Ethernet (RJ45) Jack on 5th wheel sidewall

[4x4FF]

Hi all,

I use a ubiquiti nanostation as a wifi repeater in my 5th wheel. I have the nanostation mounted on a piece of 1" PVC conduit so I can remove it for travel. Long story short, I want to put an ethernet jack as a passthrough on the side of the 5th wheel. The interior cat5 cable that runs to my router will be permanetly connected to the inside of the passthrough. The outside connector is where I will connect the cat5 that runs to the ubiquiti when in use then sealed when not in use. I am looking at getting the following and was wondering if anyone had a better solution for an weathertight ethernet passthrough that can be sealed.

Passthrough

Cap

Connector


The only concern I have with the above parts is the thickness of my sidewalls.

Steve

[vbnjay]

wa8yxm wrote:
Looks like a good system.. I use a 30 amp electrical hatch myself.

This is why I enjoy this forum. I was thinking of doing the same thing (upgrading the sidewall telephone "flip up lid" connection) to an ethernet cable connection. Reading through all of this made me think about keeping it weatherproof.. etc etc.

Then the post here by John, got me thinking... Why not just run the cable OUT of the electrical cubby that is in the back side of the RV? It already has the "pass through" door for the shore power cable when I am using it - so easy access out of the RV and no extra holes to deal with. Win Win!

[wa8yxm]

Looks like a good system.. I use a 30 amp electrical hatch myself.

[4x4FF]

It has a gland that screws into the connection on the outside of the 5er. If you look at my first post I think I have a link to it.

Steve

[joebedford]

What protects the exterior RJ45 when a cable is plugged in?

[4x4FF]

Just wanted to give you guys an update on this. I wound up getting a 4" X 4" plate of aluminum and mounting my waterproof RJ45 connector to it after I painted it. I drilled a 1-3/4" hole through the side of my 5er. This hole is on the side near the rear and the back side is actually in the cabinet for my entertainment center. I put putty tape on the plte and screwed it to the outside of the camper. On the inside I put one of those desk grommets to give it a more finished look. I got a whole set of those grommets off of ebay for about 5 bucks. All in all I am very happy with how it turned out. Here are some pictures:













Steve

[whjco]

I am an IT tech and have had to install WIFI access points on outside towers. The AP boxes we use has an RJ45 on the bottom and the cable connects via a connector with a rubber gasket and a compression ring.

[joebedford]

My Bullet came with a split tapered rubber "cork". Only requires about a 3/4" hole in the outside of the RV. There's gunk around the cork to seal it. I've had it for 3 years without problem.

[4x4FF]

wa8yxm wrote:
Thinking about this: Your question: What is the thickness of the wall and will this work in it.

Answer: Thicker than you think (likely 2 inches) and thus, .. yes but not the way you think.

Solution

A small stainless plate say 4x4 inches square, Drill at least 5 (or 9) holes,
3 (or 😎 Screw holes one in each corner and optionally one in the middle of each side near the edge, and one larger hole for the hardware you linked to.

Drill hole in RV

Install cable and hardware to plate

Coat back of plate with Dicor or other adheasive/sealant (GOOP?)

Attach to RV covering hole using screws

NOTE: Plate can be painted to match RV,, Will look good, Will not leak and will hold the connector very well.

wa8yxm,

That is a damn good idea!! I think that provides a good solution to the problem. I can drill a larger hole all the way through to have room for the cat5 jack and have the plate on the outside.

I might try to use a piece of aluminum. I think it would be easier to work with.

This will also work for my latest issue. I had a splendide dryer and the element went out. It would have cost a couple hundred to replace so I got a whirlpool pretty reasonable. Problem is I had to redrill the vent hole. I put the plug from the new hole into the old and sealed it with eternabond til I could figure something better out but this is a much more elegant solution.

Thanks,

Steve

[wa8yxm]

Thinking about this: Your question: What is the thickness of the wall and will this work in it.

Answer: Thicker than you think (likely 2 inches) and thus, .. yes but not the way you think.

