Mold in the J-box

[Squiddy Wilson]

Anyone ever run into this, and if so have a solution? One of my camera went down, so I went to look at the connection outside. Water poured out of the waterproof j-box as I opened it, and the wonderful mold build-up was found. The Cat-5 wire was corroded, and I'm not sure yet if I can get the camera functional again. These are the PFA130-E boxes that match up with my IPC-T5442T-ZE cameras.

There is no water damage showing or condensation coming from the attic, and the j-box itself appeared to be a sealed setup (barring the pitiful tape job on the cat-5 connection). The two caps on the sides of the j-box were snug. I'm at a loss as to how this happened.

 

[SouthernYankee]

That is what happens when you live in a swamp I also live in a swamp.

1) dielectric grease on the connector
2) wrapped with coax self fusing silicon tape
3) I wrap that with electric tape.

On one of my cameras that get some water on it when the rain is coming in sideways the junction box has a boat load of clear bathroom silicon.

Also I push the connector up into the soffit

 

[Squiddy Wilson]

Yeah I did the #1 & #2, but did not finish the job with electrical tape. Either way, it seems like this water/mold would have found it's way up into the attic over time and caused more problems. This setup is in a fairly well protected area from the weather and the only penetration that is not technically sealed is to the attic, which I need to recheck. I may need to drill a small hole for a wick, replace a plug in the j-box with a screen to get the moisture out, or simply ditch the box altogether. thanks for the reply -

 

[eggsan]

i consider the cat5 entrance (top cut aperture on the junction box) is wide open. Besides the three steps mentioned by SouthernYankee, I normally cut a smaller hole for pass through the cable, then pour 3M glue around the hole until fully sealed.

 

[TonyR]

i consider the cat5 entrance (top cut aperture on the junction box) is wide open. Besides the three steps mentioned by SouthernYankee, I normally cut a smaller hole for pass through the cable, then pour 3M glue around the hole until fully sealed.

Or maybe duct seal compound? =>> Gardner Bender 1 lb. Plug Duct Seal Compound

 

[CCTVCam]

It doesn't look like mould but aluminium oxide - it forms a white crust as opposed to iron which forms rust.