Hi, I have installed 40-50 of these units on farms (Australia) mostly with and coming up to the 5 year mark and most are failing because of outer plastic lens discolouration and water ingress due to lens glue deterioration. Very frustrating, I understand everything has a life span but for an AUD $500 camera I’d hope they were going to last a bit longer. Do higher spec cameras have a glass outer lens? Thoughts …
5442-ZE Bullets lens sun exposure
- Thread starter Andydogga
- Start date
Many here have taken that part I out and took it to a glass shop to make replacements.
Arjun
IPCT Contributor
mat200
IPCT Contributor
- Jan 17, 2017
- 19,202
- 32,113
Sounds like the cameras need to have a shade or sun shield installed for better longevity
In my experience direct sun exposure and heat causes a lot of the issues you are reporting.
Water ingress .. double check if you have a drip loop setup if exposed cabling
Same happened to me on the turret variants, they are still working, but I need to glue the front lens (not sure what the name is).
Arjun
IPCT Contributor
Last edited:
This happen on some old cams, we offer our customer the new glass to replace, just pay a shipping cost. Last year sent some out.
Could they be polished out like the Car head lights that "haze up" after a few years?
Must be pretty extreme conditions. Can the front glass actually yellow?
I think if im not crazy, i swear my Empiretechs all feel like glass.
I have 3 Empire Tech's 5442's 2 bullets,1 turret. 2 older 3241 ZE turrets in full sun I swear mine are glass, they don't scratch when i hit them with glass cleaner. Could I be wrong?
I have a couple Bullets IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E that had ingress and fog, then I dropped one and cracked the "glass" on the edge.
I fixed the leaks and put a micro-dose of clear caulk in the cracked glass and ordered new dessicant moisture bags. Work fine now.
I bought them used 4 years ago on IPcamtalk. so they are past 5 years old. Minnesota is not Australia. But the bullets do get full sun 40% of the day. so far so good.
Honestly I don't know how these things survive a year in the sun with all the heat.
I hope you can find a good solution.
That is a lot of cams.
Must be pretty extreme conditions. Can the front glass actually yellow?
I think if im not crazy, i swear my Empiretechs all feel like glass.
I have 3 Empire Tech's 5442's 2 bullets,1 turret. 2 older 3241 ZE turrets in full sun I swear mine are glass, they don't scratch when i hit them with glass cleaner. Could I be wrong?
I have a couple Bullets IPC-HFW5231E-Z12E that had ingress and fog, then I dropped one and cracked the "glass" on the edge.
I fixed the leaks and put a micro-dose of clear caulk in the cracked glass and ordered new dessicant moisture bags. Work fine now.
I bought them used 4 years ago on IPcamtalk. so they are past 5 years old. Minnesota is not Australia. But the bullets do get full sun 40% of the day. so far so good.
Honestly I don't know how these things survive a year in the sun with all the heat.
I hope you can find a good solution.
That is a lot of cams.
Is it possible to just remove the existing lens clean it and put it back with some adhesive?
If so, what adhesive to use?
Arjun
IPCT Contributor
I'm trying to understand how exactly to fix the issue.
Generally, i'm pleased with the cameras, they are out in the sun/rain 24/7 for few years (one of them was installed on 12/2021) and work well, I'm willing to do some maintenance so they will survive two more years.
Andydogga, the fact you say farms makes me think there is a bit of distance involved, the reason you say it is not economical. I wonder if buying a half a dozen spare cameras and just exchanging them on site - then later fixing them in batches makes it work? Also on a farm I guess appearance might not be a big issue, maybe make a longer, wider sunshade out of 1mm alloy. The Aussie sun can kill anything, even UV protected.