Power For IR Illuminators

[Charles Odom]

I have POE available, but haven't found a solution for converting the POE to 12v DC that doesn't involve some hodgepodge. I can wire up 12v paired cable from a terminal block at my server rack, but that would require additional costs.

Any suggestions for power? What is everyone else doing? I have seen the POE splitters, but they don't have power on the ethernet side to camera. I can run separate Cat5e for the IR, which I had planned to do, but don't want the poe splitter thing just lying about.

What I would really like is POE powered IR, but they are cost prohibitive. Is the 12v from the server rack my best option?

 

[jaycanter]

why not use this PL-PoE-IR-6w PoE IR Illuminator ( mode B 24v ) with 802.3af passthru


there's a few different models i have there regular motion sensor lights.

the model i have uses the same cable for the camera and powers both

 

[Charles Odom]

I actually bought one, but it was a spot light and I need a 90° flood beam. I bought an 8w one from Amazon that does pretty good, but it is powered by a 2mm plug 12v. The only other illuminators that I can find Poe powered are super expensive.

So, the options are to spend a ton, or figure out a way to power 12v to the units.

 

[TonyR]

I actually bought one, but it was a spot light and I need a 90° flood beam. I bought an 8w one from Amazon that does pretty good, but it is powered by a 2mm plug 12v. The only other illuminators that I can find Poe powered are super expensive.

So, the options are to spend a ton, or figure out a way to power 12v to the units.

Why not power with passive splitter pair as pictured below, place 12 VDC power supply of appropriate current rating (with 5.5mm outside x 2.1mm inside connector) at rack area and send the 12VDC over the Ethernet cable? Power will be on pair 4/5 (DC +) and pair 7/8 (DC-) of Ethernet cable wired to T-568B or A standard.

Of course, the cam below would be your IR emitter. The last photo illustrates that the passive splitter at the IR end will fit OK in a round, weatherproof PVC or metal box like from Hubbell, Bell or Taymac.

 

[Charles Odom]

I have looked at those, and if I have to, will be using them. the only issue is the garbled up mess it will leave in my rack. I am not concerned with the other end as it will be in the soffit and out of site.

I will be running dedicated wires to the devices, so it would be nice to have a little cleaner install.

I have looked at the pigtails that convert the 2.1mm to bare wire, and using butt connectors would suffice for keeping it clean. the issue there is what size wire to use? 18ga at 50' should handle 30w I would think, or should I just use the Cat5e and use all 4 pairs for power? what would you do?

I don't have much room in my 18u rack for extra wires, and I have no need for the RJ45 connector at either end, unless I use an existing camera feed, but then I would need to split the power to feed both the camera and IR since the splitter doesn't have poe on the RJ45, right? Have there been any known issues with running these splitters on cameras?

 

[Charles Odom]

oh, on the 568b standard, that is the Blue(+) and Brown(-) pairs for power, correct?

 

[bp2008]

Okay, so your priority is keeping the rack clean and you are okay putting stuff in the soffit.

Then you need a PoE splitter that takes PoE input and outputs 12v DC power and standard ethernet. (no single device I know of will output 12v DC power and ethernet with PoE, both)

http://a.co/ig7LAr7

You'll also need a Y splitter for 5.5mm x 2.1mm DC power so you can feed the camera with one end and the IR illuminator with another.

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_...litter&rh=n:172282,k:5.5mm+x+2.1mm+Y+splitter

Note that the above PoE splitter is only rated for 802.3af (standard PoE) which has a limit of 15 watts. Cameras typically use around 6 watts so you really wouldn't want to use an IR illuminator that draws more than 9 watts or so. If this is too limiting, you can also get splitters for 802.3at (PoE+), but of course you need a PoE+ injector or switch for this, and that might mean more equipment in your rack anyway!

http://a.co/bRfAfIv

This one supports 802.3at (PoE+) and up to 24 watts.

 

[bp2008]

oh, on the 568b standard, that is the Blue(+) and Brown(-) pairs for power, correct?

The PoE standards have different modes. 802.3af mode B uses the spare wires which are indeed blue and brown for the T568B wiring standard. Mode A uses the orange/green wires, sharing the same wires for power and data. For gigabit versions, all the wires are used for data so both mode A and B result in power on some of the data wires. And then there is 802.3at (PoE+) which uses all the wires for power actually I think PoE+ only uses 4 wires still. There are some power-hungry devices (big PTZ cameras) that use all 8 wires for power though using some less standardized form of PoE like "Hi-PoE".

 

[Charles Odom]

It seems like this is the best option to avoid adding equipment to my rack, which is already space limited. I have plenty of POE budget for what I need.(30w/port)

Has anyone had any issues with camera feeds going through these cheap splitters? Should I buy one Chinese brand over another?

