CNB DFL-20S in walk in cooler

[bantham1 0]

Has anyone installed a dfl-20s in a walk in cooler? I would like to know if it will work ok in that type of setting.

[rory 0]

It will probably be fine, its still inside a dome with a cover (though missing the rubber seal around the inside of the cover), but probably depends how cool the cooler is. Might want to check out the model similar to it but in a vandal housing with rubber seal and backing? Only a few dollars more. Im no expert on cooler installs though .. or cold climate. So might want to wait for someone else to chime in. Otherwise they work fine inside offices with the AC on freezing.

 

http://www.cnbusa.com/en/html/product/product.php?seqx_prod=1155

[Soundy 1]

Keep in mind, for Rory, "freezing" means anything below 60F.

 

He's right though, you ideally want a sealed camera inside a cooler. More importantly, you want to make sure the wire's entrance into the cooler is sealed, as well as its entrance into the camera - warm outside air coming in through that hole can cause condensation, inside or outside the camera.

 

My usual preference is a design like CNB's VCM models, with the separate back-box - mount to the cooler, drill a hole to the outside straight though the rear entry hole in the back-box, bring the wire in, seal the hole, the make the connections inside the back-box. The wire entry into the camera housing itself is well sealed against moisture at this point.

 

A model with a built-in heater is even better - haven't actually had a problem with the VCM-24VFs in coolers yet, but a heater is a little added insurance against future issues: http://www.cnbusa.com/en/html/product/product.php?seqx_prod=1172

[rory 0]

Ha ha so right ... actually anything below 70

 

Im just finishing off a cooler job actually and yes I should have known better .. big old videolarm domes with box cameras .. just added in 2 wall mounted and those were fine, added 1 old housing to replace a bullet and the only old housing they had left was a pole ceiling mounted (take too long to order new wall mount ones or new vandal domes) .. ofcourse the bullet was sealed .. now had the hot air up top coming down the pole into the dome housing .. condensation inside right away .. actually this part of the cooler is kind of warm as the air is off in that part, just bubble gum stock. Anyway had to go back on top and seal with silicone and as best I could from below into the pole .. will know in an hour if it did the job. Oh yeah its a 25 or so foot high cooler, a couple hundred feet long. Actually it was originally just supposed to be replacing 2 box cameras in existing dome housings (wall mounted), had I known they were going to have 3 actually added in there, having to use whatever extra old dome housings they had there unused, then I would have gone with the CNB vandal domes one time, way less headache.

[Tailbone215 0]

Fill them with nitrogen.

[bantham1 0]

I went with the VFL-20S. Now, Hopefully my drill bit will make it through the metal. Gonna have to make sure to caulk or spray foam the hole as I do not want any moisture in the camera.

[rory 0]

I went with the VFL-20S. Now, Hopefully my drill bit will make it through the metal. Gonna have to make sure to caulk or spray foam the hole as I do not want any moisture in the camera.

In my case it was thin sheet metal on either side with foam between it, I didnt even drill the holes for the screws in the case of the other housings, just screwed them in, I used the phillips head bit to drill through from one side to the other for some longer toggle bolts for this ceiling mount one (it was a big heavy dome housing), thats how flimsy that metal is. (only cause I didnt have the right size bit on the forklift at the time but hey). I caulked with 100% silicone caulking, hard to clean up but quick to dry and effective. I just caulked all the holes from the top and put some up the housing metal pipe in this case. Had to crawl about 30 feet or so from the edge of the cooler to get to the camera location from the top of the cooler, wading through an inch of dirt - they had these hangers supporting the cooler or something, could not walk up there, around 25' high. Basically caulking the main hole is what did the job and fixed the condensation issue.

 

The CNB vandal domes have a rubber backing though and tight rubber sealed hole for the cable going out the back of it, which should do a good enough job in this case as that even tends to prevent water getting through. My problem in the past with one in direct exposure to heavy rain was the water seeping through at least 1 of the screw holes even with a rubber ring, but that wont effect anything in your case as you arent drilling the screws all the way through to the next side.

[jeromephone 6]

I know I have had my issues with some Everfocus products but we have had a vandle dome with built in heater in a beer cooler for about 2 years with no problems.