EV, Hot Water & Home Systems

Why is my CCTV camera not working?

By Jordan Statham, Director and Registered Electrical Inspector at The Conduction Company. EWRB registration I272615.

Why a CCTV camera stops working, from Auckland fault calls: the restart, the cable, the camera, the hard drive, and what a fault visit costs.

An electrician stripping the end of a blue camera cable where it comes out of a soffit.

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Camera down?

The Conduction Company finds CCTV faults across Auckland, from crushed cables to failed hard drives. Happy to help. Call (09) 390 0525.

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Why is my CCTV camera not working? When a security camera goes black or drops offline, the cause is usually one of a handful of things. The answers here come from Jordan Statham, director of The Conduction Company, a registered electrician and electrical inspector whose team installs and repairs CCTV across Auckland.

When a CCTV camera stops working, The Conduction Company checks four things in turn: a restart, the cable, the camera itself, and the recorder's hard drive. When a part does need replacing, Jordan Statham puts it at about half and half between a new hard drive and a new camera.

Why has my CCTV camera suddenly stopped working?

Often it just needs a restart, and that is the first thing The Conduction Company asks a client to try. Press the off button on the recorder (the NVR, the box the cameras plug into), or switch it off and on at the wall. As with any electronic device, that is usually enough to reboot it.

If the camera is still down, the team works through the system in order. It puts a tester on the cable between the camera and the recorder to check every core is still connected. Then it checks the camera, which usually has its own reset button that means partly taking the camera apart. Finally it swaps a camera that is known to work onto the dead port. If the known good camera shows up, the camera was the fault. If it does not, the port on the recorder has died. "There's a full diagnostic process that we follow," Jordan says.

How do I reset my CCTV camera?

Restart the whole system by turning the recorder off and on, either with its own power button or at the wall switch. That is the reset The Conduction Company asks clients to do themselves. Resetting a single camera means getting to the reset button on the camera, which usually means taking it down and partly apart, and The Conduction Company does not recommend homeowners pull cameras down from outside.

What are the common problems of CCTV cameras?

On The Conduction Company's fault calls, the usual culprits are a crushed or loose cable, a failed camera, a failed port on the recorder, or a failing hard drive. When the fix is a new part, Jordan Statham puts it at about half and half between a new hard drive and a new camera.

Other causes Jordan has seen are the night-time infrared failing inside a camera, the phone app needing a reinstall, and one nobody expected: the spray paint job further down this page.

Why are some CCTV cameras not working?

When one camera goes offline and the rest keep working, it is usually a poor signal connection or a faulty camera, The Conduction Company finds. A common cause is other tradespeople in the ceiling. They may have crushed the cable that runs out to the camera, or pulled it so the connection has come loose. Water can also get into the back of a camera.

"The better the installation, the less likely this is to happen," Jordan says. A lot of people take the shortest path through the ceiling. The Conduction Company often routes cables the long way around the ceiling space instead. Then when a tradesperson climbs up there, or you put the Christmas decorations away, there is much less chance of stepping on a cable or pulling it out.

Why is my CCTV camera not working on my phone?

Start with the app. The Conduction Company's first step is to have the client reset the app on their phone, because that is quick and easy. If that does not work, make sure you have your passwords, delete the app, download the newest version, and log back in. If the cameras still will not show after both steps, all signs point to the recorder itself, and that is a job for the team.

Why is CCTV camera playback not working?

If the live view works but playback does not, it is usually the hard drive, says The Conduction Company. The live picture comes straight from the cameras and never touches the drive. Recorded footage lives on the drive, so a playback fault points to a disk error, a stuck disk, or a disk the recorder is struggling to read.

A quick restart often fixes it. If it does not, the disk may be faulty, and the team will either try to pull the footage off it or replace the disk outright.

Why is my CCTV camera not working in night mode?

If the picture is fine by day and lost at night, the infrared modules inside the camera have usually failed, The Conduction Company finds. An electronic circuit board inside the camera stops putting out enough infrared light for the lens to pick up a decent picture in the dark. Depending on how old the system is, the fix is either a warranty replacement or a new camera.

Why is my CCTV camera not showing a picture?

Usually because the camera has disconnected or failed, and in that case the recorder normally shows an error on the screen. When there is no error, look at the camera itself.

Jordan Statham tells the story of a fault call where the cameras had gone black. The client sent The Conduction Company photos of the screen, and the date and time stamps were still showing, with no error. On site the team found someone had spray painted over the main camera at the front of the house. It was an easy clean, and the camera was back online quickly.

Why is my CCTV camera not working after a power cut?

