Camera Battery - I have to charge too often!

[DanVS]

Hi everyone.  I'm new here, so please go easy on me. 

I have a 3-camera Arlo Pro 3 system using an VMB4500r2 base station that came with the cameras.  I'm showing firmware version 1.19.0.3_3943_68a8e53 installed and no updates available.  All cameras are installed outdoors (2 in front and 1 in back).  I bought and installed the system in late August of last year (2021).  Arlo advertises long battery life with this system, and indeed I was pretty happy for a long while, but over the last month or so, all 3 cameras are needing recharging almost weekly.

Anyone have any good ideas about what's going on, and what my best action to fix the issue might be?

Thank you!

[StephenB]

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@DanVS wrote:

Anyone have any good ideas about what's going on, and what my best action to fix the issue might be?

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About how many seconds (or minutes) of video recording are each camera doing per day?  Note if you use activity zones you need to delete them in order to estimate this.

Are you seeing any issues with cameras going off line, or other signs of dropped connections?

[DanVS]

Thank you for the response, StephenB.  I appreciate it very much.

In the last 24 hours...
     Camera 1 * 66 videos, approx 15 seconds each

     Camera 2 * 36 videos, approx 15 seconds each

     Camera 3 * 4 videos, approx 20 seconds each

Camera 3 is by far the worst offender, possibly because it's got the weakest Wi-Fi signal owing to the thick rock exterior wall and the longest distance to the base, but it's also the least active. Cameras 1 and 2 are about the same with strong signals and about the same distance from the base.  They're subject to the same rock walls but get through the line-of-sight windows much easier.  I do have an activity zone set up for each camera, but the battery life was fine, consistent before and after I set those up.  It's just been the last month or so that all three need to be charged way more often, and all three need charging at about the same time.

Cameras going offline?  No.  They're really very consistent.

[StephenB]

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@DanVS wrote:

Thank you for the response, StephenB.  I appreciate it very much.

In the last 24 hours...
     Camera 1 * 66 videos, approx 15 seconds each

     Camera 2 * 36 videos, approx 15 seconds each

     Camera 3 * 4 videos, approx 20 seconds each

 I do have an activity zone set up for each camera,

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Unfortunately the activity zone makes it impossible to know how much video activity is happening.  The cameras always stream to the cloud whenever motion is detected, then the cloud supresses recordings and notifications when the motion is out-of-zone.

So understanding the power use requires temporarily removing the zones.

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@DanVS wrote:

Camera 3 is by far the worst offender, possibly because it's got the weakest Wi-Fi signal owing to the thick rock exterior wall and the longest distance to the base, but it's also the least active. 

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Signal strength definitely is a factor - whenever the connection drops, the camera actively looks to restore it.  That can take quite a bit of power.

One thing you might try is swapping Camera 3 with another camera, and see if that makes any difference.

[DanVS]

Once again, thanks for your help on this.

I've deleted the activity zones.  I'll let you know how things look 24 hours from now.  I will switch one of the cameras to the backyard (cam 3) position to see what happens.  I just coincidentally have a cam on the charger.  I'll move that one to the back at 100% charge.  Should tell a tale.

Thanks again!  I'll be back with results tomorrow.

[DanVS]

Hi!  Sorry it took so long to get back here.  Really crazy couple of days.

OK, so it's going on 2-1/2 days since I removed the activity zones and put a fully charged camera in the far away back area.  At this writing...

Camera 1 * This cam was at about 90% when I first wrote.  It's at 28% at this writing. (188 videos today alone.)

Camera 2 * Was placed in the original Cam 3 position fresh off the charger.  It is currently at 74%, down 26% in 2-1/2 days. (12 videos today alone.)

Camera 3 * Is sitting on a shelf, turned off.  In the time it's been there, its battery level has dropped from 98% to 96%. (Zero videos.)

I think you're right about activity zone action, StevenB.  I've saved many more recordings with it turned off.  If those additional triggerings aren't showing up in the library with zones active, but are still happening, that explains some of the battery drain.  However, as I pointed out initially, the batteries held up better for a long time before they didn't, with and without activity zones.

Any final thoughts?  Better settings?  Ask Arlo Customer Support?  Weak or defective batteries?

Thank you!!

[StephenB]

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@DanVS wrote:

Any final thoughts?  Better settings?  Ask Arlo Customer Support?  Weak or defective batteries?

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Re-aiming the cameras to reduce or eliminated the unwanted motion might be possible.  Maybe also try reducing the motion sensitivity.  Use the detection test, to make sure you don't reduce it too far.  But remember the settings in that test are just for the test - you need to put the operational settings into the mode(s).

• https://kb.arlo.com/41/How-do-I-change-the-motion-sensitivity-on-my-Arlo-camera
• https://kb.arlo.com/42/What-are-modes-and-rules-and-how-does-Arlo-use-them

FWIW, I get a flood of detections this time of year - generally from moving shadows or wind in the branches.  So my own batteries discharge faster than they do at other times of the year.

[DanVS]

Good points, StevenB.  The sensitivity setting hadn't occurred to me until the other day.  Thinking I was being smart, I cranked all 3 cameras up to 100%.  Combining that with the activity zone settings, I'll bet you're right, just too much going on!  I didn't expect that to have as much impact on battery life as it apparently has.

Also, I have two very out of control burning bushes in the front yard.  I think their movement in the wind is causing a good share of the triggerings.  Sadly, I can't give them a really good "haircut" until late fall through very early spring when they're dormant for the winter.

Thanks so much for your help and suggestions.  I think we've got this mostly figured out!  🙂  Unless you have more advice, I think it's fair to say we can close this conversation.