New to Wyzecam, happy so far considering they are taking the place of an $800 wired system that , luckily i was able to get a full refund of after 2.5 years(costco) because the app stopped working on Android Oreo.
I digress>
I want to know what kind of requirements and or limitations there are on power cords with wyzecams.
Id like to mount these cameras in the spots the wired cameras were mounted but i need longer power cables than the ones provided( run through attic and back into main living area to a power strip or USB hub if possible.
Does anyone runt he power cable through walls? There are several spots where i can mount the camera and just drop the cable down through the wall and back out at the outlet bellow…6 to 8 feet.
BUT i dont want to create a fire hazard…
I seem to only be able to find 15 foot cables …through monoprice, a few 20s on amazon.
OR can i use a USB to USB extension ( much longer lengths available) and plug the standard cable into that?
I have one 15’ cable run through a wall and then behind a baseboard for about 6 feet. I’m not concerned about it being a fire hazard being low voltage DC. I’m not an electrician, but I would not think it would be against code given that homes are wired with Cat 5 cable without any additional shielding.
You have to be careful that you don’t have too much voltage drop on a long cable run. The larger the wire gauge, the less voltage drop. The monoprice cables here:
are 22AWG (lower number, thicker wire), which I believe is sufficient (but perhaps barely) for 15 feet (and they’re on sale for $1.85 right now).
Here’s a voltage drop calculator:
For the 15’ monoprice cable, it works out to .24V drop at .5 Amps (see attached). Just a guess on the amperage: the included power block is 1 Amp and is supposed to be able to handle 2 or 3 cameras, so I used .5 amps for this calc.
Bottom line: if you go longer than 15 feet, make sure the cable you use has sufficient gauge on the power wires for the length of run.
Thank yo for that succinct response !
What do you suggest as a spliter so to speak to power two perhaps three camera form the same power source. It would be helpful to only have to run a few wires for power into the attic.
Also if i stack cameras is there a trick to splitting power with a short “Y”
Again, thank you
The large USB-A port on the camera is there to pass power out of the camera to power another one.
I believe I’ve seen people say they can power 3 cameras off the 1-amp included power block, but I don’t think I’d try to do more than two. If you need to do more than two, then consider a 2.4 amp third party power block such as this:
Perfect, again thank you ! Id like to find some power blocks that stick out less so to speak, wherein the USB plugs in from the top…low profile on the wall.
