Re: Outdoor camera connections.

["E DAWSON" <edawson@xxxxxxxx>]

"Jim" <alarminex@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4b7320b7-f3ed-4980-b37e-c452a1e81591@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On Thursday, March 21, 2013 7:09:28 PM UTC-4, E DAWSON wrote:
 Hi, I am thinking perhaps outside the "box" here, or should I say inside.
You say that the connection leads are about a foot long, and based upon this
you want to use a box on the outside of this very nice building to hide your
baluns and connectors. If it was me, I would get some 2'-3' power extenders
for the 12v or 24v lead from the camera; that should get you thru the wall
into someplace more suitable for your final connectors. For the video lead,
do the same thing by making or buying a video extender cable. Again, that
gets you thru the wall. Of course, I am assuming that this takes you into
some kind of ceiling or something. If not, you could still put a box inside
a building...usually looks better than outside the front of a building. Now
all you will need to do is to drill a hole about 3/4" to 1" thru the wall
and pass the wires thru. The flange on a bullet camera should easily cover
the hole that you drilled. Also, you should be able to find a spot that is
smooth enough for the flange. Now all you will see on the outside is the
camera...much prettier. A video connector is just a hair under 5/8". I can
get the cables thru on a 3/4" hole by first taping the video connector to
the thin wire of the power lead. Basically, you are staggering your actual
connectors so that they are offset to each other, the power and video
connectors are never lined up together. Pretend that you have a shorter
power lead from the camera than the video lead and I think you will get the
picture. I usually find a "T" in the grout joint between bricks to drill
thru much softer cement than bricks. That is the place that the biggest hole
can be drilled much more easily. Bring some aspirin for your shoulder if you
drill thru the brick without a hammer drill. I attempted to do that a while
ago. The hole had to be in a specific spot because of this particular
building. I gave up after 20 minutes of fruitless drilling 16' up in a
ladder. Home Depoed it the next morning with the "Holenator", makes brick
feel like Swiss cheese instead. Hope this helps you.

Your suggestion "sounds" good but I have a problem with the fact that there
will be connectors ..... in the hole in the cement. Your suggestion would be
great if the leads from the camera were two feet long so that the connectons
would be on the inside of the building. Also, I have no idea at this time as
to how thick the wall really is. The building is concrete block on the
inside and textured brick on the outside. I'm guessing the the wall is
probably 8 to 10 inches thick .... but it could be more. I'll have to
determine how thick it is before I make a decision how I'm going to do this.
If the outside textured brick is not too thick, I'm picturing making a
"larger" hole in the "hollow" part of the cement brick on the inside of the
building then drilling the wire hole the rest of the way through to the
outside. The connectors would be accessable, and able to be protected and
the hole could be covered with a backless 6 x 6 electrical box and cover. Up
high on the inside of the building it would hardly be noticed. The ceilings
are 20 feet.

 The other problem I see is that the mounting flange of the camera is only
about three and a half inches in diameter, so mounting it the way you
suggested, directly to the brick would require being extremely lucky in
finding four flat corners of the bricks that are all flat enough to mount
the camera. Then drilling at the very edges of the brick is very likely to
crack the corners of at least one and maybe all the bricks. If that happens
then I'm screwed. I still think I need some kind of a mounting
surface/material for the cameras.

What do you think!

Hi again,

The video and power connectors in the cement hole can be wrapped in
electrical tape so that there will be no grounding possibilities to the
concrete. Whether the connectors are in the hole or somewhere else does not
bother me in the least bit. They are loosely in the round cavity and
perfectly well protected. If you need to get to them, they can be easily
pulled back out. They are really going to be a permanent connection and
extension of your short leads coming out of the camera.

You also mentioned that you are concerned about attaching the camera
directly to the brick and finding enough of a flat surface. If you drill
even a 1" hole for your video and power leads to go thru, in the mortar
joint spot where the horizontal and vertical mortar joints meet, you will
find that your fasteners will be in 3 individual bricks-based on an average
brick size. Normally, on a round flange, you should have only 3 holes for
fasteners. So, with as large a flange as you describe, 3 1/2", and based
upon the average distance of the holes in the flange to be about 3/8" in
from the edge, coupled with a 1" hole in the center for your wiring, that
leaves a distance of about 3/4" of net brick/mortar in between the center
hole and your fastening holes. That is plenty of space so that nothing will
crack. I am assuming that you are drilling a 1/4" hole into the brick for
your fasteners. Unless your cameras are going to be used for wall climbing
exercises, there is no need to use any larger fasteners than that. By using
3 bricks, you can create a more even surface for your flange. Think of it as
a three-legged stool.

Let me take you further outside the box again. You keep looking at the
flange like all of it has to be perfectly flat up against the brick. It does
not, only the 3 points where your fasteners are, need to be parallel with
the wall surface. You can use a nifty little invention called 'washers' to
adjust your camera flange to that it clears any obstruction in the brick
surface. Also, as one person mentioned earlier, a tiny bit of carefully
applied chiseling will work wonders. By the way, make sure you buy stainless
steel washers and fasteners also.

So now you'll say, but what about the gap between the flange and the brick
because of the washers? Well, what I would use is the same similar type of
gasket stuff that comes with a pvc electrical box. It is spongy and will
adapt to any surface. I have some in sheets of about 1' x 1'. It can come in
different thicknesses, I have some that is 3/8" thick. You just cut it to
size of flange, in your case 3 1/2". Cut a 1" hole in the middle for the
wiring and cut out your holes for the fasteners. Now that makes a custom
well-fitted seal. Additionally, I would then apply a thin layer of
nicely-applied 50-year silicone to the edge between the flange and the brick
for added protection.

That's how I would do it without going to any further extreme. It will be
very sturdy, it will look very good, it will be flat, it will be well
sealed, and you can get at any of the wiring anytime.

About finding where you can buy that sheet gasket material, I have had mine
for quite a long time. I cannot remember exactly how it came into my
possession. But, by using this internet, a dedicated researcher can find out
soon enough. If you cannot find it, let me know. When I have some time I
will find it for you. No, I really doubt that it will be a Home Depot or
Lowes available product, but you could be pleasantly surprised.

I hope this has helped you further.