Outdoor/Weatherproof Wyze Cam

Great idea with the box but same question for the night vision.

I was going to build my own enclosure but without anything in from of the camera lens, this box might do the trick by cutting out the clear plastic and siliconing the camera to the box, this should keep it watertight.

I tried using a camera dome but got the IR reflection. i think im just going to turn off the night vision and add my own IR externally.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FOY7sH3D1lBSVM0F2

Also ive had one outside since the beginning of the year and so far so good.

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Where did you get that awesome dome? I would be ok with no IR on!

Where do you have your other outside camera?

Nice enclosure idea.

Just a note- I don’t think adding external IR will help. As it is now, if night vision is turned off, the IR cut filter is in place blocking the IR spectrum. At this point you’d be better off turning it off and adding brighter visible light.

People have asked for the IR lights and NV mode to be separated in the app, but it may be a hardware issue that’s out of their hands.

I wonder if some black tape wouldn’t take care of the IR lights…

Aliexpress, i just pulled out all the internal mounts and stuck the magnet plate to it. Drilled a hole for the USB connector. Works great.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CES-Plastic-Security-CCTV-CCD-Dome-Shape-Camera-Housing-Cover-Black-White/32750395958.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.60c72e0efwIGQj

 

Its sitting on top of an electric box under the eave in the backyard. It got splashed with heavy rain a few times with no issues.

I discovered by viewing an exploded view of the camera (on Amazon, scroll down a bit on the product page and you’ll see it) that the circular plastic piece in front of and around the lens can be removed by snapping it out. I took one of my V1 cameras today and (voiding the warranty) dug into the edge of the disk and the surrounding plastic enough to pop it off using an eyeglass flat bladed screwdriver. The LED IR emitters are the two small white edged squares at about the 4 o’clock and 8 o’clock positions relative to the camera lens. There’s a rubber piece surrounding the lens and the microphone (at the 6 o’clock position) that pulls out easily to give you better access.

If you’re going to put this behind glass or plastic and try to use an external IR light source, you’ll need to disable or block the two IR LEDs inside so you can still operate the camera in the night vision mode behind glass and get the benefit of the IR sensitivity of the camera. If you don’t enable the night vision mode, you’ll end up with a very dark color image and no increase in the sensitivity of the camera.

As a test I’m going to put two small pieces of opaque tape over the IR LEDs (cloth gaffers tape for example) and see if I can block most or all of the output of those LEDs. If there’s too much leakage of IR light, I’ll probably disable them permanently by using a small Exacto knife to sever one of the two connections to each LED.

While I was in there I took a pair of needle nose pliars and twisted the microphone gently and removed it permanently. That way the audio won’t be part of the stream from that particular camera. There’s a new setting added recently to stop the microphone from recording to the memory card, but there’s no way to prevent the audio from streaming to the app. The mute setting in the app turns off that device’s speaker, but it doesn’t prevent a second person using the app on a second device from hearing that camera’s mic. For now, removing the mic is the only way to completely disable it.

Just a heads up; there’s a post on the forum that discussed disassembling the cam without prying anything apart. There’s also a few YouTube tear down videos for the oem camera that look pretty easy. I’ve been considering taking one of mine apart to do a conformal coating for weather resistant use.

To follow up on my post just above:

Luke, I did find the video on YouTube showing how the camera comes apart. The back panel where the connectors are snaps apart from the main housing, but not easily. I was interested to note that in one of my V1 cameras I had two IR LEDs, and in another one I had four. Two different versions of the hardware I guess.

My goal in getting at the IR LEDs was to disconnect them so I could run the camera behind a glass window in night view mode (black and white with enhanced sensitivity), while mounting a high powered IR floodlight mounted outside to light up the driveway at night. I purchased an 850nm IR floodlight from Amazon (the one with 198 LEDs in a rectangular frame which takes 12 volts DC). Once I had the camera IR LEDs disconnected (by carefully cutting the circuit board path on one end of the LED), I mounted it behind the window and temporarily rigged the IR floodlight outside.

