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Rant: That guy who told me to use a 12V battery for my trail cam setup was totally wrong
Neighbor said I could just wire my old Blink cam to a 12V SLA battery and save money. After 2 days the camera died because the voltage regulator couldn't handle the 14.4V charge cycle from my solar panel. Heard someone else mention a buck converter - has anyone tried that instead?
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gavin2283mo ago
...yeah that 12V direct feed will fry the internals on those things, the voltage swing from a solar charge cycle is brutal on the smaller regulators. I ran into this same issue with a Wyze cam last year. A buck converter set to a steady 5V (or whatever your Blink actually wants, check the brick's output) will fix it right up, just make sure it's rated for at least 2 amps to handle the startup surge. Also put a fuse on the input side of the converter in case something shorts out later.
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nelson.vera3mo ago
My buddy John fried a camera doing the same thing last year. That buck converter saved his setup though, just make sure you weatherproof the connections.
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the_fiona3mo ago
@nelson.vera called it right with that buddy John story. Same thing happened to a guy I know who tried to cheap out on his Reolink setup. Burned the board clean through.
@gavin228 nailed it with the buck converter advice though. I'd add pick one with adjustable output so you can dial it exactly to the Blink's voltage. Most of those cams run on 5V from the brick. Put a fuse on the line like he said too. That saved my buddy's second camera when a squirrel chewed through the wire.
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