Are any of the Wyze Cams truly weather proof?

Cameras
,
1

I have had a large number of Wyze Cam 3 fail by getting fogging in the lens. I have also read that people are now seeing fogging on the newer OG after a year outside.

I haven’t bought any of the Pro Cam’s are they any better or do all Wyze cams if put in direct exposed to rain and snow and high winds fail after 12-18 months?

Also Wyze if you want to test weather proof cameras send one to me and I can put it on my deck and within one year they always fail.

2

I have had four v3 cameras outdoors year around in Minnesota weather for multiple years. They all still work and I have never had condensation inside any of the cameras. The cameras are all on the north and east side of my home. Temperatures have ranged from -30°F to 105°F. All of them are somewhat protected by an eve or soffit. I buy cheep uSD cards and have had to replace 4 of them in the course of 3+ years. Still less expensive than buying the expensive uSD cards.

I tried a v3 pro for 4-hours and sent it back. Three weeks later, WYZE gave me my refund after 3 rounds of emails. I am not a fan of the new UI and it took far too long to search playback compared to the v3s.

3

This will not help with fogging lens, but if you have your cameras outside you might consider and outdoor power adapter.

4

I have over 40, multiples of almost every model. None have ever received weather damage. Some recommendations to achieve this:

  1. Don’t ever open them up.
  2. Don’t mount them upside down when exposed to the weather (I believe their IP rating was tested standing up). It makes moisture more likely to get into it over time.
  3. Use a drip loop on any cords when it’s outside so that condensation or raid doesn’t roll down the cord in a stream straight to the camera.
  4. Do not face the lens up at the sky for sky watching without a protective covering of some sort because the water/snow/etc will pool around the lens and often eventually get some moisture inside it. On many Wyze cameras, it often seems like there is a little divot surrounding the lens. When you feel carefully, the center of lens bulges outward and the outside area of the lens dips down lower than the rest of the camera case, giving water and snow/ice a place to pool onto it and given enough time in harsh weather, gravity will help the water to slowly press down on and likely get inside. I think the gasket and sealing they do is sufficient to keep water out in light amounts, particularly if the camera is pointed downward or a horizontal view, but I’ve noticed if some of the cameras are pointed skyward, that water will collect and pool and sit in the little moat around the lens for a long time. Then if you add direct sunlight to the lens or the gasket/sealing area and/or freezing temperatures and I believe pointing the lens upward and collecting water/snow does significantly increase the risk of the of IPxx failure because it’s rated for splashing, but not submersion, and in a way, keeping a constant pool of water in a “moat” around the lens is kind of acting like submersion, which it’s not rated to be able to handle. This is why I usually suggest against leaving cameras pointed upward 24/7 if there is an indent around the lens which acts like a sort of moat when they are facing upward. At least, this is why I only face mine upward during meteor showers when it’s not going to rain.

Not a single one of my 40+ cameras since 2020 have ever had weather damage. I would say 99% of the people who do are doing one of the above things that I’m sure compromises the IPxx rating since the 3rd party testing for the IPxx certification probably doesn’t test a camera upside down, or pointing up for long periods with a moat of water on the lens in freezing and super hot conditions for several days. They have set testing standards in normal use and if it holds up in the independent laboratory, it gets the certification. That’s not necessarily to say that Wyze did anything wrong, the 3rd party testing and certification labs give approval if it passes the general tests, and you have to assume they only test standard use conditions instead of all possible edge cases. So if you stick to the above 4 rules, you shouldn’t generally have weather damage issues.

1 Like
5

I have one V3 and it has the fogged lens issue (better after putting it under cover). Just because someone has 40 and nothing doesn’t mean other batches don’t have factory defects or weather damage can’t happen.

6

I have one that is protected from most direct rain and snow and it tends to last better maybe 2.5 years and I don’t mind that to much. But the ones that are fully exposed have all had foggy lens within 12 months. I have had four fail in the same location all bought at different times. I have had them rightsize up and upsides down and can confirm upside down is worse. They only last a short time when upside down. It looks like the memory card slot can collect water and it will get in even if the flap is closed fully.

7
  1. I never open them up other than to install the memory card.
  2. I agree they will fail very quickly if you do that.
  3. I have done that…
  4. I have them pointed down always.

I have had 4 fail outside in that condition. I am in a part of Canada with high winds and lots of rain. I have other cameras from other companies that are rated for outdoors that never fail. I question what lab they had do the IP testing on the cameras.

8

This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.