Floodlight Pro - How to add your own extra USB port or AC outlets or both

Some people have wanted an extra USB port on the Floodlight Pro, just like was included with original Wyze Floodlight V1.

Wyze's Product Manager @WyzeHongfei gave some good rationales for why a second USB-Port wasn't included/needed:

Source

I think those are actually pretty good well-thought-out rationales from @WyzeHongfei and in a lot of ways I now agree with Wyze for not including the second USB port since MOST people won’t actually need/use it and the majority of people would then be getting forced to pay the extra cost for something most people won’t need/want just to appease the few of us that DO want it (including me). Still, it can be nice to have an extra port for various reasons, including using an OG-Telephoto cam to zoom in on an area that is farther away from this camera. Or, to use as redundancy, such as when AWS has an outage, I like having a separate camera that isn’t reliant on AWS as a backup.

There can be any number of personal preference reasons why someone might want a second USB port or outlet. So I decided to wire my own into this floodlight.

At first, I was looking for a simple device that would covert AC to 1-2 USB-A ports. Then @Newshound gave me a great idea to simplify it. I could just buy an AC surge protector with USB outlets on it, cut off the plug, strip the wires and just wire it in with the floodlight! As a bonus, I could even get one that had AC outlets on it as well, and now I would no longer have to pay an electrician to come wire and install new outdoor outlets on that far side of the house like I’ve thinking of paying one to do. So, special shout out to Newshound for the BRILLIANT idea to simplify the whole thing, and save me hundreds to thousands of dollars in electrical and repair work! Thanks buddy. :+1:

What I wanted in a surge protector for this project:

  • Close to $20 (less would be better though)
  • Waterproof/Rainproof (Preferably IPx6, though I considered several IPx4 options too)
  • Mountable
  • Multiple USB-A Ports
  • Multiple AC Outlets
  • Fairly small/compact

I ultimately settled on one of these, which was $21.99 at the time of purchase:

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https://www.amazon.com/Weatherproof-Extension-Protector-Waterproof-Shockproof/dp/B0B9NJQWW4

Other good contenders included:

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https://www.amazon.com/Weatherproof-Waterproof-Protector-Extension-Decorations/dp/B09X7F2HR8

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https://www.amazon.com/Waterproof-Protector-Extension-Bathroom-Charging/dp/B0BC3GL6KP

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https://www.amazon.com/Weatherproof-Extension-Waterproof-Protector-Officeroom/dp/B0BFWCC84J

They were all between $17-$22 at the time of review.

Again, feel free to search for options that just have 1-2 USB ports if that’s all you care about (I wanted AC outlets on that side of my house anyway).

Also, feel free to search for just IPx4 options, as there are some cheaper ones out there and IPx4 is good enough for most people’s needs when mounted under an eave/soffit.

IPx4 vs IPx6 Explained

IPx4 basically means rainproof as it is resistant to water splashes from any direction (rain). IPx6 is more extreme than most people need as it can withstand water jets with high pressure, or even non-sustained total soaking.
Even though I will likely not get any rain to touch it, I still preferred IPx6 because the more protection, the better for heavy storms or someone spraying water around from my nearby pool.

  • I then cut the plug end off and stripped a stretch of the outer white insulation covering off to expose the Black, White and Green covered wires.

  • I then stripped those to expose some of the copper wire for each underneath.

  • I then threaded that line back behind the Floodlight Pro Mount, into the Junction box like this:


    In the above photo, the white line on the bottom right side is the surge protector line with it’s full insulation shell on it. Then the 3 wires (Black, White, Green) in the middle right side of the photo, are the Surge protector wires that are stripped (don’t worry, I didn’t leave them with that long of exposed copper wire, I cut it a little shorter before I was done)

  • I then twisted the 2 green Ground wires together like this:

  • I then stuck them under the green screw that is meant to tie the green ground wire(s) to the metal mount, and screwed it on tightly:

  • Then it was just a matter of putting the floodlight up there and twisting all 3 white wires together in the orange wire nut, and all 3 black wires together in the other orange wire nut like this:


  • Then tuck them all in to the Junction Box like this:

  • Screw the Floodlight Pro onto the Mount like this:


    Note, the white zig-zagging line is the line to my waterproof surge protector.

And then just Mount the wires and the Surge protector how and where you want them. I haven’t finished mounting mine yet, though I will. For the moment, I am temporarily leaving mine sitting on the windowsill like this:

EDIT/UPDATE: I finally mounted the outlet very securely onto the brickwall:

I’m going to get one or more OG-Telefoto cameras to point to the far side of my backyard (the gate, and the playground), so I can see those with better details, as well as keep a non-AWS dependent camera on there too as redundancy/backup for when/if AWS has issues.

Overall, I found it fairly easy and intuitive to add an Extra USB-port onto this camera, and for anybody wondering, it is TOTALLY worth upgrading! This lens is AMAZING!

Here is my Wyze Floodlight V1 vs the Wyze Cam Floodlight Pro before/after (Note, it’s a little messy as we are in the middle of making some changes):

Also, the above image from the FLPro isn’t showing in the 2.5K resolution it can handle, so it actually looks WAY, WAY better, I am just showing the great FOV difference where I can now see my entire backyard instead of just a small piece of it.

It was worth the upgrade IMO. I am loving it compared to the v1:

  • The 2.5K looks amazing
  • The FOV is awesome
  • The local AI detections are working great! No more having my cats trigger the floodlights all night long from the PIR/motion!
  • The ambient lighting at a lower brightness than when a person is out there is so AWESOME
  • 3000K lumens lights up my entire backyard clearly
  • Loving the 5GHz connection!

Main things I think it needs to have added:

  • Cooldown settings for the Motion Warning, so it isn’t repeating so often (it is too annoying to use when I am home and using my own property)
  • Rules updates:
    • Rule actions to Turn on the Motion Warning and Turn off the Motion Warning, so I can schedule when it is on and off
      • Then I could set it to only turn on at night
      • I could also set it to turn on only when the HMS is Armed, and turn it off when the HMS is disarmed (then it will only say it during armed periods as part of HMS)
    • “Floodlight has been on for X minutes” trigger rule
    • “Turn on Floodlights for X minutes” rule action (The previous Floodlight had this in its rules, as does the spotlight for the V3Pro)
    • Rule action for setting the brightness level on the Floodlights
  • More smart detections
    • Including sound detections
    • Face Detection would be nice (especially with the Motion warning to ignore warning anyone in my family)

Overall, a great device, but the above is my main feedback. :+1:
I have another one already set up and am getting ready to install a 3rd one. I am now tempted to get 1-5 more of these and set them up in new places using the trick Lifehackster shared for how to do your own DIY plugin mount to put smart floodlights ANYWHERE you want. :joy:

I hope this helps some people who are wanting to add a USB port but were hesitant in knowing how to do it yourself. It really wasn’t that difficult IMO.

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Nice work. I like that outdoor power strip and I think I could use it for powering up another one or two V3 cams. I need to go out and investigate since I only have one outdoor outlet on the entire house which I put a weather proof cover over.

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Thank you for your feedback! @carverofchoice

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