Junction box mounting

techcanuck

techcanuck

n3wb
Sep 24, 2018
22
6
Toronto, Canada
I'm trying to plan my setup for a Dahua HDW4231 for mounting on a back yard fence post. I'll have 3/4" conduit running up the 4x4 and I'm trying to determine how to terminate it and connect to the camera:

1) Run the conduit into a junction box that I bought from Home Depot. Does the camera mount directly on the junction box? Seems like it would stick out quite a bit, the setup would be almost as big as a bullet camera. Even still, the screw holes don't line up so I guess I would have to drill some into the cover plate for the camera's screws?

2) Use a "proper" junction box that is built for Dahua but these appear to be around $40 Canadian :/ and the camera still sticks out a lot after adding the width of the junction box

3) I've seen the "hanging" type of mount so that is probably more attractive, but how does the conduit connect to that? Or do you expose wire between the conduit and the mount?

4) Mount the camera directly to the wood post, above the junction box, and just use the junction box for waterproofing the connections however expose the camera cable from the camera to the junction box. Not a fan of this approach since the 3/4" hole for the junction box is inset and will accumulate water, probably leak into the box
 
1) The holes don't line up.

2) This is a good choice, but they shouldn't be that expensive from @EMPIRETECANDY

3) These wall mount brackets assume the cable is coming through the wall you're mounting the bracket on. They don't mount to a junction box and don't have a threaded opening for conduit or a cable gland.

4) Yeah, don't do this.
 
2) Yeah, I should've just gotten it when I got the camera but I had already bought the Home Depot one and thought it would be fine with that. Maybe I'll just order the PFA139 and wait a week. Hopefully it doesn't look too bulky, is all, popping out from the side
 
I don't think you will end up with any kind of weather sealing with the PFA139. You need to get one of the boxes that has a rubber seal "grommet" for the camera's cable to pass through. As far as I can see, the PFA139 may, itself be "waterproof", but if your camera has the style of case that I think it does the camera itself doesn't form any sort of weather seal.

That box needs a weatherproof cover to be water-tight. And the camera and its pedestal doesn't provide any kind of seal. Yes, it may well mount to the box because the mounting holes line up, but you need a waterproof area for the camera's cable end to mate with your CAT-5/6 cable end.

I just went through this mounting some similar cameras. I think yours needs a slightly different box than what we used here, because it may have four instead of three mounting holes. But I know they make what you really need.

Again, I don't think this is the exact box you need, but it shows the style of box you need - one with a waterproof cover that has the rubber seal:

Dahua 5231 owners - PFA130-E or PFA137

Look at the PFA 121 and 122 and choose the one that matches your camera's mounting base.

Yet another edit:

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...s=aps&field-keywords=pfa121&rh=i:aps,k:pfa121

I got mine from B&H, though. Slightly cheaper when I bought three of them and got free shipping.
 
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J Sigmo said:
I don't think you will end up with any kind of weather sealing with the PFA139. You need to get one of the boxes that has a rubber seal "grommet" for the camera's cable to pass through. As far as I can see, the PFA139 may, itself be "waterproof", but if your camera has the style of case that I think it does the camera itself doesn't form any sort of weather seal.
Click to expand...
You don't need any weather seal... That is why the connection itself he needs to be wrapped in silicone tape... Simple and effective... A matching junction box makes the install look nice and clean...
 
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fenderman said:
You don't need any weather seal... That is why the connection itself he needs to be wrapped in silicone tape... Simple and effective... A matching junction box makes the install look nice and clean...
Click to expand...

See above. I edited things. I think that style of box is far more ideal, unless you want water blowing into the box and running down inside of the conduit, etc.
 
