Arlo Pro 3 battery issues

[ahernandez04]

I have a set of 4 Arlo Pro 3 cameras that came together with the base station. I have them all connected with a solar panel and they tend to run for months without me ever having to charge manually, unless there’s a couple gloomy days back to back. One of these has been dying within a day for the last week. It is in my back yard so it doesn’t have too much activity or motion so I knew that wouldn’t be the issue. This camera dies within 24-48 hours each time, without even recording any video to the cloud or base. And I have even removed the battery to recharge it manually with no results. The camera now just keeps telling me in the app that it is low on battery and needs to be recharged. I have tried a brand new battery and that didn’t fix the issue. I’ve tried disconnecting the camera and reconnecting it, which didn’t work either. Has anyone else had this issue and is there a resolution? I read recently on another post that there was an update in software that might be causing it but not sure. I know it’s the camera because my other cameras work with no problems, even those which have more traffic. And I know it’s not the battery since I’ve used the same battery in other cameras. I also tried the reset button on the camera, even holding it for a while until the light blinked 3x….before repairing it with the base again but no luck. Any ideas for me to try? Arlo couldn’t help and said I need to buy a new camera but they’re expensive.

[StephenB]

Try swapping the camera with one in another location, and see if the problem stays with the camera, or stays with the location.

Also, if you are using activity zones, then try disabling them for that camera.  Activity zones mask the true amount of camera activity, so they can get in the way when troubleshooting battery life issues.

[JamesC]

ahernandez04,

Is the solar panel you're using an official Arlo branded panel?

JamesC

[ahernandez04]

Yea, I had tried that this weekend. I even deleted it and re-installed as another location with a different name and same problems. And I do not have any activity zones setup. The weird thing is if I go to my Arlo app and all the cameras show an image, the most recent picture of what the camera saw....labeled "1 hr ago" or something like that. This one shows an older image labeled "30d ago" lol

[ahernandez04]

I had both Arlo and the Wasserstein brands and none of them fixed this issue. The problem here is the camera itself cause this happens even if I brought it inside and manually charged the battery to 100%. Right now in the app I see 98% battery. But I am unable to connect to the camera video. And it is not recording anything 

[ahernandez04]

Update - the camera appears to be ON in the sense that if I delete it from my account and re-add it, I can see the feed while it is in the process of adding it to my account. But as soon as I connect to it, there's nothing....no recordings.....no live video access.....and somehow it drains battery in the process while doing nothing. Today (1 day after I posted this main message here), it is at 20% battery. And the camera has been sitting on a table doing nothing. It was at 100% a day ago when I posted....and there has also been no recordings. 

I also know that it's not my account that's out of wack cause I tried deleting and re-connecting 2 other cameras and those worked fine, even one using this broken camera's battery....so I know the issue is specific to this device.

[Matty69]

I came across this thread and I find it very interesting. I have the same exact issue as you are having. I bought an Arlo pro 3 4 camera set up with the base station all as a package. I installed the cameras at the same time about 2 and a half years ago. All have the same Arlo brand solar panels all in the same location for the sun to hit them all the same. They all worked perfect for about two years. The difference with mine is that 3 of the 4 cameras are doing the same thing as yours. I have tried everything, new batteries, removing and reinstalling the cameras, all have the same wireless strength everything. I have been unable to get the three to work and hold battery for more than a day and a half. I never had any zones set up and sometimes disarmed the entire system. I think it is kind of interesting how Arlo does not make these cameras anymore, maybe they are trying to cover the issues that they have with these models. Would be nice to see if the ultra 2 works better and lasts longer, but I am not about to drop 800 bucks or more on three new cameras. If someone here can’t help from Arlo and have better customer service or has anyone that know what they are even doing or talking about, then I am just going to junk the entire system and go with a different company that is more relatable and has a better product.

[StephenB]

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@Matty69 wrote:
I think it is kind of interesting how Arlo does not make these cameras anymore,

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The Pro 4 is essentially the same camera, but has the option to connect to your home wifi (which the Pro 3 didn't have).  I think they stopped making Pro 3s just to reduce redundancy - no need to produce and distribute both.

[ahernandez04]

Hi Matty,

Yes, I tried everything in the book. And I consider myself a fairly* tech-savy person....so I usually don't call tech support until I have tried everything I could possibly think of....including reconfiguring them all and even renaming them with a different naming convention to see if that had anything to do with it. Arlo wasn't even able to help me at all with fixing the issue and the only thing that was offered to me was a 30% discount on a new purchase since these were now out of warranty. 

In reading the previous answer, I did also notice they don't make the Pro 3 anymore. And seems like they fixed the stupidity of this crap by allowing the Pro 4 to be base-free. In my case, I needed a camera in this location to be working. And it had already been about a month or so (minimum) before I said hell with it and just bought a new camera. But I didn't want to fork that much money to buy a Pro 4 so I just bought the 3 pack of Essential cameras. I ended utilizing all of them and they work fine now with no issues. I had to buy 3 solar panels for them which also sucked. 

In my case, Arlo only offered me a 30% discount on buying NEW cameras from them. This did not solve my original problem. And I can only hope that the other Pro 3 (3 of them) cameras from my original 4 set do not have the same fate and keep on working as they have. The funny thing is I bought these originally at Best Buy (not sure if you have one....an electronic store) and I pay for a warranty there where they support me with issues I have with any electronic device. I just recently found out that home security cameras are no longer on that list of devices supported so I got screwed....had to buy that new set. I would say get the Pro 4 if you need that feature set and quality of video. But from what I've experienced so far, the 1080p on the Essential cameras is still great, also with night vision.

[StephenB]

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@ahernandez04 wrote:

I would say get the Pro 4 if you need that feature set and quality of video. But from what I've experienced so far, the 1080p on the Essential cameras is still great, also with night vision.

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@Matty69:  Essentials are certainly an option.  One aspect is that they are completely sealed, so you can't replace the batteries.  There are plusses and minuses to that approach.  One plus is that there is less chance of moisture getting in.  One minus is that with the Pro and Ultra models you can remove/reinsert the battery to reboot the camera.  You can't do that with the Essential.

[ahernandez04]

OMG Yes! I forgot to think of that part. I definitely HATE having to remove it, charge it, and then worry about putting it back and take the phone with me so that I can make sure it's in the same field of view! lol So if you can afford the Pro 4 then go for it cause that part in itself is super annoying. I have both and can definitely attest to how annoying that is on the Essential cameras. Last week, I was so frustrated that I just disabled the camera until the solar panel could charge it back up to at least 90%, which took about 3-5 days lol

[Matty69]

Wait one second, I think we are missing the point. Why should I have to buy new cameras every two years. I am trying to get the ones working that I paid a pretty penny for. If you have to replace cameras every few years then they should cost about what they are worth, maybe like 30 bucks. I do not want to buy another Arlo camera if I can’t get the ones to work that I have. So if there is no solid concrete solution to the problems that I am having then there is no point of buying another product from this company! Plus everywhere I read about their customer service is so negative. I am starting to believe they can’t fix anything.