Dead Soldier.... IP5M-T1179EW

[sdkid]

My ~$50 Amcrest (flashed with Dahua firmware) died last night during a thunderstorm.



Tried turning POE off/on from HP switch management. It connected once last night drawing about 3 watts-- a little low, then within 30 seconds it went down to 0.9 watts (not normal) and never initiated the web interface. This morning I got it down from the soffit and plugged it into a poe switch indoors. No connection. No POE. No activity. Dead.

Question: Could Lightning have created a mini EMP that took out the cam?
My switch, router, modem, and BI computer all run off an APC battery backup. The monitoring software showed no power abnormalities, and all other cams continued operating normally throughout the storm. This cam was operating normally with no weirdness or glitching... until it wasn't.

 

[tigerwillow1]

Could Lightning have created a mini EMP that took out the cam?

I don't know that calling it an EMP would be technically correct, but any nearby lightning has the possibility of inducing a spike, surge, whatever, into any of the wiring. It could possibly be a case of cumulative damage, with this being the straw that broke the camel's back.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Yes, I think that a little surge could have gotten it. I would take it down and try testing it "on the bench" though. Then again, I'm a cheap old esso bee.

 

[sdkid]

I don't know that calling it an EMP would be technically correct, but any nearby lightning has the possibility of inducing a spike, surge, whatever, into any of the wiring. It could possibly be a case of cumulative damage, with this being the straw that broke the camel's back.

I really did mean EMP... there apparently actually IS something called LEMP-- Lightning EMP that can induce current in wiring without ever having the lightning actually directly strike that wiring.
interesting article I found a little while ago....

https://www.edn.com/lightning-strike-becomes-emp-weapon/

 

[sdkid]

Yes, I think that a little surge could have gotten it. I would take it down and try testing it "on the bench" though. Then again, I'm a cheap old esso bee.

yeah--- it's dead by golly-- zero response and no connectivity at all. I wonder if I open up that turret ball what I might find...

I am learning more about this lightning EMP phenomena though... kinda scary!! The guy in that article above said he had some extra CAT5 of a longer drop cable coiled behind some connected electronics-- and he thinks the coil acted like an inductor generating and sending voltage in to fry the electronics. There are lots of other articles about LEMP out there....

 

[wittaj]

I had a camera do that with a recent storm.

Unplugged the POE switch for an hour and the camera came back to life when I plugged the switch back in. YMMV.

 

[SouthernYankee]

take the camera down, and test with a wall wart power plug.
also try doing a hard reset on the camera.

 

[sdkid]

take the camera down, and test with a wall wart power plug.
also try doing a hard reset on the camera.

I was just looking at that power connector and wondering if I have something that might work.... I took the ball apart--- no visible sign of anything fried. reset didn't do anything <sigh> Right now I'm glad it was a really cheap camera...

 

[sebastiantombs]

Lightning, by its sheer power which is measured in megawatts, can be very destructive even at a distance. The EMP, what I call surge but is induced surge, can fry things you'd never expect. A direct hit is REALLY devastating. A friend took a hit to his fireplace chimney, it came out the fireplace and took out everything electrical, well pump, furnace, AC TVs, VCRs (this was back then) and anything else that was plugged in or connected. It even toasted the thermostats, which were mercury switches back then.

 

[c hris527]

If your camera was mounted to any metallic siding, soffit or aluminum siding, there is always the possibility of a ground potential, transient spikes happen all the time. I had a job a few years back, I had to mount cameras at a Government facility on a communication tower, I worked with a Motorola Communication tech on the grounding for the cameras, none of the cameras were allowed to have separate earth grounds. They all floated back to the common Grounding bus in the shelter tower with POE protectors grounded to the common bus bar.

 

[sdkid]

If your camera was mounted to any metallic siding, soffit or aluminum siding, there is always the possibility of a ground potential, transient spikes happen all the time. I had a job a few years back, I had to mount cameras at a Government facility on a communication tower, I worked with a Motorola Communication tech on the grounding for the cameras, none of the cameras were allowed to have separate earth grounds. They all floated back to the common Grounding bus in the shelter tower with POE protectors grounded to the common bus bar.

It is (was) mounted in an aluminum soffit--- BUT-- this particular cam has a PLASTIC housing/mount bracket (part of the reason it's a $50 camera). The ball turret is a metal housing-- but encased in the plastic housing and mount, so no direct grounding possible via the soffit.

 

[sdkid]

Weirdness---- this camera fried RIGHT WHEN ANDY IS HAVING A DAMN SALE!

Coincidence? I don't think so!

 

[sebastiantombs]

Irony can be pretty ironic.

 

[Flintstone61]

for the cost, it's hardly worth fiddling with, I'd probably replace with Same, or look at Empiretech on Amazon. I think Amcrest has begun listing newer generations of that style Cam on it's website.

 

[TonyR]

Here in Alabama I call anything electronic a "dual function fuse" meaning that an IP cam can function as an IP cam until it blows like a fuse; a TV can function as a TV until...you guessed it...it blows like a fuse. UPS's, surge protectors, shielding, grounds, yada yada..... mean a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y nothing to it. They might help, but there are no guarantees. Your best bet is to unplug it when you're done OR just leave it in the box it came in and never plug it in.

Around here, lightning does pretty much what it wants to do and when it wants to do it. I try to not get attached too closely to something because it's just a matter of time until lightning blows it up big time.

 

[Flintstone61]

Had that problem in Naperville IL...the storm patterns seem to favor stronger Lightning strikes than I was used to in MN. took out a couple comcast modems, one tv, one Dell Tower.

 

[bp2008]

take the camera down, and test with a wall wart power plug.
also try doing a hard reset on the camera.

This! ^ I've had cameras where the PoE module died but they could still be powered by wall wart. If that works, there exist active and passive PoE splitters which could make the camera usable again in its original location. Or it could be repurposed elsewhere that has AC power available nearby.

 

[sdkid]

This! ^ I've had cameras where the PoE module died but they could still be powered by wall wart. If that works, there exist active and passive PoE splitters which could make the camera usable again in its original location. Or it could be repurposed elsewhere that has AC power available nearby.

OK--- I looked and I don't have anything compatible. Looks like there are a gazillion of these on Amazon--- got a suggestion for me??

 

[TonyR]

OK--- I looked and I don't have anything compatible. Looks like there are a gazillion of these on Amazon--- got a suggestion for me??

This one here should do; it's 12VDC @ 1.0 Amps, specs here say draws less than 7.2W (.6 Amps) and it's UL- listed.

 

[CarlosBarletta]

We do not recommend flashing any of our Technologies with other manufacturer's software due to some packet incompatibilities that could damage or brick the device. Amcrest Team