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USA
Asked — Edited

Camera Can't Power Off Nor Display An Image

Hey, I received my EZ Robot kit yesterday at night, and I set up the camera and everything worked fine, at a moment, I noticed the camera wouldn't turn off, I left it there until today. Now today when I tried it just displayed a black screen, already tried pairing but I see that the usb is not receiving a signal as the lights just flash and after about 7 seconds they always stop flashing, always 7 seconds even if I don't press any button on the camera device. What may this be? I still can't power it off, the Work blue light is still on even if I press the power button for 5 seconds or until for a long time it won't turn off, thanks.

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Netherlands
#1  
Hi, it seems i have exactly the same problem.

The blue light of my camera won't turn off no matter how long i hold the button. I do not get an image from it in ARC. I tried pairing with same results as DuxDucis.

It almost feels as if the power button of the camera is simply not responding.

Thanks in advance, Boon
United Kingdom
#2  
I found my power button wasn't too stable however I carried out the camera power mod pretty much straight away which solved the issue.




With mine I didn't use the USB connector, I went direct to where the battery wires connect to the board and removed the battery, the EZB powers it and as the camera is only useful when the EZB is on it's not a problem that it doesn't work when the EZB is off.
#3  
I had the same problem on two of my cameras and the mod fixed them both. No problems like that for over a year now and still going strong. I highly reccomend it.

:D
#4  
Although the mod is great, the root cause is that the power switch stops working when the battery is almost, but not quite dead, but then it can take days for the little LED to drain the rest of the power and finally shut off. If you charge the camera fully, it should start working correctly again.

Alan
United Kingdom
#5  
That's good to know Alan, I've noticed this question comes up often so I'll remember that about the battery (although I still recommend the mod, it just makes so much sense when using it with the EZB).
Canada
#6  
This is the reason I love this forum , with people so willing to "open up/hack" into anything! I really liked seeing how things worked as a kid and now its imperative:) With my newly arrived EZ kit and camera that will be my first "hack"....Thanks Rich for reposting the YT mod! and techguru for the "root out"
United Kingdom
#7  
It was my first hack too, although I need to redo it as it was done with a very poor soldering iron that struggled to melt the solder, while it works I'm not happy with the nasty looking joints (even if it is hidden away).
Canada
#8  
I agree Rich "cleanlyness is next to roboticness"...and less bugs:)
United Kingdom
#9  
Remember you need to regularly dip the tip of the soldering iron into a fresh bit of solder especially before you start as it contains flux that helps melt previously soldered joints. Unfortunately the flux evaporates quickly so old joints dont have any and are almost impossible to melt. Keep hacking
Netherlands
#10  
Thank you very much,

As Alan suggested, charging the camera has fixed the problem.
I would like to implement this mod, but i'm afraid of damaging something; would you advise an amateur to try this, or should i ask someone more experienced to solder this for me?
United Kingdom
#11  
I did the mod with barely any issues and I hadn't touched a soldering iron in 15 years and had the worlds worst iron anyway.

Soldering the VCC and Ground wires to where the battery is/was is the easy bit, nothing can really go wrong there. The signal cable was the awkward one mainly because it is unclear in the video and photos where it goes, you need to look closely at the images, but even that's not too hard.

I would say go for it, just make sure you don't short anything when soldering the signal wire.
Canada
#12  
I might also add to Rich's great instruction by saying to practise on something else first! till you feel comfortable with the flow and quanity of solder:)
United Kingdom
#13  
Yes, practice first if you aren't feeling at all comfortable with it. Pick up a bunch of strip boards/vero boards and components and just practice and get comfortable with the way solder works etc. Or open up an old appliance that's broken (be careful around capacitors, they can hold a hell of a belt)
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