Preferred installation practices (junction box specifically)

[Hal 0]

Hi everyone. I'm asking my contractor to prewire my house for security cameras while they're doing some remodeling, but I don't think he has any idea what the best way to do this would be. His idea was to leave the wires hanging out of the wall, but that's not exactly "prewiring" in my mind since they may be like that for several months.

 

Would it be a good idea to enclose the cat 6 and power cables in a junction box for the time being? If so, should the box be recessed into the exterior walls (stucco, siding - all under eves or under porch) or should the boxes be surface mounted? Steel or PVC? And when I eventually get cameras, should I just mount them onto the gang box covers or is it preferred to mount them a few inches away so the box is easier to access in the future? I'll have a mix of domes, bullets, and maybe a couple of those eye ball type cameras. I'd like to keep the installation unobtrusive if possible.

 

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

[the toss 0]

Hi everyone. I'm asking my contractor to prewire my house for security cameras while they're doing some remodeling, but I don't think he has any idea what the best way to do this would be. His idea was to leave the wires hanging out of the wall, but that's not exactly "prewiring" in my mind since they may be like that for several months.

 

Would it be a good idea to enclose the cat 6 and power cables in a junction box for the time being? If so, should the box be recessed into the exterior walls (stucco, siding - all under eves or under porch) or should the boxes be surface mounted? Steel or PVC? And when I eventually get cameras, should I just mount them onto the gang box covers or is it preferred to mount them a few inches away so the box is easier to access in the future? I'll have a mix of domes, bullets, and maybe a couple of those eye ball type cameras. I'd like to keep the installation unobtrusive if possible.

 

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

 

 

Well it's not going to be all that unobtrusive with a camera & junction box mounted at various points around the house. It sounds like all the cameras you are using have flying leads on them that will need to be kept out of the elements. On domestic installations I usually mount to the eve with the connection point inside the eve.

[cctvpro69 0]

double stick to wall

Edited May 14, 2012 by Guest

[Hal 0]

personal choice depending on the client.

 

brick wall makes it more difficult.

 

hiding the box is preferred, but on existing homes that can be impossible - depending on the install.

 

either way, dont mount it ON the box, as you mentioned that makes it hard to access connections.

And depending on the camera, the lead may be long enough to fit through the wall.

 

but based on your post, just have him tie a pull wire onto the cable and leave that hanging out of the eave. Then you can pull the video cable through and make your connections, and put them back into the attic.

 

you only ever really need external gang boxes if there is nowhere else to hide/protect the connections.

 

 

Thanks for the responses everyone.

 

This is a very extensive remodel, so it's easy to run wires and install boxes at this time since we're finishing up the rough electrical/framing stage. I'm not sure I understand how to do this. The attic is not very tall, so it would be very difficult to access any gang boxes from the attic once the ceiling and walls are up. It would be much easier to access them from the outside.

 

Is it even necessary to have the boxes at the eaves if I'm just going to pull the cables out of the wall? All I have to to is make sure that the hole is large enough to push the baluns back into the attic after the connections are made, or should those connections be enclosed the bodies of the cameras?

 

Any pics or videos of preferred install techniques?

 

Thanks again!

[cctvpro69 0]

news

[pal251 0]

I'm curious also on other options

 

I am in the process of running my wires to my eves slowly over the next few days. I don't know if I want to hook them up to a junction box so I can easily put the wire to include a balun into the box in case I need to swap out cameras in the future or adjust the OSD via the joystick. I don't want to make a huge hole in my eve to be able to push the balun back into plus I am worried about my balun coming loose and going into the attic. If that happens there is a slim chance I am ever getting it back

[Soundy 1]

It really depends on the camera and its needs. Personally, I'd be using the CNB VCM-24VF (or another model of the same physical design), along with baluns like the GEM mini-baluns that fit inside the CNB back-box. Just leave the wire hanging out initially; when all is said and done, the back-box covers the hole and contains the connections. Easy-peasy.

[pal251 0]

I'm using the Dahua 650 dome camera. Not that much room behind them

[jxk716 0]

8 outdoor analog cameras were installed a year ago but RG59 and Cat5 was run 6 months earlier (in January). The wires was left dangleing until June; I coiled them and stuffed as much as I could back into the wall. To this date there has been no problems whatsoever including upgrading 2 outdoor cams to MP.

[pal251 0]

It really depends on the camera and its needs. Personally, I'd be using the CNB VCM-24VF (or another model of the same physical design), along with baluns like the GEM mini-baluns that fit inside the CNB back-box. Just leave the wire hanging out initially; when all is said and done, the back-box covers the hole and contains the connections. Easy-peasy.

 

Any idea on how to mount the Dahua cameras onto the eves with junction boxes? I need the junction boxes because otherwise there is going to be way to much wiring to pack back into the hole I drilled and I dont want monster holes in my eves

 

I found an outdoor 2 gang outlet box that was about 10 bucks that I am going to try. I thought about the 4x4x2 junction box that looks fantastic to mount the camera to but its too far away (50 miles one way) to justify driving there.