r/homesecurity • u/kruzer70 • Nov 07 '20

Can't identify camera

We moved into a home earlier this year and I'm trying to identify the front door camera, or more importantly the function of the cable running to the front door camera, so that I can replace it. I honestly can't tell whether it's a power cable, or network, or what. I've tried to post here with a link to Imgur with images of it, but the post keeps getting banned. Any suggestions on how best to figure out what the cable is? (I don't want to just cut it & leave the spot open — would rather figure it out first)

TIA

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u/jackd90 Nov 07 '20 edited Nov 07 '20

I don't recognize it but that doesn't look like a camera. It looks like a miniature spot light. Are you able to trace where the cable leads? That looks like a nm-type electrical cable, 14-2 or so.

Edit: Try turning on all switches near the front and use a non-contact 120v tester, if it is a light and the bulb is burnt then the tester should still show that the cable is live. Then turn off the switches and if the cable is no longer live then it's definitely a light.

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u/kruzer70 Nov 08 '20

In the group of switches by the front door, there *is* a switch I haven't figured out yet, so maybe that's it. What's strange, though, is: there are already two bulbs directly above the front door, shining directly down, that provide more than ample light — seemingly making it unnecessary to have a spotlight. The photocell / sensor comments here could also make sense, although I can't figure out what it might have been controlling - there aren't any managed devices anywhere that I've found!

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u/jackd90 Nov 09 '20

Oh yeah, definitely a photocell. If the lights at the front door turn on with the switch in the daytime then there's three possibilities:

  • The photocell is dead; Photocells produce a high resistance when no light is detected, a dead or burned out photocell would most likely show as high resistance making it think it's always dark out.
  • The photocell isn't connected at all; The previous owner may have bypassed it completely due to being annoyed that the light doesn't turn on during the day. Alternatively, if the photocell being dead broke the circuit, then the light wasn't turning on at all.
  • The photocell is connected to something completely different if the previous owner was a tinkerer and did janky contraptions which isn't uncommon.

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u/kruzer70 Nov 12 '20

Thanks! This seems to be the consensus...so hopefully I don't break anything when I disable it.