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Q-see cameras all stopped IR at night

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I have a QSee camera setup that has worked flawlessly for several years. DVR and 7 cameras. Each camera is a QM6006B color camera with 42 infrared LED's. Standard BNC connectors and 12 volt power source. 4 of the 7 cameras quit working at night. First, I thought a power supply went out. They are powered by two supplies, each with a 4-way splitter. I disconnected leads from the good cameras and put them on the bad cameras, and vice versa, but it made no difference. The same cameras still would not register at night. They stay in daylight color mode no matter how dark it is. For several of the cameras, there is no other light source that could possibly be causing them not to switch. QSee sent specific instructions to reset the IR cut filter by putting your hand over the camera for 10 seconds and this would cause it to reset. That did no good. All LED's appear to be working. I purchased another separate IR light source just to make sure the lights were not enough and maybe there was a power problem at the camera. Did not work. I could just barely see the light, which is probably because it put out enough red light to be seen on the cameras in color mode. I took the light to the cameras working in IR and the light was almost brilliant on them so I know it was working. I am not sure where to go next. I have read that a possible voltage drop over long distance could cause problems, but some of those working are further away than those that are close. I also took off several of the cameras so I had the full 3 amp power supply available for just one camera. Made no difference.

These cameras are a pain to take down, but I guess I am going to have to pull them off one by one and temporarily replace them with a good camera to see if it is the wiring or the camera that is at fault. If I do that, I will also run a substitute power supply directly up to the camera so there would be no current loss or voltage drop and see if it makes a difference. Doing all of this at night is an even bigger pain. Before doing this, I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions.

Just to make sure I am clear, all 7 cameras put out beautiful pictures during the day. The motion detection on all of the cameras still work. I can pull them up and see where they turn on at night because some vehicle came into the line of vision, but what is on the recording is a daytime color image of the light, not an infrared image.

Thanks for any help and input.

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The IR cut filter mechanism might be stuck.

Try powering the bad cameras on and off a few times to reset...

Edited by Guest

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I thought so as well, but I just disconnected the camera, took it in to test, and tried resetting it several times. No help. I then took the separate infrared light and shown it on my face in a dark closet. The camera showed my face which I believe means the infrared camera is working, but the led lights must be partially burned out. Looking at them, some are bright and some are lit, but very dim. Could be that the lights are bad?

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Most low cost bullet cameras have IR leds that only last the warranty period and have a low half life.

 

Use camera with longer warranty period if you want longer life...

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I am having the same problem. I have an 8 channel Q see system. the installer ran cat6 cables and used one of the original power supply and one he bought. Cameras were working great, i just took off the system to change the tv position and plug them back in. All cameras show great during the day however at night, there's static and some no video. The red rings/ IR are on but no video on the screen. If i remove the PS the guy bought, the next four cams on the original PS works fine at the night. When it's plug back in, all 8 stops showing. this is only at night.

 

Do i have to change the PS again or what can be the issue? Bare in mind, it was working fine all the time at nights, it's just how i removed the power when adjusting the tv

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