Essential Spotlight camera solar power

[Adksi11892]

Since I had a new firmware a couple of days ago my Essential Spotlight Camera connected to the solar panel constantly says it is charging in the app, even in the middle of the night.  Currently on 1.090.27.0_8_620e159

[fisheye7]

This article does not explain the updated battery colour indicators that we are seeing now, this article is explaining the previous battery colour indicators that we used to see before the recent Arlo iOS app update.

[Rebtop]

My two Essential cameras with solar chargers have the red icon. I live in Florida where  it is 90* and sunny. Also my spotlights stopped illuminating at night. Pictures are unusable. 

[Rebtop]

Does your spotlight come on at night when motion is detected?  My spotlights stopped working. 

[Bartley]

I still say something is wrong. I understand the explanation of the new battery icons. Both of my camera's work fine. Even the spotlights. Look at the screenshot below. Can someone explain why the cameras have to different battery icons when it is clearly dark out. When viewing in setting they both show 100% Looks like the JPG image won't display in this post. Is there some restriction on posting an image?

Thanks

Gary

[Adksi11892]

Spotlight stills comes on with motion yes, only issue with mine is the charging indicator 24/7.

But now I’ve said that I have looked and overnight it has gone Offline. Grrrrrrr.  Wonder whether to bother fiddling with it or just replace with one of the Eufy ones I bought to try.

[Adksi11892]

Taken it down and it’s now flat as a pancake despite saying 100% last night as it always has since the firmware update.  Charging up on mains and will see what happens when I connect back up to the solar.

[Adksi11892]

I charged it on mains up to 95% then put it back up on the wall and connected the solar panel.  The charging indicator went green with the lightning symbol and it charged again up to 100% when it went red with lightning symbol.  It stayed like that the rest of the sunny day and all the time overnight and still does.  The firmware that was released a few weeks ago is faulty and causing this.  It also could not have been charging correctly on solar as it went flat.

[Bartley]

My charging indicators appear to be working like designed now. They both show the red outline with a red charging bolt at nighttime. In device settings now instead of the constant 100% day and night.  one shows 81% and the other shows 88%. It appears there was a firmware update on the 15th of September. As usual it doesn't tell you what was fixed, but it appears to have resolved mine for now at least.

Gary 

[Adksi11892]

Same so far, this morning the Essentials Spotlight camera originally showed red when I launched the app but then a few seconds later changed to Green with Lightning and 88% charge which is going up now it is sunny.

[Adksi11892]

Well my Essential Spotlight went from 100% Red last night to dead flat again this morning so that’s still not fixed.

[Bartley]

I agree the issue isn't fixed 100%. The camera on Wi-fi its charging indicator has been red outline with charging bolt at 100% all week long day and night. I used live view for a while and the percentage never changed from 100%. The camera hooked to the hub seems to be working. (don't know how accurate) It has the green charging during the day and red at night. percentage is fluctuating between around 83% and 72%. I wouldn't trust the accuracy of it though. So far I haven't had to charge either one. 

[Jafalex]

Hi, jumping in to add my experience. Using Arlo Ultra 2 alongside the solar charger. I’ve got the red bolt icon 24/7 and in the last few days I’ve noticed the battery dropping from 100%, to now 86%, despite full blazing sun all day down here in NZ.

Not sure what to do expect hoping the camera will decide to use some of that juice during the day to charge back up…

[Rebtop]

My Essential powered by solar, died AGAIN. Red lightening bolt showed 100%. I chatted with support and here is how they treated me. In the first sentence I told the CSR I did not have access to the camera. Two stories up and getting dark. He told me the serial number can be had from the app. Done. I told him I took it down earlier and manually charged it and replaced it as it is important to have it working. He asked if any error msgs on app. Responded the only error was the 100%  charged msg. He then told me to do a factory reset and that should fix it. The factory reset, as I found out, requires a button be pushed on the camera. I went through the night without a camera. It is light and I did a factory reset. Still RED indicator. Very,  very poor service and firmware. Solar charging was way oversold. Should have bought NEST. 

[StephenB]

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@Rebtop wrote:

In the first sentence I told the CSR I did not have access to the camera. Two stories up and getting dark. 

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I suggest that you consider moving the camera.  Motion detection range is only 20-25 feet anyway, so if the camera is a couple of stories up you generally will miss a lot of recordings.

And of course, the battery needs to be recharged - and as we all know, troubleshooting almost always requires accessing the cameras.

I agree that things go wrong too often, so I don't want to minimize that aspect of your experience.  But still, it is far easier if the cameras are accessible.

[Rebtop]

I am happy with two stories (20) up surveilling 30 square feet under the camera. No difference then one story (14 ft) up surveilling 30 square feet in front of the camera? The camera itself works fine. Detects everything including rabbits. 

