Cameras not working at night on 30m+ Cables

[The RAM 0]

I have just purchased a 16ch Sony Day/Night camera system from China complete with 599GB drive.

 

It is working very well and I am pleased with it during the day. However, at night the 4 cameras connected using 30 metre+ cables will not work in the dark. They are powered by 12V 5A adaptors with spliters to the various cameras. All the other cameras on less than 30m cables work fine in day and night and produce very good images. I have tried swapping the cameras to ensure it is not faulty cameras and they all work fine on shorter cables.

 

I have contacted the supplier and they have been very helpful and are sending 4 new 30m cables free of charge in case the originals are faulty.

 

Has anyone else had similar problems? Would it make a difference to use 12V 6A adaptors?

[Squiffy 0]

What is the quoted peak current consumption per camera, i.e. at night with IR illumination on?

 

It does sound like the voltage drop induced by the cable length is a factor here. Check the voltage at the camera end.

 

A higher current PSU will help if it's because of the current consumption but go for something that can supply more, i.e. 8A (continuous load).

[The RAM 0]

Hi Squiffy,

 

Thanks for that I will check the voltage out and try to get hold of an 8A adaptor.

 

I'll let you know.

[kensplace 0]

Sounds like it could be suffering from voltage drop, do the cams have in built IR led's?

 

If they do, and they try to turn on at night then the cams will try to draw extra current, the extra current will cause the voltage to drop. If the volts drop to much the cams wont work.

 

If it is voltage drop (which it most likely is, as shorter cables work fine) then using a higher amperage power supply wont acheive anything, you would need to use thicker cables to reduce the voltage drop or find some other way to deal with it...

[The RAM 0]

Hi Squiffy,

 

I'm having a problem sourcing a 12V 8A (Continuous) adaptor less than £100. Do you know of anything cheaper?

[The RAM 0]

Hi Squiffy,

 

I was wondering if I locate the power supply closer to the camera and do not use the combined cable then would this avoid the problem. What do you think?

[kensplace 0]

Certainly worth a try, if it is voltage drop which it sounds like it is, then locating the power supply closer to the camera will mean a shorter power lead, and less voltage drop.

[crirvine 0]

What size wire did you run for power? Putting a bigger power supply in the mix will not help but moving the power closer or pulling bigger wire for power wires could solve your problem. What is the model of the cameras and specs?

 

Look at this site fill in the info and you can see how far you can run the power on the wire you have.

http://www.video-insight.com/Support/Tools/Wire-Length-Calculator.aspx

[si_kungs 0]

you can solve this by moving the power supply near the camera. run main power line and connect the adaptor near the camera. camera can't work at night due to lack of power.

[The RAM 0]

Yes, I moved the power supply nearer to the cameras and it works a treat. However, I am quite put out that the supplier did not make it clear that cameras attached to the 4 supplied 30 metre cables or greater do not work at night. I believe this is mis-selling. The system was not cheap and I've got to say works very well in every other respect but I should have been informed. How can I ensure the message gets to others who may be considering purchasing a CCTV system of this type? I have informed the supplier and they have been quite helpful but it would seem they were unaware that it does not work with the supplied cables! It has not stopped them continuing to sell the system with 30 metre cables!

 

All 16 cameras now working perfectly. Thanks for all the advice to everyone.

[Sawbones 0]

Yes, I moved the power supply nearer to the cameras and it works a treat. However, I am quite put out that the supplier did not make it clear that cameras attached to the 4 supplied 30 metre cables or greater do not work at night. I believe this is mis-selling. The system was not cheap and I've got to say works very well in every other respect but I should have been informed. How can I ensure the message gets to others who may be considering purchasing a CCTV system of this type? I have informed the supplier and they have been quite helpful but it would seem they were unaware that it does not work with the supplied cables! It has not stopped them continuing to sell the system with 30 metre cables!

 

All 16 cameras now working perfectly. Thanks for all the advice to everyone.

 

They may not be interested in improving their product. It may be more economically-feasible for them to sell more with the cheaper cables and simply deal with the returns from a few disgruntled customers.

 

Sounds mercenary, but sometimes that's what it comes down to.

[Soundy 1]

Actually, the 30m cables are likely not an issue as much as the power adapters are. If you're using regulated adaptors/power supplies (which I assume they provide with the cameras?), those will be putting out a solid 12VDC at their outputs... but the drop over 30m of cable could easily be a couple volts once the IR kicks in. If you use unregulated supplies, they'll probably be producing closer to 17VDC at their outputs, so that after you lose a couple volts to line resistance, you've still got plenty of potential at the cameras (and slightly less loss as well, by virtue of the higher voltage).

 

Now the catch to this is that some cheap cameras don't handle over-voltage well and can fry if the supply voltage is too high... but those are relatively rare and limited to the REALLY cheap ones, in my experience... I've probably used 5 times more unregulated 12VDC wall-warts than regulated versions, and only had one or two camera failures that MIGHT be attributable to overvoltage from an unregulated supply (I say MIGHT because no effort was ever made to ascertain whether that was actually the cause).