Arlo Pro camera won't charge (too cold?)

[mornixuur]

Picked up a couple of Arlo Pro cams to go with the two original Arlos we already had. Didn't want to keep dealing with CR123 rechargeables, so went with the Pros.

Everything is good until the temperature dropped. Last night we were about 20F (Salt Lake City UT area) and got the message that one needed charging. We bring it in and plug it in. App reads "Charging paused. Camera's battery temperature is too low."

Well, fine. Leave it in the house for about seven hours now. Plug it in. Same message. It's about 70F in here and neither the camera nor the battery feel all that cold any longer.

Reseated cable, same result. Removed and reseated battery, same result.

Is it dead? And how is Netgear for warranty replacement if so? We didn't get remotely close to the -4F which is the bottom end of the tech specs.

Thank you!

PS - All other functions of the camera are working, on the last of its juice.  

[jguerdat]

Charging Li-ion batteries below freezing is a no-no so the camera protects the battery by refusing to charge until warmed up. Of course, bringing it inside should have fixed the problem in short order so your issue is weird. I've done this numerous times.

You can try swapping batteries with a different camera to see if that helps. Otherwise, contact support using the link at the bottom here.

BTW, charging stops at ~32F. The camera itself shuts down at ~-4F.

[Spiderman862]

Why does Arlo not advertise and state that these solar panels are not Winter rated. Be upfront and clear about it. I bought these so that I no longer had to go up every week to change the batteries. It is a joke that you advertise a wireless system and now it seems my only choice is to go hard wired so that I can stop climbing ladders, especially in the winter. Now I will have to fight with Best Buy to get my money back after having installed them. You really need to clearly state that these do not charge in sub zero temperatures as I am in Canada let alone the northern US States.

Hiding behind the 'safety' statement as above is not being very customer service friendly. it is being very cowardly instead of being clear in your website on these panels and on these cameras that they do not charge in the winter. I did (what I thought) was a pretty thorough investigation before purchasing these panels....BANG....3 days in and they don't charge worth anything....pathetic..... 

[StephenB]

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@Spiderman862 wrote:

Why does Arlo not advertise and state that these solar panels are not Winter rated.

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FWIW, the panels are producing power, so they are "winter rated".  It's the batteries themselves that can't be charged when too cold.  That is true for all consumer-grade lithium batteries.

I'm not in Canada (but in greater Boston).  I've found the panels will keep my Ultra charged in the winter.  But that is because there are enough days here when the temp is above freezing for a while.

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@Spiderman862 wrote:

Hiding behind the 'safety' statement as above is not being very customer service friendly. 

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Neither @jguerdat nor I work for Arlo, so we aren't delivering any customer service.  We're just telling you what the problem is.