Camera died bc enclosure was full of water, wtf happened?

[bdbull]

Long shot but looking for any ideas as to what might have happened here. Had a camera go down around 1am last night. Thought maybe it was just a glitch so I unplugged the POE to hopefully reboot it. Still nothing. Went up the ladder to take it down and troubleshoot and got soaked when I started unhooking things. Somehow the enclosure was full of water. Inside of the soffit does not appear to be wet from what I can feel through the hole. Initially thought the gutter might be clogged and overflowing but it was clear. Anyone with experience with these enclosures have any idea what might have happened here?

edit: no rain last night either

 

[TonyR]

If you are positive there's no roof leak dripping into the soffit, then it may be collecting moisture inside them due to a process I call Thermal Differential Cycling.*

After being warmed up from the sun during the day, the camera case cools off as dusk approaches and it begins to draw in the moist, outside air. Where the pigtail enters the camera can be a definite point of ingress for this moisture. In YOUR instance it may be where the circular box is against the wood. As the night progresses and the temp of the camera's case drops, that moisture condenses on the inside of the case, most noticeably on the inside of the lens. In YOUR case it could be collecting on the inside of the box. Then the sun comes up and begins to heat the case of the camera, the air inside begins to expand, pushing some air but little of the moisture out of the case...and the cycle starts all over again.

A nearby swimming pool can add to the high ambient humidity.

* Thermal Differential Cycling : the device heats up during day, air inside expands, cools off at night and contracts, drawing in damp outside air, condenses, travels to low point, is trapped and won't escape during warm up cycle, just continues to collect inside at low points.
-TonyR 2020

 

[bdbull]

If you are positive there's no roof leak dripping into the soffit, then it may be collecting moisture inside them due to a process I call Thermal Differential Cycling.*

How much water we talking here? I've only had this camera up for 6 months at the most. I am in Georgia where we have some brutal summers, but the camera hasn't even been up through a summer yet. There was a lot of water in it. I had my yard work clothes on when I got soaked and I stayed wet for a few hours, and that wasn't even all the water. I'm guessing there was a few ounces in it.

If that is the issue, is there a solution? Seems like that would kill every camera mounted in this way since the camera is at the bottom of the enclosure.

 

[Flintstone61]

You may have created a drain hole for water getting that area of the roof/soffit.
try relocating the whole mess, just a few inches away from the drilled hole, and put caulk around the wire and the hole. and see if the problem stops.

 

[bdbull]

You may have created a drain hole for water getting that area of the roof/soffit.
try relocating the whole mess, just a few inches away from the drilled hole, and put caulk around the wire and the hole. and see if the problem stops.

I think you're right and I think I just figured it out where it's coming from. Just stuck my endoscope up there and thought I saw daylight from a seam. Ran my fingers along the seam and could see where my fingers were as I moved them. So water definitely has to be coming in through that seam and then, like you said, is draining out of the hole I created for the camera.

 

[TonyR]

I was not aware of the time frame in which the water collected but a LOT of water can collect by the DTC I described. However, that's a lot of water in such a short time and that's why I asked about a "leak dripping into the soffit".

Sounds like you found the problem!

 

[bdbull]

Sounds like you found the problem!

Oh Yeah! I'm spitting mad right now. I just removed the SPRAY FOAM whoever built this house used to caulk the gap. I replaced it with actual caulk that should have been used in the first place. It's getting dark here so I'll let the caulk dry overnight and check for daylight with my endoscope tomorrow.

SPRAY FOAM...and just painted right over it...WTF!!!!

 

[Flintstone61]

My next guess was upside down rain. ( sprinkler system) or hurricane force winds( Twister)

 

[mattp]

@TonyR,
I live in Louisiana and I can attest to this tdc being a real problem. So, much so that for work we used triple seals on bearings with a grease trap between two of the seals. The idea being that as the tdc happens that moist air has to travel through grease. The grease would absorb the moisture before it would get to the lubricant in the bearing.
Most other applications of these triple seals are to keep dust out. But our main problem in Louisiana for this application is moisture.
We'd also put dessicant breathers on gearboxes and they'd be used up in weeks or months due to this tdc.

 

[TonyR]

@TonyR,
I live in Louisiana and I can attest to this tdc being a real problem. So, much so that for work we used triple seals on bearings with a grease trap between two of the seals. The idea being that as the tdc happens that moist air has to travel through grease. The grease would absorb the moisture before it would get to the lubricant in the bearing.
Most other applications of these triple seals are to keep dust out. But our main problem in Louisiana for this application is moisture.
We'd also put dessicant breathers on gearboxes and they'd be used up in weeks or months due to this tdc.

Thanks for the info! I certainly wouldn't have known that but it doesn't surprise me. TDC is a term I came up with because I could never find an explanation to the effect.

Even PVC conduit underground that has good, glued joints can be affected and is why I suggest using outdoor-rated, direct-burial rated cable for all conduit installations that are outdoors and below ground.

This is because moisture WILL find its way into the conduit generally from above-ground boxes and fixtures, collect in low points as the air inside the conduit is subjected to a thermal cycle (heats up during day, air inside expands, cools off at night and contracts, drawing in damp outside air, condenses, travels to low point, is trapped and won't escape during warm up cycle, just continues to collect at low points).

 

[bdbull]

Just went out to check my work and found more places further up the soffit as it goes up to the next floor where they used foam. I fixed that but now I have no idea how much they did that on up. I think I'm just gonna move the camera over slightly and maybe put a vent cover over the hole and let it act as a weep hole for any water that gets in.

 

[mattp]

Thanks for the info! I certainly wouldn't have known that but it doesn't surprise me. TDC is a term I came up with because I could never find an explanation to the effect.

Even PVC conduit underground that has good, glued joints can be affected and is why I suggest using outdoor-rated, direct-burial rated cable for all conduit installations that are outdoors and below ground.

This is because moisture WILL find its way into the conduit generally from above-ground boxes and fixtures, collect in low points as the air inside the conduit is subjected to a thermal cycle (heats up during day, air inside expands, cools off at night and contracts, drawing in damp outside air, condenses, travels to low point, is trapped and won't escape during warm up cycle, just continues to collect at low points).

I think we're on the same page. When I ran power to the shed, I used direct burial wire inside PVC conduit. I not only glued the joints, I primed them first. But there's probably some water in there from this thermal cycling that has worked it's way in from the ends.
Our humidity is 80% or higher a lot of the time.