worth it to repair cameras?

[marvelusmarvcus 0]

it would probably make sense for me to have my cameras repaired.

 

panasonic cw484- controls damaged and not functional, camera works

brand new extreme wz16- dead right out of the box

used extreme wz16- used for about 6 months, dead

used extreme wz 14- dead

 

unfortunately, i do not think i can use the warranty on any of the above cameras as i purchased them through friends, etc and not a dealer.

 

does anyone on here repair cameras or have any experience on what it typically costs to repair a camera?

 

what is normally the part that dies first?

[survtech 0]

This may not apply to your situation but in a casino environment we have found it uneconomical to repair most fixed cameras; especially if they are over five years old. The reasons for this are primarily: the cost to repair fixed cameras can be a substantial percentage of their replacement cost, once a fixed camera is over five years old it has been fully depreciated and at that age the likelihood of other failures occuring climbs rapidly.

 

Expensive PTZ cameras are another matter. It is worthwhile to pay $500 to repair a $1,700 PTZ dome drive.

 

The primary failures other than mechanical in any camera, fixed or PTZ are: power supply, electrolytic capacitors, cpu/memory (for DSP cameras).

 

[edit] disregard the phrase: "PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) capabilites.">". The board keeps inserting that.

[Soundy 1]

The primary failures other than mechanical in any camera, fixed or PTZ are: power supply, electrolytic capacitors, cpu/memory (for DSP cameras).

 

For me, the most common failure I see is a dying sensor... most often, it seems, in older Panasonics (CP214s and the like), although some of the old Sanyos on our sites have developed similar issues - color balance and contrast start to go, the image gets softer and softer no matter what lens you have on it, etc.

 

If you're handy enough to do some repairs yourself, it can sometimes be cost-effective to combine two or three dead cameras into one - take the guts from a cam with a bad sensor and swap them into another of the same model that has a good sensor but bad guts, for example. But as survtech notes, by the time most cameras get to this point, they've reached the end of their designed service life and there's a good chance they'll just fail again soon.

 

Such cameras I find useful to keep around as service spares - go into a site, find a dead camera, and have to wait for replacement approval, or backordered stock, or whatever, you just slap in a "refurbished" old camera to keep up the coverage until a new one can be installed.

[marvelusmarvcus 0]

thanks guys, very helpful

 

2 of the cameras are very new, so if i repaired the problem, they would probably last me a while still, just not sure of the cost or person to do this. i dont think this is something i could diagnose and repair myself.

 

i might just have to take to the local electronics repair shop and see what happens.

[Soundy 1]

You could always try contacting the manufacturers and ask about warranty coverage. Worst they can do is say no.

[marvelusmarvcus 0]

yea, im gonna try that, but im sure they will ask for all kinds of sales receipts and crap that i dont have

 

def worth a shot though

[Soundy 1]

Tell'em you're new to the site and the previous owner/manager/etc. didn't leave any of the paperwork behind

 

Only thing you won't be able to really prove is purchase/install date, which is when warranty coverage usually starts, but if the serial numbers are on the cameras, they should be able to at least determine the manufacture date, and if you're within the warranty period from THAT date, I'd think you should still be covered.

 

And there's always the chance that a problem may be a known defect that they'll repair or replace for anyway - I have run into that before with a broken laptop (was long out of warranty, so I called to see if I could order a part to fix it myself, but they said the problem I had was a known manufacturing defect - they sent a courier to pick it up, had it repaired, and couriered back to me within a week... completely free, including the 1-800 phone call. This was NEC, by the way - they bought themselves a TON of goodwill with that one act).

[vin2install 0]

Tell them that the dealer you bought it from went out of business. People say that to us all the time.

[rory 0]

Extreme are normally good about it, they may send you replacement boards if you tell them you would like to try fix it yourself. If not they may say to send it back to them for repair - note though they may charge for that.

 

WZ are from Extreme also, but they are their budget cameras.

[Squiffy 0]

survtech points out the most common primary causes, in my experience the most common is the PSU and usually the electrolytic capacitors.

 

Before giving up and disposing of a 'dead' camera it's often worth just replacing the main electrolytic capacitors in the PSU. You should also inspect the PCBs for dry joints.