TY for the info.
So, this adapter goes on the camera end of the Ethernet cable yes?
What did you use for the injector to supply the voltage?
TY for the info.
So, this adapter goes on the camera end of the Ethernet cable yes?
What did you use for the injector to supply the voltage?
The PoE to USB power adapters do connect to a regular ethernet cable wherever you need power. On the other end I have regular PoE switches. These are true 802.3af devices so they work with standard PoE switches and midspans, or a generic injector.
This is a simple hack but it works. Buy one of those light socket adapters and replace an outdoor light bulb with this. You then plug the Wyze camera adapter into this socket adapter. To fit you may need the real simple ones with just the electrical socket and not the ones that come with two electrical sockets and a light socket. It cost me $2 at Lowes but it depends on the exterior light. Then run the USB cable to where you want to mount your Wyze camera. You need to keep the light switch on and you do lose the light.
Hello there!
How did you get the micro USB connector on the PoE to USB adapter to plug in to the Wyzecam? I purchased two of the PoE adapters and have found the plastic shroud around the micro USB connector on it is too large to fit in the cavity on the Wyzecam.
Thanks!
I just used a utility knife to shave the plastic connector down enough to allow a snug fit.
Matt<!–more–>
i am a serious newbee but a handy man, any way you can post exactly what you bought to to hook up 1 camera, me and my wife are stumped. I googled the cables and i didn’t even know those existed. So essentially all you do is buy 1 adapter and one long Ethernet cable and connect it to your modem?
On my current outdoor cams I have 2 that run solely on solar, the outdoor cams use between 400ma (day) and 550ma (night) each camera.
So between the 2 cameras on average 23,000-25,000 mAh is consumed by the 2 camera per day I originally had one 120 watt panel which fell short at times so I added another 120 watt panel to system.
Solar panel system consists of two 120 Watt panels, 72 Ah deep-cycle battery and charge controller, so there was significant costs involved but far easier than running power 400+ feet to driveway entrance. If I ever add an electric gate I bet I will need to add at least one more panel…
On Winter days/nights even with 2 panels I have a few days where I don’t get enough sunlight and the cameras go down when charge controller low voltage disconnects. But it’s only maybe 3-5 days a year.
So if you plan on running on Solar Power only there will be a significant investment in the solar system compared to camera cost!
$350 dollars in the solar system costs.
I’m not sure where you live, but I think you may be losing some efficiency with your setup. On a decent 120 watt panel you should be pushing an average of 6 Amps to the controller and 5-6 to the battery. With a 4- 5 peak solar hours a day, that should be enough to charge that battery at close to the optimal rate. Once again, if you live where it’s cloudy often, you have to go big I suppose. A few things I’d consider which you may be doing but I can’t tell from your details. Of course, if it’s working for you just ignore this Only trying to help…
Go with Mono PV Panels as they are more efficient in low light conditions
Mount your panels so you can tilt them at least three times per year. Google solar panel orientation via zip code. It’s pretty easy to make adjustment holes in angle iron mounts (or some other clever contraption). The hard part is remembering to change it. I put the adjust times in my online calendar as a reminder.
USE an MPPT charge controller to squeeze out every last drop of energy produced. Wasting available power makes us sad…
Watch your voltage drop/wire sizing. DCV drops very quickly across distances. Place all of your components as close together as possible and use the proper wire size. This is probably the biggest mistake I see people make. Oh, it’s only 10 feet from my panels to my charge controller and I have this 16 AWG wire in my garage from a home improvement project last summer… Not good, that size wire will produce twice the recommended amount of voltage drop.
Bonus tip… NEVER run your battery down to low voltage disconnect unless it’s a zombie apocalypse. Your battery will die a little bit inside each time. Size everything so it never dips below 50% or 30% in an extreme lapse of judgement (like a week long bender in Vegas).
