Your Wi-Fi bird box camera may become offline after a storm in summer. The Wi-Fi bird box camera is built based on IP technology. It is the small computer capturing the high definition video and streaming to the network. The Wi-Fi bird box camera or IP birdhouse camera require some protection. Imagine you place your mobile phone or iPad outdoors, you know something needs to be taken care rather than just through it outdoors.
The waterproof is the first thing to look into. Most of the birdhouse cameras are not waterproof. It is important to keep the camera out of the rain. Usually the camera is installed under the roof of the bird box. It depends on how the birdhouse is designed. The rain may still go through the gap and lead back to the body of the camera which could cause the camera to be defective. One of the typical ways to seal the gap is the 3M double-sided tape. Choose the tape that is designed for the vehicle. These tapes can still keep the stickiness in wide range temperature. The 3M double-sided tape is included in Green-Backyard Natural Cedar Birdhouse.
Not only the gap of the roof, the pigtail cable could introduce rain to the body of the camera as well if it isn’t set up properly. Place the cable lower than the camera’s installing spot. If the pigtail cable is higher than the camera, the rain could go through the pigtail cable and reach the camera.
Once we have set up the camera properly inside the birdhouse, we will look into the connector and the DC12V extension cable. The 10 meters DC12V extension cable allows you to place the power adapter far from your birdhouse. The AC outlet doesn’t have to present next to the birdhouse. While connecting the pigtail to the DC12V extension cable, maintain ‘S’shape and make the connector facing down which can keep the waterproof out of the water. Not all the DC12V extension cable is waterproof. Green-Backyard has upgraded both DC12V extension cable and Ethernet cat5e cable to outdoor grade. You can directly bury the cable underground.
As we don’t want an AC outlet present next to the birdhouse, we use the extension cable that will create another possible issue – surge. The surge that existed in the environment could be picked up by the extension cable and strike the camera. The camera has built-in surge protection, but it may not be strong enough to stand the lighting storm. The surge protector is needed sitting next to the camera. The surge protector will absorb the surges. If the protector can be grounded, it will be even better. The surge will be guided to the ground.
If the camera keeps going ‘death’after heavy rain, you probably need to double check the birdhouse and the DC12V extension cable. The technology is brought from the IP surveillance, which is designed for 24/7 running to build the camera, but it is not waterproof. If camera installation space is not an issue, such as owl box, bat house, hedgehog house, squirrel box, you may consider to use the outdoor waterproof birdhouse camera
