Arlo solar panel not charging. Shows Charging Fault error.

[wujo]

I've had an Arlo Solar Panel hooked up to my Arlo Pro camera for at least two months and everything was working fine.  It would charge up when the sun was out and surprisingly even when it was cloudy.  A few weeks ago we had some snow and the Camera showed a message saying that it couldn't charge because it was too cold.  Made sense to me.  After the snow cleared and back to the mid 40s temperature wise, it seems like the Solar Panel just stopped working.  Camera's battery doesn't charge when it normally would and when I take a look at the camera through the web, I get the following message - "A charging fault has been detected on <camera>.  Unplug and reconnect the charger from the camera side of the plug.  If this error message persists, see KB article for Charging Faults."

So I disconnected the camera from the Panel and tried troubleshooting it.  Unplugged and replugged into the Solar Panel and still get the same message.  Tried plugging the camera to the Arlo wall charger... camera charges up just fine.

Now I'm ripping my hair out trying to figure out what's going on and how to fix this.  Anyone have thoughts on what I can do to try and fix it?  Haven't had much luck with Arlo chat support.  They keep directing me to pages about charging that I've gone over at least 15 times.

[Fdott]

I have the same issue with one of my solar pads, But mine is Not showing that it is charging & will not charge. I have 8 cameras and 3 solar pads and I regret ever starting with Arlo due to their lack of customer service with their equipment, I had numerous issues with Arlo, first a red  display on one camera, and I had to climb up and remove all the cameras in order to return the defective system, because they do not replace one separately. It's very frustrating. 

Arlo Customer Care Sucks, point blank period >>> 

We should not be on here Guesstimating the problem, A technical expert should be answering our concerns

I will slowly replace my system with a different brand and realible company, and just accept  loss of $$ spent & I will never, ever recommend these cameras to anyone

[Arlosmuck]

 Wujo,

Well for starters the product sucks. There are serious design flaws. I purchased 4 Arlo Pro cameras and purchased 3 Arlo Wireless Go cameras with Arlo Factory solar charges. The cost of this equipment is well over $2000. When the batteries are fully charged and the solar charger is plugged in it shows that it is charging. When there is alot of activity and the power level drops to 75% the camera shows a charging fault. I have an electrical engineering degree and tried every trick in the book. When trying to get answers from the company it is a mute point. They have no idea how to correct the issue. There tech support sucks and they give stupid solutions as to unplug and re boot the base station. Worthless information. I have swapped cameras, changed and replaced the solar chargers and still no good. On an unrelated topic the arlo Go camera comes set up to only record for 10 seconds. If you follow there instructions on how to extend the recording time it doesn't work. I am personally working on a charging solution and if I figure it out I will share with the arlo community.

[Arlosmuck]

Brian,

Multiple people are having the same issue. I have even tried a brand new solar charger right out of the box. 1 week later same issue. It is not the solar charger or the camera. It is a design flaw. Prove me wrong.

[dsfenton]

I'm a bit confused by all this.  I have 7 chargers and 9 cameras and all the cameras on chargers are charging nicely and I've never experienced a charging error.  I can't believe I'm the "lucky one."  One thing I do when installing the panels is to make sure that the plugs are FIRMLY PRESSED INTO THE PANEL AND CAMERA.  I mean get them seated properly and push!  If you look at the plug going into the camera you might notice how short the metal portion is.  I'm guessing that perhaps this might be associated with the problem.  I hope this helps at least one person out there but if someone knows of any other solution I'd be interested in hearing.  But so far, I'm in good shape. 

[brh]

@dsfenton

I have 5 solar panels. I did have one camera that had been on a solar panel for over a year suddenly start giving charging error messages. I tried everything - swapping solar panels, swapping cables, etc. Turned out that the battery contacts in the camera needed cleaning. After cleaning them and reseating the battery I have not had a problem since.

Brian

[Ruskin]

Put up the solar panel this morning. Charged and worked fine fir about an hour in full sun. Bank of clues rolled in and I get the “dreaded” but apparently common incompatible charger error. It’s brand new out of the box with about two hours on it so it’s not a moisture or faulty cable issue. Just seems to be a garbage product. I’d return it in a second but bought from Bestbuy In the US and live in Canada. Next time instead of buying another netgear product I’ll just use my Arlo camera to film mysekf burning my money. 

[ShayneS]

Ruskin,

Have you tried to unplug and re-insert the charging cable, Reboot the camera, test on another camera if possible, what firmware is the camera running?

[96708]

I think your cable is not ineserted properly if you get the charging fault message. I do think when the battery drops to a certain level, the solar panel will not help to recharge the battery by much. Someone here said they saw this occur at 75%. In my case, when the battery level drops to about 20%, the solar panel is useless.

[Ruskin]

Yes I have done all of that. Firmware is up to date 1.092.0.19_26228

[ShayneS]

Ruskin,

Due to the amount of issues described I have opened a case for you. I will contact you via private message with further information.

[Fuddy_duddy]

I have the same problem like everybody else. Tried switching the camera and still not charging. I just purchased the solar panel less than 5 months, it's working fine and I was happy with it until now. If it's like everybody said it's the cable problem not the panel, I would like to know how to get the cable replace? 

[Fuddy_duddy]

My panel model number is VMA 4600

[JessicaP]

Hey @Fuddy_duddy,

I have sent you a PM to gather more information from you.

[Arlosmuck]

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@JessicaP wrote:

Hey @Fuddy_duddy,

I have sent you a PM to gather more information from you.

Jessica,

I'm not sure what you mean by PM but here is where I'm At. I have a total of 8 Cameras. They all have Arlo Solar Chargers. They start out with a fresh battery fully charged. They are all in direct sunlight. They charge for a day or two but once the power level drops below 75% they show a charging fault. I have replaced the solar panels changed cameras as well as batteries. Please don't tell me about the wire or the firmware or reseting the base station. The product is serious flawed. Everone in the community of Arlo has the same problem and with all of the money being spent by people to correct the problem is wasted time and money. The solution for me was a simple one and cost less than your solar panel. Small $ 40 lawn mower battery with 12 volt to 115 volt converter in a weatherproof box. A solar charger charges my lawn mower battery and the inverter powers the camera with the 115 volt arlo cord that came with the camera. Sad that people have to come up with their own solutions to a problem made by others. I'm sure this post won't be up long but if you want your charging issue resolved once and for all follow the same procedure I did and make your own.

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[Fuddy_duddy]

Hi Jessica
I’m new to the community, I couldn’t figure out how to retrieve my Private Message

[brh]

@Fuddy_duddy

At the top of the page you will see 4 icons:

Your Avatar

Your User Name

An Envelope

A Bell.

Click on the Envelope icon.

Brian

[SpudKiwi]

oh joy of joys, I have this issue as well.

It only lasted 3 weeks.

I have re-seated the battery and the charging cable, to no effect.

Does the cable detach from the panel end as well?

What is the RMA procedure for New Zealand based customers?

[jguerdat]

If it's due to moisture in the connections, reseating isn't a fix - drying the connections completely and then reseating fully is.

As with any hardware issue, you have to open a case with support here:

https://www.arlo.com/en-us/support/contact.aspx

[Davidddt]

The solution is to send your system back to the shop and by a security system that works. Bottom line is, the Arlo system is being expensive crap!