topic Re: The Charging Source Connected To The Camera Cannot Charge Your battery. Please Use An Arlo Power in Arlo Go

The Charging Source Connected To The Camera Cannot Charge Your battery. Please Use An Arlo Power Ada

alien_scones — Thu, 27 Sep 2018 15:36:28 GMT

(Model VML4030 / Arlo GO LTE Camera ATT Version)

Today I get this message:

I am using the genuine netgear/arlo solar panel. As you can see it is currently clear and sunny. The solar panel is facing mostly east to maximize daily sun exposure. This installation is less than a week old.

I reviewed the solar troubleshooting steps. I noticed that one step was to verify that the cable was securly snapped into the bottom of the solar panel. I made sure of that at time of installation.

I may note here that the power cable does not "snap" into place at the camera. It's secure, its snug, but it doesn't "snap" into place. I believe this to be a serious design flaw. I used several zip ties and bailing wire to make sure that critters or wind wont disconnect the power cable.

My installation is 120 miles out. I'm not planning on visiting the location for another 30 days.

My question is: What should I consider defective? The camera? The battery? The solar panel? All of it?

Thank you.

Re: The charging source connected to the camera cannot charge your battery. Please use an Arlo po...

JamesC — Fri, 27 Apr 2018 17:13:21 GMT

alien_scones,

It's difficult to discern what the issue is without you being on site to troubleshoot. Once you're at the location, consider the following.

-disconnect the power cable from the camera and the solar panel

-open the battery compartment door and remove the battery

-replace the battery and close the battery compartment door, be sure the door is closed tightly

-reconnect the charging cable to the camera and the solar panel, make sure the connect is tight and secure

-check your mobile app to make see if you experience the same error message.

JamesC

incompatible charger detected

alien_scones — Sat, 28 Apr 2018 14:14:27 GMT

I'm now getting this message:

Why would a ARLO solar charger show up as incompatible?

WTF is going on here?

Re: incompatible charger detected

jguerdat — Sat, 28 Apr 2018 19:48:56 GMT

While it could be a hardware problem with either the camera, cable or the panel, it's also been found that incompletely connected connectors can allow water to infiltrate and cause this issue. These connectors are not the easiest to make sure they're seated fully and properly. The connector at the panel needs to have both "wings" snapped into place and the camera connector just has to be coaxed into being fully seated to the seal is complete.

I've had the same thing and thought I had a bad panel. Brought it inside for a couple of weeks and, voila! It worked again as if it had dried out. I swapped cables around and couldn't determine what cause the problem - until it rained again. It appears one of my cables isn't sealing properly.

Regardless, you need to check the connectors and you may need to dry everything out (camera USB connector, cable, and the panel). Try again, taking pains to get things fully connected. Check for water everywhere if it happens again (you may need a mgnifier to verify).

Re: The charging source connected to the camera cannot charge your battery. Please use an Arlo power

Fitforlife — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 22:39:29 GMT

I have several cameras with same solar panel set up. Both of them have had the exact same error message at one time or another. I luckily have had the experience of them self correcting/fixing. I recently moved one and it was working fine but then started getting the error message a day later. It means it is connected but it is not charging for some reason. I am hoping it might correct itself again. I almost wonder if it is not a programimg issue. I am 700 miles away and cannot just jump over for a quick fix and evaluate. Definitley a problem that requires Arlo attention.

Low battery using solar panel

alien_scones — Sat, 05 May 2018 17:53:12 GMT

I got an email that the battery is now at 8%

I might have found someone to visit the camera. I'm asking them to spray the battery bay and cable connection with water-displacement 40 and apply dialectic grease to the connectors.

What else do I need to do in order to make this so called weatherproof camera water resistant?

Also, I've read the solar panel is not designed to charge a dead battery. My question is will it eventually charge a low or empty battery ?

Still disappointed in this camera.

Re: Low battery using solar panel

JamesC — Thu, 10 May 2018 17:29:25 GMT

alien_scones,

This should not be necessary to keep the camera/solar panel water resistant. If you've made sure the connection to the camera and solar panel is secure and connected correctly, I encourage you to contact the Arlo Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

JamesC

Re: Low battery using solar panel

alien_scones — Thu, 10 May 2018 18:11:58 GMT

Thanks for the note. Netgear support is a joke.

