Camera quit working in the cold

atanner

atanner

n3wb
Jan 3, 2026
8
4
Michigan
Good afternoon!
I have two EmpireTech IPC-Color 4K-T cameras. Both are outdoors. One of them has decided to quit working since the cold weather hit. I brought it inside, connected a shorter cable from the PoE directly to the network switch, and it stayed on for four hours. I took it back outside, connected it to the LAN cable and remounted the camera. The camera worked for maybe 10 minutes, then quit again. I brought it back inside, reconnected it, and after about 5 minutes (warm up time????) the camera started working again.

Thoughts?

I've ordered a new POE injector, just in case it doesn't have enough gusto to get from the outlet inside to the end of the cable that is outside... I don't even know if that's an issue, but I'm willing to try anything at this point - except buying a new camera, LOL.

~Amanda

​

 
bigredfish said:
How long had it been working before this?

Any recent changes to the system or added cameras?
Click to expand...
It had been working for about 2 1/2 years. The only change has been another camera of the exact same type added approximately six months ago. Other than that, no problems ever.
 
One could also try a temporary run of CAT-5e to rule out a connector issue. The connector could loose contact when getting cold. Or there could be an internal issue that is not making a solid connection when it is cold out. i.e. think poor PC board solder joint Also, if a chest freezer is available consider that unit for testing without the need to go outside.

Running a variety of cams outside in the cold without any issues. It will be -10 F tonight and they just keep on ticking.
 
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I've noticed an issue with my Klein pass thru Cat5e RJ-45 ends not fitting well into some of the Dahua cam ends. So i dug around and found a few "NON-pass thru" RJ-45 ends and that solved my Color 4kT 180 connectivity issues.
and my Z12 connection issues. these older RJ45 ones were from Home Depot and I believe they were the " Ideal" brand. SO being low on inventory, I ordered another 50 pack since they've been solid performers for me outdoors.
One thing I notice about Pass thru connections is that the Copper is exposed on the ends. And " Exposure to the Elements" i.e. moisture, can turn them green with corrosion and effect the connection. Especially the power wires pairs.
I should have taken pictures, but Who wants to show everybody your screwups LOL.
 
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atanner said:
Good afternoon!
I have two EmpireTech IPC-Color 4K-T cameras. Both are outdoors. One of them has decided to quit working since the cold weather hit. I brought it inside, connected a shorter cable from the PoE directly to the network switch, and it stayed on for four hours. I took it back outside, connected it to the LAN cable and remounted the camera. The camera worked for maybe 10 minutes, then quit again. I brought it back inside, reconnected it, and after about 5 minutes (warm up time????) the camera started working again.

Thoughts?

I've ordered a new POE injector, just in case it doesn't have enough gusto to get from the outlet inside to the end of the cable that is outside... I don't even know if that's an issue, but I'm willing to try anything at this point - except buying a new camera, LOL.

~Amanda

​

Click to expand...
Having the same issue, almost, with a Color 4K-t80 bought refurbished a little over 2.5 years ago. Except, when I bring it inside, it still doesn't come to life unless I do a full factory reset under power. Ethernet checked end to end, including POE portion and wiring checks out OK. The first time this happened, I reset it and installed Empiretech's latest firmware. After doing this, it ran for almost 5 days without issue, outside. Replacement will be here today. Internal cam diags show an Ethernet and power issue.
 
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weigle2 said:
Having the same issue, almost, with a Color 4K-t80 bought refurbished a little over 2.5 years ago. Except, when I bring it inside, it still doesn't come to life unless I do a full factory reset under power. Ethernet checked end to end, including POE portion and wiring checks out OK. The first time this happened, I reset it and installed Empiretech's latest firmware. After doing this, it ran for almost 5 days without issue, outside. Replacement will be here today. Internal cam diags show an Ethernet and power issue.
Click to expand...
Hmm... I do not know how to A: reset the cam. B: run diagnostics. C: update the firmware.
When I put the IP address into my browser and log into the cam, I get an error every time I click the firmware update button. Advice?
 
Alaska Country said:
One could also try a temporary run of CAT-5e to rule out a connector issue. The connector could loose contact when getting cold. Or there could be an internal issue that is not making a solid connection when it is cold out. i.e. think poor PC board solder joint Also, if a chest freezer is available consider that unit for testing without the need to go outside.

Running a variety of cams outside in the cold without any issues. It will be -10 F tonight and they just keep on ticking.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the ideas, lol. I don't know what type of CAT 5 I am using. I used an electrician friend's connector tool to put the RJ45 ends on. My chest freezer is in my garage, which is cold, but I could open the patio slider and set the camera outdoors for 10 minutes, then see if it fires up again.

In March, we had 'ice-mageddon', the ice storm of the century. The only time this camera didn't work was the week we had no power and no internet. Here in N. Michigan, we have many subzero nights.
 
