Camera cobwebs

[rmc86uk]

Does anyone have a clue how to keep cobwebs from CCTV cameras? Have to clean them every other day. Just can't seem to keep them off permanent!

Thanks in advance! [emoji106]

 

[chris murphy]

Does anyone have a clue how to keep cobwebs from CCTV cameras? Have to clean them every other day. Just can't seem to keep them off permanent!

Thanks in advance! [emoji106]

"Hello rmc86uk",

I had this problem with some of my Home`s CCTV Cameras and I found a way [the ONLY way ?] to keep the Spiders off the Cameras which works well in periods of good weather / Spring and Summer - BUT You have to keep getting up to the Cameras to apply this:


Get some Peppermint Oil - dilute some with warm water - [I use 5 to 1 water to Oil / 5ml Oil to 25ml water] and apply this with a small brush around the Camera housing around the edge where the IR lights / Lens Housing Glass is.

I find that this amount will easily do 6 CCTV Camera edges with a liberal coating - although they are not very big Cameras - front Glass holder approx. 100mm diameter x 25mm edge strip coated with the Oil & Water mixture - Spiders will not come into contact with Peppermint Oil.

BUT - it will Wash Off in the rain so it depends upon the Weather / Rainfall how often You will need to reapply the Oil and water mixture.

That is why I stated above that this works well in Spring and Summer although as You know We still get heavy rain during some of those Months [e.g. Wimbledon Tennis weeks].


Peppermint Oil can be quite expensive the way that I buy it [see below] but perhaps less so if purchased on Ebay / Amazon - ?


Most Spiders don`t spin Webs outside in the late Autumn and Winter Months because of the low temperatures [?] so I don`t have a problem during those periods.

I think that You would find that Member amckay`s suggestion of a Spider repellent spray has Peppermint Oil as its main ingredient - I thought that a spray would not be suitable for my CCTV Cameras because I just needed to prevent the Spiders spinning their Webs across the Camera Housing Glass / Lens area and I did not want to `over-spray` onto the Glass / Lens area so I went for the Peppermint Oil in a Bottle to brush on.

I suppose that You could use the Spray onto a small brush and then apply it to the Camera without much wastage ?

Here is an example of the Anti Spider Spray:

Spider Repellent Kit - All you need if you don't like Spiders


Here are some details on making your own Anti Spider Spray from Household Ingredients:

How to Make Spider Repellent at Home: 12 Steps (with Pictures)


Spiders are not killed by any of these Sprays or the Peppermint Oil - they are `deterred` by them - apparently they just cannot bear to come into contact with the various ingredients that the Sprays contain [or the Oil].


A Friend of mine gets the Peppermint Oil for Me from a Health Shop that sells `Aromatherapy Oils` and many other products of that type - £10.00 for 100ml - but this is only because I don`t want to order from Ebay and have to arrange for someone to be at Home to accept the Delivery.



I have an Extension Ladder at my Home so I don`t find getting it out and getting up to the CCTV Cameras any kind of a `Chore` even when I have to reapply the Peppermint Oil again after Rain - But it probably could become an irritation if You don`t have a Ladder at Home.


I hope that this will be of some help to You - when I was researching this Spiders Web problem I could not find any other way to prevent the Spiders spinning webs across my CCTV Cameras.


Regards,

Chris

 

[rmc86uk]

Hi everyone and thanks for all your replies. Chris I will give the peppermint oil solution a go although it has been ****ing it down all day today. My Dads had a good clean of them today and rather than keep getting the A frame ladders out he has attached a duster to a length of copper pipe for high reach.

 

[chris murphy]

Hi everyone and thanks for all your replies. Chris I will give the peppermint oil solution a go although it has been ****ing it down all day today. My Dads had a good clean of them today and rather than keep getting the A frame ladders out he has attached a duster to a length of copper pipe for high reach.



"Hello again rmc86uk",

Hopefully You will not have the Spiders web problems for much longer this Year - unless the Spiders where You live still spin webs outside during the late Autumn / Winter - so my `Tip` should work better during the Spring & Summer Months when hopefully We will not get so much rain.

I read recently that this September was the Driest for 55 Years so You never know what to expect with our Weather !

I really cannot think of any other way to prevent the webs from being spun onto the CCTV Cameras.

If You have already found it an irritation to keep getting up to the Cameras with a Ladder perhaps the Duster on a Pole / Copper tube device that your Dad made will be a better way for You to deal with the webs - ?

Depending upon what type of bracket your CCTV Cameras have it might be very easy to accidentally knock a Camera out of alignment with even the slightest touch - ?

I have done this on one occasion when leaning out of a window and carefully [I thought] removing a web using a Duster on a stick - realigning it was a bit of a `Pain` because I had to keep getting down the ladder and going indoors to see what each slight adjustment had done - no-one else was at Home at that time.