Solution

A small stainless plate say 4x4 inches square, Drill at least 5 (or 9) holes,
3 (or 😎 Screw holes one in each corner and optionally one in the middle of each side near the edge, and one larger hole for the hardware you linked to.

Drill hole in RV

Install cable and hardware to plate

Coat back of plate with Dicor or other adheasive/sealant (GOOP?)

Attach to RV covering hole using screws

NOTE: Plate can be painted to match RV,, Will look good, Will not leak and will hold the connector very well.

[Gdetrailer]

RoyB wrote:
I have added several different antenna connectors to my trailer exterior wall and used this type of weather tight lids available from LOWES. I just installed them close to were the original CABLE TV connectors were installed.


Lowes also had the different connectors like the F connector etc. I found the Ham Radio type connectors I needed and installed them instead. I noticed they also had some type CAT 5 connectors you could use as well.

Roy Ken

Roy,

Hate to burst you bubble but those covers are not weather proof, moisture proof at all. They have no gaskets at all, not to mention when in use they are completely open to the weather.

You can kind of get away with that type of cover for a short time but over a few years you will find yourself changing out the "F" connectors..

They would be even worse for Cat5 connectors.

I would suggest the OP needs to go to Home Depot or Lowes and check out standard outdoor weather proof covers for outlets and switches which will have a weather proof gasket. The downside to those are when they are in use the cover will be open a bit.

Personally, I would completely forgo drilling through the wall and simply slip the Cat5 wire right out the window when needed. Simple, quick, weather proof and ZERO COST. Most RV windows have considerable slop and you will not hurt the Cat5 with a few bends in it.

[RoyB]

Another method I have used with great success is to mount a regular electrical PVC junction box on the outside wall. Then drill out a 1-inch or 2-inch in the center of this junction box. On the inside wall adjacent to this outside PBV box mount a similar PVC junction box.
I would run a Flex or solid tube between the two mounted boxes. You can run many cables thru this idea from the inside to the outside all weather tight. These boxes come with any number of ports to use...




You can use all different sort of these PVC junction boxes where I was routing DC cables and such. I would mount PVC 3/4-inch tubing and route all this to just about anywhere. All out of site or at least neatly dressed in around the wall or what ever...

On the outside you can add connectors etc to the weather tight lid...
The also have weather tight lift covers as well...
Like said all of my BATTERY cables routing to my to/fm my tongue mounted battery banks use this idea to route all my 12VDC cables through PVC flex lines all over the trailer.

On my off-road POPUP CAMPER I pulled all of my wiring that went through the trailer floors under the various cabinets and did the same thing here. Now all of my DC Cables are well protected going thru the PVC flex tubing and junction boxes mounted under the trailer floor.

Something like this trailer floor plan shown in blue here...


Go walk around places like LOWES or RADIO SHACK and see whats available with installing your cables.

Roy Ken

[RoyB]

I have added several different antenna connectors to my trailer exterior wall and used this type of weather tight lids available from LOWES. I just installed them close to were the original CABLE TV connectors were installed.


Lowes also had the different connectors like the F connector etc. I found the Ham Radio type connectors I needed and installed them instead. I noticed they also had some type CAT 5 connectors you could use as well.

Roy Ken

[4x4FF]

aslakson wrote:
Looks like a good plan, although sorta spendy for my blood. I'd drill a small hole thru the sidewall of your rig and measure the wall thickness - not necessarily through the insulation and inner wall, but just the outer wall. Inside, you can make that hole as big as you need, and if it's inside a cabinet or behind some furniture, it won't show anyway.

al

Thanks for the reply. This so far is the best solution I have found. Really it is only about $26 all together so not too bad. I guess I'll use a 2" hole saw from the inside and then just drill an appropriate size hole through the outer skin. That is the only part that bothers me. Obviously this wont fit all the way through a 2" thick outer wall.

Just checking to see if anybody had any better ideas.

Steve

[aslakson]

Looks like a good plan, although sorta spendy for my blood. I'd drill a small hole thru the sidewall of your rig and measure the wall thickness - not necessarily through the insulation and inner wall, but just the outer wall. Inside, you can make that hole as big as you need, and if it's inside a cabinet or behind some furniture, it won't show anyway.

al