Hikvision camera failure - the most common cause

[Kieran]

Hikvision camera failure - the most common cause

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Having been an official Hikvision UK partner for a few years now, we've seen our fair share of Hikvision camera failures.

It's inevitable with any electronic device of course, but we've seen the same failure with Hikvision cameras time and time again - and it's almost always caused by a installation error from the end user rather than a fault with the camera itself.

The issue is water ingress into the camera's RJ45 POE connection, caused by improper weatherproofing during installation.

The vast majority of Hikvision's most popular cameras have a short pigtail lead, or cable whip, extending from the camera (typically about 12" - 15" long) to which you'd make any relevant connections. These often include a female 12V DC barrel plug, an audio and alarm I/O terminal, and most crucially a female RJ45 connection to provide the camera with a network connection or a source of POE power.

You can see this cable whip wrapped around a few Hikvision models below.

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Whilst the majority of Hikvision cameras themselves are weatherproof and IP66 rated for outdoor use, the cable whip itself is not. It is, in essence, just a set of exposed connections open to the elements, and unless the proper steps are taken, they will be damaged by moisture and rainwater.

Typically, this leads to a camera with an intermittent network connection, and indeed one that might not even power or generate a network connection at all. The only way to resolve this is to completely replace the RJ45 connection as per our guide on the process or return it to your supplier to be repaired (often at a price).

This is due to water ingress corroding the pins of the RJ45 connector. You can double-check to see if it has happened to your own camera if you're experiencing issues.

Below is a photo I took of a severely corroded camera we had returned to us recently.

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Unfortunately, this camera now fails to power and hold a network connection and will have to be repaired, as the customer had left this connector simply hanging against his wall and exposed to the British weather.

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How do I prevent this from happening to me?

There are a number of best-practise steps you can take in order to prevent this happening to you, and most of them are low-cost and pain-free (for once!).

With most Hikvision cameras that have a cable whip, Hikvision provide a weatherproofing cable gland accessory in the box.

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It's often ignored by many because it's not immediately apparent what it's for, and you can only use it with a network cable that hasn't already been crimped with an RJ45 connector.

However, it does seal the RJ45 connection of the camera quickly and easily, and is absolutely perfect if you're after some basic weatherproofing.

Below is how it looks once it's installed over the network connection.

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For many, this is absolutely adequate.

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However, if you want to be extra-certain, you can also consider wrapping the connection in self-amalgamating tape, or electrician's tape as it's often called. You can pick this up from any local hardware wholesaler or online very cheaply (often under £5 for a large roll) and will help seal the connection against water ingress even further.

Below is an example of this being put into practise, admittedly a little hastily (and untidily!).

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Perhaps the most reliable and popular method to weatherproof your camera's cable whip however is by using an applicable Hikvision junction box or wall-mount bracket.

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Both a wall mount bracket or a junction box have weatherpoof cavities for you to hide any connections on the camera, including the crucial RJ45 connection. Indeed, a junction box even has a conduit gland if you'd like to secure the full run of cable with a conduit.

Hikvision recommend using some weatherproof sealing putty in conjunction with a junction box or wall mount should complete weatherproofing be absolutely critical, although for many it's not required.

An added benefit of using either of these is that it brings the camera off the wall it'd otherwise be mounted directly on to, allowing greater flexibility when choosing viewing angles - for example, it may be required to use a wall-mount arm in order to view down along the same wall the camera is mounted against.

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Of course, true best practise would be a mix of all of the above in order to fully weatherproof your camera, but for most, simply applying just one of the above will do wonders to extend the lifetime of your camera, depending on your climate.

I would strongly encourage you at least deploy one of the above methods, or any other method to weatherproof your camera - hopefully before you have to return it!

 

[kinu93]

Good tip however because of the weatherproofing gland it make so hard to tuck it in a standard junction box and would have to coil to to get fit
I believe this damages the pigtail of the camera because of so much twisting

 

[ad337]

Maybe I have some good advice for you that is also widely used by radio amateurs and satellite dish users:
Banding plugs with tape is not the solution, as long as air gets to the contacts there is also condensation and corrosion.
I always fill plug spaces completely with acid-free Vaseline.
This material acts as an excellent insulator and prevents condensation on the contacts.
From our own experience: after 20 years in the open air still excellent contact and the plugs still look like new on the inside.

 

[aidank]

Maybe I have some good advice for you that is also widely used by radio amateurs and satellite dish users:
Banding plugs with tape is not the solution, as long as air gets to the contacts there is also condensation and corrosion.
I always fill plug spaces completely with acid-free Vaseline.
This material acts as an excellent insulator and prevents condensation on the contacts.
From our own experience: after 20 years in the open air still excellent contact and the plugs still look like new on the inside.

I might try that future proof my connector as I had this problem earlier in the year

 

[codlord]

Great article - I took over a site where none of the waterproof connections had been installed and that's our number one cause of failure.

If water gets into a PoE connector it will short and "burn" the pins meaning the only way to fix is to put a new tail on the camera (not done this myself) or cut and fit a new (weatherproof) RJ45 socket on the end of the tail - but it's not easy as the camera tail wires are very flexible, it's not like working with most network cable. Very fiddly.

I found one camera in a tree recently where the outer cable sheath was worn through and water was getting inside the cable. It didn't matter how waterproof the connection was - the cable was acting like a pipe for water to damage the connection.

 

[ad337]

I am pleased to experience that corrosion in plugs is the cause of failure.
I have some doubts about the software, but I find the performance of those Hikvision cameras very satisfactory and I also hope for a long life.