I've contacted support previously on an issue registering my first camera. The experience was worse than pulling teeth. Over 6 days I eventually reached level 3 support where they could eventually fix my problem. Even that took 3 days and a backend database change for my problem to be fixed.

This problem is not unique to me. In Amazon, there are 146 product reviews for the solar panel alone, 50% of these ratings are 3 stars or less, while 44 ratings alone are 1 star. Of the 73 low star reviews, 39 mention this exact problem or otherwise won't charge with an error message.

What does Netgear Do? They modify the firmware to block the cheaper compatible chargers that previously worked without any problems.

I'm still pissed, disappointed. I'm visiting the camera again in 2 weeks - which is 120 miles away. When I set it up I made careful attention that it was plugged in secure and nothing would be able to mess with the cable. Doesn't seem to matter.

Re: Low battery using solar panel

JamesC — Thu, 10 May 2018 21:21:05 GMT

alien_scones,

I understand the frustration and definitely apologize for the experience. If you'd like, once you're on site and able to troubleshoot further, I can help facilitate the support case. Please let me know.

JamesC

Re: Low battery using solar panel

alien_scones — Fri, 11 May 2018 15:11:43 GMT

Ok.

I have opened ticket #30112871

I will be onsite at the camera tomorrow afternoon.

Could you please forward all the 1st and 2nd level support tasks I need to do for this issue? I'd like to avoid or minimize all the hoops I need to jump through.

Thank you

response received from support

alien_scones — Sat, 12 May 2018 01:23:13 GMT

Here's the response I received from support. My comments in Red

Please follow the steps below for us to further isolate the issue:

• Remove the affected camera from the account.
Settings >My Devices >Camera >Remove
How is this going to solve the charging problem? Is my camera account not allowed to use a solar charger?
• Remove the battery from the camera.
I will try this, but if I need to remove the battery often for troubleshooting, then the Arlo GO camera isn't much of a remote camera.
• Get one other working camera and swapped the battery vice versa to the affected camera.

I only have one Arlo GO camera. Mind you this is a $400+ camera, with the solar panel its almost $500. Will you send me additional cameras to troubleshoot with?

• Unplug the base station for 2 minutes.
Arlo GO cameras don't use base stations. You aren't really paying attention to this issue, are you?
• Bring the camera closer to the base station, press the sync button from the base station for 2 seconds, after that press the sync button from the camera for 2 seconds.
Arlo GO cameras don't use base stations. You aren't really paying attention to this issue, are you?
• Once the camera added back, please connect the charger (comes with the system) and see if you still have the error. If so, please send us a screenshot.

• If NO ERROR, please bring the camera and connect it back to the SOLAR PANEL.

• Observe if you still have the error.

• If so, please send us a screenshot. Also, try to connect the Solar Panel to the other working camera if the error will persists.

How will new screenshots of the same damn problem going to help? It's the same error message.

How do I get past the useless level 1 support?

Re: response received from support

JamesC — Mon, 14 May 2018 15:43:06 GMT

alien_scones,

I've reviewed and escalated your support case. An agent will reach out to you soon with further information.

JamesC

Re: response received from support

alien_scones — Sun, 27 May 2018 20:31:32 GMT

An update

after 15 days Netgear support ~~guessed~~ determined the solar panel is defective and is sending me a replacement, which has not yet shipped.

In my phone conversations with support, I requested that they send me the "wind bracket" that is included with the Arlo Go OUTDOOR power supply. The reasoning is if the outdoor power cord includes a bracket that prevents the power cable from disconnecting from the camera, then WHY NOT INCLUDE THE WIND BRACKET WITH THE SOLAR PANEL?

The support agent was initially a brick wall and didn't understand my reasoning. After repeating myself 10 times he finally agreed to put in a request to the warehouse if they could send me the brackets. @JamesC This is what I mean by pulling teeth is easier than working with netgear support.

In the meantime:

I visited the installation on Friday.
Took pics of existing setup before any changes
Replaced the battery with a charged replacement
Replaced the solar panel with a new solar panel ( from ATT)
Added a new Arlo GO camera in the other end of the field
Moved the "defective" solar panel to the new camera location.

