Bushnell trail cam problem/repairs ?

[RDG]

Hello all, does anyone know of anywhere that repairs trail cameras ? I bought one new a year ago and it's doing fine, very useful.

So I just bought (against my normal better judgement) a second hand one off ebay from Canada. Got a card and batteries and had it out today. It just sat there firing off continually, nearly 7000 pics !
Before I start trying to sort out returning it and a refund (no idea how that will go anyway) I was wondering if there was any one in this country who could repair it ?

My original one got some nice pics of three badgers outside their set last night. Was looking forward to having both up tonight and a load more pics and vids to select from for some Cubs visiting tomorrow night.

Any help or advice appreciated.

Duncan

 

[caorach]

This runaway thing is a known problem with some. Worth going over to Chasingame.com: Scouting Camera Reviews | Performance Reviews | Trail Camera Models compared | Sample Pictures and Movies and going on the Bushnell forum and asking some questions there as they will know the answer.

Also what batteries were you running it on? I know that they can sometimes be sensitive to battery type and have a sort of vague recollection that this might cause the "run away" problem in some cases. I think Bushnell recommend Energizer Lithiums and while they are expensive, they are a worthwhile investment in a trail camera.

 

[psstalking]

take back the one you bought a year ago and try to swap it with Canadian one....

if not it will be the passive sensor in the camera thats possibly faulty.
when you start the camera up place it facing down in a towel or dark place and that may stop it powering up and running away.
yes power input from bad batteries can cause some issues.

​good luck

 

[RDG]

Thanks, I'll try the 'towel' trick and see if it makes a difference. Will also take a look at the forum linked. The batteries in it are Duracell lithium (Energizer lithium in the old camera)
Need to decide if it's solvable or try for a return.

 

[caorach]

I've got one (a 437C) running successfully on Duracel Lithiums. I guess you could check with another set of batteries, maybe from your other camera, just to ensure you don't have a bad cell. If you have a meter you could check the cells.

At a guess I'd say most of the electronics in the camera is surface mount and micro-controller driven. Given that repairs are likely to consist of replacing boards or other large blocks of circuitry and by the time you factor in someones time to even open the case the expense will probably be beyond what the camera is worth.

My feeling is that trail cameras are a bad 2nd hand buy as they seem to have a life of around 2 years, if you are lucky. They are some pretty sensitive electronics in a cheap plastic box that you then leave out in the weather 24/7 so it is little wonder the failure rate is so high.