are there a lot of people having this issue or is it just a few of us?
This is what I sent to support. All parts are new. Wires are less than 6ft total length.
=====
My AD110 and chime is hooked up to a 16vac 30va transformer. It's is working good and I have Blue Iris recording the video.
The problem I am having is when it becomes night time. I have to turn off "Night Vision" and leave it off. My device will reboot all night long if I turn it back on.
====
Amcrest support is one of the worst I have dealt with. Just scripted trouble shooting replies with no solutions. Extremely slow communications.
This is what I sent to support. All parts are new. Wires are less than 6ft total length.
=====
My AD110 and chime is hooked up to a 16vac 30va transformer. It's is working good and I have Blue Iris recording the video.
The problem I am having is when it becomes night time. I have to turn off "Night Vision" and leave it off. My device will reboot all night long if I turn it back on.
====
Amcrest support is one of the worst I have dealt with. Just scripted trouble shooting replies with no solutions. Extremely slow communications.
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
Sorry your having issues.. Sadly there are many things that a lot of people can do to know what or where to start trouble shooting Doorbell camera issues.. However on the Side of Amcrest what I can tell you is they are not Electricians and they don't have a Magic Ball to tell you what is wrong so Sure they are going to go off some type of Scripted written ideas of what might be the issue and things that you might try to fix the issue..
When it comes down to a Camera they again are not at the Office with a Magic Ball and need to Collect info from the End User on what is going on.. If they have first hand dealing with your issue they can just give ideas how to fix it however if they have not had this issue they might go get a Camera of same type for testing and they will try and setup it up to same setup for your issue to see if they can get the same results.. Most times they can't and sometimes this is being done over a day or 2.. I know when I had an issue for one of my cameras it took a couple of days for them to call me back that is because the 40 min I had them on the phone first time for the issue was problem collecting time.. Then first day went by was them setting up same type camera to see if they could get same issue with log results like mine.. After second day I get a call back with some help on a Solution.. While this might not be every Tech call they get I do know that is how it was back when I needed some help before this whole Pandemic started..
So then for your AD110.. To be honest I would take your Camera, take your Chime box and test your problem on the Transformer.. Take a Pair of 18awg wire or even 20awg for how short it is of 1 foot. Connect your Chime box to the Transformer 2 pegs and then connect your camera to the same 2 pegs as your chime box (16vac 30va pegs from transformer) then power it up wait for the system to broadcast that your connected to Network. Then Cover your setup with a Bucket (Plastic) or turn off the lights and check for disconnection issues.
If this testing makes your system Reboot with IR issues then Press and hold the Reset button on the side of the camera until it states that it is Resetting.. Once your camera is Reset you will need to set it back up to the Router Wifi. Remove it from your app, then press the + to add a camera, then turn on the Hot Spot and setup your Doorbell camera again.. Once you have it setup and it says Connected to the Network and your able to connect to system Cover it up or turn off lights and wait to see if the same results happen this can take a little time.. I can tell you that in my testing I turned off my camera with IR on looked at camera IR was still on as I could see the red glow 40 seconds after removing from power and still had enough power that when I pressed the button it rang the chime in the camera as I didn't have it off then it went off blinked the blue ring and shut off.. Without IR on I can Ring the Doorbell 2 times with even talking on the second pressing of the button a few seconds in between my cell and camera before it shuts off..
Sadly there is many things that can go wrong with these Cameras and I am going to guess that Amcrest Support not being Electricians will not even know many if any when there is an issue with your Transformer..
Being told your Wiring is new and things are new that don't help the Support Staff to know what the issue is or might be.. Telling Support what you have already done to try and Troubleshoot the problem will give them a better idea of how to give you better support.. It Very well could be that your Camera is bad I am leaning towards your Transformer.. I can tell you that I have bought a new 16vac 30va transformer and took it home and first time on found it it was bad.. Did it work sure.. Did it work as expected no.. Bad design and after testing found it was only producing 12va that is .75amps when a normal 30va would provide 1.875amps.. I took transformer back to the Big Box store and had to go to another one seeing they were out of 30va or higher the second one I bought works as expected
When it comes down to a Camera they again are not at the Office with a Magic Ball and need to Collect info from the End User on what is going on.. If they have first hand dealing with your issue they can just give ideas how to fix it however if they have not had this issue they might go get a Camera of same type for testing and they will try and setup it up to same setup for your issue to see if they can get the same results.. Most times they can't and sometimes this is being done over a day or 2.. I know when I had an issue for one of my cameras it took a couple of days for them to call me back that is because the 40 min I had them on the phone first time for the issue was problem collecting time.. Then first day went by was them setting up same type camera to see if they could get same issue with log results like mine.. After second day I get a call back with some help on a Solution.. While this might not be every Tech call they get I do know that is how it was back when I needed some help before this whole Pandemic started..
