Subscriber Discussion

How Would You Mount This Camera Between Beams?

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Ethan Ace
Nov 15, 2016

This camera is mounted between steel beams in a warehouse. The ceiling is fairly low (maybe 8-9') as there's a mezzanine above. Because there's forklift traffic and occasionally a van pulling in, the camera had to be mounted so only the dome itself extended below the steel.

It looks like it was mounted with a piece of unistrut bent up on either side and fastened to the beams. Thoughts on this mount? Are there products specifically made to fit between steal like this? Is screwing that unistrut to the steel against any codes?

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Ethan Ace
Nov 15, 2016

Also +1 respect for the conduit/flex install, but -3 for the UTP ziptied to conduit, running through steel with no grommet, and the uncut ziptie on the left.

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Ari Erenthal
Nov 15, 2016

You know what I think when I see loose CAT5e cable inches away from flex conduit? I think 'two different installation companies', that's what I think.

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U
Undisclosed #1
Nov 15, 2016
IPVMU Certified

You know what I think when I see loose CAT5e cable inches away from flex conduit? I think 'two different installation companies', that's what I think.

Lol, but you're being kind. I think 'one installation company", and "one guy who knows where they store the ladder"

U
Undisclosed #1
Nov 16, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Also +1 respect for the conduit/flex install...

Is there any limitation to the length of unsupported flex? Looks like it might sag a bit over time?

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Ari Erenthal
Nov 16, 2016

It needs to be secured every three feet.

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Ethan Ace
Nov 16, 2016

It's probably 2-2.5' long and hasn't started sagging in the ~8 years it's been up.

U
Undisclosed #1
Nov 16, 2016
IPVMU Certified

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Ari Erenthal
Nov 15, 2016

They make spacers and hangers for recessed lighting that might work well for this kind of thing.

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U
Undisclosed #1
Nov 15, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Would this be similar?

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Ari Erenthal
Nov 15, 2016

I don't believe so. I think that's designed to clamp to unistrut, and that's some kind of steel floor joist. Different sizes. Also, they needed to keep most of the body of the camera between the joists, not below, due to height restrictions.

Another option might have been to mount a floor flange to the ceiling and drop a pipe from the flange to get the height necessary. That might not have been possible here, however, due to the very tight space.

U
Undisclosed #2
Nov 15, 2016

You nailed what I would've done, except instead of a floor flange, i'd have gone with this:

http://www.novattach.com/wp/?page_id=308

Starter Kit + Ceiling plate adapter + pipe cut to the proper length + Pendant Mount Adapter.

Probably not the cheapest way to do it, but prevents these one-off fabrications like this. Not that there's anything wrong with a one-off fabrication (specifically this one -- doesn't look bad), but keeping some of these handy makes things go much more quickly.

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Ethan Ace
Nov 16, 2016

I think mounting to the ceiling wasn't even considered, as that ceiling is also the floor above. I think it's two layers of 3/4" plywood. Done the right way it probably could work without an annoying protrusion in the way on the floor above.

U
Undisclosed #1
Nov 15, 2016
IPVMU Certified

Ok. Its hard for me to see if the camera is flush on the strut.

So then maybe its just a 3/8" bolt thru the strut with a couple of nuts and washers on both sides, and the bolt threading right to the camera?

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Ari Erenthal
Nov 16, 2016

That's what it looks like, yeah.

JH
Jay Hobdy
Nov 16, 2016
IPVMU Certified

wall mount on the side of the beam? unless there was some reason for being centered.

I can not tell how the horizontal piece of unistrut is fastened to the vertical piece. Was it cut, then bent? Wonder how solid that is?

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Craig Mc Cluskey
Jan 16, 2017

I can not tell how the horizontal piece of unistrut is fastened to the vertical piece. Was it cut, then bent? Wonder how solid that is?

It sure does look like it was cut then bent. It definitely does not use the right-angle pieces available for unitstrut. -5 for that.

U
Undisclosed #3
Jan 16, 2017

I would suggest a bullet camera here and remove the fabrication of the unistrut from the install technicians tasks. Less home depot trips and tooling needed to accomplish such an easy install.

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