Cuddelink general Q&A recommendations

[WImuzz]

Questions on the PW-3600 Solar Power Bank. Are there any advantages to using a second 7.2 volt NiMH battery pack in the solar panel? Is it intelligent enough to detect if one pack drops in voltage, the second pack will automatically power the camera? Or are they wired in parallel? Has anyone tried the 3600 with both battery packs installed? What are your results? Anything noticeable differences as far as uptime and possibly helping in partly full sun areas?

 

[john volkman]

So I have been using my G cameras for several years. They stay out all year long and they are probably 3-4 years old now. Put the latest gen2 firmware in them last year and have been having random problems with the cameras taking picture after picture with nothing in the pics. That has happened to 4 or 5 of the cameras. They just take a picture based on the delay I have set. No I don't have timelapse enabled. The cameras worked correctly for years and now they are just useless. I drove past on of the cameras several times on my ATV and never got a picture because it was in the time delay. I tried setting them to off for a few day then back on and same problem. I finally just set them to off so they don't blast the home camera with junk pics. So my question is what is the life expectancy of the cameras. I know capacitors go bad after a certain amount of time. Are the motion detector circuits only good for 3-4 years and is it worth sending in to get them fixed?

can you post one of the random pictures? I dont think this has anything to do with the Firmware update at all. There are a couple things you can try.
1. New sd card that is formatted. 2. New fresnel lens if they are faded. They have a 2 year warranty but i would find it very odd that you have 4-5 cameras all doing the same thing after the update. I think we have something else going on. We should be able to find out the issue without sending them in but i wouldn't rule that out either. If its taking pictures based on your delay setting and not continuously i would guess its in your settings or something at the camera site causing it. I have g's in the field since they first came out so there isnt such a thing as "life expectancy". I hav e seen where a g camera can take images contininously and they are typically warrantied or a solution is found but the cause is not a firmware update or age of the camera.

 

[john volkman]

Questions on the PW-3600 Solar Power Bank. Are there any advantages to using a second 7.2 volt NiMH battery pack in the solar panel? Is it intelligent enough to detect if one pack drops in voltage, the second pack will automatically power the camera? Or are they wired in parallel? Has anyone tried the 3600 with both battery packs installed? What are your results? Anything noticeable differences as far as uptime and possibly helping in partly full sun areas?

they are in parallel, if you have it in good sun i wouldnt add an extra battery, only advantage may be in very cold temps. If the internal pack drops below 6 volts it switches to your internal alkaline D cells. If the site recieves anything less than 5 hours of unfiltered sun per day i would not use a solar panel

 

[DavidHunter2001]

can you post one of the random pictures? I dont think this has anything to do with the Firmware update at all. There are a couple things you can try.
1. New sd card that is formatted. 2. New fresnel lens if they are faded. They have a 2 year warranty but i would find it very odd that you have 4-5 cameras all doing the same thing after the update. I think we have something else going on. We should be able to find out the issue without sending them in but i wouldn't rule that out either. If its taking pictures based on your delay setting and not continuously i would guess its in your settings or something at the camera site causing it. I have g's in the field since they first came out so there isnt such a thing as "life expectancy". I hav e seen where a g camera can take images contininously and they are typically warrantied or a solution is found but the cause is not a firmware update or age of the camera.

 

[john volkman]

there is a possibility that this particular camera is seeing the difference in heat from the shade that is being cast on the food plot , especially during very hot and humid temps, this can also happen when a camera is pointed down at an angle especially with the 9004 fresnel lens installed(9004 is not stock). if a newly formatted card , you fresnel lens has not faded to white in color or setting change doesnt help i would contact Cuddeback to send it back for service.

