Wired the camera to mains

[27901591 0]

hi, i accidentally wired my vcl honeywell orbitor to the mains and heard a big bang, does these ptz cameras have a fuse or something, or is it time for it to go in the skip?

[the toss 0]

hi, i accidentally wired my vcl honeywell orbitor to the mains and heard a big bang, does these ptz cameras have a fuse or something, or is it time for it to go in the skip?

 

Say goodbye to your camera.

[wingetalisa 0]

I think that you have banged your cameras.

[markymark2011 0]

hi did u buy it off ebay at all

[Numb-nuts 1]

A big bang eh? was that like an electrical bang the sort you get when something explodes?

Yeah I think that even without the benefit of seeing the camera you would be safe to assume that plugging a

24V ac camera into a mains socket would have some detrimental effect on the camera The explosion bang might also be a good indicator of the cameras condition. Just thank your lucky stars you weren't sent into orbit yourself.

 

The camera has at least some useful function as a dummy. You could empty it out and fix it to the wall where it will serve two distinct purposes.

Most usefully as dummy camera. a visual deterrent

Then it will serve as a reminder not to be such a dummy

 

 

 

Still at least you lived to tell the tale, which we are all grateful for

 

EPIC I think I bust a rib laughing!

[MichaelDelarosa 0]

This seems to be a trouble. CCTV must not be directly plugged to the main lines they can have will always explode if it exceeds to the limits since they are not fit to the load requirements. I did not know much about CCTV but I've seen some set up diagrams.

 

Good thing you are safe and don't burn down the place due to that explosion.

[Securame 0]

 

[Numb-nuts 1]

That is of course not to say thate there are not still 240V AC cameras on the market, frankly in my experience MOST CCTV installers opt for 12 V DC or 24V AC cameras where the choice is available and 12V DC otherwise. This is just my gut feeling, I have no supporting evidence of this.

 

Forgive my laughing at your mistake, we all make em (I got an mains jolt today, it wasn't funny at the time but I can look back and laugh now, I won't do that again)

 

and as I said thankfully no harm came to you, but it was the way you worded your post that made me split my sides. Wish that you would have come to this forum for help before ruining your camera and risking your life into the bargain.

 

The good news is that you WONT do that again. (I hope ! )

[milkisbad 0]

That is of course not to say thate there are not still 240V AC cameras on the market, frankly in my experience MOST CCTV installers opt for 12 V DC or 24V AC cameras where the choice is available and 12V DC otherwise. This is just my gut feeling, I have no supporting evidence of this.

 

Forgive my laughing at your mistake, we all make em (I got an mains jolt today, it wasn't funny at the time but I can look back and laugh now, I won't do that again)

 

and as I said thankfully no harm came to you, but it was the way you worded your post that made me split my sides. Wish that you would have come to this forum for help before ruining your camera and risking your life into the bargain.

 

The good news is that you WONT do that again. (I hope ! )

 

Sorry if this is newb question, why use AC 24 V when its available? I know AC is suppose to be more efficient over distance and experience less voltage drops, is that the only reason?

[Numb-nuts 1]

You are too modest Milkisbad....

 

As Spike Milligan once said everybody gotta start somewhere (or was that Eccles)

 

Frankly it suffers less voltage drop as you say it also suffers less from ground loop and appears to be more stable.

The other thing I like about 24V AC is that it combines well with cat5 and baluns giving a flawless performance.

The other thing I notice is the power supplies either work of they don't, no rolling lines just either good picture or nothing.

Very often they use a toroidal transformer in the boxed PSU's and are not regulated but rather are fused to offer OV protection.

Unfortunately they seem to be significantly more expensive that 12V DC units which has to be a choice factor. right...?

 

The concensus of opinion so far as I can tell is 24 V AC where possible especially over distance born out by volt drop calculators and I have tried to follow that wherever I can, certainly hasn't introduced any problems for me, but having said that neither has 12V DC except for the odd faulty PSU. It would be interesting to hear other's preference and 'experience' in the field which is what REALLY counts.

[Horizon 0]

Some cameras can tolerate large voltage drops:

From a theoretical point of view, a camera designed to work with both 12VDC and 24VAC will also work from 12VDC to 34VDC, and 8.5VAC to 24VAC.

 

If the camera has a minimum working voltage of 10VDC, then when you are using it with 24VAC, you could have up to 17VAC headroom, meaning that it can tolerate a lot of voltage drop. This compares against only 2 volts of headroom if you were supplying it with 12VDC. In theory (of course), and making a few minor assumptions

And when you double the voltage, you halve the current (for the same amount of power), so you will get twice the distance for the same amount of voltage drop. It makes this kind of camera very easy to work with.

And if it has an isolated switch mode power supply it gets even better, because that breaks the ground loop. Bonus!

 

To the OP of this elderly thread, if the power board was replaced, the camera might have been salvaged. It's unlikely that the mains would get through the power supply to the low voltage camera electronics.

 

Youtube linky (a bit of a bang)

Note - turn down the volume, it starts with a bang and then gets louder.

[Numb-nuts 1]

Some cameras can tolerate large voltage drops:

From a theoretical point of view, a camera designed to work with both 12VDC and 24VAC will also work from 12VDC to 34VDC, and 8.5VAC to 24VAC.

 

If the camera has a minimum working voltage of 10VDC, then when you are using it with 24VAC, you could have up to 17VAC headroom, meaning that it can tolerate a lot of voltage drop. This compares against only 2 volts of headroom if you were supplying it with 12VDC. In theory (of course), and making a few minor assumptions

And when you double the voltage, you halve the current (for the same amount of power), so you will get twice the distance for the same amount of voltage drop. It makes this kind of camera very easy to work with.

And if it has an isolated switch mode power supply it gets even better, because that breaks the ground loop. Bonus!

 

To the OP of this elderly thread, if the power board was replaced, the camera might have been salvaged. It's unlikely that the mains would get through the power supply to the low voltage camera electronics.

 

Youtube linky (a bit of a bang)

Note - turn down the volume, it starts with a bang and then gets louder.

 

Maybe, but not 110V or 240V

[survtech 0]

From a theoretical point of view, a camera designed to work with both 12VDC and 24VAC will also work from 12VDC to 34VDC, and 8.5VAC to 24VAC.

I wouldn't necessarily make that assumption. It really depends on the design of the camera's power supply. In fact, many "24VAC" power supplies actually put out around 30VAC under relatively light loads. If the camera has a rectifier bridge, like so called universal-power cameras (the ones that can accept 12VDC at either polarity) the DC output of the bridge at 30VAC would be 42 volts (1.4*VAC).

 

That voltage might exceed the rating of the camera's internal voltage regulator, though well-designed cameras should be able to handle it. However, unless the camera has a really sophisticated voltage regulator circuit, the excess voltage would be dissipated as heat - not good for component longevity.

[Horizon 0]

Hi Survtech.Yep, I think we're generally in agreement. Have you seen many 24VAC cameras being made that are not able to work with 12VDC? Modern ones, that is, not like the ancient black &white 24V Burles I have I'm curious to know, so I can find out why and how they've done it.

 

Yeah, 30VAC is getting up there a bit. I'd hope that there was a nice long cable to the camera to provide some voltage drop. If the camera has a switch-mode power supply, it shouldn't run any hotter at the higher voltage. Linear power supplies would, but no manufacturer would one at that voltage - the losses would be too high (and as you say, it would run HOT).

 

As for the comment about sophisticated voltage regulators, they pretty much all are sophisticated now. Surprisingly, they're cheaper to make than the simpler linear designs.