Introduction
There are many factors that will contribute towards the ultimate demise of your CCTV system and although they are very simple to avoid, most people will simply forget to include their security system into their regular maintenance routine.
So here we are to offer some help, and hopefully keep you a little safer.
Reminders
The first step to a healthy CCTV system is, set a reminder, at least every three months to follow the below maintenance routine and keep you system working. You can set it on your phone, your calendar, or you can use our free service where we send you an email every three months with a gentle reminder and some tips on keeping your system perfect.
Our system is automated and you don’t even need to have one our our systems, just add yourself to the system below and leave whenever you wish.
Join our free maintenance list
Cobwebs
Spiders love the warmth of your cameras and it can be very annoying as they appear regularly and despite removing them, they keep coming back. The problem with cobwebs it that they may affect the focus of your camera, but more annoyingly they will set off motion detection as they blow in the breeze, unless of course you have human detection, in that case they will just get in the way of a clear image.
Although there is not much you can do, there are a few little tricks.
- spray surface spray around the camera, but not on it as it could damage the weather seals or lens
- ensure there are no bushes or branches nearby
- keep in the habit of brooming them off
Never hose off your cobwebs as cameras are not designed for water pressure and you may ruin or at least damage your camera.
Grime
As cameras are electronic, they do attract dust and road grime, this is a slow process taking months, but eventually your cameras will look terrible, blurry and dull.
The way to clean them is with a damp (not wet) microfiber cloth and you will need to do this every few months. This is worth considering when placing your cameras.
We regularly get warranty calls for defective cameras that just need a wipe.
Please do not wash with water or hose as this may ruin or damage your cameras.
Memory leakage
Whilst many people don’t know why, we all know that when your PC, or mobile gets laggy, a restart is required. Often but not always this is caused by memory leakage where the memory starts filling up with leftover fragments, eventually chocking the device.
XVRs, DVRs and NVRs can also get this and most are already set to restart in the middle of the night at least once per week. Check your recorder in the maintenance section and make sure it does, this will stop it eventually crashing without your knowledge and you may miss the evidence you need.
If you have a PTZ or your cameras are powered separately from you recorder, you should get in the habit of restarting them manually or adding a timer to the power point with at least weekly reboots.
Many times this is not needed, but sometimes it is and if you live in an area with dirty power, a regular restart of your system may help.
Hard drive failure
Even the best quality HDDs can fail, particularly in a CCTV system where they are recording 24/7. The easiest way to check this is simply to play back some recordings every now and then, if your drive has failed you won’t be able to.
At OzSpy all our installed CCTV systems come with a surveillance grade HDD which are considerably more expensive and reliable, however almost all DIY systems or cheaper system have a standard HDD which will probably fail within the first two years, and sometimes even sooner depending on the quality of the system.
Once the HDD fails, your system stops dead in its tracks, so keep your eye on it.
Keep your manual handy
One of the easiest things to do to get the most of your system is to keep your manual handy, even if you get to know it well at the start, six months later when something happens, you may need the manual quickly. We recommend keeping it with the recorder at all times.
We hope this has helped you get the most out of your CCTV system.