topic Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working in Arlo Pro

Arlo Solar Panel not working

616fun — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 21:23:15 GMT

I picked this up from Amazon and installed it Thursday. I pulled the camera down and charged it to 100% before plugging it in. Everything looked great, the camera showed at 100% and charging. The next morning I had a red exclaimation point and "The charging source connected to the camera cannot charge your battery. Please use an Arlo Pro power adapter" showing in my interface. Upon contacting help, they asked me to remove the panel and allow the camera to discharge to 50% before plugging it in again. I let them know that this wasn't at all helpful as it will take a few months to get to that point, and I cannot return the item after this long. I specifically asked if there was firmware that addressed the variable wattage input a solar panel will provide and they said that they would look into it and be in contact. I'm underwhelmed with the help. I pulled my other camera and the same message is provided (that camera was charged to 74%).

Has anyone else tried the Arlo solar panel and had luckl?

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

steve_t — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 22:30:02 GMT

I get the same error message when I try to charge my Pro camera with a non-Arlo Pro charger eg my phone charger. I think it might be to do with the current??

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

616fun — Sun, 23 Jul 2017 23:58:25 GMT

steve_t wrote:
I get the same error message when I try to charge my Pro camera with a non-Arlo Pro charger eg my phone charger. I think it might be to do with the current??

I agree - that's why I wonder if it's something that can be addressed via firmware. Today it was in direct sunlight, no obstruction, full sune. It still didn't work.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

skingspan — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 02:25:51 GMT

Sorry to hear you are having issues. I have had my panel installed for a couple weeks with no issues. It is keeping my camera at 100%. If you havent already I would try unplugging, removing the battery, putttin the battery back in and plugging back in. I seem to remember the solar plug being difficult to plug in . Maybe it isn't seated all the way?

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

jguerdat — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 12:19:07 GMT

Is it still happening? I've had that pop up once in a while and then it went away. No idea why.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

616fun — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 18:18:01 GMT

jguerdat wrote:
Is it still happening? I've had that pop up once in a while and then it went away. No idea why.

Still happening. As someone asked, I pulled the unit and removed/replaced the battery. I also attempted to use it on my other camera without success. Still no word from Customer Service. I'm questioning if the cable and/or panel is bad.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

jguerdat — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 20:36:42 GMT

You can also swap at the store.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

steve_t — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 21:40:50 GMT

I wonder if your panel is failing to provide the correct voltage/current. Might be worth seeing if you can exchange it

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

JamesC — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 17:53:06 GMT

If you're experiencing an issue with the Arlo Solar Panel, be sure to take a look at this article for troubleshooting steps to ensure the panel is positioned and set up correctly: How does the Arlo Solar Panel work?

JamesC

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

gerardmarc — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 20:42:29 GMT

I have having the same issue. I chatted with support, they had me disconnect the camera and re-start it and also test another camera with the panel. The system started charging for about 1 hour. Then the next day it stop working. Support told me that they have heard of no problems with the panels. Does anyone have a fix?

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

JamesC — Fri, 28 Jul 2017 17:57:37 GMT

gerardmarc,

What is indicating that it stopped working? Did the battery reach a full charge?

JamesC

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

gerardmarc — Mon, 31 Jul 2017 21:30:58 GMT

It says the the charging source connected to the camera cannot charge battery. Please use an Arlo power adatper. If I disconnect the panel from the camera and charge the camera, the solar panel works for about 5 hours and then I get the message again. When the panel is working for those 5 hourse it stays at 100%.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

JamesC — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 15:42:20 GMT

gerardmarc,

Please contact the Arlo Support Team to further investigate this issue. You will find several options for contacting support in the provided link.

JamesC

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

bjharrington — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 16:40:24 GMT

There seems to be a lot of complaints about the Solar Charger giving the same response. Too many in fact.

I installed 2 solar panels and one is giving me the error while the other is not.

Not to be cruel, but calling support is a nightmare since it is in India.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

JamesC — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 20:51:37 GMT

bjharrington,

I've escalated this topic to engineering for review. I will post an update when I have more information.

JamesC

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

bjharrington — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 21:14:19 GMT

Thanks James.

Both of mine are now reading, "The charging source connected to the camera cannot charge your battery. Please use an Arlo power adapter."

I have these placed at a vacation home, so it is not easy to just unplug/drain/replug in.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

gerardmarc — Thu, 03 Aug 2017 22:23:35 GMT

I have called, emailed and chatted with support about this issue a number of times. There solution each time was to unplug the camera, take out the battery and then replug in everything. Usally, this works for about 6 hours and then the error message comes back.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

Cpipp — Fri, 04 Aug 2017 23:59:44 GMT

I am having the same issue with the solar panel and have tried everything others have listed here with no success. Has anyone resolved their issue?

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

sbos — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 17:44:09 GMT

Same issue. Solar panel worked great for about two weeks, now I'm getting this error. A "fix" of removing the battery and unplugging the solar panel every several hours or days is not a "fix". For the price of the camera and the panel, this is unacceptable.

Re: Arlo Solar Panel not working

ice_man — Mon, 07 Aug 2017 20:40:52 GMT

Damn. I just got mine installed 2 days ago and it worked perfectly. Just now, it is showing this error "The charging source connected to the camera cannot charge your battery. Please use an Arlo power adapter".

After all the hard work of mounting it on the roof of my house, then it had this problem. This is somewhat disappointing. Considering that this small solar panel costs $79.00 before taxes. Ring's solar panel seems bigger and yet it only cost them $49.00 too.

Netgear, please fix this issue. Seems to me that a lot of folks here have the same issue going on.

Will return this unit to bestbuy and get a refund. Will also probably cancelling my 2 other orders with Amazon. I think I would be better off just getting extra batteries and charging dock. Which btw should have come with bundled units. I got a 6 kit camera bundle and no charging dock. Shame on you Netgear!