dahua starlight cams - attract bugs with ir light?

[J Sigmo]

Turrets eliminate the problem completely for me..

Thanks, I'm going to give some a try.

I've got a spider-infested location that has some bullets that need to be replaced with better cameras, anyhow. And I've got a couple of new dahua starlight turrets that I was going to put there. I might end up replacing all of the cameras in that area eventually.

This location has a porch light that's on all night every night, and has the other bullet cams with their built-in IR illuminators. So it's the worst possible case for attracting bugs and thus, spiders, too.

I figure the spiders will always love the general area, because they've always been plentiful there even before any cameras were installed. We have to sweep the walls and soffits regularly to keep the blotches of spider-web-nests down to a reasonable level.

What is it about the turrets that you find eliminates the spider problems?

Looking at them, and thinking about it, what I could imagine is that the spiders make their webs, but they're directly against the face of the camera, so they're right against the lens window and the IR illuminators. So the light from the LEDs can't hit the webs that are right on the lens window. And that makes them almost invisible.

With the bullets I have, they all have little "shades" that overhang part of the case, sticking out an inch or two. Webs built from that shade to the rest of the body are located an inch or two out from the lens window and LEDs, so they're lit up like times-square and right in the field of view of the camera.

I figure I'll still get spider webs all over this area, but as long as they're not positioned perfectly, the way they might be from the shades of the bullet cams, they won't be as much of an issue. Yes, they could string webs that happen to pass right in front of the view, or they might actually manage to string some from the turret cam's body itself outward to a point such that some of the strand might be in a good place to be lit up and visible, but that won't be nearly as common. It seems like it will be the flat face of the camera that makes the difference.

If the turrets work a lot better, I'd be tempted to just cut the shades off of some of the bullet cams with a band saw. They don't serve much purpose for me when placed in under an eave/soffit, anyhow. But then again, these particular cameras suck at night, so they'll likely just be replaced anyhow, and I can easily choose turrets for their replacements.

I will still probably add separate IR illuminators here, too, because that's worked really well for me elsewhere. The snow and wind-blown dirt we get in the winter looks like a scene out of the light show part of "2001, A Space Odyssey" even on turrets! If you've ever driven in a blizzard at night, you know the effect!

I'll let you know how the turret cams work. I know I'll appreciate these particular units' far superior low-light capabilities.

 

[ccater1]

In case anyone's curious, I didn't get 400 emailed snapshots of a dangling, wind swaying spider last night. Thank goodness

 

[J Sigmo]

In case anyone's curious, I didn't get 400 emailed snapshots of a dangling, wind swaying spider last night. Thank goodness

Do you attribute that to the bug-spray you applied? In any case, congratulations!

 

[ccater1]

Do you attribute that to the bug-spray you applied? In any case, congratulations!

Still too early to tell, but if i remain spidy free for 12 weeks I'm gonna logically say yes lol... If not, I'm getting something stronger from a friend who is licensed. P. S, to kill spiders you have to actually get the insecticide on them by residual or direct contact. I'm not giving up yet. We shall see

 

[tigerwillow1]

There shouldn't be any need to cut the shade on a bullet camera. On mine, at least, they're all held on with a single screw. I don't think there's a sure fire way to get rid of all the spiders. I say that because I've got one bullet with the closest IR 30 feet away, and a turret with the IR 2 feet away, and they both see dangling spiders a couple of times on warm nights.

 

[ccater1]

I don't think there's a sure fire way to get rid of all the spiders. I say that because I've got one bullet with the closest IR 30 feet away, and a turret with the IR 2 feet away, and they both see dangling spiders a couple of times on warm nights.

Agreed 100%. If insecticide is successful, it will only be a temporary solution each application, and will need to become part of a scheduled maintenance regimen. I just hope the frequency of application is only a couple times per year at most. If not, I'll be tempted to turn IVS off on cameras that frequently get photo bombed by our little eight legged friends.

 

[trook]

I spray Bifen every month or two. It virtually eliminates my spider problems.

 

[LoLight]

This location has a porch light that's on all night every night, and has the other bullet cams with their built-in IR illuminators. So it's the worst possible case for attracting bugs and thus, spiders, too.

Have you considered the newly released full-color Dahua starlights since you have porch lights on all night long?
Full-colors don't have IR led's built in but have enchanced low-light sensitivity. Would work great with porch lights.
Unfortunately they don't come in the torrent form yet, only bullets and domes.

 

[J Sigmo]

Still too early to tell, but if i remain spidy free for 12 weeks I'm gonna logically say yes lol... If not, I'm getting something stronger from a friend who is licensed. P. S, to kill spiders you have to actually get the insecticide on them by residual or direct contact. I'm not giving up yet. We shall see

If this is in a hard-to-reach location, I can understand wanting something long-lasting. I'd think that 12 weeks would be a very long time for most insecticides. Back in the day, before they were banned, we used to get "Shell No-Pest Strip" gadgets that had a piece of some sort of plastic that was oozing with something. You'd deploy them in a sort-of ventilated box that you unfolded, and just hang them up in an area you wanted to be constantly "bug-bombed". They worked well, but I suspect whatever they had in them was found to be extremely nasty!

And, they were really meant for indoor use, and I doubt they'd do much good outside where the toxic vapor they constantly emit would just get blown away by the wind.

If you actually have to apply the poison directly to the spiders for it to work, then that pretty much rules out any long-lasting fix from any insecticide. And that's disappointing to hear!

