So getting my first wyze cam and was thinking about putting one outside in the driveway to see if anybody’s around the cars as I have a trail cam set up and had some guy poking around a while ago.
Problem is I have no power out in driveway. I put up a post with some 12v motion flood lights that work very well and use a 9ah 12v battery that lasts 2-4 weeks depending on how much use.
Im wondering if I did the same set up using a 12v to 5v micro usb cable(dashcam install kit) would it work, or would the camera draw to much power?
Seems like the cameras always on, is there a way to only come on when motion is detected?
Has anyone else done this? Or have any tips or ideas?
I’ve looked at other brands of battery IP cams but they cost 10-20x as much and seem like dont have very good reviews
You can do this by using the battery and then get a 12v usb Socket like the ones you can get for cars etc, we did this of another usb powered device outside, and also connected a solar battery charger to the battery, so far haven’t had to charge the battery, but now winternis her and less sun we will see
A dashcam powering kit connected to a 12VDC battery will work fine.
The V2 camera draws about 300mA @ 5VDC in day time. Somewhat more in Night mode when the IR illuminators light up.
If you’re powering a dash cam power kit (or other DC-to-DC converter) from a 12VDC battery, the current draw @ 12VDC will be about 140mA (daytime). You can do the math and figure out how long a big 12VDC battery would last, depending on hours of daylight, whether you have night mode enabled, ambient temperature, etc.
There are a lot of posts here by people looking at the possibility of using solar cells to keep a battery charged up. The cam consumes a couple of watts, so you’ll need a solar array of perhaps 8W or more to keep the cam running 7x24 (depending on your latitude, etc).
On Amazon, you’ll find after-market vendors selling outdoor enclosures for the V2 cam.
Or forget the battery, and run an exterior-rated cable to get 12VDC out to the camera location, then a dashcam kit to convert to 5VDC. RG-6/U coax is one option. I repurposed a CATV drop to get power out to the utility pole in front of my house.
As far as I can see, you can just follow the manuals of your wyze cam, which is good for the durability of the cam itself.
When I use the WingHome trail camera, I feel boring about using the 12AA batteries, so I use the solar panel finally, and it works well. What’s important, I do follow the instructions on the product manuals.