Ability of Pro Cameras to function below -20°C

[Ursulak]

I am aware of the published limitations of this camera and it's rechargable battery pack. Although there are many kudos for offering a rechargable package, for those of us in northern climates however it means the carmera is useless below that -20°C temp. Understanding battery technology a little bit, there is nothing I feel that could be done in the current design and battery back, however offering an alternative batter cage to put lithium 123's back inside which will function in low cold like the original Arlo cameras is required. I had to reassign all my cameras (mixed Pro and regular) to put the regulars back outside yet I really needed the feature of interactivity outside. To me this is a step backwards for these cameras despite the extra features. You could have a Cadiliac but if it doesn't start... not much good. If there could be a battery cage that is inserted to replace the regarchable but we could load it with 123's then even perhaps with a shorter life span it would still function, this would be the differnence between scraping the system for a competitor vs not for me. I'm sure there's a number of northern or colder climate people that have found despite the -20°C rating, it's not good enough for their environment. 

A battery cage could be a cheap and simple extra that brings back this function as per the originals. 

[youngbru]

While I do understand that the cameras are only rated for operation down to -20C (-4F), we have had several days of temperatures since I installed my cameras where the temperature has gotten well below that  - a few days where the high was below that. The coldest we have gotten is  -30C (-23F). My cameras have worked with no problems at all. Two of my outside cameras are a bit protected so thay may not get down  to the actual outdoor temp, but one is pretty exposed so is likely to get close to the actual temp. My outdoor cameras are connected to AC power, but I would expect  the Li-Ion batteries to continue to provide enough power for the low current draw camera at well below -20C. 

[Ursulak]

Thanks for your input but connecting to AC is not an option for me. I have 4 Pro's outside that all consistently go offline at -19 or -20°C. I can tell the temperature by them it that's consistent. Netgear has said this is normal operation but for those that can't plug in to AC (which is part of the joy of wireless battery operated), this is "normal" behaviour for these cameras as per NG support. I'm running the current firmware.  

Since the CR123's will power at lower temps as they're not rechargable, this would be a viable option to enable further operating range for these units. Lion rechargables typically are not able to continually perform the mva output required at these temps and hence NG's stated operating limitations. 

[DaveWoj]

I would contact Wasserstein, they seem to be up on many accessories for the Arlo cameras. I'm sure they could make a holder that may be able to take 4 batteries.

They would develop it much faster than Netgear would.

[Ursulak]

THis is good to know, thanks very much. 

[jguerdat]

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Ursulak wrote:

Since the CR123's will power at lower temps as they're not rechargable, this would be a viable option to enable further operating range for these units. Lion rechargables typically are not able to continually perform the mva output required at these temps and hence NG's stated operating limitations. 

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There are rechargeable batteries that many of us use for the original cameras and they also work well below -4F.