So you are admitting that solar chargers are not effective? The Essential cameras have to be taken down and charged manually for them to work.  I think we all realize that now. 

Why do we buy cameras?  Just to put them on our front or back porch? 

Did you look at the illustrations that are on the ARLO sight and their positions? You should. 

[StephenB]

You can do whatever you want of course, but I'm not putting my own cameras in places where I can't reach them safely and fairly easily.  Some of mine require a step stool to reach, none require a ladder.  

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@Rebtop wrote:
So you are admitting that solar chargers are not effective?

This is a user forum, and I don't work for Arlo.  I don't represent them in any way, so I am not "admitting" (or "denying") anything.

I have one solar panel deployed (for one of my Ultras).  It definitely reduces the amount of recharging, but it doesn't completely eliminate it.  Some times of the year there is a lot of motion (moving trees), and during the winter it is sometimes too cold.

IMO, Arlo does overstate the battery life in real-world conditions (and its competitors also do the same).

@Rebtop wrote:
Did you look at the illustrations that are on the ARLO sight and their positions? 

Of course I've read the camera positioning tips, and I also reference them here.  Likewise the motion detection guidelines (which I mentioned above).  https://kb.arlo.com/1015583/How-do-I-optimize-motion-detection-for-my-Arlo-camera

They are useful guidelines.  Nothing there that recommends putting cameras 2 stories up or higher, and the limited motion detection range definitely is a factor.  It really should be noted in the camera positioning tips.

[dcfox1]

@Rebtop  I actually moved my cams lower, never had them 2 stories up that is not recommend  in the Positioning link. They detected motion better and were easy to access as you do have to access them even to fix a simple quirk to reboot the cam.

[Adksi11892]

There is clearly an ongoing fault with the firmware on the Essentials Spotlight re solar charging.  I’ve not had any issues until the last few weeks.  Now I get random red/green charging, 24/7 charging indicator but have had to mains charge it 3 times.  Last night it went from 100% red to 19% red just from a reboot of the base station.

Getting very fed up with the situation and it’s looking like an easier option to swap out for a Eufy to try next time I’m up the ladder.

[Igor80]

I am also seeing the same issue.  I can charge the camera that requires me to climb on the ladder as they are up high and out of reach so they can't be stollen.  But then they lose wifi for a period of time and if that period is long enough the camera's will fully discharge and will require me to go for another climb on a ladder multiple times since I have 3 camera's.  And since solar panels only trickle charge the camera's will need to be recharged in the house.  The same is true if you have a power outage at home which is outside your control.  Arlo did a very bad job handling no network connection.  Also their support is not good.  They keep closing tickets that get opened but no solution is ever provided. 

[Rebtop]

My support person sent me the same response as the other 3 responses. I think they have a list selection when they respond, #3, for example. 
So tired of ARLO and their support process. I bought a 3 camera set for my son. So sorry I did that now. 

[fenton11]

Same here. I have 4 pro3 cameras all connected to solar panels and in the iOS app it shows the red charging icon day and night and the the charge level is always at 100%. This wasn’t the case prior to the firmware update. Support told me multiple people have reported this issue.

[Igor80]

Maybe eventually they will fix the firmware so the cameras will provide the correct info the the Arlo app.

[fenton11]

I hope so. Now one of my camera’s charge levels is stuck on 88%.

[Sal57]

I have 3 Essential Spotlight Cameras and 3 solar panels.  For all 3, the app will show the panels charging the cameras and then they will just stop charging. I've tried connecting and reconnecting, bringing the cameras in to use the e-charger, cleaning the panels, etc., and it has happened repeatedly.  Based on the above comments, this sounds like an issue with the cameras, not the panels, is that right?  I tried Arlo support but they were useless. By the way, I live in sunny SoCal and I have 2 Arlo Pro cameras with solar panels and they have worked continuously for over 2 years. Any solutions?

[Igor80]

You may be experiencing the Arlo issue of the app not showing the correct camera status.  Most of us have experienced an issue where the camera(s) may show 100% battery and the camera still charging in the middle of the night. What I have found to work is to reboot the camera to get an up to date details on it's charging and battery level. You may need to do every time you want accurate info about charging and battery level.  

To me it looks like a camera to app issue, where the app does not reflect the correct data or the camera is not providing the app the correct info.  Either way Arlo needs to fix this issue.  And you are right going to support is useless as they all have you do the same thing over and over and never provide a fix.  

Kinda sorry I went with these cameras and giving them the benefit of the doubt over and over. 

Not that Google has released their new camera's those might be a better option, just waiting on google to releaser solar panels or provide a compatible option.  I love the Nest Doorbell, it is a lot better then the Arlo Doorbell.