I am currently trying to fortify my home against prowlers, thieves and people who would love to vandalize my cars and have so far installed a few security cameras, some of which are wireless and some which are not. I am doing well to deter a lot of the problems for the past few months as these nosy neighbors/troublemakers have seen me install them (no way around that, they don’t seem to work so there’s not really a good time of day to put them up with them always around and watching my house). Just knowing they are there has had a positive effect but I don’t know that I’ve ever gotten so many dirty looks or obsessive stares before.
They don’t seem to be doing anything at this point other than talking a lot of smack and watching my house though. That’s okay with me. I just want them to keep off my property. Whether they are happy about it or not is their problem. I’m not gonna be bullied into moving just because they have 24 hours a day of nothing they need to fill by messing with my stuff. When I am ready to move for my own reasons, I’ll move. I don’t wanna do it just because of these lazy, good for nothing lowlifes. I’m sure any one else here with bad neighbors will understand. Moving is a lot of work. They should move, not me.
In any case, I have one camera cable (the camera itself is safe and well protected) in particular that is wired outdoors in direct sunlight and exposed to snow and rain which cannot be buried as it is mounted roughly fifteen feet off the ground and runs alongside the house where it’s mounted beneath a window. There is about ten to fifteen feet of cable that is exposed which has resulted in one cable going bad so far. I picked up some conduit the other day and was planning on running the new cable through the conduit and then covering the ends with perhaps Duct Seal or electrical tape. My question is if there’s a way I should be insulating the inside of the conduit so that the cables don’t continue to go bad due to hot and cold weather.
What say you, fellow Dopers? Is the conduit enough to protect the cable from the weather, or do I need to insulate it in some way?
I’m not trying to hide the cable at all by the way. As I mentioned, there is no way to conceal the installation or modification of my cameras as I literally don’t have enough privacy to do so. The goal is to protect them from the weather. The neighbors aren’t able to vandalize either the cable or the cameras due to their height and my other cameras mounted in counter positions which cover any angle at which they could have attacked one in my absence. So really, I just need advice on whether or not I need to insulate the conduit.
Thanks so much for your help! It is very much appreciated.
That’s not a bad idea but I’m having a bit of difficulty finding a BNC coax that matches what I have as far as the power function is concerned. For what it’s worth, this is the exact kind of cable I am using now:
I have been searching online to find a similar cable that is a coax that can provide power but so far nothing. Someone from Home Depot told me that the cable is not affected by hot and cold weather but I don’t know any other reason why my cable stopped working other other than sun exposure and weather conditions.No water was able to get into either end of the cable as I had the outdoor connection end well protected with electrical tape and also concealed under a corner of the roof. It’s literally just the fifteen feet or so of cable that was exposed. The ends were fine, and the camera itself is secure. I have since tested the camera with another cable and it works well. It was literally the cable that stopped working, so that’s why I’m trying to protect it somehow. Does anyone know where I could find a good replacement coax with the power function? Or is there another cable or attachment I could use?
I suppose it could have just been a defective cable, or perhaps it was damaged another way during the month it did function. I’m just not sure what happened. I am wary to simply install the replacement cable as I don’t want it to stop working in another month and have to replace it again.
If you know where I can find a coax that can replace this cable I would definitely go for it in a heartbeat. I just want the camera to work so I don’t have to worry about people messing with my stuff.
Use PVC instead of metal conduit. Glue the joints well and you’ll have no water intrusion. Otherwise, there are watertight connectors for metal conduit that will keep moisture out.
Now I see that you’re talking about hot and cold, not wet. I’m pretty sure your cable will be fine with temperature fluctuations. The insulation on electrical cable is rated at a fairly high temp, but can break down from UV exposure.
Hey Chefguy, as far as I can tell it must have been direct sunlight as it was pretty hot for a few weeks here. If not that, then maybe it was just a bad cable or who knows, maybe I damaged it somehow. I am not sure. I have the PVC conduit (forgot to mention that it wasn’t a metal conduit) and was thinking that should be enough to protect it since water is not so much an issue. I just didn’t know if I needed to insulate it in addition to the conduit. I thought maybe the hot/cold weather would possibly still ruin it even with the conduit. All I know is I’m about fed up with wiring these cameras lol.
If the conduit is good enough protection from then sun and cold then perhaps I’ll just cut the conduit, insert the cord and walk away. I hope that’s enough. Man oh man I am getting tired of getting on the ladder for this camera lol
To be specific my conduit is not PVC it’s a Southwire Ultratight nonmetallic conduit that’s rated at 80C dry and 60C wet. Do you think that’s good enough to protect it?
Unless we fall into the sun, sure. I’m not sure that I understand what wet and dry have to do with temperature rating of the plastic, though. By the way, UV can break down plastic conduit over time, but the Ultratite website says it’s UV resistant and good from -30 to +60C. That doesn’t mean that the wire is protected from temperature fluctuation, just that the conduit will likely not break down or melt within those temperature ranges. Your cable may have temperature ratings printed on its insulation. But protecting the wire from direct sunlight can’t hurt. If it happens again, you might look for coax that is specifically rated for outdoor use.
If we fall into the sun then I guess I won’t have to worry about the neighbor stuff at all anymore huh? That’s one way to solve it. lol
I actually got the 80C and 60C numbers right off the conduit. I’ll try that and hopefully the cable will last without any more problems. If that fails I may just try something completely different with the camera and use it indoor only. My wireless cam has given me no problems at all, so maybe I should just stay away from wired.
Not sure if the cable had temperature ratings as I didn’t see any when I inspected it but will check again. I will figure this out . . . or strap these punks to a space shuttle and launch them into the sun so then I don’t have to fight with cables anymore. One or the other!
The cable may just have it’s “model” number printed on it rather than it’s ratings or specs (this is especially common with cheaper cable), so you might need to google that number to get the full info.
