Tag: camcorder

TTS IT00617 digital camcorder/camera

I purchased these three damaged Camcorder/Cameras for a very low price. Will they be fixable or just good for spare parts. Let’s see…

What the listing stated:

TTS IT00617 Digital Camcorder Camera 

Full HD pocket camcorder that records in 1080P and can take 5 megapixel photos.

2″ TFT colour screen. Charges via in-built flip-up USB plug.  

Cameras appear to be faulty. One has a corrupt screen, the others boot and show the camera feed but give a “card error” no matter what SD card I install. 

EBay

The seller wanted £10:00GBP for these three camcorder/cameras but I was not prepared to pay that, for what potentially could be three pieces of junk, only good for parts. So I cheekily put in a £4:00GBP bid that was accepted straight away, the seller really wanted rid of these, I suspect they are junk, we’ll just have to wait and see.

TTS IT00617 digital camcorders – displaying their faults

From the information I can find that is available online, these units are handed out to children partaking in key skills programs within schools, to use when recording project work they are completing as part of the school’s curriculum. From what information I can gather, it appears these units were introduced around 2014, as that’s when the instruction manual is dated. They may only be around 12 years old but I suspect they have had a very hard life in those few short years. Hence they are very probably knackered, mistreated, and may well be just junk. My expectations for these units are now very low. The company that produces these units – TTS appear to be based in Nottinghamshire, near me in the East Midlands, and specialise in supplying ICT equipment to primary schools. Here is all the information I could find regarding these units.

The TTS IT00617 is a 1080p Full HD digital camcorder and camera specifically designed for educational and outdoor use by TTS Group. It is often marketed for use in primary schools due to its rugged design and simple interface. 

Core Specifications

  • Video Resolution: 1080p Full High Definition.
  • Still Image Quality: 5.0 Megapixel sensor.
  • Display: 2-inch TFT colour screen.
  • Zoom: 4x Digital Zoom.
  • Storage: Uses removable SD cards.
  • Connectivity: Includes HDMI and USB ports for connecting to computers or displays.
  • Power: Powered by a rechargeable Li-ion battery, which is user-replaceable. 

Key Features

  • Rugged Design: Built to be resistant and ideal for outdoor photography and video capture.
  • User-Friendly Interface: Often includes a built-in microphone and a touchscreen for easy navigation.
  • Educational Accessories: Retail packages typically include an installation CD, user manual, and necessary cables.

Google

I have managed to get hold of a user manual electronically, so I will download this and just go through the motions step by step when the units arrive. You never know one or two of them may just spring back into life if treated correctly. I doubt it, but it doesn’t hurt to have a little bit of optimism.

Let’s get an assessment done.

Assessment:

The cameras have arrived. I’ve carried out a very quick inspection and all three are dead to the world, so first things first, let’s try and get some power into them and then we can do a proper assessment. I must admit though, all three cameras are cosmetically in a very good condition.

All three cameras – two charging with red light visible

A switch on the side allows the USB charge port (also a data transfer port) to pop up and you just plug the unit into the socket of your choice, either a hub as I have, or into a port on your chosen computer device. When charging a red light shows on the rear of the camera at the side of the lens. This extinguishes once a full charge has been reached.

Two have reached a stage of full charge, one, the unit with the corrupted screen issue has not, and to check the battery, i have put this into one of the units that charged ok, to check if it is a battery issue or a unit issue.

It’s not a battery issue, in fact the faulty unit is charging its battery, so at least I know the charge circuit is working. It’s working in all units as I have removed all batteries and checked their voltages with the multimeter. The battery rating is 3.7v and they all currently hold a charge between 4.16v and 4.19v and that shows that they are all quite healthy.

Battery charge indication

All testing done, and now with an idea of the issues, let’s move into repair mode.

Repair:

The original posting stated that two of these units had “Card error” faults no matter what SD card was used, and one had a corrupted display screen.

I can definitely confirm that one unit does have a corrupted screen, and this is the same unit that was having the charging issues mentioned above.

Start up
Waiting
Corrupted screen

You will see in the pictures above, that I believe the screen is actually ok, yes the output is corrupted, however the start up screen or the waiting screen show no such display errors. I suspect there is an issue with the actual camera module, so I will have to open this one up to investigate further. The on off button allows you to turn this unit on, however you can’t power off. You have to remove the battery to close the unit down. This is obviously another issue that requires further investigation.

