Pro 4 Camera battery

[Motors]

How long should it take a Pro 4 battery to fully recharge from 20%

[dcfox1]

---

@Motors wrote:

How long should it take a Pro 4 battery to fully recharge from 20%

---

My Pro3 battery that is the same takes about 2 hours when low. I use the charging station but don't know if it is any faster then the cable. 

[Killhippie]

My Pro 4 XL battery takes about 5 hours from 24% or sometimes 4 hours from 97% (test after update) be aware the camera only charges the battery to 80% so as to not damage the battery if it was to be used with the outside waterproof cable, but it still reads 100%. I think the charging station charges to a true 100%.

[jguerdat]

That was true of the Pro and Pro 2 cameras and external charging station but I don't have any info as to whether it's true of the newer cameras and their chargers. One would think it would be true but...

[Killhippie]

Arlo don't give clear answers I found, but it seems they have hinted this might be the case but as you say you would think it would be true. I have been told conflicting things, even that a dying battery was okay till it wasn't so who knows...

[jguerdat]

Just finished a test of charging in the camera vs. charging station. The camera indicated full charge so I pulled the battery and inserted it into the charging station. It immediately showed the green LED, indicating full charge. So, either both methods charge to 80% or 100% - I don't know how to tell the difference. I would hope it's 80% of true battery capacity for the benefit of longer overall battery life. I always wondered if the Pro/Pro 2 battery charging in the charging station to 100% was a good idea for battery life.

[Killhippie]

It would make sense on the camera as people have them plugged in all the time using the outside power cable, but surely its down to the user to choose, apple lets you charge to 100% on their batteries or you can take it off at 80%. People may have different useage scenarios and that 20% may be needed for some if done via a charging station. I agree it makes sense to not damage the battery but I don't want to be nannied by Arlo. The fact that sometimes it take 4 hours to charge 4% (this was a test on two batteries) is weird. I think the firmware of these units is really not up to scratch, so many odd bugs like on my Pro 4 it wont show the battery charging until it reaches 100% the battery goes green on charge but the percentage does not go up, the battery percentage will leap from say 25% to 100% when it reaches its full charge status (whatever that may be)  every firmware release more bugs or changes with very little info as to what's changed and what it effects. (sigh)

 For myself the reconnection failure to Arlo servers after loss of connection to the ISP (not wifi dropping) is the most frustrating issue, the camera is next to useless to protect my home really. I wonder if a base station and a Ultra 2 has the same issue or if that reconnects?

[StephenB]

---

@Killhippie wrote:

 The fact that sometimes it take 4 hours to charge 4% (this was a test on two batteries) is weird. 

---

Not that crazy actually.  Charging speed with all lithium batteries slows down a lot as the battery becomes full.

You can see that in figure 2 here: https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-409-charging-lithium-ion

Details of course depend on the battery and the charger.  As the article I linked suggests, charging to 100% faster requires a higher voltage in the charger, which does stress the battery.

[Killhippie]

I had to provide my own charger, as buying one unit you don't get one apart from the cable in the box. I purchased a Belkin 18W Qualcomm 3.0 quick charge compatible power supply, it seems to work well, but as no specs are on the box it appears you can use any charger and as you say lower voltage the slower the charge. I wish they would use a simple waterproof USB C cable and charger, as I believe you only get the Arlo branded power supply in the big box sets. I forgot about the slowing of charge as it gets near capacity (whatever that is 😉) My iPhone does the same as it learns when to hold off charging to 100% so you don't damage your battery by having it charging all night. Also colder weather effects charge rate and capacity too I believe.