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Burned out my own hidden cam with a cheap power adapter last night
Had a 12v mini spy cam hidden in a fake smoke detector in my kitchen for about 6 months, worked great until I tried using a no-name 2amp adapter from Amazon instead of the original. The voltage regulator fried in about 10 seconds and now it's just a plastic shell with a dead circuit board inside. Has anyone here had luck replacing the power supply on these tiny cams or do I just need to buy a whole new unit?
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claire8722mo ago
Wait, you hid a camera in a smoke detector for six whole months?
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charles6402mo ago
Used to think any 12v brick would work, but after a similar mistake with a dash cam that needed a clean 12v line I changed my mind. @claire872 I was testing out a theory about nanny cams and honestly forgot about it until the power supply crapped out. The cheap adapters have terrible voltage regulation that spikes when they warm up, so replacements need to match the exact amp rating and have some filtering. You can find small regulated power supplies for under $10 that work better than the no-name ones from Amazon, just check the output is stable before plugging anything expensive into it.
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