Ipcamera / voltage drop

Mike UK

Mike UK

Mike UK

Soldato
Joined
20 Oct 2003
Posts
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Location
Huddersfield
I bought a new external IP camera to cover the outside of my house but it looks like my cable run is too long.

The PSU that came with it is a 5v 1500mah PSU and I got an eBay 10m extension.

I have a 5V 3amp PSU is it going to help or will I need something with more voltage? The cable for the extension is typical bell wire sized stuff.

Cheers
 
The extension being crap is probably your issue more than the supply. You could buy a slightly higher voltage PSU, so that after the voltage drop the camera can still run on it, but it's a sledgehammer to crack a nut approach. Have you checked the voltage at the camera end?

It's a 1500mA supply by the way, mAh is used to indicate capacity of a battery :)
 
Unfortunately it's not possible to put an outdoor socket where I would need it

So would a higher amperage PSU works or do I need to go up to around 6v to compensate for the cable loss.
 
Voltage drop is a real issue when you use thinner cables, especially at higher currents. If you are using 20AWG you could be losing a full volt over the 10M length (given 55 Ohm/Km) when you draw 1A of current. Measuring the voltage on the end of the wire with just a multimeter will be non effective because unless you have a similar load attached it'll give you a reading using the multimeter load only, which is insignificant next to an actual device. Even if the device is attached and powered up but not responsive it may not be pulling much load and would affect your reading.

The cable could be CCA or aluminium rather than copper. That would make a difference too.

I'd be tempted to give a 6v 2A (just because 2A is easier to get then 1.5A) switching power supply of some kind. Ok it is a bit of a hack but if the thing works then who really cares.
 
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Mike UK said:
Unfortunately it's not possible to put an outdoor socket where I would need it

So would a higher amperage PSU works or do I need to go up to around 6v to compensate for the cable loss.
Click to expand...

Then run a standard extension lead out to the point where the original PSU can reach it, put it in a weatherproof box/case. And there ye go.
 
Oh if it is just an extra 0.5 Metre needed then just extend the original. If the voltage drop over the original power supply plus just half a metre of extra cable is causing a problem then return it as faulty.
 
Higher current PSU won't work, the voltage will still drop out of regulation. The correct solution is a higher quality extension lead, or just extend the lead of the original PSU with some decent cable.
 
That's true!!
I'll hopefully be able to cut the run length down to around 5M and if it doesn't work I'll get a 6v PSU.

Thanks for the advice :)
 
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