Ring Floodlight

[ocnbrze]

hey guys,
so i just bought a Ring Floodlight camera. i have never really played around with anything electrical around the house, so i'm a tad unsure on a few things. i have seen some youtube videos showing that they hooked up the unit using an extension cord that the cut to expose the wires. the wires were then spliced together to the unit. it was then just plugged into an outlet. the directions from Ring says that i need a junction box. is this necessary? the video i saw never mentioned or showed that. am i crazy to try hooking up the unit this way? or should i hire an electrician?

 

[olbriar]

A junction box is a junction box. It's always best to keep connections within a contained box that can be accessed but the connections can't be touched without some effort... protection. As long as you are secure in your connections and away from the elements and accidental access, I can't imagine a problem resulting from a patch connection unless the junction box is more that a mere junction box. ( a change of voltage or added ground)

 

[ocnbrze]

A junction box is a junction box. It's always best to keep connections within a contained box that can be accessed but the connections can't be touched without some effort... protection. As long as you are secure in your connections and away from the elements and accidental access, I can't imagine a problem resulting from a patch connection unless the junction box is more that a mere junction box. ( a change of voltage or added ground)

yeah i just did a test run where i cut off the end of the extension cord and connected the wires to the floodlight.....and it worked!!!!!

so i think that the wires are going to be inside the garage. i'm gonna get some heat shrink wire connectors and i should be fine.....i think. the extension cord will be plugged into a surge protector that is currently used for my washer and dryer so i think that i be should be ok.

its too windy today for me to put up the lights today.......so hopefully tomorrow i will be putting it up.

anybody else use the Ring floodlights?

 

[no one]

Do you use it to rule all the other floodlights?

 

[ocnbrze]

Do you use it to rule all the other floodlights?

OMG!!!!!

Hilarious........well i will only have this one.....so far....LOL

 

[no one]

I have my moments.

 

[MoodyBlues]

I have a Ring doorbell/camera, @ocnbrze, but I left installation up to the professionals, ADT. I told them what I wanted to add to my existing, monitored security system (Rind doorbell/camera and a smart lock), then they sent out a technician to do the installation. Good thing, too, because it involved hard-wiring the equipment, and I wouldn't have a clue how to do that.

Once you're up and running with your Ring floodlight, I'd like to hear how you like it. I'm very pleased with my doorbell/camera/smart lock, and am planning on adding a few more components. They're all tied together in my ADT account; I can see (and talk to) who's at the door, unlock the door, set the alarm, whatever, all from one app!

Whatever you do, don't get electrocuted!

As for the extension cord, that's not going to be accessible, is it? You wouldn't want some bad guy snipping it. All of my components are hard-wired but also have battery backups. I don't know anything about Ring floodlights specifically, but if you can add batteries, I'd definitely recommend doing so.

 

[ocnbrze]

so far so good.....need to play around with the app some more.

here it is:

floodlights are pretty damn bright!!!!!

 

[ocnbrze]

As for the extension cord, that's not going to be accessible, is it? You wouldn't want some bad guy snipping it. All of my components are hard-wired but also have battery backups. I don't know anything about Ring floodlights specifically, but if you can add batteries, I'd definitely recommend doing so.

as you can see i tucked all the wiring into the base unit....it was a tight fit, but i managed. it is weird that they did not provide wood screws. just regular screws that i'm guessing would have scewed into the junction box or something. had to go to Home Depot to get wood screws.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Looks great, @ocnbrze! You did a good job.

All of my motion-activated lights are old...at least 15 years old, and I've wanted to replace them for some time. That was on my list of projects I wanted done before I got sick. I'm kind of glad it worked out the way it did, because now there's so much more technologically advanced options to choose from. I believe a call to ADT may be in order soon...

 

[ocnbrze]

Looks great, @ocnbrze! You did a good job.

All of my motion-activated lights are old...at least 15 years old, and I've wanted to replace them for some time. That was on my list of projects I wanted done before I got sick. I'm kind of glad it worked out the way it did, because now there's so much more technologically advanced options to choose from. I believe a call to ADT may be in order soon...

thanx.....it was not that hard. i was just nervous about wires and such, but it turned out great.

now i just need to figure out and tweak the notifications.

i also wish the the floodlights were also motion detected. in other words, have it turn on when there is motion. it seems like i can either turn the lights on or leave them off. however, the camera does have night vision which i have yet to try.

 

[olbriar]

thanx.....it was not that hard. i was just nervous about wires and such, but it turned out great.

now i just need to figure out and tweak the notifications.

i also wish the the floodlights were also motion detected. in other words, have it turn on when there is motion. it seems like i can either turn the lights on or leave them off. however, the camera does have night vision which i have yet to try.

Not knowing but betting you can put a motion detector switch inline with the ring lights. If it detects motion it completes the circuit to the lights.

My front porch light is now ancient but it monitors motion as well as ambient light. It comes on half lit at dusk and goes off at first light. If it detects motion it goes to full light mode and does the same if you turn it on by the wall switch. It's pretty smart for a decade or older fairly cheap porch light.

 

[MoodyBlues]

i also wish the the floodlights were also motion detected

Oh...I assumed it was motion-activated. That's how my existing, old-school floodlights work AND my Ring doorbell camera. With my existing floodlights, they can also be turned on manually, by flipping its light-switch (in the house) off and on. Having motion detection is an absolute requirement for me.

 

[ocnbrze]

Oh...I assumed it was motion-activated. That's how my existing, old-school floodlights work AND my Ring doorbell camera. With my existing floodlights, they can also be turned on manually, by flipping its light-switch (in the house) off and on. Having motion detection is an absolute requirement for me.

the camera has motion detection.....just not the lights. you can easily turn them on from the app. the camera does have night vision as well.

