Water damage

[Ryedany]

Two of my Arlo cameras have had water get inside them. They’re supposed to be made to be outside. This is upsetting!! 

[Smithnmore]

The phone call is almost identical to the chat. Do not waste your time. The only way I got help was a support member on this thread sending me a message. 

[Film]

I have noticed they seem very responsive in this community so that's a great idea.  I'd do that if I had to do it again.

[KKS-Col]

I just experienced this problem after moving a camera into a location without cover (since it is supposed to be waterproof). It developed a water “spot” in the middle of the lens. It appeared to dry out, somewhat, but remained hazy in the center of the image. I decided to replace it with another pro 5 that had been working fine. First drizzle and guess what, same exact problem. Faulty design. Of course there was no notification to customers of potential problems, you just have to ruin some cameras and then research on community to discover a host of folks with the same problem. Are you getting worse and not better, Arlo?

[jguerdat]

Have you (carefully) cleaned the lens?

[Smithnmore]

It sucks, because I have always had arlo but yes this is a big big problem. Especially when the chat told me to move them indoors or under protection from direct elements 😂. 

[Record_Hound]

I have an Ultra 2 inside a Total Security Mount that quit working. I pulled it out of the housing and water poured out. I tried to chat with support - and as Premium subscriber I'm supposed to get quicker help, but I was put in a que with a 120 minute estimated wait.

Any reason the Total Security Mount would be more likely to have water intrustion? The o-ring is fine and the camer tilts downwards anyway...so It seems the water came in from the back where the pivot ball is. 

My app also has a message saying this camera reported being too cold before it went offline - but it's summertime so that didn't happen!

[Record_Hound]

Well, about 5 minutes after I posted in here support called me back and was very helpful!

[DamianH217]

Hello Arlo Community and Support,

I have 6 Arlo Pro 5s Cameras. 
I had 5 of them get moisture inside the lenses. 
I had support exchange one of them.
Now they refuse to exchange any more.

I am trying to explain to them that I shouldn't need to purchase NEW cameras.
This issue is not MY fault as their WATERPROOF cameras somehow got moisture in the lenses.
I am more than happy to just have a simple exchange as I already had months of back and fourth for one camera.

Many support chats later with all of the evidence they asked to see.
It seems they are now unwilling to follow up on their promises to me.
I would rather get this resolved here than do research, gather evidence, and have this resolved outside of support.

Anyways, hope you can be of assistance.
Thanks!

[qtrayhart]

When is Arlo going to fix the issue of "internal" lens fogging?  Camera is useless much of the time because of poor image quality!

[DamianH217]

Yep I am seeing it too… seems this is a widespread issue.

[qtrayhart]

Will do, thanks!

[geoffsmail]

I just discovered the same problem after recent rains.

There is water that has gotten inside where the lens is.  The rest of the camera is dry as a bone.

[geoffsmail]

I ended up fixing mine myself....  All you need is a small Phillips head screwdriver and a ziploc with some desiccant silicone packs.

As it turns out, the lens is made of molded plastic and you cannot get inside the actual lens.  But you can remove the lens (it unscrews) and then stick it in a ziploc with the desiccant packs for several days and it should do the trick.  It did for me.

Take pics as you go so you can tell how everything goes back together. 

Remove the battery first... Then remove the 4 internal screws that hold the body to the face. 

Then remove the 3 tiny screws that hold the circuit board on.

I use a bowl to hold the screws (2 types).

There is a small rubber grommet you don't want to lose, so go slow and work over a flat surface so you don't lose any of the parts.

Unscrew the lens, held in place with soft glue/sealant.

Put lens in zip loc with desiccant until the water vapor is gone.  Will probably take days.

Reassemble using your pics.

Good luck!

[Aprilfool]

@geoffsmail 

Geoff - Your information is all well and good.  However, it should absolutely not be necessary.  We have each purchased what we believe to be quality security cameras that can be exposed to the elements - rain/snow/sun/etc.  We, as consumers, should not be concerned that we have to take down our cameras and take them out of service for days at a time to get them to dry out.  Arlo needs to do better.