I was very disappointed in the results because it seemed like the light wasn’t powerful enough. While it seemed to work fine in testing inside the house, once I had it set up outside it seemed like it was barely on. Then it hit me-- the double pane “low e” glass in my vinyl replacement windows was blocking a lot of the IR light getting back inside to the camera. So I temporarily moved the camera to be looking out a completely open window, and voila, I had a great night time image. Far better than you could get with just the IR LEDs mounted in the front of the camera.

So the bottom line is with these cameras-- if you’re planning on installing a high intensity IR light source outside, make sure the camera is also outside with it, if you have typical double pane windows. For now, I’m looking at various outdoor mounts and a location for the camera which I had hoped to avoid by disabling the camera’s IR LEDs and mounting it inside.

IFTTT allows you to connect to your camera and setup a proximity. So when you leave your house it turns on the motion detector. Works great. IFTTT.com they have a app and setup is easy

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I think the next generation of wyze cams should be an outdoor type. I wish as well an optical zoom can be added. I currently own 3 cameras 2 v2 and the pan version which are working very well. They complement with my wired DVR cameras. If they keep working as today I am planning to replace the wired cameras with the Wyze type.

About W v2 enclousures this one looks really nice:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DW971RT/?coliid=I1ABRCXBH9VC6N&colid=3Q7E0O2B46DB3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

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I tried black tape, there was still reflection/interference.

How blurry is the plastic thing? Very or not that blurry?

Wow that enclosure looks nice! I might have to order the 3 pack.

Integrated solar power supply, so the exterior camera could be placed anywhere!

Add my vote to an outdoor camera!

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Living in San Bernardino County, CA, rain is a scarcity and rain ritual is proven ineffective. The most drizzle we get may be 2-3 times a year after Winter. And we go out dance in tears when heavy downpour occurs (if). So, I have been thinking of an easy way to put up a Cam v2 under the gazebo in the back yard. Completely concealing the v2 might shorten its lifespan due to the accumulated heat. I also must need the IR after the dark. So, there must be some way to protect the v2 from overheating while being able to block off some drizzle, yet you are able to wall-mount it. I measured the diameter of a half-cut soda can, it fell a tad smaller than the v2’s 2"x2"x2" dimension, so it was a no go. I went through my recycling bin and found a Aquafina water bottle. I took a shot and cut it open, but leave a piece on the bottle extended so it hangs over the top of the v2 body to fence off the drizzle. I think it would work just fine, and I just need to drill a hole on the bottle cap for the wall mount ball head. I don’t like how cheap the water-bottle-turn-housing looks, so I will pick a color from my Rust-Oleum collection this weekend and spray it. Cam v2 + housing will be pointing at 45 degree down, unless the rain boomerangs up from under the gazebo, I think the v2 should survive.

I will give some update when the final housing product is done (like you care!). :slight_smile:

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I agree, an outdoor camera is a necessity!!!

I am far more interested in seeing who tries to break into my house, than to see what my dogs are up to all day. Currently, I have a Ring doorbell (version 1) and it’s crap!!! Terrible video, it starts recording when someone is two feet from my door (even through I have the sensitivity at 30 ft from my door)… and sometimes when I do the live view, I only see a black screen. I totally prefer my Wyze cams 300x over the Ring.

At the moment I am using my V2 wyzecam for my backyard by pressing it up against the window and turning off night vision. Since it is pressed up against the window, it gives me a very limited field of vision but I found that if I didn’t press it up, I would have a huge glare even during the daytime. Also, I have it at the window that is right next to the motion sensor flood light for my backyard, so that way if anybody passes by, the lights turn on and the cam is able to record in lieu of night vision and IR lights.

I would definitely like to see all of the above, including a solar panel that can keep the camera charged. I think that would be amazing! Another thought is to also come out with skins for the wise cam in the event people want to place it on trees or between plants.

And please please please let’s do something about Google home and SmartThings!