J Sigmo said:
See above. I edited things. I think that style of box is far more ideal, unless you want water blowing into the box and running down inside of the conduit, etc.
Click to expand...
Very little water if any will enter the Box... If stuck with using conduit Which is less than ideal for homes and you're paranoid about water running down you can attach the conduit at 3 or 9 positions...
 
fenderman said:
Very little water if any will enter the Box... If stuck with using conduit Which is less than ideal for homes and you're paranoid about water running down you can attach the conduit at 3 or 9 positions...
Click to expand...

He's mounting his out on a fence post.

Also, as I explained in the post I linked to, I have paper wasps in my area. They will get in and make nests anywhere they have access, and they don't always "run downhill". Plus, we have wind here, and I wanted a seal to keep air from just blowing up into the soffit.

I really like those PFA-121 and PFA-122 boxes. They look nice, make a seal, and provide plenty of room for the connections. Plus, they have threaded mounting holes that match the cameras' bases/pedestals. So they make for a very clean installation.
 
fenderman said:
That's irrelevant...
Click to expand...

The plan, as I understand it, was to run conduit up the post. So it'll enter the bottom of the box. Whatever.

I do think you'd like those PFA-122 and PFA-121 boxes if you played with them a bit. They cost more than a generic box from the hardware store, but they really do make for a nice, clean, sealed installation. Pretty, too! :)
 
J Sigmo said:
The plan, as I understand it, was to run conduit up the post. So it'll enter the bottom of the box. Whatever.

I do think you'd like those PFA-122 and PFA-121 boxes if you played with them a bit. They cost more than a generic box from the hardware store, but they really do make for a nice, clean, sealed installation. Pretty, too! :)
Click to expand...

As stated water entry in between the turret and the box is a non issue...if you are paranoid and concerned, then relying on the box and its seals to prevent water entry down the conduit is foolish..you do understand that there are extra unused holes in the faceplate and that those seals deteriorate...
 
fenderman said:
As stated water entry in between the turret and the box is a non issue...if you are paranoid and concerned, then relying on the box and its seals to prevent water entry down the conduit is foolish..you do understand that there are extra unused holes in the faceplate and that those seals deteriorate...
Click to expand...
You should read the post I linked to above, and look at the photos I posted and read their cutlines. Hopefully they explain how these boxes work better than the data from Dahua. I was left with some questions even after looking at their PDF mechanical drawings and the photos that I found. So I tried to make my post better show folks how these boxes really work.

The tapped holes for mounting the camera to the cover are all blind tappings. There are no penetrations into the box cover other than the one that is sealed by the rubber plug, which has a conical hole for the cable, and thus, pinches down on it as you insert the plug into the opening. It may not be perfect, but it's pretty secure.

The single conduit entry is sealed with a silicone gasket between the plug and the box. The cover is sealed with a silicone gasket. The entire back of the box is covered with a foam seal. The holes that mount the cover are outside of the sealed volume.

The weakness is the foam seal, but when mounting against a flat surface, it will likely be quite sound, and if you're really worried, you can always caulk around or between the box and mounting surface.

The camera turrets do not have any form of sealing between the camera "ball" and the socket. Wind driven precipitation is common here, as it can be in many locations. And just air blowing into my attic spaces is something I like to avoid. We routinely get 80 mph winds with higher gusts in winter.

Insects, particularly paper wasps here, find, enter, and build large nests behind rather tiny openings. I've had them build nests inside of all manner of electrical enclosures, finding tiny holes and exploiting them.

I'm sorry if my post was out of line, recommending the Dahua boxes that I thought would serve the OP the best, and explaining why I like them.
 
So I ended up doing a little bit of a DIY project. The thing about those PFA-xxx junction boxes is that they leave the camera exposed to the elements if I'm mounting it on a wall/fence. I thought a cover over top would help keep the rain off it. It's not super pretty but does the job. I have the camera wire running through the back of the 2x6, into the conduit and then the junction box below, and that's where it connects to the cat6 network. Because the conduit is 3/4", it was able to just fit the network jack through it.

2018-10-03 21.34.29.JPG 2018-10-06 15.00.05.JPG
 
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