Short answer: bring the power in from below and let the Ethernet out through compression glands. A three-quarter inch conduit stub up the post into a gasketed condulet on the bottom face carries the supply, and one IP68 gland per cable carries each Cat6 run out. Both keep the enclosure's rating. A hole drilled in the back and closed with silicone does not, because a caulk bead bridges the gap instead of clamping a seal. On a stainless box the clean way is to order the entry as a factory cutout: the holes arrive deburred, placed clear of the gasket line and the mounting feet, and the enclosure keeps its manufacturer-rated NEMA 4X / IP66 rating (not UL listed). Below are the hardware list, the fill math that sizes the hub, the order of work and the checks that prove the box dry before the camera goes live.
Where the power enters a pole box
Rain runs down a 10 ft post and tests every horizontal joint on the way. That makes the bottom face the only face worth piercing on a pole-mounted box. The condulet sits under the enclosure, where water cannot pool on its cover, and the access hole in the post sits under the box for the same reason. The trade's standard fitting here is a 3/4 in LB condulet, a cast body with a gasketed cover. It takes the conduit in one end and lands on the box hub with the other; the cover faces sideways, where rain hits it and runs off.
Every fitting in the chain carries its own rating, and the lowest one wins. One splash-proof grommet in an otherwise sealed box drops the whole assembly to a splash-proof level. An IP68 compression gland on an IP66 box keeps the assembly at IP66. IEC 60529 tests that second digit with 12.5 mm [0.49 in] jets at 100 L/min; the gland out-rates the box, so the box sets the number. In the US, NEC 110.28 adds that an IP code alone does not satisfy a spec written around an enclosure type number, so order a box marked with both. The NEMA 4 vs 4X vs IP66 guide compares the two systems, and the NEMA 4 bottom conduit entry article runs the same logic on floor-mounted cabinets.
What you need
Everything fits in one toolbox tray.
| Item | Spec to ask for | Why it is there |
|---|---|---|
| LB condulet, three-quarter size | gasketed cover | joins the box hub to the conduit run below and doubles as a pull point |
| Chase nipple (or close nipple with two locknuts) | steel, matching the hub | joins condulet to hub in one threaded piece |
| Liquid-tight flexible conduit | with liquid-tight connectors | carries the three conductors up the post cavity |
| Compression glands, IP68, M20 | one per cable | clamps each Cat6 jacket; typical clamp 4.5-10 mm [0.18-0.39 in] OD |
| Branch supply | three 12 AWG THHN on a 20 A, 120 V breaker | line, neutral and ground for the PoE switch |
| Mounting hardware | two 5/16 in lag screws (timber post) or a strut channel with band clamps (steel pole) | holds the box through its wall-mount feet |
| Hole saw or step drill, deburring tool | sized to the hub and gland threads | only if a field-drilled entry is unavoidable |
If the entries are ordered as factory cutouts, the hole saw and the deburring tool stay in the drawer. The holes arrive sized to the hub and the gland with the edges dressed.
Sizing the entry for a 12 x 10 x 6 in box on a square timber post
The inputs: a 12 x 10 x 6 in (H x W x D) stainless wall-mount enclosure, a custom size inside the 6 x 4 x 4 to 60 x 36 x 16 in outside range the stainless size finder filters. The post is the usual 4 x 4 in timber. The load is a PoE switch fed by one 120 V, 20 A branch: three 12 AWG THHN conductors (line, neutral, ground), plus one outdoor Cat6 run at about 7 mm [0.28 in] OD leaving for the camera.
The rule has two halves. The NEC fill rules cap a raceway with three or more conductors at 40 percent of its cross-section, and a gland must clamp the jacket inside its published range.
The arithmetic: the 3/4 in rigid steel conduit at the heart of this entry has an inside diameter of 0.824 in, the schedule 40 standard, so its area is 0.785 x 0.824² = 0.533 in². The 40 percent limit leaves 0.533 x 0.40 = 0.213 in² for conductors. Three 12 AWG THHN at about 0.121 in OD take 0.785 x 0.121² = 0.011 in² each, 0.034 in² total, which is 16 percent of the allowed fill. The same three conductors in a 1/2 in hub (0.632 in ID gives 0.785 x 0.632² = 0.313 in², allowed fill 0.125 in²) sit at 27 percent, still legal.
So the smaller 1/2 in entry carries this circuit and the 3/4 in entry carries it with room to pull. Take the larger condulet when the run doubles as a pull point or a second circuit is likely; stay at 1/2 in for a single short feeder with nothing planned behind it. For the Ethernet, one M20 gland typically clamps 4.5-10 mm [0.18-0.39 in], so a 7 mm [0.28 in] Cat6 jacket sits mid-range. One cable per gland, and the entry holds the box's IP66.
Running the entry, step by step
- Mount the box low on the post. Lag the wall-mount feet to a timber post with two 5/16 in screws, or band a strut channel round a steel pole and bolt the feet to that. Chest height, about 4-5 ft off the pad, keeps the switch serviceable from a step stool.
- Put the entries in the box. Order the bottom cutout sized for the hub and a second for the M20 gland; the 3D enclosure builder adds gland and hub cutouts as quick options. On a box already in hand, cut the bottom face with a hole saw sized to the hub thread and deburr both edges.
- Fit the condulet. Join it to the bottom hub with a chase nipple, or with a close nipple and two locknuts, and seat a gasket at each joint. The condulet's cover then opens for service without breaking the seal to the box.
- Drill the post under the box. The access hole sits below the condulet, one drill size larger than the connector, so the timber never pinches the jacket and rain in the post cavity drips out at the bottom.