 

[MoodyBlues]

the camera has motion detection.....just not the lights. you can easily turn them on from the app. the camera does have night vision as well.

Yeah, but that's weird, at least from my perspective. I've had motion-activated lighting for decades, and can't picture NOT having that. I can't tell you how many times the motion-activated lighting let me know that someone--or some other creature, like a coyote--was in my yard or walking up the driveway. I absolutely need that feature.

 

[ocnbrze]

Yeah, but that's weird, at least from my perspective. I've had motion-activated lighting for decades, and can't picture NOT having that. I can't tell you how many times the motion-activated lighting let me know that someone--or some other creature, like a coyote--was in my yard or walking up the driveway. I absolutely need that feature.

you can set it up to alert you on your phone any time there is motion. i get alerts all day on motion at the front of my house......so it works the same way. i just wish we can at least set it so that the lights will come on and off at a certain time each day......manually doing it sucks.

so far this is my only complaint i have.

 

[MoodyBlues]

you can set it up to alert you on your phone any time there is motion. i get alerts all day on motion at the front of my house......so it works the same way.

It's not the same. I'm not trying to be argumentative! Hear me out.

When a floodlight automatically turns on because it detected motion, it illuminates the area, including the culprit. That alone can be enough to scare someone off, like a burglar or coyote; it also lets your neighbors see what's going on. If the police are chasing someone, automatic lighting would be really helpful. Getting an alert on your phone doesn't do any of that.

But whatever works for you is what's best for you. For me, having auto-lighting has been something I've relied on for decades, and wouldn't want to do without.

 

[Unforgiven]

@MoodyBlues, If you already have motion lights, I'd take a look at Wyze cameras. They are dirt cheap, have both great night vision and incredible low light full color view. I've recently got into the cameras but they work great and at $30 ish per camera they are pretty cheap. Plus (and I'm not sure of the functionality of Ring, so this may be moot) you can trigger events if there is activity (these detect motion, people, packages, sound, and soon animals) you can activate another camera. So if my camera catches someone walking down my driveway I can activate my backyard camera to start recording before motion sets it off. There are also 130dB alarms you can sound manually if you want to scare something or someone off or otherwise attract attention.

That's just scratching the surface (because I've only been using them for a few weeks) of what you can do. It's at least worth a look.

 

[ocnbrze]

It's not the same. I'm not trying to be argumentative! Hear me out.

When a floodlight automatically turns on because it detected motion, it illuminates the area, including the culprit. That alone can be enough to scare someone off, like a burglar or coyote; it also lets your neighbors see what's going on. If the police are chasing someone, automatic lighting would be really helpful. Getting an alert on your phone doesn't do any of that.

But whatever works for you is what's best for you. For me, having auto-lighting has been something I've relied on for decades, and wouldn't want to do without.

LOL i'm not trying to argue with you either. just stating the facts......its annoying, but so far it works. it is only on the front of my house, so i do not really need to have the lights constantly turning on and off when motion is detected. the lights should be a good enough deterrence, plus i get notified when someone approaches the house or driveway.

and so far most of the floodlight camera similar to ring that i have researched also do not have motion detection lights......so i'm happy so far with it.

 

[ocnbrze]

OK I"M AN IDIOT!!!!!!!!

so in the Ring app under settings and then light settings.......i found that the motion activated lights settings.....and IT WAS TURNED OFF!!!!!! not sure why they would have that toggled off upon setup and installation.

i toggled it on and BOOM lights and comes on when there is motion.

i had to google search this as it was not in the instructions......so annoying!!!!!!

 

[Unforgiven]

not sure why they would have that toggled off upon setup and installation.

I would imagine that you wouldn't want to be at the top of a ladder adjustingthe angle of the camera and having the lights keep popping off in your face. As far as instructions, name me the last phone that told you what useful things were turned off by some setting buried deep in the menus.

 

[olbriar]

You might check to see if there is a time active setting hidden in that app as well. Who knows what features are lurking? If there isn't a setting to set parameters for the lights to be active, you could easily and cheaply add an inline timer to set an inactive time.

 

[ocnbrze]

I would imagine that you wouldn't want to be at the top of a ladder adjustingthe angle of the camera and having the lights keep popping off in your face.

well it is light sensitive. so during the day, the lights will not turn on when motion is detected.......so i can always adjust it during the day

You might check to see if there is a time active setting hidden in that app as well. Who knows what features are lurking? If there isn't a setting to set parameters for the lights to be active, you could easily and cheaply add an inline timer to set an inactive time.

just found it there is a timer you can automatically set for the lights to turn on and off.....like i said earlier, i need time to play around with the app.

not sure which one i want to use......motion activated lights or just leave the lights on at specific times.

 

[MoodyBlues]

Thanks for the info, @Unforgiven!

I hate to admit it, but I'm at a [lazy] point in my life where I'd rather tell a professional (ADT) exactly what I want, then let them provide and install the system-compatible products that fulfill my needs, hook them up, and verify they're integrated with my existing system. So I doubt I'll look at anything other than Ring/ADT, because that's guaranteed to work with my existing system. And I love the convenience of being able to access everything from one app.

@ocnbrze... I'm glad you found that 'off' setting!

 

[ocnbrze]

Well so far, we had some rain last week and the floodlight still is up and running. I was a tad unsure mainly because it was a tight fit with all of the wires that I shoved into the mounting bracket that I was not sure how good of a seal I had. Another test will be this Wednesday when it supposed to rain again.