Can I use phone line cables for Wyze Doorbell Cam

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1

Hello,
I would like to install the Wyze Doorbell Cam at the gate.
I have about 6 phone lines wires (not in use) from the garage to the gate.
Can I use these wires as power?

Thanks
R

2

I would assume it would work if you can send the proper amount of power.
According to Wyze, The existing circuit must have a minimum voltage of 16V and power output of 10VA.

3

Assuming it’s CAT5e or CAT6 cable, use the brown and brown-white wires for one side and the green and green white wires for the other side. Doubling up the wires like this increases their current handling capability, and those 2 sets of wires are farther apart from each other in the bundle, so they will have a reduced capacitance compared to using some thing like the orange/orange white and green/green white wires.
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If it’s just standard non twisted phone wire, then i would still use 2 pairs (4 total wires) to carry the current, but you don’t have to be picky about which 2 to use.

If the run is very long, the voltage will drop, and you may need to use a more powerful transformer to compensate for the voltage drop of the wires. It may involve some trial and error with a multi meter at the gate side to see how far down the voltage is pulled by the run.

2 Likes
4

@speadie has a good diagram there. Normal bell wire is 16 gauge to carry the current for a electro-mechanical bell.

Phone IW (inside wire) is Cat3 and either 22ga or 24ga
Cat5 & Cat6 is 23ga (0.57mm) or 24 gauge ( 0.51mm).
Its certainly worth a shot. In the end it depends on the current (5/8A) vs length (?) and gauge of the wire. Double up to increase the current carring capacity as @speadie says and check the voltage at the load end.

Here is a chart. American Wire Gauge Chart and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits table with ampacities, wire sizes, skin depth frequencies and wire breaking strength

3 Likes
5

Hate to hijack the thread, but I am in basically the same boat, trying to power my Wyze Video Doorbell using existing Cat5e cabling that runs from my rack to the doorbell. I found this plug-in 24V/1A PoE 802.3af transformer:

https://www.amazon.com/EB-LINK-Ethernet-Injector-Compliant-appliances/dp/B07TC7SW5N

Can I plug in this transformer in my rack closet, connect the doorbell Cat5 cable to the output port (I don’t need to run any data through this cable), then at the Wyze end of the Cat5 cable just twist pins 4/5 for positive and 7/8 for negative (that is brown+white/brown and blue+white/blue, per the 802.3af mode b spec)? That seems to me like it should work, but I am no electrician!

Thanks!