 

[DavidHunter2001]

I believe the lens may be white in color. I would also get pictures at night so probably not the shade.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

So I have been using my G cameras for several years. They stay out all year long and they are probably 3-4 years old now. Put the latest gen2 firmware in them last year and have been having random problems with the cameras taking picture after picture with nothing in the pics. That has happened to 4 or 5 of the cameras. They just take a picture based on the delay I have set. No I don't have timelapse enabled. The cameras worked correctly for years and now they are just useless. I drove past on of the cameras several times on my ATV and never got a picture because it was in the time delay. I tried setting them to off for a few day then back on and same problem. I finally just set them to off so they don't blast the home camera with junk pics. So my question is what is the life expectancy of the cameras. I know capacitors go bad after a certain amount of time. Are the motion detector circuits only good for 3-4 years and is it worth sending in to get them fixed?

What is the specific firmware version you are using?

 

[Trlblzr3]

Have you tried relocating at this location? It appears it’s aimed SE, can you relocate to other side of food plot and aim more northward.

 

[DavidHunter2001]

Running 8.3.0 firmware. I will try and move this camera this weekend and see if it makes a difference. The weird part is it worked fine in this location for a long time and now it is not.

 

[john volkman]

also try changing your delay setting both day and night ot another setting , do this after turning the delay off for a day or so.With them being on 8.3 you can do this remotely so it cant hurt to try this before having to visit the camera.

 

[Trlblzr3]

Running 8.3.0 firmware. I will try and move this camera this weekend and see if it makes a difference. The weird part is it worked fine in this location for a long time and now it is not.

I’ve had a couple do this, but only for a certain time period each day, never at night.

 

[DavidHunter2001]

also try changing your delay setting both day and night ot another setting , do this after turning the delay off for a day or so.With them being on 8.3 you can do this remotely so it cant hurt to try this before having to visit the camera.

I tried that already, no help.

 

[john volkman]

I tried that already, no help.

what is your battery set up? do you have booster ? it sounds like you should set up a service order to have them take a look at at least one of them

 

[DavidHunter2001]

I am using a Solar panel and the camera.

 

[john volkman]

I am using a Solar panel and the camera.

a g camera with a 3600 solar panel and alkaline internal batteries ?

 

[DavidHunter2001]

correct

 

[DavidHunter2001]

a g camera with a 3600 solar panel and alkaline internal batteries ?

So I moved the camera and then decided to test something. I put the camera on the ground face down to see if it would continue taking pictures, which it is still doing. So it seems like the motion detector circuit is not working properly.

 

[john volkman]

So I moved the camera and then decided to test something. I put the camera on the ground face down to see if it would continue taking pictures, which it is still doing. So it seems like the motion detector circuit is not working properly.

if you have exhausted all the trouble shooting steps i would call cuddeback and set up an ra to return it, they will offer you options based on the number of days it was operating. you dont need a receipt they can determine it once they have the camera in hand.

 

[jhorne]

i have a G series camera taking picture of nothing, all day. over ran my data plan.

i pulled the camera, and it was infested with ants. they were (surely) walking around on the motion sensor and each time, it took a pic. it was previously mounted on a tree. ive moved it to a tpost, and i meant (but forgot, will get it next time i go) to pour a generous ring of ant poison around the T post they will have to wade thru to get to the camera.

ive had the camera in a ziplock bag, in the freezer for the last 4 days, and just pulled it out to thaw out and clean out. hopefully this one will be back up and running (and nice and clean) later today.

 

[john volkman]

i have a G series camera taking picture of nothing, all day. over ran my data plan.

i pulled the camera, and it was infested with ants. they were (surely) walking around on the motion sensor and each time, it took a pic. it was previously mounted on a tree. ive moved it to a tpost, and i meant (but forgot, will get it next time i go) to pour a generous ring of ant poison around the T post they will have to wade thru to get to the camera.

ive had the camera in a ziplock bag, in the freezer for the last 4 days, and just pulled it out to thaw out and clean out. hopefully this one will be back up and running (and nice and clean) later today.

for some reason mounting a camera on a post where theres int any vegetation touching the camera really helps prevent ants but i still spread ant poison where i have trouble with them.