Arlo|Smart Home Security|Wireless HD Security Cameras
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xzsbkn
Follower
Follower

After about a year of use, the batteries in my cameras are draining fast and erratically.  I've decided to direct wire the power so they are reliable again.  I read in the forum that I can wire them with the batteries installed or without them installed.  My question is if I keep the batteries installed, will the direct power charge the batteries which then powers the camera or does the direct power go straight to the camera.  It seems like a minor point, but given the deterioration of the batteries I'm concerned that they will constantly pull power causing them to over heat.  How have others done this? 

6 REPLIES 6
Paul_FCCL
Prodigy
Prodigy

A battery in a powered camera is just useless. It doesn’t serve any purpose really, it adds the nuisance of “low temperature.....unable to charge battery” message when temperature is too low. Camera with a fully charged battery, in the event of a power failure, won’t connect to a powerless base station (unless connected to UPS along with modem/router).

TomMac
Guru Guru
Guru

First, the batteries will not overcharge in the camera if power all the time.... they actually only charge to an 80% level ( to avoid overcharge ;  which is why the external charge tube does 100% and the batteries seem to last longer ( cause they pick up 20% ))

 

The advantage to leaving the battery in while ac powered is that the battery will keep the camera running during a power outage provided of course you have a UPS on the base/router ( which is good in a remote location or vac home )

 

In the end , your choice, makes no diff if not using a UPS ( I'd prob leave them out )

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Alexmo
Aspirant
Aspirant
I just installed my brand new 3 Arlo Pro3 wire-free cameras after charging all 3 batteries to 100%. I also connected one of the 3 cameras to permanent power using the one magnetic power cord. In less than 24 hours the camera battery was drained to 3% and I got a notification that the battery is drained. Please advise why a plugged in new camera with full power would lose charge entirely in one day.
TomMac
Guru Guru
Guru

Unknown, but I would pull the battery ( resets camera ) and mark it...

then test in another camera to narrow down issue of battery or camera.

 

As to the ac , did the icon indicate charging ( lighting bolt )...some time the magnetic connection needs to be cleaned or properly place to make contact 

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Morse is faster than texting!
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dcfox1
Master
Master

@Alexmo I had a Pro 3 connected to a solar panel and it was not charging and drained overnight. I checked the connection and it had a blue substance on cam and solar mag connection but it was not new. Cleaning it and rebooting it as TomMac said worked. 

Alexmo
Aspirant
Aspirant

Follow up on the drain of Arlo Pro 3 camera connected to Arlo Magnetic Charging Cable overnight.

I reset the camera and connected it indoor to the Arlo Magnetic Charging Cable that came with the Base Pro3 station and cameras overnight.  In the morning, i noticed the camera was no longer accessible as if the software actually hung.  Also the led bright light of the camera was on and the only way to turn it off despite moving the camera outdoor in a bright area or even trying through the Arlo app (the camera was no longer responding). i had to remove the battery and have the camera restart.  At which point it worked fine.

So the bottom line is that there is a bug in the Arlo Pro 3 camera software which gets the program to hang when camera is connected to constant power and as the led light is turned on, the camera drains its power to 0%.