ᐅ The PoE camera stops working after coming into contact with moisture.

Hello everyone,

we have recently encountered a very strange issue with the LAN cable for our outdoor camera. If this is the wrong subforum, please feel free to move it.

During our new build, an installation cable with a keystone jack was run by the electrician to the outside facade.

A few days ago, I installed a PoE camera on it. Initially, everything worked perfectly.

However, since rain was forecast for yesterday and my waterproof enclosure was only arriving today, I temporarily protected the LAN connection with a plastic bag from the weather.

During the day, the camera suddenly lost connection. Upon checking, I discovered that some moisture had unfortunately gotten inside the bag.

Now the strange thing:
I tested the camera by connecting it to a different LAN port inside the house. The camera started up immediately and worked flawlessly.

I then connected my laptop to the outdoor cable via LAN to check whether the keystone jack or cable might have been damaged. This connection also worked perfectly, and the laptop accessed the internet without issues. It seems, however, that PoE no longer works here.

When I reconnect the camera to the original outdoor cable, the camera cannot establish a connection.

Could there still be moisture inside the cable? There was only a short exposure and very little moisture. So I don’t think corrosion could have developed that quickly, especially since all components, as mentioned, still function individually.

What can I do about any remaining moisture? The cable is outside but sheltered from the weather. Should I just let it dry in the open air?

I am really unsure what to do next. Cutting the cable and fitting a new keystone jack would be my last option, but I don’t have much experience with this, and the electrician handled it originally.

Or could the connection possibly be completely damaged?

Thank you very much in advance for your help.

Best regards

Christian

Let it dry and hope it works again. Maybe the power supply from your network port got damaged. But let it dry before you try another port.

Remove the old keystone, shorten the cable slightly, and attach a new keystone.
If the keystone has been exposed to moisture, you can expect it to corrode.
Also replace the LAN cable at the camera.
Just watch some videos online. Keystone jacks are easy to install.

As it sounds, a wire break is the most likely cause. Installation cables are rigid, and due to your handling, one wire is probably broken (it might have already been damaged from previous work). Shorten the cable/wires slightly and reconnect them. After dismantling, you can also gently pull on the wire ends with needle-nose pliers. If one comes apart easily, that is the culprit.