Arlo Pro camera housing broken wire

[KathleenM]

I'm currently sitting here with 4 Arlo Pro cameras (4 rechargeable batteries), and the Arlo charging cord, but not a single one will charge.  All the batteries are now dead, rendering all the cameras useless.  After closer inspection, all of the wires on the inside of the camera housing have been pinched by closing the casing, and have completely severed.  Am I completely out of luck?  I can't get any support besides the useless chat bot because I don't subscribe to a monthly plan...  I paid a lot of money for these cameras to barely last 3 years.

[jguerdat]

SOunds like you may have been rough with the battery cover closing. No matter, you'd have to figure out a way to repair them yourself but an easier method would be to buy the external charger, perhaps with an extra battery so the camera remains available, to charge your batteries.

[KathleenM]

While I can understand your thought, I assure you I'm not rough on my possessions.  Especially ones that were that expensive.  Only one of the cameras lives outside, and I noticed it first with that one as I replace the battery to charge more often since it records a lot more video.  I had even placed electrical tape inside to attempt a buffer between the wires and the plastic inside, but it clearly didn't help.  It's a design flaw, likely the fact that I didn't have outlets available for all the cameras, so I changed out the battery instead of always plugging them in.

If I get an external charger for the battery, won't the camera still not work if the wires are broken?

[jguerdat]

The ribbon cable is just used for charging or otherwise using an external power source. The battery has its own connection deep in the battery slot and are used to power the camera regardless of the ribbon cable.

[KathleenM]

Great news, thank you so much!  
I'll start the search for a battery charger.  I was really hoping I wouldn't have to replace my whole set up.

Thanks again!

[KathleenM]

I just wanted to update this thread - I purchased an external battery charger (after a few days of searching for one in stock), and all the batteries and cameras are now back to their normal operation.  Hopefully this method will work for a few more years!

Thanks again for your help.

[TomMac]

As a PS.... you may note that the external charger helps the cameras function longer.

Internally the batteries really only charge to 80% ( for safety reasons ) while external they charge to 100%