C420 Stopped recording suddenly
C420 Stopped recording suddenly
Until 20/09/2024, both my cameras were recording normally as per the schedule. They're set to record movement between 07:00 and 19:00 Monday to Friday only. Come Monday morning, 23/09/2024, neither camera is now recording normally. One of them, which was fully charged on the Friday, had lost almost 75% of its charge by Monday morning - even though it shouldn't have been recording any activations (no recordings were showing on the app for that period). Both cameras are fixed to the outside wall of our house (one c3 metres, the other c4 metres high) and both have a Tapo A201 solar panel attached. Both cameras are set to record vehicles and motion, with a wake-up sensitivity of 10. No setting for either camera were changed by me that might explain this issue.
What could have caused this, and what can be done to fix it.
I purchased the cameras and solar panels from Tapo through Amazon in July 2024.
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Double-check whether the detection feature is still enabled. Was there any detection occurred? Did you receive any detection notifications?
Please test the following two scenarios to see if the camera will send detection notifications and record videos. Test within the set recording time, or extend the recording time to cover the entire day.
1. Walk in front of the camera.
2. Walk in front of the camera while watching the live view in the app.
Regarding the abnormal power consumption, please check the battery status information of this camera and compare the data in the charts of battery usage, usage time, and wake-up times to see if there is any abnormality, especially the wake-up times.
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Double-check whether the detection feature is still enabled. Was there any detection occurred? Did you receive any detection notifications?
Please test the following two scenarios to see if the camera will send detection notifications and record videos. Test within the set recording time, or extend the recording time to cover the entire day.
1. Walk in front of the camera.
2. Walk in front of the camera while watching the live view in the app.
Regarding the abnormal power consumption, please check the battery status information of this camera and compare the data in the charts of battery usage, usage time, and wake-up times to see if there is any abnormality, especially the wake-up times.
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Walking in front of both cameras I can see myself in Live view, however, neither camera is recording - even though it's within the timeframe of the schedule I've set, and detection is set to both vehicles and motion with a sensitivity of 10. Yesterday, one camera failed to take any recordings, and the other just seven (normally it's several hundred per day) - and the settings haven't changed. Camera 1 regained some 30% charge via its solar panel over the weekend (No schedule and detection off) yet yesterday morning (Monday 30/09) I awoke to find that overnight it had almost all its charge and this morning it has powered itself off having run out of charge. I am now in a situation where neither camera is recording as it should and one camera has lost all its charge for no reason I can think of (overnight detection was set to off, and no recording schedule was set).
I believe both cameras are suffering from some sort of fault as they were both working fine and as expected for two months from 20th July until just over a week ago!
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Can you send me the Mac address of your cameras to me via PM? We'll help to arrange a specialist to follow up on your case.
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MAC Addresses:
Camera 1 - F0-A7-31-87-FC-26
Camera 2 - F0-A7-31-87-D6-42
I removed both cameras from their attachments and, when I opened them op some drops of water came out. The black covers on both cameras had been securely fixed, and the waterproof gaskets seemed to be intact. I recall there being quite a severe and long-lasting thunderstorm over the weekend when they started misbehaving, with strong gusts of wind and a lot of heavy rain so I'm wondering whether the water could have got in at some point during that period.
Andrew
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One more thing, have you checked the status of the microSD card? Do you have any other Tapo cameras that also use the same sd card located on the hub for video storage?
What's the model and capacity of your SD card? Try to format the SD card and see if that helps.
Note: please backup the sd card videos to the computer first if there is anything important.
Do you receive any detection notification when testing in front of the camera?
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The Micro-SD card seems fine, and I have just reformatted it - again! I have no camera other than the two aforementioned ones. The card is a 512Gb SanDisk Extreme microSDXC card - one of those recommended by Tapo for use.
Activity notifications are On and currently set to detect Motion and Person at all times. The recording schedule is set for 07:00 to 19:00 Mon-Fri. Detection is set for the whole camera view. At the moment it is 07:30 Thu. The camera is currently on the table beside me and the LED is showing green.. When I walk in front of it, I san see myself in Live View, but no notifications are being received and no recordings made.
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To assist with this case, a specialist will help to follow it up through email. Please check your inbox later and confirm.
Edit: The specialist reported that you already have a support ticket regarding this issue. You may continue the communication with the support agent.
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Thank you Wayne. I have been in touch with the supplier and they've advised me to send the cameras in to be checked with the manufacturer. The cameras are refurbished and they've informed me that accidental damage (including water damage) isn't included under warranty - which I find surprising considering they advertise them as outdoor cameras with the words 'weather resistant' and 'waterproof' mentioned a number of times in the description!
Andrew
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You may refer to this article to check whether the camera was installed correctly. If the issue occurs despite correct installation and usage, you may communicate with the retailer about this situation.
How to prevent water ingress into Tapo Wire-free cameras such as Tapo C420, C400, etc.
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I have discovered that both cameras will record - providing I start and stop the recording manually. They just won't do so according to the schedule. At the moment both cameras have 'Motion', 'Person' and 'Vehicle' detection set to 'On' with a 'Wake-up Sensitivity' of '10'. Clip settings for both are: 'Retrigger time' = 10 sec; Record Buffer = 6 sec and 'Maximum Clip Length' = 20 sec. The Recording Schedule is currently set to 24/7 - i.e. all the time. Both are currently pointing to quite a busy road, the far side of which is about 50 feet away. In the time it's taken me to type this, about a dozen cars have driven across the view of both cameras, yet nothing has been recorded. Are there some other settings I need to consider which I haven't mentioned here?
Your help is very much appreciated!
Andrew
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