Arlo Go battery dead and charger not working

[jbingham13]

I finally got back to my boat to troubleshoot my Arlo Go, seems the battery is dead, charger is still connected and hooked to power.   No lights on Arlo unit.  I noticed a recall on power adapter, but my P/N is 1 digit off  332-10966-01.  Is there a chance it is faulty and should be also recalled? 

[brh]

@jbingham13

At this point we can only surmise what happened. Are you able to charge the battery now? If so, were the connections loose? When it is charging you should get a lightning icon for the camera in the Devices section of your app.

Brian

[jbingham13]

Interestingly, a normal charger does not fit properly in the Arlo Go, so I have not been able to plug anything into it. 

The camera is entirely dead, will not take a charge, and no light comes on .

The connection feels tight and it worked fine for months and then quit abruptly a few weeks ago and I just now got to its location. Suspicious that the charger one digit off is being recalled, perhaps the next digit is also faulty.

[brh]

@jbingham13

I am not sure if I understand what you are saying. Are you using the power adapter/cable that came with the camera ore did you have to substitute it with something else. If you substituted it, that could be the problem and the problem why the battery won't charge now. 

If you are using the original equipment, here is an article on how to charge a completely dead battery.

https://kb.arlo.com/000052305/My-Arlo-Pro-or-Arlo-Pro-2-battery-is-dead-what-do-I-do

Also have you thought about usinf a solar panel?

Brian

[jbingham13]

Yes, I am using the power adapter/cable that came with the unit.  I have never plugged it into anything else.  The outlet is live, but the charger is apparently not charging the battery. The camera, adapter and cable are only 6 - 8 months old, and I believe it is a faulty charger, and will try to find a charger that fits the deep hole in the Arlo Go and attempt to re-charge the battery.  Why do you recommend a solar charger?  My boat is always plugged into shore power.  

[brh]

@jbingham13

I did not know quite how you were powering your system since so many people are having problems with non-Arlo chargers and cables. You don't need the solar panel if you are plugged into constant AC power. With constant power the battery should always stay charged and you really would not need a battery in the camera except for back-up if the power goes out. I wuld try it without the battery for a little while just to make sure it is a charger issue, not a battery issue.

If the charger is indeed defective, contact Customer Service for a replacement charger, as your system should still be in warranty.

You can contact them at the green banner near the bottom of this page.

Brian

[jguerdat]

A totally dead battery may need a bit of love to get it charging again:

https://kb.arlo.com/000052305/My-Arlo-Pro-or-Arlo-Pro-2-battery-is-dead-what-do-I-do

[ghiaguy0]

They will not replace the charger or the battery. I waited 3 weeks for a manager to approve my replacement order but it was denied. I replied back to their email but they closed my case.

[JamesC]

ghiaguy0,

I will reach out to you in a private message to gather more information and further assist with this issue.

JamesC

[levins1951]

I have three new Arlo Go cameras.  When I charged them to use them the firs time, the blue light blinked as the manual said it would.  The cameras were put in use and worked flawlessly, but when the batteries got low on two fo the three cameras (when the icon turned orange), I brought them in and started charging them.  When I plugged them in, I did not see the blue light flashing.  I checked their status using my iphone, and it said one was charging, and the other one wasn't.  I left them plugged in, and after charging a few hours neither charged.  The one that was low still had exactly 5% that it had when I started charging, and the other does not even show that it is charging.  These cameras are not abused.  When I turn on the one tha that has 5%, it shows video just fine, but it somply won't charge.  What is wrong?  Solution?

[jguerdat]

While it may be that it's simply a matter of the charger not being fully plugged in, I suspect not. I'd reinsert the batteries just to be sure or maybe swap them between cameras. Take one charger and see what happens on each camera. Use a different cable. Verify that the charger is the proper one with 5v and 9v outputs from Netgear. If you happen to have another charger from a phone that supports Qualcomm's Quick Charge (Samsung, etc.) try that.  

WHile you could buy the external charger to charge the batteries (assuming it's not the batteries that are the problem), I'd open a case with support here.

[levins1951]

Here is the deal with the Arlo Go battery:

1.  When you plug the battery in to charge it, the lightning symbol might turn on, as viewed from your My Arlo on the PC or Iphone.  But you can leave it charging, and it never appears to charge, even with the lightning bolt on.  This is due to the firmware not reporting (uploading to arlo web) that the updated battery charge level.  If you turn the camera on, and look at it, and sign off from arlo and then log back on, you will see the correct charge level.   As an example, I let mine charge overnight when it was only at 1%, and the lightning symbol was showing that it was charging.  But the next morning, it showed only 1%.  So I started griping at tech support, etc.  Got nowhere with tech support.  Then I turned the camera on, to  see if it was working.  When I logged on and did this, the charge showed 43 percent after charging all night.  This still doesn't resolve the charging issue, but it does tell me that that you have to log in, turn camera off, log off, and then log back on to get a good indication of the level of charge under this scenario.

2.  Then, per the community forum above, I unplugged the unit, and I took the battery out.  Then after two minutes, I plugged the unit in to my charger and then I put the battery back in while it was still plugged in (per the suggestions published by Arlo above).  It showed charging, but it the battery level of stayed at 43 percent for two hours.  I turned camera off, and I logged off.  And then I logged back in, and turned camera on and the charge was 80 percent.

So, I think I am relieved, and can get the batteries charged.  But Arlo's claim of several hours to charge is INCORRECT.  It takes longer.

One thing that still confuses me is that when you plug the Arlo GO in to charge it, the blue LED is supposed to blink for about 5 seconds, and then go off.  It is to turn back on solid blue when the unit is fully charged.   However, after mine ran down per the discussion above, the flashing blue led no longer occurs.  They are still charging right now, so sometime later today, I'll see if they turn solid blue.  Tech support says your LED has to be in the ON position for this to work, but I think (90% sure) they are wrong about this.  I hope I am wrong, and will know more later today.

Bottom line: These are great cameras, way better than a Moultrie Deer camera with cell modem for about the same price.  No comparison.  Arlo 100000000000000 times better in my opinion.  Not even in same league as Arlo.

BUT, they need to fix their firmware so that we don't have all this confusion about charging from a low-batter condition.

ALSO, I recommend that they improve the charger plug in connection.  It is difficult to make it insert right and is a poor example of the ARLO potential.

Hope this helps

Frank Willis

Willis Engineering and Scientific, LLC

Alexandria, LA

[levins1951]

My comparison of Arlo and Moultrie above is my opinion only.  I love my Moultrie, but the new Arlo has new technology that has leapfrogged the older technology of Moultrie cell modem cameras.  Some people might like Moultrie better.  I still use mine, and they have performed extraordinarly well over the years.  With Arlo I can get instant view of the site, and I can't do that with Moultrie.  That is the biggest difference along with Arlo providing sound and excellent live video and downloadable video.