Now that I think of it, it might be that the sticky-traps made for spiders would actually do some good in my location. They'd be unsightly, though, and I think you'd need to replace them frequently.

There shouldn't be any need to cut the shade on a bullet camera. On mine, at least, they're all held on with a single screw. I don't think there's a sure fire way to get rid of all the spiders. I say that because I've got one bullet with the closest IR 30 feet away, and a turret with the IR 2 feet away, and they both see dangling spiders a couple of times on warm nights.

I wouldn't' mind seeing the occasional dangling spider itself, but what I tend to get are webs strung across the field of view right near the camera, such that the wind moves the web, and being so brightly lit, its movement triggers the cameras almost constantly. I really think the turret or "cut-off bullet" type cams might not be as bothered by this since the web would have to be right up against the face of the camera where the IR from the illuminators couldn't hit the part of the strand that is across the lens. But that remains to be seen, of course!

The units in question will all be replaced, anyhow, but (shhh, don't tell anyone), they're Reolinks! And their shades are part of the main housing's casting. Band saw, or better yet, a lathe... That's how I'd remove them if I need to. I'd want to get the case trimmed back so it's as close to flush with the face as possible, since that's what may make the turret style cameras less susceptible.

This would just be as an experiment and for the fun of it, because if I had to pay for the lathe work, it'd be more money than it would cost to buy GOOD new replacements. I have a friend with a full CNC machine shop, and he's into fun toys, and also interested in security cameras, so we'd just do this for amusement some time when we're bored.

These Reolink Bullets work fine with Blue Iris, and they're quite good in good lighting. But they suck in low-light anyhow, even with their IR illuminators operating. So I'm looking forward to replacing them all with Starlights in any case. But they might be useful in some location where light and spiders are not issues!

Have you considered the newly released full-color Dahua starlights since you have porch lights on all night long?
Full-colors don't have IR led's built in but have enchanced low-light sensitivity. Would work great with porch lights.
Unfortunately they don't come in the torrent form yet, only bullets and domes.

I should look at those. I like the idea of just leaving the cameras in color mode at all times, and providing a bit more "always on" porch lighting if that'll work. We have a street light across the street, but for us, it just back-lights subjects on our property, so it may do more harm than good.

The two cameras that I've got right now to play with are the new, inexpensive Dahua starlight varifocal turrets. They are the IPC-HDW2231RP-ZS model. They are reported to have good low-light performance, and I can switch their IR illuminators off and force them into color-only mode, so they'll be nice to test with in this location.

I was going to get at least one mounted the last couple of days I had off, but equipment failures at work required me to come in. So I haven't had any time just yet. I may try to put one up tonight. I hope the neighbors don't mind me drilling in the middle of the night.

 

[ccater1]

If this is in a hard-to-reach location, I can understand wanting something long-lasting. I'd think that 12 weeks would be a very long time for most insecticides. Back in the day, before they were banned, we used to get "Shell No-Pest Strip" gadgets that had a piece of some sort of plastic that was oozing with something. You'd deploy them in a sort-of ventilated box that you unfolded, and just hang them up in an area you wanted to be constantly "bug-bombed". They worked well, but I suspect whatever they had in them was found to be extremely nasty!

And, they were really meant for indoor use, and I doubt they'd do much good outside where the toxic vapor they constantly emit would just get blown away by the wind.

If you actually have to apply the poison directly to the spiders for it to work, then that pretty much rules out any long-lasting fix from any insecticide. And that's disappointing to hear!

Now that I think of it, it might be that the sticky-traps made for spiders would actually do some good in my location. They'd be unsightly, though, and I think you'd need to replace them frequently.

Not necessarily hard to reach, per se, but it is an inconvenience as I have to drag out the heavy aluminum folding extension ladder to reach the location (roughly 14'-15' from the ground to eave in certain locations). If I I didn't get hundreds of snapshots to my phone from the spiders I could care less if they were there or not, but seriously, I had over 400 snapshot notifications from 2am to 6am the other day. I just can't tolerate that. Agreed, 12 weeks seems a bit optimistic. We'll see how it goes. So far so good, but it may well be a coinkindink. And again, if it doesn't work, I'm not out of options yet as I have a friend who is licensed and could advise if there's a chemical that would work for any extended amount of time or not. Spiders do actually have to touch the insecticide to be affected by it. That's what makes them hard to kill, but I would think if you sprayed something that leaves a residual that they could potentially come into contact with that it just might work. Time will tell.

 

[J Sigmo]

Not necessarily hard to reach, per se, but it is an inconvenience as I have to drag out the heavy aluminum folding extension ladder to reach the location (roughly 14'-15' from the ground to eave in certain locations). If I I didn't get hundreds of snapshots to my phone from the spiders I could care less if they were there or not, but seriously, I had over 400 snapshot notifications from 2am to 6am the other day. I just can't tolerate that. Agreed, 12 weeks seems a bit optimistic. We'll see how it goes. So far so good, but it may well be a coinkindink. And again, if it doesn't work, I'm not out of options yet as I have a friend who is licensed and could advise if there's a chemical that would work for any extended amount of time or not. Spiders do actually have to touch the insecticide to be affected by it. That's what makes them hard to kill, but I would think if you sprayed something that leaves a residual that they could potentially come into contact with that it just might work. Time will tell.

Just having to get a ladder out and climb up each time would make it difficult enough that I'd be looking for something as long-lasting as possible, too!

I'll bet what you sprayed is helping if you haven't been getting the alerts/snapshots since using it. That's a good sign.