topic Re: Arlo Q Plus power consumption in Arlo Q Plus

Arlo Q Plus power consumption

vzoran — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:36:59 GMT

Hi all, I'm exploring the idea of using Arlo Q plus to monitor my car parked in the parking lot behind the building where I live. What is the power consumption of Arlo Q plus and would I be able to connect it somehow to the car battery?

Thank you. Zoran

Re: Arlo Q Plus power consumption

jguerdat — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 18:16:02 GMT

The Q runs off a power supply of 5v at 2A. That implies something less than 10 watts. You could use a USB adapter for a powered socket if available or tap into a circuit that's always powered and create your own connection to a car USB charger of similar output. However, even with only 1A of constant usage, that's a fairly significant draw on the battery. If I were trying it, I'd set it up and monitor battery voltage closely to understand when you'd better start the engine to charge the battery back up.

And then there's the issue of WiFi connection to make the camera useful...

Re: Arlo Q Plus power consumption

vzoran — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 23:50:36 GMT

I understand that the power supply has 5V 2A max output but with all due respect I am a bit skeptical about 10W consumption - that is a lot of electricity burned by such a small device.

I park my car in a parking lot behind the building I live in. My windows on the 4th floor face the lot. There is a good WiFi connection between my wireless router and Arlo Pro 2 camera sitting on the car dashboard. Arlo Pro 2 does not detect motion through the window/glass (how sweet). Arlo Q plus does detect motion but needs constant power (has no battery as Arlo Pro 2). Now I use Arlo Q plus in my apartment to trigger recording of Arlo Pro 2 sitting in the car via Smartthings app. Such an elegant solution, right?

Re: Arlo Q Plus power consumption

michaelkenward — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 11:34:26 GMT

wrote:

I understand that the power supply has 5V 2A max output but with all due respect I am a bit skeptical about 10W consumption - that is a lot of electricity burned by such a small device.

If you read the message you are replying to it says:

The Q runs off a power supply of 5v at 2A. That implies something less than 10 watts

Something less could mean anything under 10 watts, perhaps even milliwatts. It is just that USB power has that specification. Simple physics.

As an experiment, I have powered an Arlo Q Plus from a battery, albeit it not a car battery. I used one of those portable battery packs that are essential if you want your mobile phone to run for more than about 10 minutes. It worked fine. But I did not do any duration tests to see how long the battery would last.

The obvious thing to try for your car battery is a USB charger that plugs into the car's "cigarette lighter". These are quite capable of charging a phone, so powering an Arlo Q Plus should be a doddle.

Re: Arlo Q Plus power consumption

jguerdat — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 13:47:25 GMT

Also remember that the Q is constantly streaming and operates quite warm. I just measured my Q at 3 watts although that was using the standard charger - I don't have a USB breakout box. Whether it peaks at something higher during operation I can't say but that's why the charger is rated higher than normal usage.

Re: Arlo Q Plus power consumption

vzoran — Tue, 13 Feb 2018 17:19:13 GMT

Thank you all for your comments. I will experiment and post back if I come up with some useful findings.