security camera system

[PreciousMexpert]

Hi Folks
Thanks for your help
If I was to connect 2 wires from the first camera and 2 wires from the second camera
all to the adapter would that work or something might go wrong

I have noticed that there is a on and off switch and I am wondering if the switch was attached in the center of the 2 blue lines

 

[Anonymous]

I have an idea......can you just post the model numbers of what you have there.Either myself,or someone else will do the leg work to research how the wires are to be connected.I'll be out of town until this evening,but If someone else doesn't do it,then I will as soon as I get home.If you can't get us the model numbers would you be able to get us close up pics of the backs of your equipment?

 

[PreciousMexpert]

Hi mic
Thanks for your help
This is the info I have
RCA TV Camera
closed circuit
video equipment
TC1502

I hope this will be OK
Thanks again

 

[Anonymous]

I am sorry mate,but I search exaustively and cannot find any info on tc1502 except for an MP3 player.Is there anything else you can give me to go on?

 

[entropy]

First off, the power (as has been mentioned) needs to be parallel, not in series. That means you can't power the cameras through each other, daisy-chain style. Each camera needs it's own connection to the power adapter. That could be why it's not powering.

The power adapter came with these 2 cameras and the CRT? If not, you need to make sure it's the right one. Some cameras are 12V or 24VDC, some are 12V or 24VAC, and some odd ones may be something else. Most are either 12VDC or 24VAC.

There should be a plate or sticker located somewhere on the camera housing (possibly on the inside) that will tell you not only the voltage and current, but also the wattage or volt-amps (it is 2 names for the same thing), abbreviated as W or VA. Both cameras added together have to be less than the VA rating on the power supply. Also, this will tell you if it matters or not which way you hook up the polarity of the wires. If it's AC, you can get away with ignoring it. If it's DC, you need to have the polarity (+ and -) correctly wired. If you've reversed the polarity on an old DC camera, you may have fried the camera, and switching the wires will no longer help it.

To start with, you should test them 1 at a time. Disconnect 1 altogether and just hook one and only one into the power adapter. See if it lights up - I'm assuming it has a power LED since you mentioned one... not all cameras have those.

If it does not light up... you can look for a fuse on the camera to replace. You should also test the power supply itself. If it's 12VDC you can grab an instrument panel bulb at a local auto shop like Pep Boys and light it up. A continuity tester (which is basically, a battery and a light bulb) may help troubleshoot a bad transformer (that's what the power adapter is), but really a voltmeter is what you want. Plug it in and ensure that the correct voltage is coming out the other end. If the power supply works and the camera does not light, and it's not a fuse, it is probably shot.

If you're hooking up 1 at a time now to test them, you don't have to worry about it... but when you hook them both back up, take the cameras out of series and wire them parallel. And only if the adapter is rated to handle them both.

http://www.allaboutcircuits.com/vol_1/chpt_5/1.html

As for very faint pictures... It could be the TV, or the camera, but likely both. Very faint and grainy B&W pictures is generally what you get with 20 year old analog CCTV system components. You can try to hook the cameras straight to the TV, depending on the TV, but you may need a "F" or BNC coax to A/V adapter and possibly an RF modulator.

 

[PreciousMexpert]

Hi entropy
I have tested one of the cameras with the monitor and the LED light does not go on and I connected the camera to the monitor and there is nothing there
The monitor it goes on but that's about it
I will have to do all the things you said
Thanks

 

[PreciousMexpert]

This system was in working condition when I took it apart
the only thing was that the objects in the monitor was faint
I am wondering if they go into storage for 25 years do things inside have to be changed
you said circuit breaker or something like that

I am not sure but the electrical cables were like I drew in the diagram
I am not sure about it but you didn't have one set of wires going from one camera to the monitor and than the second camera to the monitor

 

[entropy]

I cannot be 100% certain without seeing the equipment, but the way you have the blue power wires wired in your diagram is most likely incorrect.

Unless you have some very odd, proprietary CCTV equipment (of a kind I've never seen or heard of) specifically designed to be wired that way... On any normal stuff, that would be the wrong way to wire CCTV cameras and it will not work.

You're making 1 "circuit" or loop here, with both cameras on the same loop. That's called being "wired in series". You want each camera on it's own seperate parallel loop with the blue wires.

BUT - first things first. If you've COMPLETELY removed 1 camera from the power supply, and tested them 1 at a time, then that does not matter for testing purposes.

Ideally, the first thing to do is test that there is power. If you can get your hands on a voltmeter or multimeter, or in a pinch, a light bulb designed to be used with comparable current and voltage - like a dome light out of a car - test that there is correct voltage coming off the power adapter.

It may be that the adapter is bad, and not powering the cameras.

Some cameras (and some power supply adapters) will have fuses. Generally, fuses, not circuit breakers. Especially as old as they are, they'll have glass cylinder fuses if they have anything. They'll have to be replaced, not reset. Most do not have any fuses anyway, though. It's just a possibility to look for.

Beyond that... yes, it's possible they're busted now, even if they worked a short while ago.

Apart from a fuse, I doubt there is any portion of these cameras you can replace economically. Probably, if the camera does not work, it is now trash or scrap and you'll have to buy a new camera.

You can get CCTV cameras for, on the very low end, maybe as little as $30, that while quite crappy, will almost certainly outperform the hell out of that old thing and be in color to boot.

 

[golddie]

can the on and off switch might in between one of the blue lines so to make it like one camera operates at a time

 

[PreciousMexpert]

i will take pictures but in the mean time I found this info
volts 24
watts 9
hertz 60
code 2525

 

[PreciousMexpert]

http://img51.imageshack.us/f/camerad.jpg/
I tried to make a simple connection and it was not possible.
There is not even a light on the camera even without the monitor
I tried to pull that thing in the back and what there was underneath and I couldn't
There is no reason why they aren't working

 

[eeTHr]

PreciousMexpert---

This system was in working condition when I took it apart

Something doesn't add up here.

When you took it apart, there should have been fairly long wire pairs, from each camera to the power supply, depending on how far from the supply they were mounted when in use. The wiring would have looked totally different if (in the extremely unlikely event) they had been wired in series, because that would have amounted to a lot of wire going in totally different directions, and would be easy to remember because it would have been a single wire for each run, instead of having paired wires or wire cables to each unit, with two pairs to the power supply. It seems like anyone, even if not a technician, would remember that major, fundamental fact of the system.

You were told that it should be parallel wiring to the power supply, yet you still wired it in series, again, after that.

You suggested putting a switch in the power wiring circuit, but there was none there when you took it apart, so why would you think that's what's wrong now?

I think you are haveing a problem following the suggestions, which is one thing, but I really don't see how in the World you could consider the series power wiring, as you did, as it would be so obviously different from what you took apart.

And not following recommendations, makes it seem like, although you realize that you don't know what to do, you would rather continue floundering around with it, than follow suggestions from someone who does.

This can be very frustrating to people who are trying to help you.

:|

 

[golddie]

I have tested one of the cameras with the monitor and the LED light does not go on and I connected the camera to the monitor and there is nothing there
The monitor it goes on but that's about it
I will have to do all the things you said

eeTHr
He said that not even one camera alone does not have the led lights on

 

[jimdoc]

Does the zoneminder suggestion sound any better yet?


Jim