Camera dead after rain

Dodutils

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my guess, except if you had fog looks like you had some humidity inside lens module (or the camera's box) and as the camera got warm it started to evaporate to finally get dry in last picture but this humidity may have damaged other components.
 

wozzzzza

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my guess, except if you had fog looks like you had some humidity inside lens module (or the camera's box) and as the camera got warm it started to evaporate to finally get dry in last picture but this humidity may have damaged other components.
the last picture was how it WAS BEFORE it died. first 2 are how it is now.
 

Dodutils

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the last picture was how it WAS BEFORE it died. first 2 are how it is now.
Yes your are right, but my guess is still valid, by the way, I don't know in which country this camera is but is it legal there to record "outside" your home ? different countries have diffrent law and it is always interesting to learn about differences.
 

randytsuch

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Another trick that might help is to make a U shaped low point with the cable, and have the connector above the low point. So if water drips down the cable, it won't collect at the connector.
Idea shown here kind of, towards the bottom.
 

nayr

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thats called a drip-loop and is standard practice if the wiring is exposed.
 

Dodutils

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thats called a drip-loop and is standard practice if the wiring is exposed.
Exactly what I tried to explain in one of my previous post but now I know the english word :)
 

whoslooking

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The drip loop was, was used for a few reason on coax installations, up its not seen as the professional was to install a security camera.

conduit and copex for external installations, or direct entry is the professionals choice.
 

nayr

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yeah typically exposed wiring is unacceptable; but it happens with residential DIY from time to time.. hell ive seen ethernet runs inside the gutter before on this site lol.

conduit is far too underutilized around here; a youtube video, a 1/2in bender, a scrap piece of EMT and about a half hour of your time is all you need to gather the skills to run nice and secured external conduit runs.. its the connectors that end up costing alot w/lots of conduit, a bender will pay for its self in short order just to avoid extra couplers and prefab bends.. EMT cant be cut by a pair of dykes, can provide a ground for your camera chassis, and takes paint alot better than PVC so its far superior for video surveillance.
 

whoslooking

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I've done the CCTV install at a US embassy, and things are not made easy for you state side, the conduits are not good oops work with, our black pvc is hard wearing and easy to work with, but each to there own.
 

nayr

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Our PVC dont tend to remain rigid on horizontal runs, gets all saggy.. espically when exposed to UV, although it is far easier to work with than EMT I do admit; generally I only use PVC underground and EMT above ground.

getting a lasting paint job to stick to plastic, espically PVC is a PITA.. most residential installs want conduit painted to match whatever its installed on.. and unfinished galvanized always looks better than plastic IMHO.

I use a sawzaw w/metal bit to cut EMT; for PVC I use a pair of PVC Dykes that take no effort at all and cuts like a warm knife through butter.. Ive used the Dykes on PVC Conduit w/Coax inside and it had more trouble cutting the coax inside than the PVC.
 
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zebrock

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yeah typically exposed wiring is unacceptable; but it happens with residential DIY from time to time.. hell ive seen ethernet runs inside the gutter before on this site lol.

conduit is far too underutilized around here; a youtube video, a 1/2in bender, a scrap piece of EMT and about a half hour of your time is all you need to gather the skills to run nice and secured external conduit runs.. its the connectors that end up costing alot w/lots of conduit, a bender will pay for its self in short order just to avoid extra couplers and prefab bends.. EMT cant be cut by a pair of dykes, can provide a ground for your camera chassis, and takes paint alot better than PVC so its far superior for video surveillance.
Generally I would use conduit for exterior installs but for this application at my condo the camera is in an area where the conduit would stick out like a sore thumb. The cabling is well hidden but unfortunately has to be exposed to the elements a couple feet before it runs inside. Took your advice and ordered the coax seal - will be here today. HOA is a mother f'er.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N930A using Tapatalk
 

nayr

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yeah I can understand, condo's are a bit harder to hide stuff from HOA.. they wont see paint matched conduit from the street but your property ends at the outside surface heh.

this is why I dislike PVC conduit outside, here is whats on the back side of my house.. the PVC was installed by a previous owner and looks like shit; I've been meaning to replace it with EMT but bah.. the EMT holds my cable internet, it used to be all exposed and every few years required replacing.. im also using it to ground the cable surge protector inside the metal service box.. When I replace this PVC Conduit I'll paint em both black and the'll vanish from any distance.

IMAG0711.jpg
 

randytsuch

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The EMT benders looks interesting, didn't even know they had em, I was going to use 90 degree fittings. I'll look at the bender because I may want other than 90 degrees for my run.
And my comment on the drip loop was just to make sure the connector is not at the low point of the cable, where moisture collects. Seems like this would happen sometimes if you are not careful.

Randy
 

zebrock

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Finally was able to pull the cam down and look at the lens and it looks like water got inside of the camera itself causing the issues. Junction box was dry. Wrightwood has been great to deal with. I put the DS-2CD2142FWD in its place in the mean time and its night picture is crap compared to the bullet but will do for now. Made sure to triple seal the connector this time but dont think that was the cause of failure.

 

nayr

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could of drained into the coupling from inside the camera via siphon if it filled up with water; but I'd of think id of been dead before that happened; however ive seen some crazy failures that are hard to explain.
 

nbstl68

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Anyone ever try one of those waterproof sprays like Never Wet or NanoProtect?

There are all kinds of you tube product demo videos of some of these where they spray electronics and circuit boards with their "nano-coating" water repellent and then stick the electronic product in a tank of water (drill, light bulb, cell phone circuit board etc.) and they all work just fine without shorting out which seems impossible.

Example:

Now the products are not meant for full submersion really but I assume they are just trying to make a point that they can make some electronics pretty darn waterproof.
Seems too good to be true...I would not waste a camera trying it out, but if the product itself would not cause any harm, why not spray the board and connections with the stuff?
 

nbstl68

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How do they do the "circus trick" of spraying then dipping that light bulb, plug socket and all into water without shorting out?
I mean it does not really look like they even gave the socket a real thorough coating.
I'm not an electrician so of course it amazed me but maybe there are some basic principles at work there I don't know about.

Anyway, they seemed like interesting products for added protection, although most of them say "not intended for electronics" yet that's all they do in the videos.
 

alastairstevenson

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And the spray test water could have been DI water (de-ionised) which by itself does not conduct, so would do no harm.
Unlike rain water which has dissolved CO2, N2O, HCl and so on, the ions from all which make it conduct fairly well and provide the electrolyte that supports the electrochemical corrosion from the available voltage.
True, but irrelevant.
 
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