Dahua dual cam issues? HELP!!!!

[copland]

All,

I'm trying to troubleshoot a camera that keeps going offline randomly. To start, installed the whole system myself (14 Dahua IPCams - all bought directly from Andi). The system has been up and running for a couple of years now, and I have all of the cameras running through BlueIris (the most recent stable update). The system itself runs perfectly, with no dropped cams, and no errors, except for one of my DH-IPC-HDBW5441FN-AS-E2 dual-lens cameras. Of course, this camera overlooks our pool and pool entrance, and it is the tallest camera on my house... a pain in the butt to get to. I originally thought the port on my switch went bad. I switched the port and the camera came back on. It remained stable for a month or so and then went back offline.

So I hauled my 20ft ladder out and re-terminated the line in case water had somehow gotten in the connection (I live in the humid midwest ). The new connection to the camera worked for about six months again. Then all of a sudden the camera starts going offline again. So I bought a portable IP camera tester to troubleshoot the connections and the camera itself. As soon as I plug the ipcam tester into the camera it powers back up and shows that everything is working correctly. The IP tester will also show if any of the lines are faulty on my Cat6 cable, and if there is any moisture in the line. According to the test, all lines were in the green with no moisture present. The IP tester also measures line distance and I'm well under the recommended POE length for this camera.

I then plug the camera back into a different port on my switch and it fires right back up, but now it will go offline in less than 48hrs.

Has anyone had this issue before? Is it my switch? Or has the camera just gone bad? I've struggled with this camera for two years now and I'm tired of playing port switch whack-a-mole. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I can provide pictures of the cam test results as well as logs if needed. But the logs don't show much other than the camera going offline.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

 

[wittaj]

Now it sounds like your tester is probably between the cheap testers and the thousands of dollar testers, so maybe it is a little more accurate, but we have had MANY people here after running cable and the tester shows it is fine but doesn't work.

The consumer grade testers only test continuity. Unless you are using a true Fluke tester (that costs thousands of dollars LOL), the cheap testers simply measure continuity but not be sufficient for POE loading. Especially if it is CCA wiring.

Personally I don't put much stock in the cheapo testers LOL. I have had them pass and I plug the camera in and it doesn't work. What make/model of tester do you have?


Do you have an SD card in the camera? If so it is probably going bad. My dual lens camera was acting up and changing the card made the difference. The behavior you are experiencing is what happens when the card is failing.

Maybe the firmware got corrupt and a reflash of the firmware and factory reset will get it going.

And it could just be the camera is dying. Keep in mind that camera is on the same processor as a single lens camera, so it is in theory working twice as hard, so it could wear out faster.

 

[mat200]

All,

I'm trying to troubleshoot a camera that keeps going offline randomly. To start, installed the whole system myself (14 Dahua IPCams - all bought directly from Andi). The system has been up and running for a couple of years now, and I have all of the cameras running through BlueIris (the most recent stable update). The system itself runs perfectly, with no dropped cams, and no errors, except for one of my DH-IPC-HDBW5441FN-AS-E2 dual-lens cameras. Of course, this camera overlooks our pool and pool entrance, and it is the tallest camera on my house... a pain in the butt to get to. I originally thought the port on my switch went bad. I switched the port and the camera came back on. It remained stable for a month or so and then went back offline.

So I hauled my 20ft ladder out and re-terminated the line in case water had somehow gotten in the connection (I live in the humid midwest ). The new connection to the camera worked for about six months again. Then all of a sudden the camera starts going offline again. So I bought a portable IP camera tester to troubleshoot the connections and the camera itself. As soon as I plug the ipcam tester into the camera it powers back up and shows that everything is working correctly. The IP tester will also show if any of the lines are faulty on my Cat6 cable, and if there is any moisture in the line. According to the test, all lines were in the green with no moisture present. The IP tester also measures line distance and I'm well under the recommended POE length for this camera.

I then plug the camera back into a different port on my switch and it fires right back up, but now it will go offline in less than 48hrs.

Has anyone had this issue before? Is it my switch? Or has the camera just gone bad? I've struggled with this camera for two years now and I'm tired of playing port switch whack-a-mole. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I can provide pictures of the cam test results as well as logs if needed. But the logs don't show much other than the camera going offline.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

I then plug the camera back into a different port on my switch and it fires right back up, but now it will go offline in less than 48hrs.

my guess is the camera is having issues .. I'd look to replace it considering the issues and time having to test it ..

 

[copland]

I then plug the camera back into a different port on my switch and it fires right back up, but now it will go offline in less than 48hrs.

my guess is the camera is having issues .. I'd look to replace it considering the issues and time having to test it ..

This is what I'm guessing I will have to do...I've had trouble with this camera from the start...and of course, it's the hardest to get to. I guess I got a lemon because I have two other "boobie" cams and they work just fine.

 

[wittaj]

Do you have an SD card in it per post #2?

 

[anotherone]

I guess you could try swapping cameras.