Parking lot light pole camera install

[inforlonghaul]

Finally after several months of having this project on my mind, we finally pulled the trigger and got it done. Thanks to a wonderful maintenance crew who were able to help get the power sorted and getting it wired up into the box, made my camera install a lot less complicated.

Here's the end result. The inside setup is a little janky, but for being my first time doing this kind of project, I'm just thrilled it's done and working like a champ. We ordered the box and supplies from Amazon. I thought the 'blue light' on the box was a nice added touch to hopefully get people's attention that there are security cameras watching. This parking area runs right along two city streets that T into each other, but is still kind of secluded from everything, especially at night. The area still tends to see activity at night, from people walking/exercising late at night, or um, other extracurricular activities. Maybe the folks that notice will perhaps have some tiny sense of security and peace of mind, while also hopefully serving as a deterrent.

Wanted to post these pictures here, just in case it helps somebody else out there who maybe has this idea and wants to DIY it. Feel free to critique.

Edit:
Also wanted to add: the pictures don't show where I went back and caulked around the camera base and other holes that were drilled. Just FYI.

 

[Revo2Maxx]

Very nice, if you haven't you will want to ground your Surge Protectors, while it might absorb some from a voltage spike but there is no where to discharge it.

 

[d5775927]

Did you drill holes in the front, for mounting the cameras?
If so, can water penetrate from there?
Looks very clean and tidy.

 

[Ri22o]

For future reference, Romex is generally not acceptable to be ran inside of conduit and you want to run individual conductors.

Do you have a link to the enclosure?

 

[Revo2Maxx]

My guess is they are using one of these? I have used them a few times at couple of locations. They might be using a larger version as there are different offerings.

https://www.amazon.com/Electrical-Thermostat-Cold-Rolled-Ventilation-Waterproof/dp/B0CY2BPPD4/ref=asc_df_B0CY2BPPD4?mcid=4cc14ae229a63f2d82db72088db3dcbd&hvocijid=2755329845682173728-B0CY2BPPD4-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=721245378154&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2755329845682173728&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9006312&hvtargid=pla-2281435181018&psc=1

 

[inforlonghaul]

Thanks!

I thought I probably should ground those ethernet protectors, but wasn't sure what I should attach it to. Not sure if just putting a screw in one of those holes on the mounting plate would be sufficient. Thoughts?

Yes, holes had to be drilled to mount the cameras on the front. Not ideal, but the only way I could get this to work the way I needed. If anybody finds themselves in the same situation, I caulked both the holes on the inside of the box and also caulked around the base of the cameras on the outside of the cover, except the bottom strip so any moisture had a place to escape and also even caulked the screws on the outside.

Yeah, I thought Romex wasn't supposed to be ran inside conduit, but the maintenance crew had a short 6 inch piece of rounded PVC conduit that they used to penetrate into the pole and the box so that's the only portion in conduit. I thought they might at least use armored cable, but that's all they had. Fortunately the rest of the wiring is concealed up inside the light pole, but is not in conduit.

Here's the link ob Amazon to the box ordered.

https://a.co/d/7b6WB3B

Sorry for the shortened URL, I copied it from my phone using the Amazon Shopping app.

 

[TonyR]

Thanks!

I thought I probably should ground those ethernet protectors, but wasn't sure what I should attach it to. Not sure if just putting a screw in one of those holes on the mounting plate would be sufficient. Thoughts?

Nice job, thanks for sharing and the pix.

Yes, they definitely need to be grounded properly in order to do their job. I have used them in the past and have had to replace them when they did their job and protected the cable where they were installed from ESD induced by a nearby lightning strike.

The light pole should be properly grounded and if so that is where I would tie them. If that pole is not properly grounded then someone dropped the ball as that pole is within easy reach of the public.

I'd use at least #10 pure copper, insulated or bare, as short as possible and with as few bends as possible and tie to the pole IF it's properly grounded. If it's not, I'd start there because if it's not, something gets pinched, that pole gets "hot" and someone gets shocked or, God forbid, electrocuted you'll get the blame even if it had nothing to do with your work.

 

[inforlonghaul]

Nice job, thanks for sharing and the pix.

Yes, they definitely need to be grounded properly in order to do their job. I have used them in the past and have had to replace them when they did their job and protected the cable where they were installed from ESD induced by a nearby lightning strike.

The light pole should be properly grounded and if so that is where I would tie them. If that pole is not properly grounded then someone dropped the ball as that pole is within easy reach of the public.

I'd use at least #10 pure copper, insulated or bare, as short as possible and with as few bends as possible and tie to the pole IF it's properly grounded. If it's not, I'd start there because if it's not, something gets pinched, that pole gets "hot" and someone gets shocked or, God forbid, electrocuted you'll get the blame even if it had nothing to do with your work.

Let me pick your brain then for advice as I want to do this right, for sure. I do know, when the maintenance crew ran the wiring, I saw a big 1 inch bolt inside the pole that the existing wiring had their grounds hooked into. The crew attached the grounding wire to that same bolt as well and then ran it up to the GFCI outlet inside the camera box, I'm hopeful that means it's all been properly grounded.

Would me getting like a 1ft piece of copper wire, then coming up inside the camera box from the bottom to attach those ethernet grounding wires to, then screwing the other end of the copper wire with a self tapper directly into the side of the pole be sufficient? Or do I need to run that copper ground all the way down inside the pole and attach it directly to that grounding bolt be the only way for successfully grounding? Would it be too dangerous for me to pull that GFCI out and tap into that grounding wire and run a pigtail through a knock out attach it physically to the inside of the box, grounding the whole box?

You can tell I'm a bit out of my element on this part but I want to do the best I can to make sure it's safe as possible.

 

[TonyR]

Let me pick your brain then for advice as I want to do this right, for sure. I do know, when the maintenance crew ran the wiring, I saw a big 1 inch bolt inside the pole that the existing wiring had their grounds hooked into. The crew attached the grounding wire to that same bolt as well and then ran it up to the GFCI outlet inside the camera box, I'm hopeful that means it's all been properly grounded.

Would me getting like a 1ft piece of copper wire, then coming up inside the camera box from the bottom to attach those ethernet grounding wires to, then screwing the other end of the copper wire with a self tapper directly into the side of the pole be sufficient? Or do I need to run that copper ground all the way down inside the pole and attach it directly to that grounding bolt be the only way for successfully grounding? Would it be too dangerous for me to pull that GFCI out and tap into that grounding wire and run a pigtail through a knock out attach it physically to the inside of the box, grounding the whole box?

You can tell I'm a bit out of my element on this part but I want to do the best I can to make sure it's safe as possible.

If you're sure they tied all those grounds you described either to a driven ground rod in the foundation OR to the pole's anchor bolts, then I would tie your 1 ft. piece to that same bolt.

 

[inforlonghaul]

If you're sure they tied all those grounds you described either to a driven ground rod in the foundation OR to the pole's anchor bolts, then I would tie your 1 ft. piece to that same bolt.

Okay, will definitely need more than 1ft as that bolt is at the base of the pole, so more like a 15 ft piece haha. Now I just need to game plan getting the grounding wire out of the box and into the pole down down there.