DIY gasket material for outdoor video cam?

Wait, if there's stand-offs built into the base then perhaps they mean for it to remain open.  Trapping humidity is a bad thing, especially when it's from condensation due to heat/cold changes.  That and isn't that circular 'skirt' designed to cover the base flange?
 
A better idea, perhaps, is not to cut that big a hole in the soffit but to use another piece of material mounted on it.  As in, pickup a nice section of Versatek or other synthetic lumber, cut holes in that and then just drill a large enough cable for the wire through the soffit.  That way you're not stuck with whatever this particular camera requires.  
 
It might be possible to use something like a siding wall mount for a lamp or something.
 
wkearney99 said:
Wait, if there's stand-offs built into the base then perhaps they mean for it to remain open.  
 
You raise another good point:  why are there stand-offs on the base at all?  Is it to help with releasing heat from the camera?  The camera does seem to get rather warm even when it's not streaming.  This being my first outdoor videocam, I have nothing to compare it to.
 
Or, maybe it's not related to that.  Just a wild guess, but maybe it's to aid in attaching the base to surfaces which aren't completely flat?
 
Not sure what I'd do with the camera cabling and connectors though in the Versatek scenario.  Create a void in the Versatek and stuff the camera cabling/connectors in there?
 
No, they make mounting panels designed to fit over a box.  Some are octagonal shaped.  They can just as easily be screwed straight onto something else, a box isn't necessary.  This is one example in Arlington's line (there are other styles):
http://www.amazon.com/Arlington-8151-1-Vertical-Siding-Mounting/dp/B001S2N664
 
Yes, you'd probably use a 3/4" or 1" piece of board (or maybe a sandwich of several pieces), drill out the big hole the template suggests.  A single large hole probably makes it easier to deal with the Y pigtail and connectors.  But you could probably get by with just a 3/4" or 1" hole if you fed the legs of the Y through individually.  Sort of hard to explain in text...
 
NeverDie said:
Are you referring to a junction box of some kind?
 
No, I wasn't, however that might not be a bad idea.  There's tons of ways to mount something to a normal electrical box.  Even a low voltage trim ring would be useful.  At least then you're always dealing with something that's a standard size.  Should you need to change cameras later it could be as simple as just getting a blank wall plate and drilling it out only as necessary.
 
Here I used PVC boxes for the Speco modded domes mounted in direct weather.  They are not mounted under eaves though.  The Speco domes did come with a between dome and mounting gasket along with the inner little rubber piece split for the passing of the cables.  I looked in a new Speco camera box and it does come with a little mounting gasket.  The Mailbox camera has a PVC box in the brick, then I mounted the Speco dome on the lid for the PVC box.  The lid for the PVC box also has a gasket.  It is in direct weather and I have not seen anything odd or weather related on the inside while removing the camera.  Just some insects stuff.
 
Under the eave camera stuff is using that outdoor flexible putty just for the wires going into the attic via the eave.
 
Curious how old your hardieboard is?  Here in this subdivision only hardieboard or cedar could be mixed with the brick.
 
The neighbor's cedar is now full of little holes from the woodpeckers.  I am starting to have issues with the hardie board (10 years old).
 
The eaves here are aluminum and the capping is hardie board; then meets to brick.
 
pete_c said:
Curious how old your hardieboard is?  Here in this subdivision only hardieboard or cedar could be mixed with the brick.
 
 
 
 
Not sure what you mean by "mixed with the brick", but here the Hardieboard is about  14 years old.  What sort of issues is your Hardieboard having?
 
You probably want to paint your PVC boxes, if you haven't already.  Maybe they've been modified, but regular PVC becomes brittle fairly quickly from the sun's UV.  Again, not sure if that applies to your situation or not, but worth mentioning if it does.
 
wkearney99 said:
No, they make mounting panels designed to fit over a box.  Some are octagonal shaped.  They can just as easily be screwed straight onto something else, a box isn't necessary.  This is one example in Arlington's line (there are other styles):
http://www.amazon.com/Arlington-8151-1-Vertical-Siding-Mounting/dp/B001S2N664
 
The only downside I can think of is that it adds to the effective height of the camera, making it more prominent when less prominent is better.
I like this idea, especially if I can get something pre-made.  of course, in my case, it can't be for anything intended for installing against lap-jointing, and circular would look better than hexagonal.
 