Unless you have a UPS (a backup power unit that keeps power on through an outage), the recorder simply shuts off when the power goes, The Conduction Company explains. It should reboot when the power comes back and start recording again straight away.

If you live somewhere with frequent power cuts, The Conduction Company recommends a UPS backup system, which keeps the cameras recording through an outage.

How do you fix a CCTV camera with no signal?

Find out whether it is the cable, the camera, or the port. The Conduction Company does circuit testing and point-to-point testing on the cable first, which usually shows a cable fault quickly. If the cable tests fine, the team takes the camera down and plugs it straight into the recorder, which also proves whether the cable is at fault. Then it swaps ports, plugging the camera into a port known to work. If the camera pops up on screen, the old port was the problem. If it does not, the camera is.

What can you safely check yourself before calling?

Anything in the phone app, and a restart of the recorder at its power button or the wall. You can also unplug and re-plug the data cables at the back of the recorder, the blue ones that look like ordinary ethernet cables.

Stop there. The Conduction Company does not recommend pulling cameras down from outside, or opening the recorder at all. There are live cables inside at 230 volts, the nominal standard low voltage set by the Electricity (Safety) Regulations 2010. That is a real electric shock risk. "Don't go to that depth," Jordan says. "Just call us in and we can figure it out."

What does it cost to have a CCTV fault found?

We quote on facts, not guesses
Before we give you a price, we carry out a proper assessment of your property and how you'll use your CCTV system. That way you know exactly what you're buying and the total cost, with no surprises. Clear expectations from the outset, start to finish.

The estimates below are for a standard fault-finding visit. The Conduction Company confirms final pricing after a property assessment.

This is The Conduction Company's own Auckland pricing for a fault-finding visit. Most visits cost $220 to $390 including GST, and the repair is charged on top. More on how the team finds faults is on its fault finding page.

When is a camera system too old to be worth repairing?

When it is outside the manufacturer's warranty and the parts are no longer easy to get, The Conduction Company looks at upgrading instead. Finding older or second-hand cameras and parts is hard and expensive, Jordan Statham says, and there is no guarantee the rest of the system will not start failing soon after.

A new system comes with a new guarantee. And because the cabling can be reused in most cases, replacing an obsolete system is not as big a job as the original install. It is mostly a swap of the components.

Will The Conduction Company fix a DIY kit someone else fitted?

Yes, The Conduction Company can, and has. There is no warranty cover from the team on a DIY kit or a unit the client supplied, but it is always happy to help. Often the problem is basic, like a hard drive that has run out of storage, and a simple replacement gets it back online. If the circuit board has failed, the team usually recommends replacing the whole thing with a modern system, priced once it has the details from site.

In short

A CCTV camera that stops working usually needs a restart, a cable fixed, a new camera, or a new hard drive. The Conduction Company finds which by testing the cable, the camera, and the recorder's port in turn. Restart the recorder and check the phone app yourself, but leave the cameras on the wall and the recorder closed, because there are 230 volt cables inside. The Conduction Company's own Auckland pricing puts most fault-finding visits at $220 to $390 including GST, with the repair on top. If your system is old and the parts are gone, a new one can usually reuse the existing cabling. For a fault, or a new system, talk to The Conduction Company about CCTV installation and repairs in Auckland, or read its guide to home CCTV in Auckland.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the camera reset button?

On the camera itself, on most cameras, and getting to it usually means partly taking the camera apart, The Conduction Company says. That means taking the camera down, which the team does not recommend homeowners do from outside. Restart the recorder instead, at its power button or at the wall.

How do I get my security camera back online?

Restart the recorder at its power button or the wall, then reset the app on your phone, or delete it and reinstall the newest version. You can also unplug and re-plug the blue data cables at the back of the recorder. If the camera is still offline, The Conduction Company tests the cable, the camera, and the recorder port in turn.

Why is my CCTV camera light not working?

If you mean the infrared light that lets the camera see at night, the infrared modules inside the camera have usually failed. The Conduction Company finds it is normally a circuit board fault in the camera, fixed under warranty or with a new camera, depending on how old the system is.

Why is my CCTV camera not working after rain?

Water may have got into the back of the camera, which is one of the causes Jordan Statham of The Conduction Company sees when a single camera drops offline. Leave the camera on the wall and have it checked: the team tests the cable and the camera to find which one has failed.

How do I know if my CCTV camera is not working?

The recorder usually tells you. When a camera has disconnected or failed, an error normally pops up on the screen, The Conduction Company says. A black picture with the date and time still showing and no error points to something covering the camera, as it did on one job where a camera had been spray painted.

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