The other two units with the “Card error” fault have each had a 1Gb SD card installed and no such error occurs. Well, to be honest, it actually only happened once, briefly on one unit, when I inserted a fresh card. It then asked me to format, which I did and then it was all normal, that’s all it required. I don’t know what type of card the seller was using, maybe they just did not format the SD cards, but as it stands the stated problem is non existent in these two units.

Two units, no issues working fine

With the two working units I am able to video, and take still photographs, they are working fine, there are no issues and I will display a small video and some pictures below in the result section. Don’t expect quality, it really is quite a basic system. I need to do nothing to these two units now, as they are working fine.

We now need to turn our attention the one failed unit with the corrupted screen, and power on and off issues. I’ve opened the unit up and had to use my microscope on this one as there was nothing obvious on inspection.

Led ribbon cable
I removed the screen ribbon cable
The camera was situated under the circuit board

I detached the ribbon cable and removed the screen, I then repositioned it and again turned it on with the same result. I’m confident the screen is ok, it now looks like it could be an issue on the board.

Using the scope to inspect the board
The on/off button covered in gunk

I’ve now started to inspect the components at a magnified level, as some of these components are honestly a quarter the size of a grain of rice, they really are minuscule. The on/off button appears to be ok, it is covered in a dollop of rubber gunk that they use during production to protect parts of the circuitry, it’s all over this board. Having located the camera, I’ve now started to do some testing on the components surrounding it, and there is a short circuit detected on a small capacitor, and the four or five other capacitors surrounding it. I removed two of these capacitors and the short still remained, and that’s when I noticed the chipset sitting directly above it.

AN SPCA1628A-HL141 integrated circuit

On the screen I was now looking at an SPCA1628A-HL141 integrated circuit. This circuit is heavily used in cameras, digital video devices, and image processing equipment due to its image processing capabilities. And with the amount of failed components around it, I very much suspect this component is carrying the fault, it needs replacement, however as this entire unit has only cost me around £1:30, I don’t believe it’s financially viable to pay around £5:00 for a replacement chip, costing more than the combined three units. It’s just not worth it, and the gain from its repair would not match the outlay, it’s just not worth repairing.

Therefore this unit is going to be dismantled for spare parts, I have a battery, a battery control unit, a camera, an SD card holder, an LED screen and numerous other parts and screws that are far more valuable to me for future use. Very little will be wasted. What is disposed of will be recycled.

So we have one failure but we have two perfectly good working units. Two out of three ain’t bad. (I’m sure that’s a song!) – it is, Meatloaf – I believe, good tune!

Result:

So here’s a few pictures and a couple of small videos taken with the two working units.

Photos taken with the units, one in top left was taken with the phone of the two units
Small video of the two units playing back videos

The overall quality is between atrocious and very poor, but I guess for the purpose of school kids documenting activities it suits just fine. The video is on par with what you would have seen on phones of the Nokia era, maybe early to mid 2000s. The pictures in the right light settings are not too bad, but you do get more bad than good.

What can I use this for? God knows, it would be ok for doing a basic journal with, something to film a rehearsal situation with prior to using the good gear and doing it properly.

To be honest, I’ve a couple of young relations under the age of ten in Devon who might like these just to fool about with when they are out playing. At £1:30 per unit they couldn’t buy a decent pack of sweets for that, and this would cause less dental decay 😂

Anyway, it’s a good fix, more saved from landfill, so in my eyes the job is a good one👍

Thanks for passing by. It’s very much appreciated.

Toshiba Camileo X400 Camcorder

Let’s have a look at a non functional Camcorder from 2011 that appears to have bathed in molasses as it’s so sticky. Can I get it working once more? Why not?

What the listing stated:

It has not been tested but outside case is sticky. 
Would recommend for spares and repairs only

EBay

Toshiba Camileo X400 Camcorder

Not one of the finest quality camcorder cameras out there, but for £7.00GBP, I’m not really complaining. This camera appears to have a battery included, it has no charging equipment or anything else included, but I’m hopeful there’s not too much badly wrong with it. However as this is a platform for repairing old knackered equipment, hopeful there is something that we can get our teeth into that is sufficiently suited to this platform. All I can currently gather from the listing is that this a bit sticky, and those of you who follow this site will know that stickiness, especially on cameras is not an issue that has caused me any problems previously. Hopefully the issue is a little more than just stickiness, and as this listing has the classic EBay “Get out of jail free – seller not tested” claim, then there could be absolutely anything and everything wrong with it, we will just have to wait and see.