So then for your AD110.. To be honest I would take your Camera, take your Chime box and test your problem on the Transformer.. Take a Pair of 18awg wire or even 20awg for how short it is of 1 foot. Connect your Chime box to the Transformer 2 pegs and then connect your camera to the same 2 pegs as your chime box (16vac 30va pegs from transformer) then power it up wait for the system to broadcast that your connected to Network. Then Cover your setup with a Bucket (Plastic) or turn off the lights and check for disconnection issues.
If this testing makes your system Reboot with IR issues then Press and hold the Reset button on the side of the camera until it states that it is Resetting.. Once your camera is Reset you will need to set it back up to the Router Wifi. Remove it from your app, then press the + to add a camera, then turn on the Hot Spot and setup your Doorbell camera again.. Once you have it setup and it says Connected to the Network and your able to connect to system Cover it up or turn off lights and wait to see if the same results happen this can take a little time.. I can tell you that in my testing I turned off my camera with IR on looked at camera IR was still on as I could see the red glow 40 seconds after removing from power and still had enough power that when I pressed the button it rang the chime in the camera as I didn't have it off then it went off blinked the blue ring and shut off.. Without IR on I can Ring the Doorbell 2 times with even talking on the second pressing of the button a few seconds in between my cell and camera before it shuts off..
Sadly there is many things that can go wrong with these Cameras and I am going to guess that Amcrest Support not being Electricians will not even know many if any when there is an issue with your Transformer..
Being told your Wiring is new and things are new that don't help the Support Staff to know what the issue is or might be.. Telling Support what you have already done to try and Troubleshoot the problem will give them a better idea of how to give you better support.. It Very well could be that your Camera is bad I am leaning towards your Transformer.. I can tell you that I have bought a new 16vac 30va transformer and took it home and first time on found it it was bad.. Did it work sure.. Did it work as expected no.. Bad design and after testing found it was only producing 12va that is .75amps when a normal 30va would provide 1.875amps.. I took transformer back to the Big Box store and had to go to another one seeing they were out of 30va or higher the second one I bought works as expected
Be Safe.
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CrazyAsian
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2020 4:41 pm
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
I appreciate the feedback. I have gone through some of the trouble shooting and have already sent the device back with another on the way.
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
I have the same problem as you, I have the same original power supply from amcrest 18V / 500mA and a long 10 feet cable.
I only use it as a camera and in the evening I lost my connection on blueiris
I only use it as a camera and in the evening I lost my connection on blueiris
CrazyAsian wrote: ↑Sat Sep 26, 2020 3:20 am Are there a lot of people having this issue or is it just a few of us?
This is what I sent to support. All parts are new. Wires are less than 6ft total length.
=====
My AD110 and chime is hooked up to a 16vac 30va transformer. It's is working good and I have Blue Iris recording the video.
The problem I am having is when it becomes night time. I have to turn off "Night Vision" and leave it off. My device will reboot all night long if I turn it back on.
====
Amcrest support is one of the worst I have dealt with. Just scripted trouble shooting replies with no solutions. Extremely slow communications.
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
A lost connection to BI humm Seeing you wrote this on Tue I don't know if people know it or not but EVERY Tue at 2am that doorbell Reboots.. So if it was something that happens all the time that is one thing however if it happens ON 2am Tue it has a Hidden Command to Reboot every 2am Tue..
Most times it don't even Register as a Disconnection on the Camera because the Camera has 2 Large Caps that help keep the camera going after power is removed. If your getting A Connection to Network all the time at night there could be a IR issue and lack of Power...
Most times it don't even Register as a Disconnection on the Camera because the Camera has 2 Large Caps that help keep the camera going after power is removed. If your getting A Connection to Network all the time at night there could be a IR issue and lack of Power...
Be Safe.
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
A reboot doesn't power the camera off but it definitely will disconnect the WiFi and any host TCP/UDP connections to the doorbell. I see connection failures at 2AM in my Home Assistant logs but within 3-5 minutes the connection is restored after the doorbell completes the reboot and all is well. BI should be auto-reconnecting too, but I can't confirm since I don't use it.
This command reveals the internal settings that enable the weekly reboot and when:
<ip_address>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=getConfig&name=AutoMaintain
If it is confirmed that BI isn't able to auto-reconnect, it should be possible to disable the reboot by setting ...action=setConfig&AutoMaintain[0].AutoRebootEnable=false.
We don't know why Amcrest is forcing a weekly reboot and they will likely never explain it. Known memory leaks perhaps? Required for IP updates? Probably best to keep it as-is unless no other alternative to reconnect a BI connection exists.
This command reveals the internal settings that enable the weekly reboot and when:
<ip_address>/cgi-bin/configManager.cgi?action=getConfig&name=AutoMaintain
If it is confirmed that BI isn't able to auto-reconnect, it should be possible to disable the reboot by setting ...action=setConfig&AutoMaintain[0].AutoRebootEnable=false.
We don't know why Amcrest is forcing a weekly reboot and they will likely never explain it. Known memory leaks perhaps? Required for IP updates? Probably best to keep it as-is unless no other alternative to reconnect a BI connection exists.
Re: Video Doorbell AD110 Losing connection at night
Yeah well mine with the New UPDATE IS OFF... aka False
Be Safe.