[fur man]

Anybody ever used a magnetic camera mount? I'm looking to mount cams inside large steel culverts. (from the top, inside) My thoughts are to use a strong magnet. Something like a magnetic ground used for welding. Then fabricate a drop down cam mounting bracket that can be attached to the magnet. Now here is what I am uncertain about and seeking insight and advice on. Will the mounting magnet cause any problems in such close proximity of the camera? Especially if the mounting bracket is fabricated out of steel, it too will become somewhat magnetized when bolted to the magnet. Need to know if the magnetic field will possibly cause any damage to the cam or create any problems with the SD cards etc.

I suppose I can fabricate the drop down bracket using aluminum to eliminate the bracket mount where cam attaches from being magnetized.

Any ideas or thoughts would be helpful and appreciative

[johnnydeerhunter]

The magnet could give you some problems with the electronics and memory card. Only one way to find out for sure though......

[ClayPeacock]

Doesn't sound like a very good idea to me. We used to destroy hard drives and memory sticks by "degaussing" them. That was passing them through a strong magnetic field. Any magnet strong enough to support the weight of a trailcam would have to produce a pretty strong magnetic field.

Drilling a small hole in the culvert and using a lag bolt to attach the cam sounds better to me.

Just my two cents worth.

[Beards & Spurs]

yes i would not want a magnetic field near my batteries or elctronic circuit boards

[fur man]

I pretty much had already come to the assumption that the use of a magnet wouldn't be advisable.

have to admit though the ease of such a mount was appealing

I'm considering trying some sort of expandable tension bar. I may have to do as suggested, drill a hole

thanks for the advice, much appreciated

[T-post]

How big is the culvert (diameter)?

[Roscoe]

Out of curiosity, what are you hoping to get pics of in the pipe?

[nincehelser]

I doubt the magnetic would be much of an issue as long as you used common sense. The electronics will likely be far enough away that it really won't matter.

Rapidly moving magnetic fields (or parts moving in a magnetic field) might be a different matter. That can induce large currents that might damage electronics.

[fur man]

How big is the culvert (diameter)?

vary, but approximately 48 inches .. I can easily mount a camera at the ends/openings using a small C clamp. I was just thinking I would like to explore the possibilities of putting the camera further inside. the magnet would have been extremely quick n simple

Out of curiosity, what are you hoping to get pics of in the pipe?

beaver, otter etc. whatever enters one end and goes to the other lol *deer, bobcat, coyote etc. will also use culverts in certain situations

[T-post]

I think your idea of using a magnetic welding ground would work just fine if you were to use some flat aluminum strap to fashion a camera mount that kept the camera 16 or more inches away from the magnet.

If your conduit was smaller, like 16", my suggestion would be to buy a ceiling fan mount kit....the type that has a junction box in the middle and a threaded rod that expands to push against the ceiling joist. You could have it push against the culvert sides just as if it was between ceiling joist.

[bowhtr1]

I think when I had my primos cams the primos mount had a magnet that held it in the mount. You could just pull it out and change batteries or cards and slid it back in and the magnet would hold it. It was only a couple of inches from the cam. All my cams worked fine.

[Art Vandelay]

If I was mounting at the end of the pipe I'd use this.

http://www.murphymetalart.com/Clampmount.html