 

[Charles Odom]

I am not using gigabit for the camera side, and it looks like the splitter is the cleanest install option. I would also save space on my Switch and not have to add the 2nd one, so more space savings there too. I bought an 18u rack thinking this big box would be plenty, but figured out really quickly that I need a whole freakin room for my stuff!

 

[Charles Odom]

On a side note...the Chinese special IR illuminator I bought worked for about 12 hours then quit! lol...I am going to give it one more try and hopefully I just got a dud.

 

[bp2008]

I bought an 18u rack thinking this big box would be plenty, but figured out really quickly that I need a whole freakin room for my stuff!

It is amazing how quickly you can use up all your space, huh. Especially if you are putting shelves in the rack for non-rackmount gear because it was so much cheaper. This is why I don't even use standard racks.

 

[bp2008]

On a side note...the Chinese special IR illuminator I bought worked for about 12 hours then quit! lol...I am going to give it one more try and hopefully I just got a dud.

I really like this one: http://a.co/6awu1wA

However it will use 24 watts all by itself so you'd need a dedicated PoE+ feed just for it.

 

[Charles Odom]

I didn't have much of a choice not to use a rack. It was actually the cheapest option that looked right. It is exposed in my office and building a cabinet for it with sliding shelves, power supply, fans, etc was going to cost more. I have 4 computers in it: Office, Master Bed, Living, and Video Server. 3 are Connected to KVM extenders supplying video, audio, and Usb for Keyboard and Mouse, and one just runs behind the cabinet to the Office Peripherals. I also have My Modem, Router, POE Switch, VPN Router, 8 Way PDU, and probably more crap that I can't think of in there. Now....Cooling this thing has been a challenge thus far, since the wife doesn't want the office to sound like a jet taking off.

 

[Charles Odom]

I really like this one: http://a.co/6awu1wA

However it will use 24 watts all by itself so you'd need a dedicated PoE+ feed just for it.

The one I have is the 8led version. I will look into this one also, but if I can get a few of the smaller ones, then I shoud be okay. The only thing that bothers me is the Wide angle top to bottom. Maybe I can put a shield over the top and bottom to limit the spread and still get the wide light I need.

I really like the Axton brand, But they are a couple hundred a piece. I'll reserve their use to someone else's budget!

I Might start another thread about the IR illuminator mods I do, If it turns out to work as intended.

 

[TonyR]

oh, on the 568b standard, that is the Blue(+) and Brown(-) pairs for power, correct?

Yes, and is same pin numbers and pair colors for both 568B and A (B most widely used in the U.S.).

 

[Charles Odom]

For the longest time, I didn't know what I used, just what I was taught. I use the B standard.

I'll get some of the splitters and try them out. I have a 240w budget on my switch with 30w per port max, so I don't think I'll get anywhere close to that with only 6 cams and 6 IR.

Figure on 10w per cam and 10w per IR to be safe and I'm still only pushing my POE to half power. I might even have enough extra to mount one of those 24w fixtures higher up to get an even bigger flood.

I feel for the next person who buys my house. It is a Cat5e jungle in my attic. I think I have 6 going to Living, Master, Bed 2, Bed 3, and Garage already, with the office having 2 feed throughs that are stuffed coming into my rack.

 

[bp2008]

I feel for the next person who buys my house. It is a Cat5e jungle in my attic. I think I have 6 going to Living, Master, Bed 2, Bed 3, and Garage already, with the office having 2 feed throughs that are stuffed coming into my rack.

I get the feeling that most people these days don't know what to do with cat5e. Whoever lives there next is just going to use wifi for everything and complain about the "crappy internet provider" when nothing works right, just like everyone else these days.

 

[TheWaterbug]

why not use this PL-PoE-IR-6w PoE IR Illuminator ( mode B 24v ) with 802.3af passthru

there's a few different models i have there regular motion sensor lights.

the model i have uses the same cable for the camera and powers both

It looks like that model 404s on the manufacturer's website, and is unavailable on amazon. That's a shame, as it seems like exactly what I was looking for.

They have another POE-powered illuminator for $85, but it lacks the POE passthrough for the camera, so I'd have to run 2 cables.

 

[TheWaterbug]

Here's a POE floodlight with POE-passthrough, which would be exactly what I need if it weren't $375:

PoeWit Outdoor POE Flood Light - OS-1-PT-5K-WH | Flare Communications

Outdoor Security Flood LED Light (5000K) with 2 Port Pass-Through PoE++ Driver Cloud Intelligent The first safe PoE powered low voltage solution for outdoor lighting Add this light to an existing POE Camera or other device. PoEWit outdoor lights can normally be dimmed at night and then go full...

www.flarecommunications.com