Hello !! Just thought I should let everyone know that my Wyze Cam almost caught fire at the power adapter this morning. I was in bed when it happened, could smell the electrical smell so was able to unplug it before it got any worse. Normally I would’ve been sleeping at that time so very thankful I was awake. My camera itself is located outside my bedroom window but the power connection is fed through my window and plugged in INSIDE my bedroom. This definitely could’ve been catastrophic had I not been home. I was only able to include one pic but there is also a burn spot on my wall. I’ve already contacted support and made a ticket. Just wanted to post here so that people know this is still happening.
Yikes! I’m glad you’re okay!
Your post reminds me of this from a few months ago:
Welcome to the Forum, @aleasagert! 
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Unfortunately wall warts are designed with a “sacrificial link” in them (a fuse of sorts) to deal with a dead short, but a slow “high draw” situation will cause them to heat up. Normally they won’t get to the point of actually catching fire, but it can happen.
I would check your USB cable, it may have gotten pinched and be internally shorted, or there may be water in the other end causing a short. Obviously it looks like you’ll need to replace both regardless, but finding out what caused it may help avoid it happening again.
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Thank you very much for this info. I will check it out.
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I would second @dave27 ‘s point about cable being pinched as you mentioned that the camera is outside and the plug inside. Even though the cable is flat, I personally wouldn’t run it through the window. The pressure point can become resistant and overheat. Wires have minimum bending radius and I bet the window frames when closed reduce that radius to the point of failure.
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Hi ! Thank you so much for your input !! The wire doesn’t actually bend at all, I ran it through a hole in my screen but my window is unable to close all the way. After some more investigation i’m thinking maybe some water might’ve gotten in and caused this incident. I will definitely be changing my setup and am very appreciative of these comments !!
If you think the issue might be related to water ingress, then I wonder if a drip loop in your cable (outdoors, between your Cam and the exterior wall/window) would help (if you choose to set up a Cam this way again) and what else you could do to mitigate the possibility of future recurrence.
Although you didn’t share a photo of the outlet but noted scorching on your interior wall, I’d also be inclined to test and/or replace the outlet, particularly if that appears to be damaged.
Thank you for sharing your experience here!
Here are a couple of thoughts. Would aiming your v3 cameras looking out your windows work for you? Check out this thread.
If you must leave your v3 cameras outside, Wyze does make an outdoor rated power adapter.
I have my flat cables coming in through double hung windows and they do actually close and lock all the way (the weather strip on the bottom compresses to fit the wire. But I chose windows that I do not open and close normally, to reduce stress on the cable.
As @crease mentioned, I’m also a bit proponent of drip loops, and all my cams that are mounted outside, I also coated the inside of that rubber boot that goes over the plugs with silicone (dielectric) grease, then wrapped them in white electrical tape. But the drip loop still prevents water from potentially tracking into the back of the camera (or your house). Nothing crazy, mine just go straight down when they come out the back of the cam, hook into the spot in the base to hold them that way, then the natural angle of the window sill keeps the wire angled away from the house.
When you do hook it back up, I’d say get some rubbing alcohol down into the female plug on the camera, dump it out, then let it air dry for a while, just in case there is some in there. Electrical contact cleaner would do the trick too, if you have any, it evaporates pretty quick. Then once connected just keep an eye on the new plug, it will get warm but shouldn’t be hot (just in case there is an internal short in the cam).
You don’t have to use the Wyze plugs, any 1A USB adapter will do. But I can’t say that a more expensive one like Anker etc would be any better or worse for this situation. Though a 2 or 3A one might deal with the cam drawing more power than it should better than the 1A stock one.
I am glad everyone is ok. Could you let me know your ticket number so I can make sure this gets taken care of properly?
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Very much glad you are OK and you had the Mind situation to be aware of your surroundings enough even in that state to know that something was up. I know I’m a hopeless SAP here but here Jason is looking to do things right. It’s not only because I’m part of the Maven team but this type of thing gives me hope that if I were to run into this situation things would be made known as well. How many people post about other companies and situations And never hear from the company themselves.
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