Arlo PRO (Battery charges to only 98%?)

[kmiller8821]

This really isn't a question so much as an observation.  I recently (about 5/6 weeks ago) purchased the Arlo PRO system.  I'm about to go out of town and I wanted the cameras to all be fully charged because when I first got the system I played with it a lot, adjusted the recordings, live view a lot, etc and the batteries were already down to about 30%.  I fully charged them (until the indicator came on) and they only showed 98%.  I did some research and didn't find a solution to this issue so just for fun, I opened the camera, removed the battery, put it back in and viola - the app now reports the battery at 100%. I repeated this for each camera and they are all now reporting 100%.  This seems like a bug to me so hopefully it will get addressed but I thought I would let the community know before you contact Arlo support.

[TomMac]

I think it's just an algorithm problem with the reading of the battery while charged in the camera... pulling it reset the camera so it would get a 100% reading on replacement.

One thing I've noted.. to get a 100% charge on mine, I had to go to settings and TURN OFF the camera. 

If left plugged in with camera in use it won't get a full charge as to prevent an overcharge of the battery. ( by design )

[kmiller8821]

Thanks for the tip. I actually did disable the camera before I started charging it and I also made sure I had DISARMED the system, turned off the camera, and then charged it.  I purchased an extra camera so I have 5, so I used two different chargers (since the new camera came with a new charger/cord).  I got the same result on both cameras, both 98%.  I charged the backyard camera the same way and it actually DID go to 100%, the others wouldn't go past 98% until I pulled and put the battery back in.  Who knows, we shall see. 

[jguerdat]

It's been clarified that the battery indicator in the camera will show 100% while the battery is actually at 80%. To charge the battery to 100% it had to be removed from the camera and charged in the external charger (whenever it's released). So, you should be able to see 100% indicated when in the camera but it's actually only at 80% to protect the battery. 98% seems to be a fluke of the firmware.

[HB15]

So unless you purchase an unreleased external charger, you can only use 80% of the batteries? And the unit shows 100% charged even though it is not, with no mention of this anywhere in the documentation?

I wonder what charge level the marketing department used to estimate their useful lives.

[kmiller8821]

That seems really suspect to me.  I shouldn't have to go purchase an external charger just to get the full battery life out of a device I paid for, especially given the price point of these devices.  I set my system to DISARM and DISABLE the camera before I charge it, and if i'm still only getting 80%, I'm not really a happy camper.

[jguerdat · Accepted solution]

The real question is, do you want maximum life from your batteries? Lithium ion batteries work best in the 40-80% range. Since you have the option to keep the battery installed and the camera plugged in, it's silly to fully charge them since that would shorten their life. Use of the charger overcomes this if it's that important for your usage. Sucks that it's not yet released but life goes on.

[kmiller8821]

Obviously, i want battery life but in today's electronic world, when we are charging something we expect it to say 100% when complete.  The internal battery may only charge to 80% in the camera, as you state, but I would still expect the power indicator to state 100%.  As I mentioned, just opening the battery door is apparently enough to kick it back to 100%.  I obviously want to maximize battery life but it seems a correction in the battery % display or an update to the code to adjust for this would be helpful and eliminate user confusion.  I'm a software engineer, when I code applications to install, I don't stop at 98% and then tell my user 'installation completed'. My helpdesk volume would shoot thru the roof if I coded my application that way.   I appreciate where your sentiment lies, I just feel that the developers need to take the user experience into account when writing the code.  I will accept your solution, as I completely understand where you're coming from, but the "average bob" may still want to know "Why doesn't this charge to 100%?".  This is not in the documentation, and I can find no other device that exhibits this behavior.  My iPhone says "100%", my iPad, my camera, even my wireless alarm system.  It's just a matter of perception. /endrant

[jguerdat]

This was intended to simply provide some technical information.  What you take away from it is up to the individual.  It's likely not in the documentation to eliminate confusion for folks that don't understand the difference.

[HB15]

Can someone explain what is it about the external charger that differs from the internal charging method and allows it to safely reach 100% while the internal charger stops at 80%?  What is the technical limitation of the internal charger?

[jguerdat]

We have no idea since it's not released yet.  My supposition would be that the camera firmware is set to limit the charge by detecting the voltage or other appropriate parameter, in the same way other devices don't just slam the battery up to full charge.  It's just a setting that can be determined by testing and known specifications.

[HB15]

I'm just trying to make sure I understand what you are saying...

So even though my batteries all say 100% after I charge them inside the camera, they really are not charged to 100%.  But if I charge them in an external charger, when they say 100% they really are charged to 100%.  Is that your understanding?

[jguerdat]

Yes. 100% is shown in the app if the battery is charged in the camera although it's actually charged to 80% of capacity. That's all the charge you will get if the battery is charged in the camera to help protect the battery. If you're not going to leave the camera plugged in during operation, you can charge to the actual full capacity by using the external charger, when available.

The 100% indication from the app when the battery is charged in the camera is to let you know that it won't charge any more, not that it reflects actual battery capacity.

[MelvinRusk]

I had the same problem...fully charged my battery and it only said 97percent took the battery out,put it back in and now unit says 100percent.