Having problems with motors in campan v3. I have 2 of them mounted upside down under the eves on my barn and the side to side rotation motors keep going out. I think the wind wrecks them. Has anyone else had this problem? The one would take 3 regular cameras to replace. If I do that can I run 3 regular cameras off one power cable and a higher amp wall brick?
I learned not to mount them upside down. Even if they’re under an eave, water, dust, dirt, etc works its way in around the rotating base.
Some have had luck mounting them upside down but using a disc type cover between the cam and mount or directly above the mount (ideally one that curves downward a bit like an umbrella), but in my case I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle and found a suitable way to mount them upright.
I believe there may be some mounts with covers built in available on amazon and other places (not official Wyze but some here have used them with success).
I have two Panv3s mounted upright. One that moves constantly (looking at a semi-busy street with motion tracking enabled) and is exposed to all the elements with little to no protection, it has been going over 3 years now. The other one is at about 2.5 years, it is mounted upright in the same spot the upside down one died after 6 months. It also moves quite a bit, but not a much as the other one.
In my case, it was water infiltration that killed it, and actually putting it in a bag of rice for a couple days ended up bringing it back to life. The gears are a bit noisy from the dust that got in but otherwise it works fine, I use it as a spare to set up in my house when I’m away.
Welcome to the Forum, @isrummell! 
I think @dave27 answered your first question pretty well.
I’m not sure what you mean by “regular cameras” or “one power cable”. Each wired stationary (“regular”?) Cam would need its own USB cable for power, and you’d want to pay attention to the amperage requirements for each and what features you intend to use, as the power draw tends to increase when you start using multiple features simultaneously (e.g., siren, spotlight, motors in the case of pan/tilt cameras, etc.). Depending on what you’re considering, you can take a look at this table and consult each Cam’s product page and/or Help Center section (linked in each Cam’s footnotes in the table) for additional detail.
| Wyze Cam Model | Supplied Power Adapter |
|---|---|
| Cam v4[1], Cam v3[2], Cam OG[3] | 5V ⎓ 1A |
| Duo Cam Pan[4] | 5V ⎓ 1.5A |
| Cam Pan v4[5], Cam Pan v3[6] | 5V ⎓ 2A |
I believe that I’ve read of some community members operating a couple of the 1A static Cams off a single power adapter of sufficient output, but I don’t recall seeing anyone do this with three cameras. That seems like it should be possible if you can reliably deliver power to each Cam, so I’d be interested in learning your results if you decide to try.
@isrummell to add to this, Wyze does support running two “OG” cams off a single 1.5A power brick. And generally people have found the non-Pan cams are usually under 0.5A but you don’t want to cut it too close. Personally if I was going to try and run 3 cams off one power supply I’d probably want to look for one of the ones capable of putting out 3A to a single port and make sure your cable is thick enough (and not overly long) to support that. Personally, I have 3 cams with the 3 wires running in through a single window and attaching to 3 separate USB outputs (each rated at 1A). I found trying to put a splitter out by the cams was too messy and created more ways for water to get in. The flat cables stack nicely so you can’t really tell it is more than one cable, definitely less obvious than a thick round cable with a 3 way splitter. I only “unstacked” the 3 wires long enough to go through the window, since 3 would be too thick to allow the window to close. But you can’t even see that part unless you’re right at the window.
Perhaps a single smart large wattage multi port usb wall charger delivering 5v to each port with varying 1 to 2 plus amp port ratings. I have one supporting 2 cams and another supporting 3 cams.
Yeah the multiport wall adapter is what I’m using, but still using 3 “home run” cables rather than a single cable with splitter(s). I was a bit disappointed when I got the “stack kit” as I assumed the Y cable would be flat and designed for that setup, but the entire cable is round (can’t go through a window) and the Y section is like 18" long, which makes no sense since it is designed to go with two cams that are mounted together as one. So I never used it.
Yeah I was wondering about keeping the water out of the splitter. I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do on the corner of the barn.
On all my outdoor usb connectors, even the ones that include that rubber “boot” to go over the connection, I put a little bit of silicone (dielectric) grease around the rubber parts. Try not to get it into the connector itself, just to act as a seal where the rubber/plastic parts meet. Then I wrap them in white electrical tape. They do make specific electrical waterproofing/sealing tape but all the stuff I have is black, and the good quality 3M white electrical tape has held up fine for me for 3 years now. Generally I’d start to put the connectors together, add a bit of the grease, then push them the rest of the way. There are actually some electrical connectors where the grease being on them is fine and even intentional (spark plugs for example) but USB isn’t one you want it in.
On my pan cams I even put a bit around the where the 90 degree connector goes into the bottom of the cam, again not getting it on the electrical contacts. Unfortunately as I learned the hard way, that wasn’t enough to help when they were mounted upside down. Best I can tell the water got in two places, around the rotating circle base (even if you put grease around it, the movement would probably let stuff get in eventually) and a bit even went through where the flat USB cable goes into the 90 degree rubber boot (so sealing the outside of that boot didn’t actually stop it).
Note that even with the non-pan cams, I wouldn’t mount them upside down, or if you do, cover the setup button and micro SD slot with electrical or sealing tape. The silicone covers do not seem to be enough for direct rain, at least based on what some others here have said. I personally haven’t tried any of my non-pan cams upside down, but it seems like a reasonable step to take.
I have several cam v3 all installed upside down and I think I’ve only had 1 quit working. But to use those wear I have the pan cam I would need at least 3 allon the same corner
If the pan cam upside down is the only good option, then I’d look into the covers that are available (or fashion one up yourself). In my case I was able to get a good enough view with it right side up so decided not to go to the hassle.