IPC-HFW5231E-Z5 Water Damage

Night-Owl

Pulling my weight
Jan 14, 2018
311
112
Hello All,

I have just replaced my IPC-HFW5231E-Z5 with a IPC-B5442E-Z4E as the IPC-HFW5231E-Z5 had suffered from condensation since 6 months old despite many attempts to sort. Anyway, on removing the IPC-HFW5231E-Z5 I note it's bad condition after only 2 years. See pics. This is mounted on a wall with wire coming out of back and straight through brick wall, then the mounted sealed with silicone where it meets wall and covering the 2 holes on top and side it has for cable inlet. Not sure if covering those holes is what has caused the issue ?.

Pictures show back where it's totally corroded at bottom in inside and corrosion inside front lense where it's even corroded through day/night sensor wires. I have many a camera and never had such issues before so purely interested in if others cover the cable entry holes up when wall mounting etc.

I also use a blanking grommet where cables go through wall with a little hole cut out for the cable to trying and minimise water getting into house through the cable entry hole as it is large for ip cameras due to size of weather sheald on Lan connector etc.

Thoughts welcome :)
 

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I use a watertight mounting box to mount the cam to. Use dielectric grease in the connection. I use calking, around the area of the small hole I drill into the siding, to seal the box to the siding. I terminate the end after it is brought into the box.

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Yes, a mounting box would certainly reduce the size of the hole needed threw the wall. But I note these cameras have a hole at the top and side for cable entry where others they are at the bottom, being at the top implies that people won't use cable entry via the top and therefore would leave this hole open and hence imply its not an issue for the camera seen by the manufacturer ?, which it clearly is as you can see by my photos, water sits in the bottom, has knowwhere to go as no hole at bottom and sits their causing corrosion and maybe the camera is absorbing some of this and hence the condensation issue ?. Has anyone got these mounted on a wall, hole not sealed at top and hence water being able to go inside but never had condensation issues ?. Perhaps I should turn mount around so hole is at bottom, not as designed but would allow water to escape ?.
 
I have a few bullets out in the elements mounted directly to telephone poles and such. I only make sure that I use dielectric grease and I always have a rain loop in my cable so that the camera isn't the lowest point. It's worked for me for a couple years so far in a very rainy part of the world - fingers crossed.

edit: also ensure that the connector is at the top of your rain loop so that the risk of water getting into your connection is minimized too.
 
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Perhaps I should turn mount around so hole is at bottom, not as designed but would allow water to escape ?.
Yes, if you are mounting the cam on a wall, then the hole should be placed at the bottom. I do not know why you state "not as designed". It is just common sense to me.
 
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Hi, The mounting diagram, all the pictures I see of it on the internet and the fact that the lock logo on the mount is upright at the bottom is why I say, not as designed :). All my other cameras are mounted with hole at bottom but to do it on these the lock wont be at bottom and the fact they have 2 holes and not one also means that either way their would be a way for rain to get in. Obviously I agree that having hole at bottom makes sense though, we just need to ask Dahua to change the lock logo so it looks correct when mounted with hole at bottom :)
 
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It's always frustrating when things don't hold up as expected. From the pictures, it does seem like the corrosion issue is pretty severe. Covering those cable entry holes might indeed have contributed to the problem by trapping moisture. It's a tricky balance between weatherproofing and allowing for ventilation. Considering your concerns about water damage, you might want to reach out to professionals like ssrestore.com. They specialize in restoration services and could provide valuable insights and solutions to prevent future issues.
 
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It's always frustrating when things don't hold up as expected. From the pictures, it does seem like the corrosion issue is pretty severe.
You do realize that this thread is three years stale, right?

BOT anyone, maybe? Or not?