Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras
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litbro
Guide
Guide

I asked this Q about 6 months ago but never really got an answer.

I tried a USB 2.0 powerbank and it did not work. (It's the red one in the pic up in the tree.)

 

I finally got tired (enough) of climbing the ladder to change batteries, and bought a 20000 mah USB power bank that has QC3.0.  It's Hiluckey Solar power bank.  It was $40 on Amazon, and they are on eBay for $27.

 

The Hiluckey 20,000 mah battery should run the Arlo for about 2 months.

It has a 6 watt solar panel too, it might run for longer than 2 months depending how much light it gets.

 

It works.  The "battery 44% icon" changed to a lightning bolt the instant I plugged it in.

GOOD NEWS!!!

 

I tried to include all the info in the one pic.

 

Anyway this should make your Arlo Pro 2 much easier to operate in a remote location.

 

Now if they will just  join the 21st century and update the iOS app to change the sounds, so it can ALSO be used for security notifications..

 

 

Arlo-Pro-2-USB-power-bankQC3.0.jpgArlo-Pro-2-USB-power-bank.jpg

Arlo-Pro-2-USB-power-bankUSB2.jpg

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litbro
Guide
Guide

A few minutes later (20 minutes?) the battery has charged from 44% to 54%.

So the powerbank QC3.0 is charging the Arlo Pro2 battery as well.

When I unplug the powerbank from the camera, it doesn't miss a beat.

 

Oh how pleasant this would have been if someone from Arlo would have told me this back when I first posted the question 6 months ago.

 

I don't really understand their customer service methods.

litbro
Guide
Guide

OK here's a report from 10 hours later.

It appears that the Arlo Pro 2 uses a higher power mode when running on remote power.

 

Arlo-Pro-2-USB-power-bankQC3.0_10hrsx.jpg

 

In 10 hours, it has not charged the battery to 100% and has used appx half of the 20,000 mah power bank.

 

I assumed if the 2,440 mah battery could run the camera for about 1 week, then the 20,000 mah battery might operate the camera for appx 8x as long (8 weeks, or 2 months).

 

If it has used 10,000 mah in 10 hours, it looks  like 20,000 mah can only run the Arlo Pro 2 for appx 20 hours.

Sorry folks this isn't going to work.

Fonz8A
Aspirant
Aspirant
Was your solar bank taking a charge during the day while still being used?
litbro
Guide
Guide

Not in the sun.

It takes appx 5 days of 5 hours per day for that little panel to charge the battery.

Solar panel size needs to be at least 5x the size of that unit.

Fonz8A
Aspirant
Aspirant
Hmmm, I just bit the bullet and purchased a power bank. Mine will be in direct sunlight charging and battery and hopefully maintaining it overnight, tricking the camera as if it were plugged in so I can use all the features at night time. I’ll let you know how mine works and maybe you can do the same just setup the bank where the sun hits it? Keep you posted
litbro
Guide
Guide

"just setup the bank where the sun hits it"

 

This is hopeless because the Arlo seems to default to  higher power-usage mode when it's running on USB.  So it drains the 20,000AH power bank in appx 20 hours.

 

And the Power bank requires 5 days (at 5 hours per day of sun) to recharge in full sun.

It seems pretty hopeless.

DelphiArlo
Aspirant
Aspirant
I’m using an old Dulla M5000, 12000mAh USB power bank. Once the camera was charged it would turn off, the trick is to “ACTIVATE the Activity Zone” in the Arlo App. This option draws on the battery bank preventing it from turning off. I’m getting 12+ weeks with my camera options maximized except for night vision.
Xga
Aspirant
Aspirant
Any update? Battery duration?
Moscard
Star
Star

Hello,

I tried with a Sandberg Survivor 30000 with QC3 as well, nevertheless, if I plug the cam to the QC3 port, it stops working after a while and do not restart charging. 

On non QC3 output, it stays connected but the voltage is not enough to charge the battery. 

Do I miss something, is there a way to make it to work properly on QC3 output? 

 

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