Protecting Outdoor Cameras from Lightning

Arjun

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What are your thoughts of protecting outdoor cameras against lightning strikes? Assuming that the camera base sports an all-metal design, using non-shielded Cat-6 cabling, relayed to network switches that either connect to grounded outlets or non-grounded outlets (combination of both)
 

mikeynags

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Absolutely nothing.....but waiting to see how this thread goes :)
 

SouthernYankee

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You can not protect it from lighting. There are a number of posts on lightning in the forum. use google search
site:ipcamtalk.com lightning
 

TonyR

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^^^ Not a bad idea and can help with some surge issues on incoming power line but won't help with induced, severe EMI on Ethernet cables in the home network due a nearby strike.
Being in a state (AL) with plenty of severe lightning I know of what I speak, having had 3 TV's, a satellite DVR, a wireless access point, a switch and a PC motherboard damaged over the last 4 years from such events.
FWIW, I have whole-house arrestor installed behind the meter by our local electric utility.

I have UPS's and brand-name surge strips but I unplug wherever possible and have good insurance on my high $$$ items.
 
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Podagrower

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Surge protection in layers is best. The house has a whole house surge protector, the valuable electronics are plugged into surge protection outlets, the computers are plugged into surge protection/UPS units that are plugged into the surge protection outlets. None of that is going to survive a determined lightning strike.
 

TonyR

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Surge protection in layers is best. The house has a whole house surge protector, the valuable electronics are plugged into surge protection outlets, the computers are plugged into surge protection/UPS units that are plugged into the surge protection outlets. None of that is going to survive a determined lightning strike.
Sounds like my setup verbatim.

When we suspect or hear thunder, see it coming on the radar or leave the house, I unplug the 65" Sony 3D/4K TVfrom the APC UPS and unplug the HDMI cable from the satellite receiver....we had it hit near the dish and come in through the sat recvr and get the TV via the HDMI cable once.

Lightning gonna do what it wants to do, go where it wants to go. :oops:
 

Arjun

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Path of least resistance, lightning is something you don't want to gamble with

Sounds like my setup verbatim.

When we suspect or hear thunder, see it coming on the radar or leave the house, I unplug the 65" Sony 3D/4K TVfrom the APC UPS and unplug the HDMI cable from the satellite receiver....we had it hit near the dish and come in through the sat recvr and get the TV via the HDMI cable once.

Lightning gonna do what it wants to do, go where it wants to go. :oops:
 

ctgoldwing

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We had a hit about 4 months ago. It was a nearby strike, not a direct hit. It induced a spike on my low voltage circuits, cat5 cables, usb cables, etc but very little on the line voltage side. It was a major pia. My solar powered fence charger, about 50' from the house literally was blown up. I lost 3 computers, my NAS and my ham radio station. It did not damage my 120' tower or antenna. Everything in the basement that had a cat5 wire plugged into it was toast.
I am about to run a 1" pvc pipe into the woods as a conduit for at least 3 cameras to watch the 'critters'. I am putting them on their own switch with the hope if anything bad happens it will stop at the switch.
 

TonyR

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We had a hit about 4 months ago. It was a nearby strike, not a direct hit. It induced a spike on my low voltage circuits, cat5 cables, usb cables, etc but very little on the line voltage side. It was a major pia. My solar powered fence charger, about 50' from the house literally was blown up. I lost 3 computers, my NAS and my ham radio station. It did not damage my 120' tower or antenna. Everything in the basement that had a cat5 wire plugged into it was toast.
I am about to run a 1" pvc pipe into the woods as a conduit for at least 3 cameras to watch the 'critters'. I am putting them on their own switch with the hope if anything bad happens it will stop at the switch.
I feel your pain, sounds much like my past experiences.
One day I plan to put 2 or 3 short fiber links with media converters in strategic places creating air gaps in the metallic just to break up my CAT-5e network n the house and limit the damage....oh, it's not a matter of something getting fried or not, it's just a matter of when. Maybe I can spend a few dollars to save a lot of dollars, and prevent a lot of downtime when it does happen.
 

guykuo

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Also add an ethernet surge protector, like the below, for each exterior ethernet cable run. They need to be tied to a good ground. Adds one more layer between exterior strike and your equipment.
Nothing will fully protect you from a direct hit, but a near hit you may get away with just the camera being fried. I have multiple cameras outdoors mounted on lamp posts. These install at the building entry.

Ethernet Surge Protector PoE+ Gigabit - Gas Discharge Tube for Full Protection - Mounting Flange - RJ45 Lightning Suppressor $25
 
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TonyR

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+1^^.
I installed these mid 2017 at a trucking company in a double-wide (trailer), on a hill, with a metal roof in a rural area of NW AL that was getting hit practically every year for several years. I even went wireless for a time but that didn't work out.....the database server for the accounting couldn't tolerate any network latency.

I re-wired the Ethernet to all 3 PC's (accounting server and 2 workstations) with shielded CAT-6 from the PC back to the switch, put one of those on each PC near the PC's LAN port and 1 on the cable between the DSL modem/router and the switch. All 4 devices are grounded.

Last year after being in place for 2 years the one at the modem/router had the occasion to do it's job and made the ultimate sacrifice.....I replaced it with a new one and was back online. No regrets.
 
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