I’m pretty excited to use Xiaomi Video Doorbell. It comes with FaceAI and other bells (free puns anyone?) and whistles, but this is not an outdoor device. I talked about the hands-on experience here. The doorbell is sealed from the front, but vulnerable to water ingress from the back. Fortunately, it’s something I can fix with a bit of Fusion360 and Creality Ender 3 printer.
Designing the “enclosure”
Xiaomi Video Doorbell enclosure might be a little bold name for a 3d printer lip that adds better protection against the water ingress. Unfortunately the back sie of the Xiaomi Video Doorbell has easy to remove panel. This panel doesn’t have any seals. It leaves me with the impression that the water could penetrate this device way too quickly.
I will have my Xiaomi Video Doorbell shielded by an overhanging roof, but it will be placed outside. I opened Fusion360 and I came up with this idea:
I’m still learning. I was pretty impressed with how snug the fit was on my first try. Excited that I have weatherproofed the doorbell, I attempted to change the batteries. I quickly discovered that, this is not possible with the first generation of my design.
Looks nice! 
But this section won’t work
Iteration
I was generally happy with the shapes and curves I created, so I had to figure out how to keep the water-ingress protection and allow for mounting and battery change without breaking the enclosure.
A couple of moments later, I came up with an alternative version of the Xiaomi Video Doorbell enclosure. It looks less fancy as the bottom side is missing, but I can slide the cover from the top. I also included a hole for the security screw.
Mounting Xiaomi Video Doorbell enclosure
I cut out the 3M tape to accommodate for the shape of my enclosure. I reached the “lip” and the “bar” connecting the enclosure and left a little extra space so I could slide the enclosure up and down a little. The door frame was the best place to put my doorbell on. It may even respond to knocking as the vibration from the door would translate into the doorframe.
This way I can remove the Xiaomi Video Doorbell and change the batteries without breaking the enclosure. I traced a perpendicular line with a pencil, lined up the back and marked holes’ position.
Finally, I drilled the holes, removed the 3M tape and alined the back. I drove the screws and closed the doorbell.
Conclusion
Time will tell (or rain will) if I have done a good job. The case should hold against the rain (it’s not the only protection, the roof sticks out a fair bit) and it looks OK. Now I just need a week to see how the Xiaomi Video Doorbell enclosure behaves, and write the review of my first video doorbell. Got questions? Here is a Reddit thread for you!
3D File (.stl)
This project had been printed on my Creality Ender 3 (review) which was upgraded with my favourite mods.
Filament:
Time to print:
Filament length:
Estimated Cost:
PLA
2h 33min
3.10m
£0.17
