Protecting CCTV camera Cat5 plug and socket outdoors

[F]

I need to connect PoE CCTV cameras (HikVision DS-2CD2042WD-I) to Cat5 cabling outdoors. The cabling that came with the cameras has plugs already installed at each end and the camera instructions say to cut one plug off, thread the cable through a supplied tube and gland, and then crimp a new plug onto the cable before connecting the plug and the camera's socket inside the weatherproof tube.

If I can, I would prefer to leave the plug on and hide the connected plug and socket inside a weatherproof enclosure. As well as avoiding the possibility of poor connections, this would also ensure that the unused power connector from the camera would be out of the weather too.

Can anyone suggest such an enclosure? All the ones I have found so far would need to plug removing or are silly money.

[F]

A further thought... is it OK to hide the cable by running it in a gutter until it reaches a position where I can put it through a hole in a wall? Black cable against brickwork doesn't look pretty.

[damduck-egg]

Good quality self amalgamating tape applied correctly should do what you want.

G.Harman

[dennis]

Do you only want to protect it from rain?

If so any box that has holes in the bottom and not the top should be fine.

A short length of plastic pipe with a stop end on it with the cables pushed in mounted vertically works quite well as it does for a USB ethernet dongle.

[Adam Aglionby]

+1 , be generous with the wrapping.

Nuclear option , gel filled boxes

Running cable in gutter should be fine, would use outdoor rated CAT5 for preference, crimping plugs takes a bit of practice and get a cheap LAN tester, the one with ladder of LEDs on sender and receiver.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , F escribió:

Have you secured them?

[Roger Hayter]

I am sure you are right. However, in my hands it resulted in some form of twisting or bending force on the plug and socket which broke at least one of the contacts. Certainly a point to bear in mind if it doesn't work.

[Bill Wright]

Bill

[Bill Wright]

Normal cables will not stand semi-permanent immersion in water for very long.

Bill

[Adam Aglionby]

Longer than I thought ;-) from experience, couple of outdoor blacks and an indoor grey, gutter wasn`t cleared in a while, cable was covered in slime , still functioning couple of years on.

Guess PVC isn`t really totally waterproof though, one of those tings that works fine, right up until it dosent..

Judicious use of cable tiesd u.sually possible to get them tucked at back outside of gutter on to gutter brackets or cable clips was one use have found for a 3D printer ;-)

[F]

Yes. Thanks for the warning but the first thing I did was change the defaults and there's no access from the 'net.

[F]

I've gone for some junction boxes from Screwfix:

Just one slight gotcha: they're listed as 88 x 88 x 88 but that's the outside dimension. Inside they're 80 x 80 x 80 but are OK. Just.

[F]

Thanks for the warning, but they're outdoor rated. I should have said so.

[Brian Gaff]

In the latter case it very much depends on what sort of crap builds up in the gutter and whether the local birds etc, use the gutter for a dust bath as they seem to do in mine.

It also depends how well made the cable is and how it responds to ice and UV. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

WE have had discussions here before about cameras inside sealed enclosures and condensation at the lens or the window it looks through, I seem to recall. Myself I'd find some new white cable and only fit the plug on one end as they suggest and then fit the other. Then inside out of the weather, simply use an adaptor to join the two plugged ends together. This way if the outside cable fails, you do not have to replace the whole run. Brian

[Dave Liquorice]

The length of bog standard Cat5 that is in a U shaped length of flexable conduit between house and shed seems OK and it's been there for over 10 years. Initially installed with ends of conduit in house and shed but it's not strimmer proof... it's been flooded for a good number of years Cat5 is carrying DC and low speed data from the weather station sensors, rather than ethernet. Another length of cat5 showed no signs of degredation after several years exposed to the sun on the southside of the house.

There is a joint in that cable orginally a leaf spring terminal block inside an inverted open plastic bag but that went rusty and failed. Join is now soldered and sleeved (just each wire), shoved up inside a cut off, inverted, open, flat plastic bottle. That's probably been in out there for > 6 years and is fine and is carrying ethernet now.

As for the OP's problem. Is the cable entry a proper gland? Will the plug pass through gland without the seal in place? It is possible to cut the actual sealing gland to get it round the cable and assemble as normal. The cut seals just like the gland to the cable under the pressure from the tightened gland nut.

If using a seperate IP66 box and glands don't forget to drill a small weep hole at the lowest point.

[Dave Liquorice]

As Mr Aglionby suggests outside the gutter along the top of the brackets and black cable tied to them would be better. If only to stop it possibly trapping crap and blocking the gutter.

[Adam Aglionby]

Think Bill`s concern is PVC insulated cable in permanent immersion, cables intended for immersion tend to be rubber insulated.

Think outdoor rated Cat5 is UV stabilised, but as with other`s experience , noraml Cat5 seesm to stand up to elements reasonably well, at the least stuff better than the 25 quid a box CCA.... ;-)