Wyze Video Doorbell v2 Angled Back Bracket for Secure Cover (remix)

Short Story:

My doorbell camera didn't quite give the view that I wanted, so I found a model that covers the microSD card slot and modified it with a 12° downward angle to give a better view of the porch in case packages are left there.

Longer Story:

I really like the Wyze Video Doorbell v2, but the field of view where I initially installed it is less than ideal.  Using the wall plate included with the doorbell was easy but showed me more of the roof overhang than I needed to see and not as much of the porch surface as I wanted.  Wyze does include a wedge that can be inserted between the wall plate and the mounting surface during installation, but this is for adding 30° laterally; it does nothing for angling the camera downward.  (They later announced the availability of the Video Doorbell v2 Wedge Kit, but that was a number of months after I'd already designed and fabricated this model.)

The Wyze Forum includes a request for STL files for wedge mounting plates (since they don't sell those as an accessory) but that wish is unfulfilled at the time of this writing.  Since the Video Doorbell v2 was a new release at the time I bought it, I was unable to find a third-party solution that met my needs.  Then I found BenKenobi's design.

I had read that my local library offered 3D printing services but never really had much of an interest before finding this design that might help meet my use case.  Because of this situation with the doorbell, I took classes at the library to learn about (and gain the ability to use) their 3D printers, which also led me to learning about Tinkercad.  I realize that's maybe not the optimal tool for this kind of thing, but it's what I was exposed to early on and have learned so far.  I'm still early in my 3D printing journey.

After checking the desired view for the doorbell and measuring the required downward angle on paper, I imported BenKenobi's back bracket into Tinkercad and began tinkering.  Eventually I came up with several iterations of my design (I'm including two here), went through several slicing trials with PrusaSlicer, and then finally fabricated one and installed it.  (I went with the "FullPlateWedge" version because that sliced with the fewest supports.)

Notes on My Particular Installation:

• Instead of purchasing the screws that BenKenobi recommended, I used some that I had saved from previously disassembling some old hard drives which are dimensionally very similar but have pan (not flat) heads and use a T10 Torx driver.  These fit as well as I would expect the originally recommended screws to fit.

• Because I added material to the back of the model, I had to use screws that were longer than what Wyze includes for installation (which I think are #4 × 1").  I used a #6 × 2" for the top and #6 × 1¼" for the bottom, both wood screws.  I had to modify the Phillips flat heads by removing material so that they would sit at or below the countersink recesses in the Wyze wall plate in order to be able to slide the doorbell onto the plate.

Thoughts About Future Improvements:

I'm pleased with the final product but would probably do a couple of things differently if I had to do it again:

1. I would add a second locking block (similar to what's below the speaker hole in the cover) to the top of the design and use a total of four screws to secure the cover in place.  As it is, it fits surprisingly well, so I probably won't change it, but I think further revision would make the whole thing feel more snug and secure.

2. I would try to refine the wedge design so that it works similar to the wedge included with the actual doorbell, where Wyze's Quick Start Guide illustrates using longer screws to attach the wedge to the wall and shorter screws to attach the wall plate to the wedge.  If I did that, then I wouldn't have had to modify the screws I ended up using.

View Before and After:

In addition to the STL files and photos of my project, I'm including a couple of screen grabs (before and after) to illustrate the difference in view that adding the angle made for me:

Thank You!

Thank you, BenKenobi, for sharing this design and allowing me the freedom to modify it to meet my needs.  Thank you, Wichita Public Library Technology Trainer Librarians, for teaching me about this stuff, being available to answer questions, and sharing your knowledge and experience with such great attitudes!