[sharonlmb]

Same! I have 8 cameras (and LOADS of Arlo brand accessories) that I’ve acquired over the years and I have never had one with water intrusion. I always make sure to properly close the units after charging them, until they make a click sound. It wasn’t until I got several 5S2K cameras that I had a problem with moisture getting inside the lens. The camera looks completely clean and dry inside, and the seal (which does not seem detachable) seems perfectly fine too, yet all the videos are hazy and the Live view also is 100% hazy, despite the outside lens being perfectly clean. And wouldn’t ya know it, this started happening only 3 months after the Warranty ended!! Not a happy customer at ALL!! I just finished doing a deep dry of the unit, but it did not help. Now what? 

[sharonlmb]

Did they replace your camera? Was it still under warranty? Mine is only  3 months outside the Warranty, but I’m hoping they will replace it anyway, being a KNOWN problem with this model! So frustrating!  

[sharonlmb]

There seems to be TONS of customers who have the same problem…not just a few, or a lot, but thousands! What Arlo needs to do is RECALL this model entirely for a full refund if still under Warranty, or else replace them, with NO questions asked, or else give 50% or more off a newer model!! Anything else is a slap in the face with all the BS I’m reading of people going through Customer Service for months trying to get this resolved!! Inexcusable! Meanwhile leaving that section of their property without any video monitoring in the process!! That’s absurd!! We are long time, loyal customers who have recommended these cameras to SOOO many people! It’s the LEAST they can do for selling us a defective product!!! 

[SarahGayle]

I have this same problem. I've had my Pro5 for a couple years and all of a sudden it got water in the lens after a heavy rain?

Arlo, how can we fix this???

[DamianH217]

@BrookeN I reached out to you multiple times providing the same infomation as you requested.
Hope this corrospondence here helps since you kept asking for repeats even after saying you escalated my issue.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Like any other company, Arlo will only recall if an issue may cause a danger. I think they've ever recalled a power adapter, due to a fire hazard, and I don't recall anything else ever being recalled (though I'm not on here as often as Jeff @jgeurdat and @StephenB  who will probably know more about whether there have been other recalls):

https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2018/Netgear-Recalls-Power-Adapters-for-Outdoor-Cameras-Due-to-Fire-Haz...

However, it's my subjective view that the Pro 5 seems not to be the best product made by Arlo (all others seem to be quite good). There was a very long thread on here about the Pro 5 missing events, though there was never a clarification whether this was due to firmware or hardware.

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

 I don't recall anything else ever being recalled (though I'm not on here as often as Jeff @jgeurdat and @StephenB  who will probably know more about whether there have been other recalls):

That old outdoor power adapter is the only safefy recall I know of.  Arlo paused sales of the Ultra camera for a couple of months (right after launch in 2018), and store inventory was pulled.  But that was due to firmware bugs, not hardware.

There are enough reports here on water damage to convince me that there is a production problem that results in water sometimes being able to get into the lens. 

No idea on how Arlo will handle that, but I doubt they will recall the cameras (since this doesn't seem to be an issue with all the cameras, just some).  My guess (just a guess) is that they will fix it with a production change, and will replace cameras for affected customers (even after the warranty ends).

[Edinburgh_lad1]

Not everyone checks their camera's/cameras' recordings daily, but only when there's an issue. The problem with water damage, and other issues, may be more widespread than you seem to suggest. If anything, if so many have such a problem, then the issue is likely to affect others, too. I'm not surprised actually there doesn't seem to be an investigation into the issue - identifying the batch number(s) - and an official campaign advising users to return their products for a replacement. 

[StephenB]

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

I'm not surprised actually there doesn't seem to be an investigation into the issue 

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One clarification - I didn't mean to suggest that the issue only affects some production batches.  I have no idea if that is the case or not.  I only meant that there are a lot of those cameras out there.  There are enough complaints here to indicate that there is a real problem, but not as many I'd expect if this was happening to all cameras.

I believe they are investigating.   No idea on remediation plans (if any), but I don't see them doing much until they have a fix.  

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@Edinburgh_lad1 wrote:

The problem with water damage may be more widespread than you seem to suggest.

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I don't know how widespread it is, or how environmental factors might play into the problem. 

I do know that I am not seeing it on my own cameras.