Power cable observation

[Swiftrun]

Hey guys

Just an observation about cable length.
Point - from the bottom of a house’s soffit is about 12’ for me on a bungalow.
Not sure if this applies to other homes but as you can surmise 12’ soffit, 3.5m (10’) power cable, not a great fit.

Yorkshire will appreciate this next comment.
“Better looking at it than looking for it”

So here begs the question.

Lower the bridge or raise the river?

Meaning do I run an extension cord up to the bottom of the soffit or try to work out the connection below.
Me personally, I’d prefer about a 5m cable on the camera.
This would allow me to install a water resistant connection cover including a drip loop.

I managed to get a weather resistant cover on my connection but barely.

I’ve attached pics for reference.

I have a few other ideas about connections which will probably not thrill YI but for me it’s about simplicity.
I plan to have another camera beside the current one in place.
I’ll probably run one extension cord up under the corner strip to the bottom of the soffit.

Use a power adapter that allows two USB connections in the same adapter.
It’s rated at 5v/2a.
I believe the current adapter with my YI is 5v/1a.

Anyways it’s adventure.

As Steven Tyler from Aerosmith says
“Life’s a journey not a destination”

Stay tuned!!

[YorkshireUser]

I think there might be a cable length limitation. I use two of my internal cameras powered through two Blink sync modules. So you can use other power but I do think it depends are far away the camera is to the host power source.

Could you cable in some outdoor sockets? And maybe even some outdoor USB ports? I guess jones these days are becoming increasingly in need of external sockets of this type and maybe even Ethernet ones.

[Brian]

As Yorkshire user said, I think also there is a limit to cable length on the USB

Usually what I do is I mount the camera on an outdoor junction box. Size will vary depending on what I plan on having inside but you can have a single socket inside and a twin USB plug inside to accommodate the second camera

This way there no limit to cable length and its convenient…all can be wired on the ground and mounted and then fixed in place

[Swiftrun]

I guess too long of a cable could be an issue if you are going a long distance.
With a longer cable you can have voltage drop which if I remember correctly the current will increase.
Current is inversely proportional to voltage.

I’m thinking increasing cable length from 3.5m to say 5m wouldn’t make a lot of difference.
Now if we’re talking about a 25m or longer cable, that could be a problem.

Anyways I’m on the hunt for a “lay flat” extension cord.
This will allow me to hide it in the corner piece of the siding.
I’ll use the two port USB adapter up by the top of the soffit.
This will allow me to use only one power cord.

Hasta la vitas baby!
And Bob’s your uncle

[petman2]

I have used several 40 foot micro USB cables I got off amazon. They worked great but I reordered from 3 different suppliers and now none of them work. There is apparently enough power that the camera shows a yellow steady light indicating power, but then won’t turn blue? Works fine on a short cable, and I prefer not to have to run “normal” extension cords, so trying to find a micro cable that will actually work again. If anyone finds one that works, please post a link, or at least enough description that I can find it Anyway, at least now I try the cord in the house before unravelling it. I thought I might try to find a stronger power adapter to push more energy down the cable to avoid drop, but they all seem the same.