Here’s a little bit of background for this camcorder.

Toshiba’s CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder offers 1920 x 1080p video capabilities, 23X optical zoom, and other great features for taking great video and making great memories.

No matter what you’re looking at, the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder takes jaw-dropping video in 1920 x 1080p resolution. You’ll be able to capture all the color and clamor of that Fourth of July parade, or your daughter’s first soccer goal. And with the 23X optical zoom, you’ll see the big smile on her face, too.

Want to follow your baby as she takes her first steps? Follow your friends as they head up that mountain trail? Record your Jeep ride across Africa’s Serengeti plain? Go for it. The image stabilization capabilities on the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder ensure your ensuing creation will be hunky-dory, not herky-jerky.

Video trimming on the CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder makes editing easier by letting you cut out a section of the video from the front, back or both–plus start and end the video at any point you wish. What’s more, with a built-in pause button, you can stop wasting storage space and reduce file clutter by recording multiple scenes into a single file.

Your son just learned to surf and caught a nice point break for a good long ride. Want to freeze the frame for pictures you can share in an album, email or hand out to friends? Do it without interrupting the video. Simply press the Photo button* on your CAMILEO X400 Full HD camcorder and your surf dude will be immortalized forever.

Features:

  • 1920x1080p Full HD resolution video
  • 23x Optical zoom
  • 3″ swiveling LCD monitor
  • 5MP CMOS sensor
  • 4.7 x 2.1 x 2.4 inches
  • Weight 300g

Toshiba

Well, to be honest that has to be one of the worst background write ups I’ve read, and in reality the tone of it doesn’t fill me with confidence, all that talk of “Dudes” and “Hunky dory and Herky Jerky” my god, who do they let write this stuff? This camera didn’t stand a chance to be honest right from its release date in late 2011.

So, let’s forget the awful promotional write up, and just like true “Dudes” try to find out what is actually wrong with the damned thing.

Assessment:

It’s arrived and to be totally honest, it’s in a right poor condition cosmetically. Very poorly packaged, I suspect the seller couldn’t wait to get it out of the door. Here are two of the better looking pictures.

The good…

As soon as you pick the unit up, the stickiness the seller wrote about becomes obvious. It’s as if this camera has been immersed in a vat of molasses, it’s super sticky and if you review the close up pictures below you will see this unit has obviously been involved in some sticky situation, in places it is still wet, with liquid clearly visible, however that liquid is in a super sticky state of suspension.

Sticky Liquid
Wet, with protective film still in place
Dirt and stickiness
Just plain filth

…The bad, and the very ugly

The battery is in place, I suspect it is dead but it will need to be tested, thankfully the battery contacts are clean and luckily it appears that no liquid has managed to reach these areas.

Battery – possibly dead
Battery contacts all clean
Somewhere clean..hallelujah!

Before I even start to look at anything with this camcorder, a very thorough clean is the order of the day. It’s not going anywhere, and I’m not doing anything with it, until it is in a more presentable and workable condition.

I like to use a disinfectant spray when taking on a job like this, in fact I use it on most of my old cameras especially those that have an old musty aroma. The disinfectant has cleaned this unit up very well removing all of the old stickiness and residue. I finish off with some polish and a cloth and the beast has now been cleaned and is now in a much better condition to start looking at where the problem may lie.

A good clean and it looks like a different unit

Well, to be totally honest the unit is kind of dead. There is a minimal voltage in the battery and when I find a suitable charging cable and install it, there is not a great deal else occurring. There are some lights, but they are not doing what they should be doing, I’m expecting lights to flash whilst charging, and a solid light when charged. However this isn’t happening, so let’s move on to what we are going to do to try and resolve this issue.

Repair:

For the moment I’m going to focus on the battery. We need power, so we do really have to start here, we can’t diagnose or do anything without some power. It’s a 3.7v Li-ion cell, and the camera can charge via a 5v USB supply. I’ve managed to locate a suitable charging cable from that drawer of collected cables that “may come in useful one day”, that we all seem to have stashed in our homes. When the cable is plugged in you should get some intro music from the camera, and I do. This should then be followed by a flashing light that should remain lit until the battery has sufficiently charged. However I manage to get about two flashes from an amber light and then that’s it… nothing else. So far it’s positive that we have seen some life, however we need to see if we can encourage this battery to take a little more charge.

These batteries though rated at 3.7v usually charge up to 4.2v at full capacity. I’ve just measured this one with a multimeter and it currently sits at 2.64v. In the world of batteries this is severely depleted and to be totally honest looks as if this battery is dead.

