"Jim" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com... On Thursday, March 21, 2013 7:09:28 PM UTC-4, E DAWSON wrote: Hi, I am thinking perhaps outside the "box" here, or should I say inside. You say that the connection leads are about a foot long, and based upon this you want to use a box on the outside of this very nice building to hide your baluns and connectors. If it was me, I would get some 2'-3' power extenders for the 12v or 24v lead from the camera; that should get you thru the wall into someplace more suitable for your final connectors. For the video lead, do the same thing by making or buying a video extender cable. Again, that gets you thru the wall. Of course, I am assuming that this takes you into some kind of ceiling or something. If not, you could still put a box inside a building...usually looks better than outside the front of a building. Now all you will need to do is to drill a hole about 3/4" to 1" thru the wall and pass the wires thru. The flange on a bullet camera should easily cover the hole that you drilled. Also, you should be able to find a spot that is smooth enough for the flange. Now all you will see on the outside is the camera...much prettier. A video connector is just a hair under 5/8". I can get the cables thru on a 3/4" hole by first taping the video connector to the thin wire of the power lead. Basically, you are staggering your actual connectors so that they are offset to each other, the power and video connectors are never lined up together. Pretend that you have a shorter power lead from the camera than the video lead and I think you will get the picture. I usually find a "T" in the grout joint between bricks to drill thru much softer cement than bricks. That is the place that the biggest hole can be drilled much more easily. Bring some aspirin for your shoulder if you drill thru the brick without a hammer drill. I attempted to do that a while ago. The hole had to be in a specific spot because of this particular building. I gave up after 20 minutes of fruitless drilling 16' up in a ladder. Home Depoed it the next morning with the "Holenator", makes brick feel like Swiss cheese instead. Hope this helps you.
Your suggestion "sounds" good but I have a problem with the fact that there will be connectors ..... in the hole in the cement. Your suggestion would be great if the leads from the camera were two feet long so that the connectons would be on the inside of the building. Also, I have no idea at this time as to how thick the wall really is. The building is concrete block on the inside and textured brick on the outside. I'm guessing the the wall is probably 8 to 10 inches thick .... but it could be more. I'll have to determine how thick it is before I make a decision how I'm going to do this. If the outside textured brick is not too thick, I'm picturing making a "larger" hole in the "hollow" part of the cement brick on the inside of the building then drilling the wire hole the rest of the way through to the outside. The connectors would be accessable, and able to be protected and the hole could be covered with a backless 6 x 6 electrical box and cover. Up high on the inside of the building it would hardly be noticed. The ceilings are 20 feet.
The other problem I see is that the mounting flange of the camera is only about three and a half inches in diameter, so mounting it the way you suggested, directly to the brick would require being extremely lucky in finding four flat corners of the bricks that are all flat enough to mount the camera. Then drilling at the very edges of the brick is very likely to crack the corners of at least one and maybe all the bricks. If that happens then I'm screwed. I still think I need some kind of a mounting surface/material for the cameras.
What do you think!
Hi again,
The video and power connectors in the cement hole can be wrapped in electrical tape so that there will be no grounding possibilities to the concrete. Whether the connectors are in the hole or somewhere else does not bother me in the least bit. They are loosely in the round cavity and perfectly well protected. If you need to get to them, they can be easily pulled back out. They are really going to be a permanent connection and extension of your short leads coming out of the camera.
You also mentioned that you are concerned about attaching the camera directly to the brick and finding enough of a flat surface. If you drill even a 1" hole for your video and power leads to go thru, in the mortar joint spot where the horizontal and vertical mortar joints meet, you will find that your fasteners will be in 3 individual bricks-based on an average brick size. Normally, on a round flange, you should have only 3 holes for fasteners. So, with as large a flange as you describe, 3 1/2", and based upon the average distance of the holes in the flange to be about 3/8" in from the edge, coupled with a 1" hole in the center for your wiring, that leaves a distance of about 3/4" of net brick/mortar in between the center hole and your fastening holes. That is plenty of space so that nothing will crack. I am assuming that you are drilling a 1/4" hole into the brick for your fasteners. Unless your cameras are going to be used for wall climbing exercises, there is no need to use any larger fasteners than that. By using
3 bricks, you can create a more even surface for your flange. Think of it as a three-legged stool.
Let me take you further outside the box again. You keep looking at the flange like all of it has to be perfectly flat up against the brick. It does not, only the 3 points where your fasteners are, need to be parallel with the wall surface. You can use a nifty little invention called 'washers' to adjust your camera flange to that it clears any obstruction in the brick surface. Also, as one person mentioned earlier, a tiny bit of carefully applied chiseling will work wonders. By the way, make sure you buy stainless steel washers and fasteners also.
So now you'll say, but what about the gap between the flange and the brick because of the washers? Well, what I would use is the same similar type of gasket stuff that comes with a pvc electrical box. It is spongy and will adapt to any surface. I have some in sheets of about 1' x 1'. It can come in different thicknesses, I have some that is 3/8" thick. You just cut it to size of flange, in your case 3 1/2". Cut a 1" hole in the middle for the wiring and cut out your holes for the fasteners. Now that makes a custom well-fitted seal. Additionally, I would then apply a thin layer of nicely-applied 50-year silicone to the edge between the flange and the brick for added protection.
That's how I would do it without going to any further extreme. It will be very sturdy, it will look very good, it will be flat, it will be well sealed, and you can get at any of the wiring anytime.
About finding where you can buy that sheet gasket material, I have had mine for quite a long time. I cannot remember exactly how it came into my possession. But, by using this internet, a dedicated researcher can find out soon enough. If you cannot find it, let me know. When I have some time I will find it for you. No, I really doubt that it will be a Home Depot or Lowes available product, but you could be pleasantly surprised.
I hope this has helped you further.