Arlo Pro won't charge any battery placed in it

[jace242]

The short version is I have an Arlo Pro that will not charge any battery installed in it which is problematic due to it's location. Now on to the detailed explanation...

One of my Arlo Pro cameras sits pretty high up in a tree in my yard. I got lazy this month and didn't get around to charging it prior to the battery draining to zero percent. When I brought it inside I realized it wasn't charging and an amber light would flash when I plugged it in. I tried half a dozen charging cables/adapters that had came with other arlo pro cameras and each one would work on my other cameras but not charge the problem camera. Each one would also power the camera so it worked properly when plugged in but once unplugged it would immediately shut off even though the battery was installed. When plugging in the camera it wouldn't give me any charging faults or even act like there was a battery inside of it, instead giving the power cord symbol when plugged in. I removed the battery and placed it in another camera that has had no issues and the same thing happened. The battery would not charge but a plugged in cable would turn the camera on. I read on Arlo Support a method of restarting the battery that involved removing the battery, plugging in the camera, inserting the battering then shutting the camera. This also didn't get any response from the battery. 

At this point I assumed the problem was the battery so I ordered a new netgear arlo pro battery. The new battery came with 25% charge and when installed into the problem camera would power it without needing to be plugged into an outlet. Unfortunately when I plugged in the problem camera with the new battery it again flashed amber for a few seconds, flash blue for a brief period and would not charge. This time though, with the newly bought battery installed, an error message would pop up saying "Incompatible charger has been detected. Connect a compatible Arlo charger. For more info, see KB article for Charging Faults." I tried all of my netgear charging cables/adapters that had came with my arlos with the same result on the camera. I then pulled the new battery from the problem camera, placed it in one of my other cameras and it immediately began to charge and worked properly so I know there is no issue with the new battery. When inspecting the inside of the problem camera there is no sign any moisture made it inside or damage of any type. 

So at this point my main problem is I have a camera that for the most part works but won't charge batteries. inconventient since it belongs twenty feet up in a tree and I just bought an arlo solar panel I was going to put up there with it. 

A secondary problem is I have a dead arlo battery that won't charge in any camera it is placed in. None of the other cameras even acknowledge it to say there is a charging fault and instead have the outlet symbol when plugged in. This isn't as big of an issue since I bought a replacement battery but if it could be fixed somehow a spare battery would be nice. 

[brh]

@jace242

A couple of things quickly come to mind. Firstly, have you tried cleaning the contacts on the battery and inside the camera with a rubber eraser? Are the contacts inside the camera lined up properly and sticking up far enough to make contact with the batteries? Are there any bent or broken pins in the micro usb connector? Remember that the cameras require 5 volts to work and 9 volts to charge, ( I'm assuming the cable is using different pins for the two voltages). And lastly, I have read that the tolerences of the batteries and the camera battery holders can be just out of spec enough that people have had to insert a thin piece of cardboard in top of the battery to act as a wedge or shim to force the battery to make contact.

These are the common problems, so I hope that checking them will help you. If the battery/camera is under warranty, contact Support to get a replacement.

Brian

[jguerdat]

Whe fully depeleted, you may need to do this:

https://kb.arlo.com/000052305/My-Arlo-Pro-or-Arlo-Pro-2-battery-is-dead-what-do-I-do