Trapping video only works for one or two days ... ideas? (could be overheating)

[EtienneD]

Hi there,

I'm using a Sony A7S2 to shoot true HD (not 4K) at 100FPS. I find that the camera shoots video at various intervals for about a day, then stops.

I also notice that the last several videos are all fogged up. My battery is at 92% so I know I have not run out of batteries. But then I get 5 or 6 days of not a single video being shot. Trigger/receiver is camtraptions.

I suspect it is heat ... my Sony is in a black Pelican case using that packing foam as the holder. I have a dummy battery going into a Sony NP-F970 video battery.

Does anyone have any ideas? I'm not shooting at 4K but I'm doing 100FPS HD (4x slow motion)... not sure if the fogging up is on the housing lens ... or the camera lens. If the camera is overheating, I suspect it is on the housing lens (temp dfferential between inside and out).

This is really annoying though ... I have spent so much money on setting this thing up and I just cant get any trapping longevity out of it.

Does anyone have an 'open' housing? Something that lets air through? I'm starting to think this would be better.

Etienne

[-jeff]

What is the daytime temp and humidity range where you are? There is a temperature/humidity logger on the market that looks like a USB memory stick. It works great for troubleshooting housing temperature issues. I can't find a link to the one I have but here is something that should work. https://www.amazon.com/Freshliance-Temperature-Disposable-Waterproof-Transport/dp/B07Y524T4L/ref=sr_1_13?crid=2EMN62AZ6BOB0&keywords=temperature%2Bdata%2Blogger%2Busb&qid=1682512697&sprefix=temperature%2Bdata%2Blogger%2Busb%2Caps%2C 103&sr=8-13&th=1

For fogging, I have found that if I put the lens against the housing window, it will fog. If I move it back a couple mm it cures that problem. I also install a housing vent that incorporates Gor-Tex, it keeps the inside of the housing at the same pressure and the outside. https://www.gore.com/products/gore-automotive-vents-for-electronics

Hope this helps. Please report back on your resolution.

[EtienneD]

thanks Jeff. I've ordered a USB data logger. Great suggestion! I'm in Sydney Australia ... high humidity and high temperatures.

The Pelican case I use has one of those Gortex valves ... do you think that more than one would be more helpful?

My lens is a good 1cm behind the housing lens, but I have a polarising filter on my camera ... (2 sheets of glass already close together) ... might try taking that off.

Etienne

[EtienneD]

Hi Jeff (and anyone else interested),

I've run the trap camera with a temp and humidity sensor. The camera operated for about 6 hours and then (I assume) overheated and turned off. External ambient temp would have be 12-18degC. Around the time the camera stopped recording (10-11pm), the temp inside the trap camera hit a maximum of about 27degC. I assume that for the temp inside the box to have gone up by 10degC, the radiant temp of the camera must have gone up to 40degC or thereabouts (which seems to be the temp at which the Sony A7S2 turns off).

See the files in the previous post.

Note that I bought and included a 40g Silica Gel crystals box into the trap camera ... and there was no fogging this time. The functioning of this box might be visible in the graph I uploaded. Humidity went down from 60% to less than 20% (effective product!)

Where to from here? I'm a bit stuck.

Do I build a cooling fan into my trap camera? Seems overkill.
Do I give up on 100FPS recording?
Do I put the battery pack on the outside of the trap camera?
Do I use an expensive external recorder? (would be fine if I could still keep it in the same box).
Do I buy another camera that doesn't overheat?

Any ideas?

Etienne