Put all these together and it will cost a bit more initially, but you should be good for 3-5 years until battery replacement and everything else should be good for 10-20… except maybe the camera but at $25 who cares, get another one
Please don’t waste your money. A solar setup to power one of these 24/7 and provide 2 or so days of backup consistently (years) is going to run you about $150. These solar power banks are not efficient enough to fill themselves up in a reasonable amount of time, let alone replenish their power AND power a camera. I have a NestCam outdoor solar setup right now, and am replacing them with several of these cameras I just purchased. I’d be happy to help you if you are serious about this. Just let me know…
Where I live summer is fine and only the winter is the issue in needing an extra panel. Lots of very tall trees most 80 feet or taller, do not get a full day of sun in my location in the El Dorado National Forest, Too lazy to adjust the tilt for the panels 3 times a year…LOL
I have a quality MPPT charge controller with Low Voltage Disconnect, Current outdoor cameras are not WyzeCams (Waiting for WyzeCam Outdoor though!)
The one panel actually worked 95% of the year and only had “Low Voltage Disconnect” happen 4-5 times a year but being the nerd I am I wanted 100% so I added the additional 120 watt panel…
Could be the battery too as it is a very old battery but charge controller still shows it’s health in the green…
The solar system for the 2 outdoor cams was just a “Science Experiment” for me I was bored…LOL
Cool man! Keep experimenting. I am currently using Nest Outdoor cameras and they are quite power hungry so anywhere I can make my system more efficient, I do.
Are you using lead acid or sealed batteries? I’m currently using sealed, but am going with golf cart batteries on my next setup. I’ve never maintained batteries myself so I’ll be learning something. They provide a lot more bang for your buck, but I’ll have to test and fill them myself. Being they are larger capacity, I’ll scale up my system to include cameras, landscape lights, etc.
Fun Stuff!
Sealed Gel Cell manufactured in April 2007, I amazed it still works! Alpha Cell Gel 210 GXL
I probably should replace, I bet I would have better storage but the controller still shows it in the green as far as battery health
Edit:
Just bought a 100Ah Gell cell to replace the 11 year old battery, was curious if I would see better storage. (LOL Likely will !!)
Had a good amount of Amazon rewards so the battery only costed me $60 including shipping (60 Lbs)
More like $40-60 depending on environment and time of year. I don’t know where you got your figures or how much power testing you’ve done on the Wyze cameras.
Matt3: So you plugged the micro usb into the camera. What did you do with the Cat5 split end? Just tucked away?
The Cat5 RJ45 plugged into the Micro USB adapter and I have it tucked into the siding.
-M
Wow! 40-60 dollars to provide 48hrs backup with battery discharge down to 50% under continuous use? Those are my requirements.
If a hurricane comes through and I am not providing a charge for 48hrs, I’d like my camera to remain running and my battery to still be healthy at 50% when the clouds clear.
I would absolutely love it if you could provide me a parts list. We are either talking entirely different scenarios or I am being price guaged.
Thanks!
What hurricane-proof enclosure are you using?
Haven’t fabricated one yet. I just received my Wyze yesterday. I am currently using two Nest Outdoor cams. One is affixed to my house under a porch and is very well protected. The other is in a custom enclosure I fabricated which is attached to a 4x4 fence post (solar powered). The main component is a small pelican case. They both made it through Irma with no issues.
I’ll most likely fabricate another similar enclosure for the Wyze cams. At $25 vs $200, these are no brainers.
<p style=“text-align: center;”>I checked today and during the day, I’m pulling .31A at 5.01V. I’ll be checking tonight to see how the IR lamps affect the load. Then I’ll run my kill a watt on it for 48hrs to verify my findings and design the system according to my data and my requirements. Did you have a parts list for me? I’d really appreciate it if I could do it for that cost.</p>
I’ll ask the guy who built it, I don’t know what the parts are. Probably a Harbor Freight sale. These only use 1.6 watts, so it’s not a huge amount of power.
I was close, Ali Express. He said it’s a dual-USB-out power controller for $8, 10w panel for $25, and a generic SLA “alarm backup” battery that he had sitting around but thinks they cost $20. He only gave me the link for the controller, but I see a lot of panels on that site too.
I have used something similar to power a Ubiquiti radio in the middle of the desert to bring internet to a valley.