Trail Cam issues

I have a StealthCam 42NG that takes great pics, but unlike it's twin from the same pack, I suspect it's not taking night pics. I believe it worked for a couple of days (this year, it's 4 years old) and then stopped but is still taking daytime photos. Is there a way to address this? Clean a sensor, something else?

I don’t recall having a trail cam that lasted 4 years

Maybe someone on here will know the camera and help out. I have one Stealthcam and it's squirrely. 'Seems they all develop quirks. Cheap(ish) Bushnells are what I'm having the most luck with. I have a Browning that, no matter what I do, reset, etc., takes a picture every 5 mins. After someone recommended on here, I'm gonna try a cheapo Tasco. I do think that with everyone going gaga over cellular, the regular cameras prices are going to come down.

I had issues with a Bushnell once that did the same thing. I had 3 of the same model but that one suddenly was only taking daytime photos. I took my volt meter out and tested the batteries one morning. The camera showed they were 3/4 good..but the meter showed them to be low. I think they had enough power to take pics in the daylight but not enough to take them every 30-45 seconds at night with the power the illuminator was using. I replaced the batteries with fresh ones and it started working like normal again.

I have one old Primos Truth cam that is 8 or 9 yrs old now. Several other brands I was given or have bought that are still working and over 4 yrs old. One Reconyx and Wildgame Innovations are both now 5 yrs old. I have some that don't last to 4 yrs old also..but most get 3 yrs. I had 2 older SpyPoints that were 6 yrs old, both worked last year still but are not working this year.

I put new batteries in when I put them out but I think that one showed 86% when I pulled the card. The other camera took a lot more and showed 93%. Thanks, STX, I’ll start with a battery check!

Both cameras now not taking night pics. New batteries in hand.

Thank for the upate. That too has been my experience when nigh pics are not being taken. I've switched all my cameras to Energizer Lithium batteries and been getting longer use but in process of converting cameras to solar charge.

That's my next move, along with a cell cam or two. This would be less of an issue but there are sheep/goats in that pasture, so I'm getting 1000s of pics of livestock eating up the battery.

Stupidly I didn't get the batteries in Saturday night, which could have told me whether or not they were working with a re-check yesterday. Now I have to wait 2-3 weeks to find out if they took night pics.

Clean sensors/lenses can make a difference, more so than I would have thought. I jumped on the cell cam train a while back and got really frustrated when night pics started coming in with spots and foggy overall while daytime pictures were fine. I couldn't figure it out, SpyPoint support couldn't either. Then my son pointed out that the IR lens (but not the camera lens) was dusty. A little rain-x and things got back to normal.

The last thing I did Sunday after putting in the new batteries was to wipe those off. There was a small cobweb on one. Hopefully they'll function.

That RainX sounds like a great suggestion.

If the batteries get below 20% in a stealth cam it will quit taking nighttime photos btw. its a way to preserve battery power. G42NG is in my option one of the best cameras stealth cam has made. I have a G42NG as well that is at least 3 or 4 years old and have ran it with very little to no issues. All I have is stealth cam and love them, even the cellular ones.

you can also use the HME 12v battery back w/ solar charger with that camera. The SD card will fill up before you have to change the battery. I have these on all my non-cameras and I haven't changed the battery in 2 years on a couple of them.

I'm really surprised withy my WGI lights out camera, I've had it 3 years.
Good pictures and video quality

Dang STX's! 5 years on a Wildgame Innovations!!?? That is a milestone and likely a valuable buyback for display

Ive never had this problem yet. Ive been using Cabelas Cameras for the past 5 years. They are some of the best ive ever used at a great price. But yes keep your sensors and IR lens clean.

I’ve got 4 of the cheapest Browning cams, they are all 5-8 years old. Only 1 has ever gone bad and that was my fault for leaving batteries in it for a year and they corroded.

I sure had to eat my words

If you got 3 years out of a WG, you done good. Short the cell cameras, all we use are Browning. They take great pictures and video. We currently have 5 Brownings out.

Forgot about browning, i'll take a look at them.

You can usually find a pretty good Browning for around $99 on sale somewhere.

Between new batteries, cleaning the lenses, and much less heat from Mother Nature, both cameras ran flawlessly the last three weeks.

Want to get chapped? Put 2 of them watching the same feeder. They seldom agree

I've got a Browning taking a picture every 10 minutes, no matter what. I've tried resetting it. Any suggestions? Nothing lasts forever.