Observations:

The original camera is online with a new solar panel.
The original camera not reporting any solar panel errors with the new solar panel
The original camera since the replacement battery always shows "100%" charged, but never showing "charging". I'm suspicious.
The new camera, that now has the "defective" solar panel, is working fine. The charge varies from 88% to 95%. It shows that it is charging when there is enough sunlight. There are no error messages regarding the solar panel.
I am planning on returning to the camera on June 15th. If there is a solar panel issue hopefully the batteries will last close to then.

Questions:

If the solar panel was "defective" for one camera, why is it not defective for another camera?
Why is the original camera ALWAYS showing 100% battery? Even early in the morning its shows 100% before there is any sunlight for the solar panel to charge.
Why is the wind bracket not included with the solar panel?

@JamesC Please update my support case that I have additional comments here in community.

Thank you

The following is a repeat of above with pictures, maybe an additional comment:

An update

after 15 days Netgear support ~~guessed~~ determined the solar panel is defective and is sending me a replacement, which has not yet shipped.

In the meantime:

I visited the installation on Friday.
Took pics of existing setup before any changes

Replaced the battery with a charged replacement
Replaced the solar panel with a new solar panel ( from ATT)
Added a new Arlo GO camera in the other end of the field

Moved the "defective" solar panel to the new camera location.

Observations:

The original camera is online with a new solar panel.
The original camera not reporting any solar panel errors with the new solar panel

The original camera since the replacement battery always shows "100%" charged, but never showing "charging". I'm suspicious. Since the battery was replaced, it has NEVER shown anything other than 100%

The new camera, that now has the "defective" solar panel, is working fine. The charge varies from 88% to 95%. It shows that it is charging when there is enough sunlight. There are no error messages regarding the solar panel.
I am planning on returning to the camera on June 15th. If there is a solar panel issue hopefully the batteries will last close to then.

Questions:

If the solar panel was "defective" for one camera, why is it not defective for another camera?
Why is the original camera ALWAYS showing 100% battery? Even early in the morning its shows 100% before there is any sunlight for the solar panel to charge.

Why is the wind bracket not included with the solar panel?

Re: response received from support

alien_scones — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 18:08:54 GMT

I'm unable to add attachments to my support case 30112871 , so I'll add them here.

Here's what I get when I attempt to add an attachment to my support case:

Re: response received from support

alien_scones — Mon, 18 Jun 2018 18:12:14 GMT

re: case 30112871

I replaced the solar panel and the cable with the warranty replacement I received.

I got this message:

This support case is now dragging on over a month now.

Please advise

Re: response received from support

alien_scones — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 02:53:00 GMT

@JamesC I need an update to my support case 05562061 ASAP. I've been promised a replacement camera yet none has been shipped nor has anyone called me.

The replacement camera needs to arrive no later than 7/25/2018

Please reply. Thank you.

Re: response received from support

JamesC — Thu, 19 Jul 2018 19:36:02 GMT

alien_scones,

I've requested a status update on your support case. An agent should reach out to you with more information as soon as possible.

JamesC

Re: response received from support

alien_scones — Wed, 25 Jul 2018 19:18:09 GMT

@JamesC Still waiting.

No calls or emails.

There's a new case 40089067 for the RMA but no indication the replacement camera has been shipped.

Is this the typical SLA to expect from Netgear support?

Re: response received from support

JamesC — Mon, 30 Jul 2018 16:39:34 GMT

I've requested another status update on your case. An agent should provide you with more information shortly.

JamesC

ARLO SUPPORT IS A FRICKING JOKE

alien_scones — Thu, 06 Sep 2018 16:14:45 GMT

WHEN WILL ARLO SUPPORT GET ITS ACT TOGETHER?

It took FOREVER to get an RMA for an Arlo GO Camera.

The RMA email shows it will send an ARLO GO ATT camera.

The RMA people shipped me the wrong camera, the Netgear Data provided ARLO GO Camera.

I call A WEEK AGO.

This morning I just got an email clarifying WHICH CAMERA DID I SEND BACK TO ARLO?

I Haven't sent any cameras back yet. I'm awaiting instructions.

I get an email from Ramon Suarez <r.suarez@netgear-support.com> - WHEN I REPLY THE EMAIL BOUNCES.

Your message to r.suarez@netgear-support.com couldn't be delivered.

r.suarez wasn't found at netgear-support.com.

So many calls. SO LITTLE RESULTS.