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

[suzeo99]

Since the new firmware mine have used a full charge in 1-2 days instead of 4-6 weeks. There is definitely an issue here

[jguerdat]

Two different issues here.

For the OP, try force closing the app and clear the app cache. Also try the web client.

For the battery drain, there have been some faulty solar panels that cause this. Swap at the store or use the Contact Support link at the bottom here.

[Adksi11892]

Tried that, it’s clearly a firmware fault as it has done it since that installed itself.

[jguerdat]

That doesn't exactly nail it down. Firmware updates are often blamed but it usually turns out to be an individual issue that needs to be discovered and solved.

The first thing to try is to remove and reconnect the camera.

[Bartley]

I noticed that also after the firmware update also. I only had one VMC2030 camera when the firmware was updated. It is connected through the VMB4000 hub. After the firmware update it would be charging 24/7 with the solar panel connected. Usually 100% would display. The battery meter would have the charging indicator but the battery would not be colored in full. After several weeks of that the battery charge would be around 24%. I unplugged the solar panel and hooked up the wall charger that came with another camera and after the charger was connected for a minute or so I believe it showed the true charge of the battery at about 83%. I charged it to 100% with the wall charger. Hooked the solar panel back up and it went back to showing charging all the time. I have since bought another VMC2030 essential camera and solar panel last week and it is also doing the same thing. This one is not connected to the hub (directly to wifi) Right now it is 10:55PM ET and it is hooked up to the solar panel. The battery icon is displayed with the lightning bolt and the battery icon is not fully colored in but is displaying 100%. It appears to have the same issue as the one I've had for almost a year. Going to leave them go and see how long they go before they turn off from a dead battery. The one hooked up to the hub and solar panel is showing 2% charge right now 11:05PM ET. Battery icon fully colored in and the lightning bolt is displayed. Arlo had notified me earlier through e-mail of the low battery. We'll see how long it keeps going without doing anything to it. Also prior to writing this I did a force stop of the app and cleared the cache.

[Adksi11892]

Mine is still doing the same except that after today’s Arlo App update the battery indicator is now a red battery with the charging symbol in the middle of it.  All the other cameras are still green charging indicators.  Only applies to the new iOS version.

[jguerdat]

I'm on Android and also have this icon, but have no Essential cameras set up. Mine is on my floodlight.

[fisheye7]

I updated to Arlo app ios 3.5.4 and since then whilst charging from Arlo solar panels, I’m getting a red charging symbol with the lightning symbol through the battery which used to be black colour before.

There is no exclamation mark and batteries show 100% charge.
So it seems like everything working OK.
I have 3 cameras with 3 solar panels so unlikely that all 3 can simultaneously be faulty.

My partner’s phone shows the batteries in black as mine did before yesterday’s app update, that phone is using Arlo app 3.5.1.

The web account is also showing battery symbol in red.

Is there an explanation for this, could it be the IOS Arlo app update or is it another issue, bearing in mind all 3 cameras/solar panels seem to be working?

[Adksi11892]

One of my other solar powered cameras has now hit 100% and gone to the Red battery indicator so guessing this is the new way of showing 100%

[jguerdat]

There's 2 issues I see - 1) red icon that's not described unless it's for a faulty power connection and 2) showing charging even at night.

[jguerdat]

I have the same thing (with a different camera) on Android and web. Must be a backend change of some sort.

[JamesC]

The red icon with the lightning bolt is an indication that a charger is connected but no actual charging is taking place. In these cases, it means your solar panel is connected and functioning correctly but it's not charging the camera (likely because it's not in direct sunlight or it's night time). We're working on getting our documentation update to reflect this new icon behavior.

JamesC

[Adksi11892]

Why does it only appear red when my cameras are showing as 100% then ?  I have one that was green until it hit 100% when it went red.  When it dropped to 99% because of usage but still charging it turned green again.

[fisheye7]

I think you’re right, as the sun went down the red battery/charging symbol went to black without the charging lightning symbol & the charge dropped from 100% to 98% so we can presume for now that it’s the new way to show 100% charge as you say.