- Run the conduit and pull the wires. Liquid-tight flexible conduit runs from the post hole to the condulet's lower hub with a rated connector at each end. Kill the branch breaker and verify absence of voltage before you land the three 12 AWG conductors on the switch.
- Take the Ethernet out through its gland. One M20 IP68 gland per Cat6 run, in the bottom or low-side cutout, nut drawn up tight inside so the seal rides on the jacket.
- Form the drip loops. Drop each cable about 2 in [50 mm] below its gland before it turns up into the switch, so water running the jacket drips off short of the seal.
- Close every unused opening. Each spare cutout gets a blanking plug rated to the box; an open spare is the cheapest leak in the assembly.
Ordering the box with the entries already in it
Field-cutting stainless works; ordering the holes works better. The custom stainless cutout page takes your size, grade and every cutout position from a drawing, and delivers in 10 business days counted from your approval of the drawing. The holes arrive deburred and placed where they belong: the hub on the bottom face, the glands on the bottom or back, and 1/8 in [3 mm] of flat metal between any hole edge and a bend, a weld or a foot. What a panel's rating becomes after you cut it and mount devices is worked through in the cut-panel rating article, and the back-entry version of this exact job, a camera box fed from behind without conduit, is in the camera back entry article.
Grade is a one-line decision. We build both grades, so the choice stays yours: 304 for a dry inland site; 316L wherever de-icing salt or sea spray reaches, because 304 pits under chloride deposits even at room temperature.
Checks before you close the door
- Hose test on a dead box. With the branch off, spray the assembled box for two minutes from a hand nozzle, lay a dry paper towel on the floor, close the door and read it the next morning. Any wet spot names its hole.
- Gland tug. Pull each glanded cable by hand; the gland's seal must take the load and the nut must stay tight.
- Gasket seat. Close the door and look for an even compression line all round; a lumpy seat shows where the gasket needs cleaning or the hinge needs adjusting.
- Bond the box. The equipment grounding conductor lands on the enclosure's ground terminal, so a fault has a metal path home; the grounding and bonding guide covers what has to be bonded.
- Plan for condensation. A sealed box on a cold post swings through the dew point at night. If the switch fogs, fit a membrane vent rated to the box and skip the drilled drain; the breather vent article shows which vents keep a Type 4X rating.
Mistakes that cost the rating
Caulking a drilled hole. Silicone bridges the gap instead of clamping a gasket, so it passes a light rain and fails a hose test. If a hole is already cut in the wrong place, the fix is mechanical, not chemical; the wrongly drilled hole article shows the blanking and re-gland options.
Entries on the top face. The top collects standing water at every seam and bakes every boot in the sun. Bottom and low-side faces are the dry faces.
One gland, two cables. The seal clamps one jacket; a second cable in the same gland leaves an open annulus that wicks water straight in.
The wrong hole. A gland's sealing washer needs full contact on flat metal around a round hole matched to the thread. An oversize or ragged hole leaves the washer floating and the swarf loose inside; what drilling does to a rated enclosure is covered in the drilling article.
A post hole above the box. The access hole goes under the box footprint, or the post becomes a funnel feeding the condulet.
Catalog dimensions to compare
Compare these catalog dimensions with your component layout. Open each enclosure for its rating, material and usable space, then check those specifications against your application.
| Enclosure | Material | Outside H x W x D / display | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 × 10 × 6 in | 304 stainless | 12 x 10 x 6 in | Rated NEMA 4X / IP66 by the manufacturer; not UL listed |
| 10 × 8 × 6 in | 304 stainless | 10 x 8 x 6 in | Rated NEMA 4X / IP66 by the manufacturer; not UL listed |
| 16 × 12 × 8 in | 304 stainless | 16 x 12 x 8 in | Rated NEMA 4X / IP66 by the manufacturer; not UL listed |
| 20 × 16 × 8 in | 304 stainless | 20 x 16 x 8 in | Rated NEMA 4X / IP66 by the manufacturer; not UL listed |
Questions
Can I drill the enclosure and seal the hole with silicone?
A silicone bead is a gap filler, not a rated seal; UV on a pole cracks it within two summers, and the first driving rain finds it. Order the hole as a factory cutout sized to the hub or gland instead, placed clear of the gasket line and mounting feet. On a custom box the entry arrives deburred, and the manufacturer's NEMA 4X / IP66 rating stands.
What size conduit carries power into a pole-mounted enclosure?
One three-quarter inch hub is the usual pick. Rigid steel conduit at that size has an inside diameter of 0.824 in, the NEC fill rules cap three or more conductors at 40 percent of that, and three 12 AWG conductors use about 16 percent, so the hub stays nearly empty. A 1/2 in hub also passes the same three conductors legally; take the larger size when the condulet doubles as a pull point or a second circuit is coming.
Do cable glands keep the enclosure's rating?
The weakest part sets the rating. A compression gland rated IP68, fitted to one cable within its clamping range in a clean hole, holds the entry above the box's IP66, so the assembly keeps the manufacturer's rating. A rubber grommet clamps nothing, and the whole box drops to the grommet's level. Size by jacket: an M20 typically clamps 4.5-10 mm, which spans outdoor Cat6 at about 7 mm OD.
How high should the box sit on the post?
For a 9-10 ft post, hang the box at chest height, about 4-5 ft off the pad, with the camera above it; both stay serviceable from a step stool. If you mount an overcurrent device inside the box, NEC 240.24(A) caps the highest operating handle at 2.0 m (6 ft 7 in) above the floor or platform, which a low box meets easily.
