solar panel is not charging my Arlo Pro3 floodlight camera

[gpascazio]

Have a Pro 3 floodlight camera connect to an Arlo Hub it has been connected for about a year.  I recently started having trouble keeping the camera connected to the solar panel for charging.  If I disconnect the camera from the solar panel and remove the battery then re-install the solar panel will charge the battery.  However after a few days the solar panel will not charge the battery and have to repeat the process once more.  I am getting very frustrated and am ready to rip all these cameras out and buy a competitor,  It seem like I have wasted a lot of money on a system that is not working properly and can't get any help from Arlo. 

[jguerdat]

A couple of things:

1) Inspect the solar panel and cable connections for damage.

2) Clean both sides of the connection with a clean cloth and maybe some alcohol (keep the good stuff for yourself and just use the 70% or 91% versions from the drugstore).

[gpascazio]

Did both of those things many times and all looks good.  I am getting power from the solar panel.  I have also added electric conductive grease to all the connection points from the solar panel all the down to the battery.  I feel I have done all that I can I believe the problem is hardware related.  Has Arlo looked at this issue?  From my check on posts it seems like this is a pretty common problem with these cameras.

[jguerdat]

Hardware issues can only be addressed by official support. Use the app and go to Settings, Support, choose your camera and scroll down to Contacts to talk to official support for any possible RMAs. This requires a subscription to work.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

i have had the same problem but although I've reported it before, and others, too, on here, very little has been done. Essentially the following is the behaviour: the app shows a full charge until you disconnect the solar panel cable from the camera, in which case it'll show an actual level of charge and start charging. When it gets to 100%, I suspect some kind of sleep mode for the panel is activated. I have no idea how low the battery needs to go down, and if at all, before the panel resumes the charge, but having 100% charge all the time is suspicious, especially that the icon showing the status shows no evidence of charging, unless it's covertly done (if so, why do you need the status icon); anyway, I'll check that out after the winter.

[gpascazio]

From my experience the battery keeps discharging until it is dead.  Arlo has been no help.  I am starting to believe that these cameras are junk.  Also I am now having problems with another camera the battery will not charge.  I have ordered a new battery for that camera.  When I first installed the cameras they worked fine except the batteries were discharging quickly so I ordered the solar panels to keep them charged.  The solar panels worked great for about a year.  I am now having these issues with the cameras.

[gpascazio]

Very disappointed in my experience with Arlo support.  I have a Pro 3 floodlight camera that will not stay connected to the solar panel.  The solution that I got from tech support is to buy an external charging cable and connect to an outlet.  They claim that the solar panels are for trickle charging only.  In my opinion this is incorrect.  This camera has been connected to the solar panel since October of 2022.  The panels have kept the battery charged the entire time from October of 2022 to approximately September of 2023.  After September is when I started having problems with the connection issue.

It appears that Arlo is unwilling to find out what the problem is with the interface between the solar panel and the camera.  I have read many posts of other people having problems with the charging of batteries from the solar panels.

[jguerdat]

The solar panels indeed are just trickle chargers. If you check the specs for the panels, they don't provide sufficient current to run the cameras. However, that doesn't address your issue. WHat have you tried to fix the problem?