Wyze Cam Pan Outdoor Installation

This weekend, I installed a Pan outside at our weekend house in Southern Vermont. It was a straight forward process since I had an older Foscam mounted in the same place for a number of years.

I used one of those mounts you can find on E-Bay to secure the camera to the base of the window frame. I opted to use some better screws than what came with the kit. I used 1.25" Grip-Right exterior screws to secure the mount. To secure the Foscam mount, I used the screw that came with the kit; the head broke off when I went to remove it. The mount for the Pan is OK. It’s mostly plastic, so we’ll see how it holds up over time.

Wiring…I basically shut it in the window since the cable is thin. Worked with the Foscam and that had a thicker cable.

I’m not using a case or any cover on the camera. The above mentioned Foscam (8910) was outside in the same location for 8 years and had no issues. I’m confident the Wyze will hold up just fine. I’m sure I’ll give it a good cleaning every so often. The Foscam did get pretty dirty and had a lot of insects living around it!

So far, so good! Saturday was one of the windiest days we’ve had, so motion alerts were pretty frequent. Things have calmed down and I’m now getting alerts that are either vehicles (we are very close to the road) or other activity.

When that front light is on, the night vision with the IRs is excellent. There’s a very good field of view for what’s in front of the camera. I’m sure the snow on the ground is helping things. When the light is off, it’s pretty dark. That was a little disappointing. Being that it’s a fairly rural area, there are no street lights or much lighting from other properties. The Foscam did a pretty good job in low light situations like that. However, this is technically and indoor cam and doesn’t have a large number of IR LEDs. Worse case, we’ll leave that front light on overnight. It’s sporting LED bulbs, so not a huge energy drain.

I’ll keep everyone posted on how this unit holds up. We get some really variable weather up there…from cold and wind…to humid and rain. As you can see from the pic, the camera is very well sheltered from the overhang of the roof.

A few pics I took. One is of the new setup. The other is the trusty Foscam after being outside for 8 years.

4 Likes

I grew up in upper-state Vermont; close to Lake Champlain. How’s winter treating you all this year? Just a warning, you’ll probably want to turn off motion detection alerts during snow storms. :stuck_out_tongue:

1 Like

Small world! We in the southern part of the state; Brattleboro area.

It’s been an odd winter. We’ve had some good snow, but then followed by rain or really warm temps. It’s been hard to establish a good base in the area around our house. Skiing has been OK; at least the areas can make snow to help recover. It’s been tough getting our older snowmobiles out on our small town system. Fingers crossed.

We’ll be getting snow up there this evening and into tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing how the came does for observing that!

I’ve given some thought to the darkness once our front light goes off. Thinking of getting and external IR floodlight. I believe the pan uses a different IR than the standard Wyze? Something to be mindful of I’m sure.

1 Like

I have lived pretty much in the mid-west since '83, with a couple of short periods in other areas. I miss Vermont, but we’re living near my wife’s parents to take care of them. Anywho… Here’s a couple of links for cam specs.

https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012369411-What-is-the-Wyze-Cam-s-range-

https://support.wyzecam.com/hc/en-us/articles/360012431491-What-is-the-Wyze-Cam-Pan-s-range-and-field-of-view-

1 Like

Totally understand! Family is important. If you ever want VT updates, just let me know!

Thanks for the links. Looks like the Pan uses a 940nm IR. I see a number of these are available on Amazon.

Anyone have experience with and 940nm light?

1 Like

No experience (V2s only), but there is some information here:

1 Like

Great link! Thank you for sharing.

1 Like

I did get a few alerts during the recent snowstorm. Snow will occasionally set off a motion alert. But nothing that was overly noticed. This occurred at night when the IRs were on. No issues during the daylight hours.

Does anyone have any experience with 940nm IR lights? Looks like the selection out there is a bit slimmer than the other version.

1 Like

Hey there my fellow midwesterners! I’ve been looking into using a Wyze Cam Pan for outdoor use but my main concern has been pan and tilt and all of the moving parts breaking down during the Michigan winters. Have you encountered any issues with freezing at all? (I’d be installing under about 2ft awning in front of garage)

Try placing it in a freezer or refrigerator with a light source. After letting the camera chill for a day, plug in the camera and place the light source to check function. Do this for 1 week, 2 weeks and so on.

You may want to alternate between the freezer and refrigerator to more closely simulate temperature variations.
Victor Maletic

1 Like

Hey. I just read your post about the light attracting bugs around your camera. Now that Wyze makes LED bulbs, maybe you could purchase one and put it in your light. Then, you could set up a trigger from the camera so that when it detects motion, it will turn on the light so it can see to record. (Don’t forget to set up a time for the bulb to turn off as a separate event because as of now, the app doesn’t allow for the trigger to turn a bulb on for a specified time. It just turns on and will stay on unless a separate command to turn off is also created).

I’ve had a pan outdoors under an overhang in Sothern Vermont since February IIRC. It’s been perfectly fine. I find that if these cameras (and others for that matter) are protected from rain/snow, they’ll hold up pretty darn well.

1 Like

That’s not a bad idea! I should look into that going forward.

Thanks for the info. You’ve helped convince me to go ahead and get a pan to try out under my garage. At least they aren’t super expensive cams so if it does end up dying after a few months it won’t be all that big of a loss

1 Like

Nice! Keep us posted! I’m confident it will be just fine since it’s under and overhang.

1 Like

I have had a pan under the eave of a patio for 1yr 2mo, no problems. It only pans on command, maybe once a month.

One year later and this pan is still going strong. Out of the three pans I have, this one has been the most reliable. And given that it faces a dirt road; the most entertaining. So far it’s captured on video: A bear, snowmobiles, deer, horses, logging equipment, the town snowplow, our plow guy, excavators, skid steers and various weather events. The camera is mounted under an overhang, so it’s protected from the elements somewhat. It’s still exposed to temps and humidy.

To help with night vision, I added a Tendelux 80ft IR Illuminator from Amazon. It works very well. I have it mounted low, near a power outlet and it faces straight out. Probably not the ideal mount for spreading the light, but it helps a lot because it can get pretty dark out there!

A small flat piece of plastic hot glued to the top of it to act as a visor for the lens might be a good idea. I’ve found most water on the lens tends to run down from the top, plus that water running down has the best chance of being blown into the cam I think.

2 Likes