Flintstone61 said:
I've noticed an issue with my Klein pass thru Cat5e RJ-45 ends not fitting well into some of the Dahua cam ends. So i dug around and found a few "NON-pass thru" RJ-45 ends and that solved my Color 4kT 180 connectivity issues.
and my Z12 connection issues. these older RJ45 ones were from Home Depot and I believe they were the " Ideal" brand. SO being low on inventory, I ordered another 50 pack since they've been solid performers for me outdoors.
One thing I notice about Pass thru connections is that the Copper is exposed on the ends. And " Exposure to the Elements" i.e. moisture, can turn them green with corrosion and effect the connection. Especially the power wires pairs.
I should have taken pictures, but Who wants to show everybody your screwups LOL.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I will go out later today (once it gets above 20) and look at the RJ45 ends for signs of corrosion.

I got a good chuckle from your signature - Minnesota space heater! I was using a Dell laptop for my Blue Iris machine, and I called it my Michigan white noise machine. (I have a new Lenovo for that purpose, as the Dell finally died after 15 years of faithful service.)
 
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Underhill said:
You could swap the cams with each others cabling and see if it follows or then other cam does the same thing.
Click to expand...
yup, perhaps I'll give that a try when it gets 20 and the wind stops blowing!
 
atanner said:
Hmm... I do not know how to A: reset the cam. B: run diagnostics. C: update the firmware.
When I put the IP address into my browser and log into the cam, I get an error every time I click the firmware update button. Advice?
Click to expand...
If you are going to be doing your own Ethernet wiring, you need a decent tester that can handle end to end and POE power testing. Before going through all sorts of testing with the camera, firmware, camera settings, etc. I always check the Ethernet cabling/connectors first. Diagnosing between wiring and the camera is pretty simple, if you start how the network connectivity gets to the camera, and what kind of POE power is available from your switch or POE injector. If all that checks out, move on to the actual camera and continue with diagnosing what sorts of problems it might have.

FWIW - This is the tester I currently use.

 
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weigle2 said:
If you are going to be doing your own Ethernet wiring, you need a decent tester that can handle end to end and POE power testing. Before going through all sorts of testing with the camera, firmware, camera settings, etc. I always check the Ethernet cabling/connectors first. Diagnosing between wiring and the camera is pretty simple, if you start how the network connectivity gets to the camera, and what kind of POE power is available from your switch or POE injector. If all that checks out, move on to the actual camera and continue with diagnosing what sorts of problems it might have.

FWIW - This is the tester I currently use.

Click to expand...
I've used their model NF-8601S and actually have two of them. A quality tester can make troubleshooting a breeze compared to some of the simpler wire map only types.
 
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atanner said:
another camera of the exact same type added approximately six months
Click to expand...
Are you using an NVR or POE switch?

For me something similar happened, I added 4kt180 to the NVR it worked well a month or a bit more.
Suddenly, other camera started to fail - got disconnected very often about once an hour.
When I removed the 4kt180, everything was back to normal.
I've used 8 port Dahua NVR, I had total of 5 cameras, the 4kt was the sixth.

My guess is that I was close to the power budget of the NVR and long cable runs also decrease the budget.
I don't know if this is the same thing you see, but maybe try to disconnect other camera and see whether the failing camera still fails.
 
d5775927 said:
Are you using an NVR or POE switch?

For me something similar happened, I added 4kt180 to the NVR it worked well a month or a bit more.
Suddenly, other camera started to fail - got disconnected very often about once an hour.
When I removed the 4kt180, everything was back to normal.
I've used 8 port Dahua NVR, I had total of 5 cameras, the 4kt was the sixth.

My guess is that I was close to the power budget of the NVR and long cable runs also decrease the budget.
I don't know if this is the same thing you see, but maybe try to disconnect other camera and see whether the failing camera still fails.
Click to expand...
I'm currently using this: I just ordered this as a replacement:
The run from inside (where the PoE injector is) to outside is probably 100-150 feet.
 
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Yeah. The 802.3 AT rated Poe injector will be better. I forgot to check if the Color 4kT 180 was AF or AT...it ran on an AF switch, but after I re-terminated the ends of the cable, i tossed in a NetGear 5 port POE 802.3AT rated switch for that camera.
 
Flintstone61 said:
Yeah. The 802.3 AT rated Poe injector will be better. I forgot to check if the Color 4kT 180 was AF or AT...it ran on an AF switch, but after I re-terminated the ends of the cable, i tossed in a NetGear 5 port POE 802.3AT rated switch for that camera.
Click to expand...
Thanks! I'm really just figuring this stuff out. The cam has been indoors since Saturday morning, plugged into the PoE that resides on the same wall as the network switch. All of the troubleshooting tells me 3 things: A. The camera is working indoors B. The network is still correct C. Since the problem occurs when I take the cam outdoors, it is either power related or related to a different CAT-5 cable.

And now I just had another thought. How often does a 'kink' in the camera's cord impact performance? This camera is a ceiling mount, so the cord is constantly bent at around 90 degrees.
 
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