I am so frustrated. I have 18 cameras currently working. I have them in the inside of my house and outside. For the past few years I have recommended Wyze products. I’ve helped friends set them up in their homes. I’m invested big time. I’ve bought the bulbs, vacuums, thermostats, doorbells, etc.
My beef is with my favorite product, the camera. I have 5 cameras that will not turn on. I had 3 that were bad. I tested 2 that weren’t setup all the time and tested them out and decided they were bad, I had 2 outside that I needed to take down and check out. I took one down and put a good one in its place and realized that the power adapter is bad and just fried the new one I put up. It fried the one that was bad and the. The new one or newer one. I keep several on hand to put in places for pets and such.
Now I have 5 that are bad. This happened last year also ninjas 3 that went bad, but now I’m really frustrated.
The cameras are under the eaves and not getting wet. The wire and plugs are in my attic. I guess the cameras can get splashed, but nowhere near the rating they are. Whe I say spashed, I’m saying when rain is able to blow sideways under the eaves and barely get them wet.
Are these plugs this bad and will Wyze only stand behind the warranty or will they stand behind me plugging a newer one into the bad plug. How am I supposed to know what is bad? When a camera goes bad, sink need to get in my attic and rerun all of the wires? I’m doing a great job at keeping the wires and plugs safe. What do I do?
Are you saying that failed power supplies are killing the cameras? That is very unusual - normally when USB wall warts fail, they just stop putting out any power. Replace the wall wart and whatever is attached comes right back up. I can’t recall anyone having the wall wart produce high voltage (about the only way it would damage the camera).
With that said, I have had a few wall warts fail over the years (Wyze and others). Never bothered trying to get a replacement since like most of us, I have plenty of spares laying around.
Those cameras are getting wet and dirty even though they’re under eaves (it happens) - do you have a proper drip loop in each wire to prevent water from following the cable into the camera?
You say your plugs are in the attic, how hot does it get up there? They’re not meant for extreme temperatures (most electronics aren’t) and attics can get extremely hot.
Example: I knew one was out, so I grabbed another and set it up on the app. It was ready. I took it outside and unplugged the cable from the camera and plugged the new one up and it would not come on. I took it back inside and still can’t get it to come back kn, even with the cable and walk wart that I programmed it with 10-15 minutes earlier. This has happened 3 times to me in different cameras.
IP65 - an industrial standard that indicates a product is protected from dust, water, and other environmental factors.
I would also think the plugs in the attic would be the safest. Does Wyze want me to make it all
Loom trashy and run extension cords everywhere outside?
I don’t mean that smart-elicky toward your comment. Just trying to put it all down in case someone from Wyze cares enough to read this. I really am a fan-boy os Wyze and appreciate your help @dave27
When it comes to water, yes. When it comes to heat, no. Up to about 100 degrees probably fine, above that you start risking failure (over time). Hotter it gets, shorter their lifespan.
Sounds like your power brick has failed “hot” meaning putting out too much voltage. Every camera you plug into it will fry.
Replace that power brick (and unfortunately probably the cams too).
If you intend to keep them in the attic, invest in some good quality USB power supplies rated for higher temperatures and outdoor use. Ones with protection mechanisms (overvoltage etc) in them would be ideal too, though I haven’t seen any specifically listing that in a long time, you’d hope some of the good brands would have that. If all the plugs are in the same area, one good quality supply with multiple outputs might be an option, though for redundancy sake (and in case that one fails in similar fashion) I prefer to have each on their own supply.
In the future, if you have a dead cam (and confirm it is dead with known good power supply) assume the supply on that cam is junk and toss it. Don’t risk it. Or you can get an inexpensive USB power meter for testing them, it will tell you the voltage being put out. They’re handy to have around.
There are tons on amazon but if you want a name brand - this one is reasonably priced. Don’t plug in the “output” just the input to see the voltage.
I have also had a V3 Cam installed indoors that had the power adapter fail then killed the camera. I connected another working V3 camera on the dead camera’s adapter as a test, the speaker in the new camera emitted a sinewave pitch, I quickly unplugged the working camera and put it back on its adapter, it still works, I hope it did no real damage to the new camera. Putting the non-working camera on a new adapter did not work, the camera is dead. This makes me question if I should still be purchasing Wyze products.
I wonder if they have a bad batch of power supplies. I have replaced a few over the years. Just cameras going dead and a new power supply got them running.
Couple things. I usually don’t run splitters. Maybe 2 cameras on one power supply. (Rare). 25 foot USB cords have been no problems.
Get a known good power supply and new cable and try bad cameras. If under warrantee give them a call and I would make sure the old supply is pitched.
Just bear in mind that 25 foot cable will put more stress on the power adapter and potentially shorten its lifespan.
Decent anker wall adapters go on sale pretty frequently on amazon, for those running more than 1 cam off a wall adapter, long USB cables, or who have unreliable/low quality electrical service, they may be a worthwhile investment.