I know that the Peppermint Oil diluted as I mentioned does work but the drawback is having to reapply it after Rain and obviously needing a Ladder to do this - I don`t find it too irritating in Summer and I don`t get the webs in late Autumn or Winter.


Good Luck with whatever You decide - I know how irritating the Spiders webs are I used to clear them off the Cameras only to find more back the next Day !

`Persistence` is apparently in a Spiders nature [Bonnie Prince Charlie / Spider in the Cave story] - they were driving Me mad almost Daily with webs across my CCTV Cameras until I found out about the Peppermint Oil.


Regards,

Chris

 

[Andy78]

Chris, that is possibly one of the best answers to one of the most random questions on the forum I have ever seen

 

[tazz]

So to briefly recap Chris...Use peppermint oil.....lol

 

[chris murphy]

Chris, that is possibly one of the best answers to one of the most random questions on the forum I have ever seen

"Hello Andy78",

Thanks for the compliment I appreciate it.

Regards,

Chris

 

[dingledong]

What was the name of that oil again ?

 

[chris murphy]

So to briefly recap Chris...Use peppermint oil.....lol

"Hello Tazz",

I hope that my `detailed` message about the Peppermint Oil did not irritate You.

I know that I often do write a bit more detail than is deemed to be required to just answer the question but this is from my `habit` of trying to ensure that what I write is not misunderstood - and as I am normally writing about Heating - Plumbing or Gas I feel that `going into detail` is a necessity.

Because of a Lifetime of doing this when writing out `Instructions` at Work for various Contractors / other People working for Me I have gotten into the `Habit` of elucidating in almost everything that I write.


Regards,

Chris

 

[tazz]

Chris was a little dig I couldn`t resist......but to reply to common cctv problem with a very good constructive reply I had to click the thanks button. On commercial installs this is actually a real problem, as apart from being a nuisance, the web reflects the infra red night light back into the camera lens. and my thought at this moment, is weather a peppermint cleaning solution could be used in camera washer bottles...This could be an idea for you to promote...

 

[chris murphy]

Chris was a little dig I couldn`t resist......but to reply to common cctv problem with a very good constructive reply I had to click the thanks button. On commercial installs this is actually a real problem, as apart from being a nuisance, the web reflects the infra red night light back into the camera lens. and my thought at this moment, is weather a peppermint cleaning solution could be used in camera washer bottles...This could be an idea for you to promote...

"Hello again Tazz",

Thanks for your reply - I knew that You were not being funny with your comment - but that it probably was referring to my sometimes VERY Long messages on here.

I would not spray the Peppermint Oil / Water solution onto the Glass in front of my CCTV Cameras IR lights / Lens because I would expect that it would obscure the CCTV image on IR / Night Vision with the IR lights shining onto / through the Glass with a film of this mixture on it [?].

I do not want to TRY this on any of my Cameras because when I have to clean the Glass [Traffic dust etc.] the Cameras do get moved slightly [I do try to hold them in position] because the brackets don`t hold them in a `vice like grip` regarding them possibly rotating - when a Camera turns slightly I sometimes find it awkward to get it realigned correctly and having to get up and down the Ladder quite a few times.

The Spiders used to spin their webs across the Camera Glass diameter from the Glass housing but the webs were not actually touching the Glass - anyway as You mentioned the Infra Red lights on Night Vision then bounce back from the web and totally obscure the Camera view.

Thanks again for your messages.

Regards,


Chris

 

[tazz]

Chris, most commercial have a wiper blade, aswell as spray wash....if you walk into any town, youll see this setup (remote wash/wipe).....so you should serious think of inventing new wash solution

 

[chris murphy]

Chris, most commercial have a wiper blade, aswell as spray wash....if you walk into any town, youll see this setup (remote wash/wipe).....so you should serious think of inventing new wash solution

"Hello Tazz",

I have seen the Washer / Wiper facility on Commercial CCTV Cameras.

Perhaps some of the Spray of a Screen Wash liquid that had Peppermint Oil diluted into it would remain close enough to the Glass of the Camera Housing to keep the Peppermint smell around that area meaning that the Spiders would not spin their webs across the Glass / IR Lights / Lens area ?

Regards,

Chris

 

[rmc86uk]

I only cleaned the cobwebs Monday and they are back already! God damn!

 

[Geordie Spark]

Sounds like a perfectly good business opportunity to me. Set up a couple of guys in a van with some cones and scaffold and sell the service as a yearly contract to clean the CCTV cameras every 3 months.

Marvo ..... the Del Boy Trotter of Zulu land!!!

 

[Geordie Spark]

Look, it's perfectly simple.

Cobwebs are just webs made by spiders.

Frogs eat spiders so get some frogs to sit on the cameras.

Result: Happy well-fed frogs and cobweb free cameras!!!