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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: cacciatore on November 16, 2018, 03:18:08 PM

Title: Not working game cameras
Post by: cacciatore on November 16, 2018, 03:18:08 PM
What do you usually do with game cameras that stop taking pics or not working properly well after the warranty period?
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: bigbadjon on November 16, 2018, 03:41:04 PM
I generally try to dry them out to see if they start working. That said it has never worked and I end up pitching them.
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: Trenton G. on November 16, 2018, 03:59:49 PM
Buy a new one. They are an absolute pain to try and get them working again if you can't send it back to have it repaired or replaced. We have tried to revive several, but once they are dead, they seem bound and determined to stay dead!
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: Jack Denbow on November 16, 2018, 04:04:14 PM
Felix I hate those cameras, they never work when you want them too. I have had cheap ones and expensive ones and the all fail. I sometimes walk in front of some on the way to the stand I am going to that day and the camera will show me going but not returning or the other way around. I even saw one flash late one evening and when I saw the deer I could not tell what it was. When I checked the camera there was no picture, not even a picture of nothing. I even put two cameras up on the same tree and sometimes both would work but most times one or the other would work. I even had a bear tear up a persimmon tree I had planted right in front of a camera and no pictures of the bear and that was also a flash camera. All that being said I still use them and when they quit working I throw them away and buy new ones hoping they will be better but they usually are not. Hope to see you in Springfield in 2020.
Jack
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: cacciatore on November 16, 2018, 04:08:52 PM
Thanks Jack, I hope me too.
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: J. Holden on November 17, 2018, 10:23:44 AM
Long story short I had one that was malfunctioning due to water getting inside.  I did take mine apart and dried it out.  I put it back together and it works!  At least in the house anyway!  I've been meaning to put it back in the woods and see how it performs.  If I remember I'll let you know how it goes.

-Jeremy :coffee:
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: arrow30 on November 17, 2018, 10:36:21 AM
they are aggravating when they quit, you do everything to make sure its not your fault.
(dead batts.-no card) (settings) then just pitch them .I have one that I accidently shot with a shotgun and it still works. and others that just quit  :dunno: for reason. I don't buy expensive ones, cause I figure they are gonna quit anyways. I had one that a woodpecker pecked out the motion detecter lens on, had pictures of him  :biglaugh:.
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: George Vernon on November 17, 2018, 01:58:19 PM
Out of warranty repairs can cost 50-100% of the price of a new one.  If it's more than a year old, you can probably get the same functionality for a much lower price than you paid.
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: pavan on November 17, 2018, 05:09:37 PM
My friend's son had three out, two quit working the first year.  Motion detector lens was dirty on both. 
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: Lakerat007 on November 17, 2018, 05:37:51 PM
I got 13 used primos cams 6 years ago off the goodwill auction site for $120! They worked great for what I use cams for. This year they all took a dump within 2 weeks of each other. Would like to be angry and complain but feel I got my money's worth. Heck I had em going for 8 months out of the year.
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: HornHunter on November 17, 2018, 06:00:52 PM
felix
bought a couple of browning cams this spring best camera Ive ever owned, not super exspensive cabelas had them on sale less then a hundred bucks

have lots of pictures I would share (big elk) but this site is such a pain in the ass to post
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: achigan on November 17, 2018, 08:31:20 PM
I turned my old film cameras into planters and door stops. About the same for dead trail cams
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: beemann on November 17, 2018, 09:11:07 PM
I have a bunch of reconyx cameras and some are going on twenty years.  In all that time i have never had to send one back.  They all work still to this day. I have had them stolen and that stinks but never a malfunction.  I have tried other  brands to see if they are catching up , and I have had to send every one of them back.  If you are serious about trail cameras you owe it to yourself to try a reconyx...
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: Red Beastmaster on November 17, 2018, 10:33:10 PM
I remember when trail cameras came out and the traditional community rejected them.

Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: Hud on November 18, 2018, 01:33:31 AM
I don't use them, but if I had too buy I would look for ones that you could seal with silicone.  I suspect condensation is a problem, don't store them in a warm house and then take them out in the cold.   Here are some ideas developed by pros.

https://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsession/blogs/how-to/trail-cam-talk-with-prostaffer-dave-parrott

https://www.trailcamjunkie.com/dealing-with-trail-camera-condensation/ :dunno:
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: Bowguy67 on November 18, 2018, 06:07:31 AM
I'd do the same thing w a working one as well as unworking one. Shoot at it. They're great practice!!
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: katman on November 18, 2018, 08:06:57 PM
The cheap ones get tossed. My reconyx have been going strong for a long time.
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: T Sunstone on November 18, 2018, 08:51:40 PM
I sometimes put them where I suspect trespassers just to see if they are around.  Bad SD card and dead batteries. 
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: GCook on November 18, 2018, 09:49:03 PM
I usually get two or three years out of them before they start having issues.  WGI I seldom get more than a few months out bnb of so I don't buy them any more.
I put the in the plastic recycling bin myself.

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: katman on November 19, 2018, 07:22:23 AM
Quote from: T Sunstone on November 18, 2018, 08:51:40 PM
I sometimes put them where I suspect trespassers just to see if they are around.  Bad SD card and dead batteries.

Great idea, re-purposing.
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: Sam McMichael on November 19, 2018, 09:10:54 AM
I really don't understand the high percentage of camera failures, across almost all brands, that is so prevalent today. There is no excuse for such poor quality. Product reliability should be something we can take for granted. Good cameras are not new in this country, so why should trails cameras be any different? True, there are some really good cameras, but it seems that complaints far outweigh praise.
Title: Re: Not working game cameras
Post by: limbow on November 20, 2018, 10:22:19 AM
I have been getting 5-6 years of year around usage from the Bushnell Trail Cams. Once they stop working I try to dry them out, if they still are non-functioning I toss them in the trash.