Outdoor Cams Foggy / Condensation After Rain

This is a more recent development. I’m assuming it’s more of an issue now with the colder weather in New England. After any type of rain of any substantial value, all of my outdoor cams are foggy for a period of 2 to 5 hours. It’s obvious that the cameras must put off a little bit of heat and this is keeping fog were condensation on the lens until the moisture outside cooks off enough. I’ve tried cleaning the lenses, even applying anti fog/rainx. Still does it. I do have a few V3‘s, and they don’t have this issue. Can anything be done here? I will either get no alerts or alerts every four seconds which can really diminish the life of the batteries. Photos are 3 outdoor cams, and one of my v3’s. Oddly, this coincides with my updating to latest firmware.
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I had 2 do the same,after about 1 hr of sunshine it’s all good now

There are a few threads theorizing that this is due to the very low power draw of the sleep state WCO versus the powered cameras.

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I live in CT and currently have 2 WCO’s deployed but own 4. Neither camera is fully exposed outside but under eves/roof overhangs. One camera is fine and one camera is fogged. Today is 12/11/2021 and typical rainy New England weather day. Not exactly an endorsement of the theory in ‘Customer’ reply.

CT here as well. Yesterdays weather is what prompted me to ask for help, although it’s been fogging for around 1.5 months now. The low power draw response by “customer “above doesn’t hold any water to me. If there was a low to no power draw, there would be low to no heat, Therefore there would be no temperature differential, which would cause the fogging in the first place. My cameras are also under the eaves. To further debunk the above, my two v3’s are out in the elements with no issues. They can have water running down the lenses and still look better than the outdoor cams do.

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My thoughts exactly as I also have two v3’s outside and depending on wind directions are more exposed to the elements. Have never had bad images from them.

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Think you guys are missing the point. It’s not a differential blamed for causing the fogging (though of course that is in play). The point is the outdoor V2s and V3s and doorbells simply run hot enough to encourage evaporation of the normal condensation. The WCOs are not warm enough.

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I think YOU missed the point. Fog is only formed when there is a differential. The temp of the lens crosses the dew point and boom. They would ALL fog, but then the hotter ones would clear faster. This isn’t the case though.

What are you even talking about? I said it was in play for causing the fogging. And it is exactly the case that the warmer ones (the powered V2s and V3s) clear faster than the sleeping WCOs.

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Have two V3’s doing the same so the theory they run hot does not hold up. One has not recovered after days so the camera is pretty much trash at this point. Mine happened when the weather turned colder plus rain.

The problem is Outdoor Cams don’t put out enough heat. They are so battery-stingy they get too cold and can’t evaporate condensation. siting them under an eve or branch, or inside a “birdhouse of sorts” might help.
The outdoor cams are a marvel of power conservation, but that does come with real compromises.
I’m probably going to switch to V3 cams run by solar panels and a battery bank.

As mentioned with mine it happened twice with V3 as well.

Condensation forms when the temperature drops below the dew point. A warmer lens should be less prone to condensation. Some satellite dish antennas with domes will heat the dome to prevent condensation which reduces signal strength. Dew point
Two approaches albeit not easily implemented are

  1. Increase lens temperature (mount above something that is warmer, put in direct sun, keep it on charge, …)
  2. Reduce humidity (mount indoors looking out, put in clear air tight container, …)

If it happens with a V3 it is simply that the V3 lens temperature was below the dew point. It is physics. In a controlled experiment where a V3 & outdoor cam were next to each other (in the same environmental conditions), as the humidity went up the outdoor cam would fog. If humidity continued to go up eventually the V3 would also fog.

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For the issues I observed the condensation was inside the lens not outside. A defect as the internal camera is not sealed for the elements.

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My outdoor camera is also fogging up. We had lots of rain. I’ve had a V1 camera out with a cover for a few years. Suddenly it fogged up. (It has a bird house like cover). I brought it in and dried it on a heat vent. It works now. Not sure what I’ll need to do to the outdoor cam.
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I have a WCO that looks just like that this morning, 35 degrees outside with 98% humidity and frost. The cam is about 3 feet off the ground exposed. The entire cam is soaking wet and of course the lens is covered with moisture. It was due for a charge so I brought it inside, dried it off and it is all clear now. Maybe I will make it a little blanket. :upside_down_face:

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Later today…some sun 45 degrees

If the moisture gets inside it stays blurry even after I warming it up inside for a few days, probably from the spots on the inside lens after it dried.

Speaking of Fog :grin: I did make a little blanket for the camera out of an old wash cloth for a test. I rapped the cam in the cloth and held it in place with a rubber band.

So, what’s the solution?