Swann Outback Camera

[jeeves47]

I sent the following as an email to Swann Technical Support and received a reply to say that the information was not available!

“My Swann Outback camera, Model SWVID-OBC5MP, serial No. 20140903 recently stopped working. I have experience in repairing electronic equipment., and I found that a 3-pin SMC semiconductor on the LED board, designated Q1H had disintegrated. Its function seems to be to isolate the batteries when the camera is powered from the external jack. The camera still works from an external power source. Could you please let me have a component reference for this item, so that I can keep the camera going.

Many thanks in anticipation.”

Can anyone out there help?

[knapik]

Hope you can find a replacement for the IC.

I believe my father bought a Swann branded front door camera so he can see who is ringing. Opening it, I thought it was definitely overpriced given its rather low quality in construction, not to mention the resolution of the screen labelled on the box was a blatant lie. Swann in my eyes doesn't seem like a very reputable company.

[ebastler]

Is there any lettering on the component package in question? Would you have a close-up photo? (I assume you refer to "SMC" as a package designation, not a manufacturer -- but I wasn't aware that SMC packages come with 3 leads.)

If you want to run the camera from internal batteries only, installing a jumper wire instead of the semiconductor might work? I would try that with a resistor first, to limit potential damage.

[CJay]

I sent the following as an email to Swann Technical Support and received a reply to say that the information was not available!

I'm amazed you thought it would be, Swann are a brand name of cheap CCTV cameras, they're not the worst but they're not the best by a long shot.

designated Q1H had disintegrated.
Can anyone out there help?

Post a pic of the board where the part is and a closeup of the remains of Q1H if you can, we need to be able to see the package type and any markings on the actual device if possible

[jeeves47]

Sorry, when I said SMC, I meant Surface Mount Component. I am enclosing a pic. The two left-hand lines coming down from the battery + terminal, both go to the upper terminal of what was Q1H. The two right-hand lines go up to the edge connector feeding the camera board.  The left-hand terminal of QH1 feeds the LED board.
I'm afraid there is absolutely nothing left of Q1H to show.

[CJay]

Has this ever worked while you've owned it only there looks to be absolutely no trace of the part.

If it has worked have you checked the rest of the case to see if it's in there as it looks like it's desoldered itself?

[ebastler]

Has this ever worked while you've owned it only there looks to be absolutely no trace of the part.
If it has worked have you checked the rest of the case to see if it's in there as it looks like it's desoldered itself?

Agree -- it seems unlikely that the part would have vaporized without leaving at least some smoke residue on the PCB. Either a previous owner has unsoldered it, or it may have unsoldered itself and could still be hiding somewhere...

[jeeves47]

I took it apart on my lap (bad) and all I found were two tiny scraps of metal about 1mm square.

[IanMacdonald]

They're not the worst cameras or DVRs around but they are seriously overpriced for what they are. They basically sell into the highstreet DIY market where a shopper just wants to pick up a package containing a full kit without having to worry about the technical aspects.

One of the problems with installing a Swann kit is that the cables are all premade which means drilling monster holes to get the prefitted plugs through. Making up your own cables means a much neater job.

The Floureon products, available from various Ebay sellers, are a better choice in the budget range. Their latest AHD cameras will give full colour under typical streetlighting illumination levels. Cost around half of equivalent Swann kit.  Foscam also have a good reputation.

If you've got the money, Dennard or Axis are the brand leaders.

[CJay]

OK, I think what you've got is a MOSFET transistor, but it's going to be really difficult if not impossible to identify which exact part number it was if there are no markings for us to see.

The left hand terminal next to the part marked 104 is the gate.

Personally I'd be tempted to try one of these parts:

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/mosfet-transistors/5450321/

It looks more like the transistor has been knocked off the board rather than burned out but who knows, it's worth a try.

[reboots]

Sorry, when I said SMC, I meant Surface Mount Component. I am enclosing a pic. The two left-hand lines coming down from the battery + terminal, both go to the upper terminal of what was Q1H. The two right-hand lines go up to the edge connector feeding the camera board.  The left-hand terminal of QH1 feeds the LED board.
I'm afraid there is absolutely nothing left of Q1H to show.

The circuit topology and footprint suggest a MOSFET in a SOT-23 or similar package connected as a high- or low-side switch, with a signal on the bottom left terminal controlling current between the two wider traces. Gate on bottom left, drain on top and source on bottom right would match the pinout of common FETs such as NDS0610 (P-channel) or 2N7002 (N-channel). A P-channel FET as a high-side switch seems obvious, but there's a 100K resistor (R1H) to ground on the "gate". This weak pull-down would force a P-FET on at all times unless the control circuitry dictated otherwise.

You could test this theory by shorting the top and bottom right pads with external power disconnected. The camera should then operate normally from battery power. No guarantees, usual disclaimers apply.

You can also test for voltage across R1H while the camera is operating from external power. Presence or absence of voltage will provide a clue to the circuit's functionality. If you can provide high-resolution photos showing the rest of the board, particularly where the traces connected to Q1H end up, that would also be helpful.

[metrologist]

I bought a Swann night vision setup, the slightly higher res, not full HD kit. It works OK, but I cannot figure out how to delete the video, even viewing it seemed to be a chore.

[switch998]

Hope you can find a replacement for the IC.

I believe my father bought a Swann branded front door camera so he can see who is ringing. Opening it, I thought it was definitely overpriced given its rather low quality in construction, not to mention the resolution of the screen labelled on the box was a blatant lie. Swann in my eyes doesn't seem like a very reputable company.

Swann simply rebrands chinese cameras, I believe Hikvision is their OEM, but who knows where else they source from. I've had a few of their sets and I liked one, but thought the other two models were complete trash. Their customer support is god awful as well, I spent over an hour on hold on three separate occasions to get an RMA for a defective DVR.

[armandine2]

I currently have one of these on the bench - that part the OP was looking for is labelled A1SHB

My camera seems to have suffered from someone oiling it  it has nothing showing on the lcd screen and from the sd card enclosure I retrieved fine wire - maybe from a cleaning attempt. I see a current draw of 100mA a few seconds after switch on.

... may get an SD card and connect via my external hook-up sniffer 

[edit to add LCD wiggle picture]