Hot cameras

[lynndiwagon 0]

Greetings, I have a client that recently installed 600 Covi EVQ-1000 cameras. We are having some weird problems and noticed that the cameras (installed in ceiling dome housings) are running extremely hot. Don't know the exact temp. yet but they are hot enough to burn you. Anyone have any experience with this camera and particularly the temperature thing? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Yes, it is a casino.

 

Lynn D. Wagoner

Security Consultant

Technical investigative Services LLC

Yukon, OK

[Deluxecctv.com 0]

Hello,

 

First things first. Are the cameras enclosed in a ceiling housing? There are a couple different factors you have to look at with this situation.

[cachecreekcctv 0]

That definitely can't be good for the electronics to run that hot. Even with a mini-fan inside some of those housings, you still need to have a way for the hot/warm air to "vent". You need to see , somehow, if the housing(s) came with vents, but are blocked with fiberglass insulation, etc. Even the air above the ceiling/plenum must be exchanged regularly to reduce heat, smoke, etc. buildup.

[survtech 0]

Yes, what kind of housings?

 

I ran into a similar situation and we had to add an exhaust fan to the back box and drill air inlet holes in the trim ring around the bubble to keep the camera cool. It was a royal P.I.T.A.! That was with an analog camera in a very hot area above a hard lid ceiling.

 

What fans you use would depend on what power the camera uses. If 24VAC, you will have to rectify & filter the AC to supply a fan. If POE, you may have to think of another way to power the fan because you might not have enough current in the Cat-5 to power both.

 

Of course, fans are not the ideal solution. The first thing would be to contact the manufacturer to determine the cause of excess heating. I don't see any logical reason why well designed IP cameras should dissipate much more heat than analog. Perhaps they have inefficient passive power regulators rather than DC-DC convertors.

[kensplace 0]

Electronic stuff should not burn you, until you find out the cause I would (myself) stop using them - dont want them overheating and catching fire or dying on you.

[lynndiwagon 0]

Thanks for the replies. They are installed in ceiling mount enclosures. Only hole is for wire penetration. We might need to figure out how to perform the PITA hole cutting.

[Deluxecctv.com 0]

Looks like you have a big problem with these camera enclosures. I can't believe that someone would manufacture something like this. Never the less we need to figure out a solution. Obviously the hole that the cameras cords are going through are not big enough to get the proper air flow to the camera.

 

I would look into contacting the manufacture and asking what the deal is. If they don't give you a good answer then I would cut the top of the housing. This would be more cost effective. Better than buying 600 fans or replacing 600 cameras. Make sure the insulation is all pulled back away from the housing. This will cause more heat to escape from the housing. I know this is a large job, but you have to do what you have to do. By the way, who was the manufacture of the housings?

[rory 0]

The cameras should not get that hot, not even inside a sealed enclosure and in tropical sunshine like down here. Take a camera out and carry it back to the office, test it there, if it is still hot to touch to burn you, I would suggest returning them to the manufacturer, or at least not using the others until they figure out why they are getting so hot. It doesnt sound like a housing problem.

[videobruce 0]

Exactly what part of the camera is getting 'hot'? Do you have a IR thermometer to take some readings?

 

As another posted stated, if these are actually too hot to touch, you best shut them all down now!

[lynndiwagon 0]

Hmmmm, send them back to manuf.....good idea.

[rory 0]

Hmmmm, send them back to manuf.....good idea.

 

Well you need to find out what part is getting hot, as heat can cause fire.

[imcclendon 0]

I haven't had any personal experience with Covi but I have heard through the grapvine that the company is usually pretty responsive to customer concerns. Have you attempted to make contact with Covi Technologies? - If not, they are headquartered in Austin Texas - 1.866.292.5900. You might be able to get a rep to help you troubleshoot the situation. Good Luck!

[kensplace 0]

Unlikely, but did the client install the wrong power? If they are supplying far to much voltage, the cam may still operate but be pushing the voltage regulator to the limit - which produces lots of heat.

 

I repeat my previous advice - stop using them til the problem is cured.

[WirelessEye 0]

I went to a private demo in Covi's suite at the Venetian in Vegas last year.

Their stuff is pretty good quality, but they actually don't make the money on their cameras, they make it on their expensive blade servers that are required for each and every camera. Good idea (HD cams), bad implementation IMHO. Too proprietary in design and unfortunately, I believe they will end up losing alltogether to companies like Arecont who are cheaper, higher resolution and much more scaleable. (and appearantly cooler running).

[videobruce 0]

they make it on their expensive blade servers that are required for each and every camera.

"Blade servers'??

[imcclendon 0]

-Their"Distributed Media Manager's".

 

-see wireless eye's post below

Edited April 3, 2007 by Guest

[survtech 0]

they make it on their expensive blade servers that are required for each and every camera.

"Blade servers'??

Wikipedia:

"A blade server is essentially a housing for a number of individual minimally-packaged computer motherboard "blades", each including one or more processors, memory, storage, and network connections, but sharing the common power supply and air-cooling resources of the chassis. ..."

 

IBM, hp, Dell and others make blade servers. They pack many computers (servers) into a relatively small space and usually include redundancy and failover as part of the package.

[lynndiwagon 0]

Thanks for all of the replies, and I agree. We are following up on this and I will let you know of the outcome.

[WirelessEye 0]

they make it on their expensive blade servers that are required for each and every camera.

"Blade servers'??

 

Yeah, their IDE Hard Drive (wtf? why not at least SATA??) and their capture board for their HD Camera. It's pretty small, but they (Covi) called them "blades" so sorry for the confusion.