[fisheye7]

In my case all 3 cameras & 3 solar panels were showing red battery/lightning bolt with 100% charge.
All the solar panels were in direct sunlight.
The icon went back to black with no lightning bolt after the sun went down & the charge went to 98%.
We’ll see in the morning (European time zone) what happens to icon colour etc. when it starts charging back up….

[Bartley]

Update from last post the cameras died the next day. Arlo's battery e-mail alert was right. Charged the camera's up full with another Arlo wall charger. They are still working from the last outlet charge and know they both display the battery charge icon full (white color) with lightning bolt. Even at night time. It is 8:37pm in the state of Ohio and it is dark out. Both camera's as I write this have the battery charge icon full (white color) with lightning bolt. There is no way that the solar panel can be charging them right now. 

Thanks

Gary

[fisheye7]

Carrying on in the morning now:

Sun rising and battery indicator showing green battery with lightning bolt. So the solar panels are now charging the battery and the charge is showing 95%.

Conclusion is therefore (1) battery indicator shows red with lightning bolt when battery is 100% charged and solar panel has stopped charging but there’s enough sunlight to be charged.

(2) battery indicator shows green with lightning bolt when battery is less than 100% and solar panel is charging.

(3) battery indicator shows black with no lightning bolt when solar panel has stopped charging because there’s no sunlight.

This new battery icon colour behaviour is actually on the right tracks, it’s only that when it’s red it initially makes you think there’s a fault. Perhaps instead of red it could stay green and omit the lightning bolt indicating that the battery is now fully charged and therefore has stopped charging and still has enough sunlight to be able to be charged.
This would distinguish it between the black icon when there isn’t enough sunlight for charging.

This way you can leave the red colour out for anything error related or warnings.

[Igor80]

Based on the comment made by Arlo it appears when the camera is connected to a solar panel but the panel is not charging the camera which would be true when there is no sun, at night, or the camera is changed to 100% the icon shown is red with a lighting bolt. When the solar panel is charging the camera the icon is green with a lighting bolt. What is missing is a different icon for when the camera is charged to 100%. Before there was a white filled in icon with a lighting bolt would tell you your camera was plugged into a charger but was at 100%. The only way to tell now is too check the battery level per camera. If a new icon can be introduced for plugged in and charged to 100% and an icon for not plugged in and charged to 100% would make everyone's life better including Arlo.

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

For more information on battery status icons, take a look at the definitions found here: What do my Arlo camera's battery level icons and notifications mean?

JamesC

[Adksi11892]

That does not tally up with what I see.  My solar cameras go red when fully charged.  And my Essential Spotlight camera still shows a permanent red charging indicator even through the night. That is a firmware fault.

[Igor80]

Because the camera is plugged into a power source, wall or solar panel it shows the red icon with the lightning bolt to show you it is plugged in but is not charging. The same is true at night, it's plugged in but is not charging. 

[Adksi11892]

Only the Essentials camera does it, all the other Pro/Pro cameras just display the regular battery status (Solid grey battery no lightning)

[fisheye7]

1. On the Arlo Pro cameras with solar panels red battery indicator with lightning bolt only appears when the cameras are 100% charged AND there is enough light to be able to be charged (not at night time) solar panels are connected and functioning.

2. Once there is not enough sun to charge, the battery indicator goes grey with no lightning bolt. And once there is no charging occurring (no sun) the battery level always drops slightly from 100% so there is no need really to have a separate battery indicator to show battery cannot be charging (at night) AND at 100% because that can never be with solar panel charging because as soon as there is no sun, battery level drops from 100%.

3. Green battery indicator shows with lightning bolt when solar panels are charging the cameras and battery levels not yet at 100%.

[fisheye7]

The white filled in battery icon with lightning bolt in effect, seems to have been replaced by the red battery icon with lightning bolt.
The red icon goes away when the battery level drops from 100%, i.e. no sun or when charging from less than 100%.

So the red icon only appears when battery is at 100% and there is enough sun (not night time) to be able to charge and solar panels plugged in OK.

The situation of not plugged in and at 100% when using solar panels is in reality either non existent or fleetingly brief because once there is no sun the battery level drops almost immediately from 100% even if only to 99%.