Bad/No video on 7 out of 8 cameras

[ciokan]

I have this system with 8 cctv cameras and a Hikvision ds-7208hqhi-k2/p DVR. Everything worked fine until yesterday when 7 out of 8 cameras went down. Out of the 7 ones being down I have a strange signal on 4 while the other 3 are completely black with a "No video" message.

I checked my fuses, I even replaced the battery without any success. The working camera is black and white. The IR's during the night seem to be really faded or non-existent which leads me to believe it might be a power issue. Any ideas of what may be the cause of this? I checked the hard drive as well, even formatted it. I also did a factory reset on the DVR with no success...

 

[StewartM]

Did you find out what the problem was? We were recently at a site with a similar issue. We don't support DVR's normally and I'm keen to hear if you resolved this.

 

[ciokan]

Nope. I even tested with individual cameras to eliminate a short circuit or something. Same thing.

 

[StewartM]

Some long shots:

Are any of the cameras connect using a Balun and Ethernet cable to connect? One of our clients had a power surge and some of the copper pairs in the Ethernet cables were fried. Ignore if coaxial/RG59 cable was used.

Any electrical work done recently? If unshielded Ethernet cable was used perhaps there is interference from a new power line. We have had electricians attach new power runs to our cabling for support. Again doesn't apply if RG59 cable was used.

Do any of the cameras have a 3rd 'pigtail' that allows you to cycle through the analogue video signals (TVI/AHD/CVI/CVBS)? Your DVR should support all of these, but I've run into this issue and resolved it by cycling to to CVI or TVI (I think). Unless the DVR's/Camera firmware was upgraded recently this is unlikely the cause - I'd still try cycling through the modes to be sure. Hikvision cams need a 5sec push and hold to cycle through the modes I believe. Check for a label on the pigtail (just above the red circle below) as the procedure is often different dependent on the brand.

If you don't come right and don't mind, post a picture of the rear of the NVR. Curious to see how you connect all the cams.