Not sure what you mean by "mixed with the brick", but here the Hardieboard is about  14 years old.  What sort of issues is your Hardieboard having?
 
I have sections of the second floor which have hardieboard.  Different roofs and such.  One sloped and adjacent to hardieboard area deteriorated the hardieboard.  I replaced the cementboard panel and redid the drainage there.  It was though from snow sitting there for a while and not being in the sun during the winter.  I can see other sections though with issues; but only if I am on a ladder looking at it as I do not see the issues at ground level.
 
Thank-you ND
 
Yup the PVC cans are mounted on 6X6 posts under evergreen trees in distal berms on the edges of the property with cams facing the house.  I am on the 3rd generation of cams having recently moved from analog to digital.  The boxes are discolored but not brittle yet. 
 
I did cut out 1/2 of one brick for a 1/2 gang box insert into the brick for the driveway camera.  The Optex cams have a double gasket with the wires doing a loop inside of the camera to camera board itself.   I have 3 of these mounted directly on the brick.  It was a PITA to wire them up and I used the redecorating inside for the cabling.  (IE: in wall speakers, redoing the laundry room type stuff).  My two outdoor deck speakers are also mounted on brick.  Actually the brackets are in anchors in the cement between the bricks along with the wires.
 
circular would look better than hexagonal.
 
I tested out little 1/2 height circular plastic boxes sold at the big box store.  I am guessing maybe they were 1.5-2.5" high.  They were white in color and had little plastic knock outs on four sides.  They came with gaskets for the top piece.  The did also have them in a grey color.  They did have 2-4 protrusions for connecting them up to whatever. They were also much more reasonably priced than the PVC boxes.  I cut these off and just drilled a couple of holes inside of the little box.
 
They are much smaller than the PVC cans that I used. 
 
pete_c said:
 
I have sections of the second floor which have hardieboard.  Different roofs and such.  One sloped and adjacent to hardieboard area deteriorated the hardieboard.  I replaced the cementboard panel and redid the drainage there.  It was though from snow sitting there for a while and not being in the sun during the winter.  I can see other sections though with issues; but only if I am on a ladder looking at it as I do not see the issues at ground level.
 
 
Hardieboard is brittle, and i could imagine expanding ice causing separations in it, as there does some to be some layering to it.  We get little to no ice where I live, so I haven't noticed this type of problem.  Hardieboard is basically inert, so there's nothing to rot like regular wood can do.
 
The biggest limitation to Hardieboard I've noticed is that, if secured with nails, I can't seem to uninstall it without largely destroying it.  If I never touch it, though, it seems like it would last virtually forever.  For sure, it's holding up much better than the small amounts of exterior wood trim that I have.
 
pete_c said:
I tested out little 1/2 height circular plastic boxes sold at the big box store.  I am guessing maybe they were 1.5-2.5" high.  They were white in color and had little plastic knock outs on four sides.  They came with gaskets for the top piece.  The did also have them in a grey color.  They did have 2-4 protrusions for connecting them up to whatever. They were also much more reasonably priced than the PVC boxes.  I cut these off and just drilled a couple of holes inside of the little box.
 
They are much smaller than the PVC cans that I used. 
 
Sounds like maybe it was one of these?
 

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We have cement siding (Certainteed), but all the trim board is Versatek (synthetic lumber, PVC iirc).  Works and paints like regular wood but without the rot issues.  Didn't do Hardie board because of the variety of trim spec'd by the architect.  Didn't do Hardie siding as their factory colors didn't work for us.
 
NeverDie said:
I like this idea, especially if I can get something pre-made.  of course, in my case, it can't be for anything intended for installing against lap-jointing, and circular would look better than hexagonal.
 
They do make a variety of styles.  I also dislike the octagonal look.  But for ours the builder resorted to just making some out of PVC lumber.
 
A pity those knockouts are there.  A bit of an eyesore in side profile.
 

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