Portable Power for Arlo Pro

[jaekim87]

Hi,

Has anyone found a Powerbank that charges and works for Arlo Pro?

Due to the location of the camera, bringing it down when battery is low is inconvienent. Not looking for a attach to power adapter solution but a actual Portable Power

I was wondering if anyone found a Portable power bank maybe like 20000mah battery which can be used to Charge the Arlo Pro via USB Cord.

Can I get a link to which one works, I know there is specific requirements of the charging speed output in order to be compatible with Arlo Pro.

Thank you

[TomMac · Accepted solution]

The Pro will run on 5 v via the USB as long as you don't want to charge the battery....

any unit that supplies that should work

( you can even pull the battery pack out and run the t without)

[jaekim87]

Thanks for the information

If I do connect to external power bank, for the percent on the Arlo for battery, would it correctly display how much battery is left on the power bank?

Also, if I was expecting to Charge the battery and then use the powerbank, is that possible or only possible using powerbank if i do take out the battery?

Thank you

[jguerdat]

The battery indicator will only show the internal battery status.  An external battery or power supply is assumed to be a power supply.

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jaekim87 wrote:

Also, if I was expecting to Charge the battery and then use the powerbank, is that possible or only possible using powerbank if i do take out the battery?

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I would believe that you can use both at the same time with the external battery depleting first since it is seen as a power supply and then would switch to the internal battery at some point.

One thought is whether the specific external battery would continue to supply the camera in sleep mode (non-recording/viewing) since you frequently need to push a button on the battery to activate it.  With very low current draw, it may be seen as having been disconnected from a device.  Only testing would tell.

[Alphadog73]

It must require a special cord because I have tried multiple power supplies that had a 5v output and they won't power the camera.  I'm using a standard usb cord that you can find at a gas station because my local radio shack freaking closed, but I"m having no luck at all.  And these batteries last all of 3 freaking days, not 3 months as advertised.  Think I'm bringing $1600 worth of arlo pro stuff back to store before my return time is up.  Cameras work good when they actually have power but that is quite an issue. Them saying the batteries last 3 months is a joke.

[zeta]

Been searching for this myself for a few months now.  The Arlo Pro camera needs 9V/1.1A to charge the battery via MicroUSB cable, but most portable power banks only output max 5V/3A from the USB type A ports.

I found this Anker battery which claims to output 5v/3a, 9v/3a, 15v/2a, 20v/1.25a from the USB-C port.  Thinking we might be able to try a USB-C to MicroUSB cable to charge the Arlo Pro at the 9V required.  

Biggest concern is how it will handle the negotiation of the correct V/A.  Don't want to damage the camera.  Anyone else have any thoughts on how this would work?

[migman_2001]

Buy the solar panel or the long power cord.

Why would you connect a battery pack to a recharable battery operated device  in the first place?  Just ridiculous.  

[zeta]

Thanks for your brilliant insight, but those won't work.  I live in an apartment complex and don't have access to an outlet to plug it into, and can't use a solar panel.

The portable battery will only be connected to the Arlo when the Arlo needs to be recharged.  Once the Arlo is recharged, the battery pack will be removed and brought back in the house. 

[jaekim87]

I just love how when people don't understand or try to think out of the box they think its ridiculous.

I'm in the same situation, i live in a complex, and the water heater is outside my front door, im using my Arlo to put it in my water heater closet since it has vents which I can use to show my front door and also securely keep my arlo safe from theft since its in a locked room. So far no one really discovered that its there which is how I would like it, since purpose is to ensure that my packages that are left at my door aren't stolen. Ruins the purpose of having to run a wire from the water heater closet for Solar panel. Since its a water heater closet, I cant drill a hole into the room (I asked and I was told I cannot due to firewall walls).

Since it also gets the walkway, lots of activity from people walking along the pathway, so instead of having to constantly take out the camera to charge, I would prefer it to last longer, hence the reason for this specific topic, ive thought of the alternative solutions of course, but those in my specific situation wouldn't benefit from it.

[migman_2001]

In all these situations someone does not want to pull the camera out/down to recharge the battery , but you what to put in another battery that will require pulling out/down to recharge. Sounds like more trouble than its worth. And how many more days are you going to get out of this?
A car battery and inverter? Not very good on a roof or inside a closed water heater closet. But I guess it will buy you more time between charges.
To each his own.

[zeta]

No, the whole point is to not have to take the camera down. I too have built a secure mount, and will just leave the USB cable connected to the Arlo, but tucked away until I need to plug it into the battery.

If you are just here to tell us how our use cases don't fit yours, you've made your point. If you don't have anything useful to add then please move on and troll another post.