A fully charged 3.7V nominal battery typically reads 4.2V, with 3.7V-3.8V being the average voltage during discharge. A 3.7V Li-ion battery is considered “dead” or fully discharged when its voltage drops to 3.0V to 3.2V.

While many protection circuits cut off at 2.5V to 2.75V to prevent damage, discharging below 3.OV frequently will significantly reduce the battery’s lifespan.

2.64v This battery is more than likely dead

And it looks as if this may have occurred here. It’s looking as if the battery is a dead one.

However, I’m going to see if I can rejuvenate this battery by putting a trickle charge through it, just charging it in the camera from a USB 5v power supply. I will monitor regularly for changes in temperature or other issues. I don’t have a spare around at the moment so if I want to do some basic checks on the unit I’ll just have to give it a try.

Dead at 2.6v
After an hour we have 3.5v
After 2 hrs it’s now 3.56v
After 3 hrs it’s now 3.6v
Slow work

So after 3 hrs we’ve only been able to get about another 1v of energy into this battery, and as you can see we are only just into the battery depletion range. We have sufficient power to start the unit up and see a welcome screen, the zoom works. It’s clearly visible that there is a low battery indication on the screen and then it all shuts down again.

Welcome screen
Battery indicators all red

There is just not enough life in this battery to sustain a 30 second video, the battery is just so worn down that I believe it is beyond resurrection. I may have to purchase a new battery to finish off this section of the post. It’s good though that we have tried, rather than just give up, and this has also allowed us to review what we have found out about the process, and the good news is that at this point it, is looking as if it is purely an issue with this battery.

The camera has cleaned up lovely and really looks like a nice piece of kit. For the moment I will put this post on pause whilst I await a replacement battery.

But…. Me being me, and not wanting to spend too much money at this point, I have persisted with leaving this battery on trickle charge. It has been consistently monitored to keep an eye on it, and I must admit neither the battery itself or the charger has been hot or even warm throughout this entire process, that is good.

Four green lights – Fully charged?

Seeing that about 4 hrs ago the battery indicator on the screen was only showing two green bars, it is now showing four bars and that indicates it is now fully charged. Let’s get the multimeter back on, and check to see what the current battery charge is and see if that gives us an indicator to show if the nominal charge has now been achieved, I’m quite excited at this – I’m easily pleased and excitable in equal proportions – I have a feeling that with patience and persistence we may have well just cracked the issue. So what is the current voltage of this battery? Well, here it is….

4.14v

Full charge achieved

Well, I’m very pleased with that, not only has it charged fully it appears to have reached pretty much full charge beyond the nominal charge. I’ve probably saved this battery from the trash heap, but I guess it will be more of a backup battery for me as I will probably purchase a new one, for my main battery, now though, there is no rush as it looks as if this one has been rejuvenated.

I’ve put a 32Gb SD card in and the screen is indicating 5 hours and 54 minutes of recording time, however on a full battery and using the minimum of activity (Not using Zoom and other effects) you can normally squeeze two hours of recording from the battery. But I’m never going to be filming war and peace, and I’m probably never going to get that kind of usage from this battery. My best bet with this battery is to not let it deplete totally, and try to keep it in a charge cycle were it doesn’t dip below about 25% of its capacity if I can help it.

I’ve tested all settings and everything is just fine. The touch screen is responsive and all setting and special effects can be easily accessed. There is nothing else wrong with this camcorder.

Available recording capacity
Touch screen working well

At this point I am now happy that this camcorder is a fully working and very capable little unit, that should serve me well as I use it to make videos for my YouTube channel and WordPress site. Repair is complete and successful.

Result:

This little camera cost me £7.00GBP and it’s been a fantastic restoration as such as it has not cost me a penny more than what I have paid for it. All I have done is invest time, done a lot of reading up about the intricacies of Li-ion power supplies, and done an awful lot of cleaning as this unit was probably one of the filthiest pieces of kit I think I’ve ever worked on.

A video, of me, videoing a video of me videoing

The camcorder is now a totally different looking camera from that which I received in such a sorry state just a few days back.

A nice camcorder, clean and restored

I’m going to use this camera myself for little items that I will be publishing here as well as on YouTube. It is so wonderful to see old unused and unloved items, repurposed and given a new lease of life.

Another one saved from landfill.

Thanks for passing by, as always it is very much appreciated.