Your charging source connected to the camera cannot charge your battery Please use an Arlo adapter

[burncycle4]

I am having this same exact problem where I am trying to charge my Arlo cameras and I get that error message " ‘Your charging source connected to the camera cannot charge your battery. Please use an Arlo power adapter‘.  I bought the cameras in July, this is the 3rd time I'm charging them (or attempting to) and the last time I charged my cameras was ~ a month or so ago.  This is the situation:

- None of my (4) Arlo Pro cameras will charge; when I plug them into the Arlo charger, using the Arlo charging cable, that error message comes up in the app when I check to see if they are charging.  I had no problem whatsoever charging them the past two times

- 3 out of 4 of my cameras are placed outdoors but shielded from the weather; my 4th camera is used indoors; therefore, weather should not be the culprit as to why they won’t charge

- I have also tried several combinations of using (3) other USB charging cables, (2) other charging adapters, (3) different power receptacles in my house and I even tried plugging the cameras into the USB ports on the back of the base station but none of the combinations worked

- I removed and re-inserted the battery on all the cameras (several times)

- Every time I plug the cameras in, the light on the camera blinks 'amber' really fast for about 4-5 seconds and then stops

- I have left the cameras on the charger for more than an hour to see if they would eventually charge but they do not

- I opened a support case online several days ago but the only suggestions I have received, in order to troubleshoot, are the ones that I have tried already.  My batteries are now to the point where they are running low on power and I don’t know what else to do to troubleshoot the problem

[steve_t]

Since the problem happens with all cameras, it sounds like there might be a fault with your Arlo charger. It is a Qualcomm charger than outputs 5V normally but when it detects the Arlo Pro camera, it ramps up to 9V output. This makes other USB chargers inadequate for charging. Do you have more than one Arlo charger? Are all of your cameras on the correct firmware version? Other cables are often too large to make good contact in the charging port so only use the included Arlo cables and chargers.

[burncycle4]

Unfortunately I only have the (1) Arlo charger plug and Arlo charging cable that came with my (4) camera bundle.  As for the firmware, they are all on the same revision 1.092.0.6_15695

[steve_t]

You're on the latest firmware, so that's good.

I'd be talking to the retailer about the faulty charger first. If not, contact support again with your ticket number and say you went on the community and someone suggested the charger might be faulty and could you get a replacement. 
Here's the tricky part, they will probably get to the point of saying OK, they'll send you a new one BUT they will want a credit card to secure the new charger. In the event that you don't send your faulty one back, they'll charge your card. If you send the faulty one back, they won't charge you. I remember someone a while back got really upset about the fact that they needed to give credit card details so I thought I'd mention it. Make sure you send the faulty product back requiring a signature, if that's what happens.

[burncycle4]

Thanks for the insight, I really appreciate it.  My case worker did update my case last night to say she would send me a charger but didn't ask for a credit card # (at least not yet). The other thing I find odd about this situation is that even if I plug the camera into the base station using the Arlo supplied charging cable it doesn't charge.  According to the instruction manual, and my case worker, plugging the camera into the base station using the Arlo USB cable should charge it.

[jguerdat]

I've never seen this stated - just looked again at the owner's manual and don't see where it says to connect to the base for charging. I wouldn't think that plugging the USB cable into the base is a supported configuration, partly because charging requires 9v from a Qualcomm Quick Charge-capable device.

[burncycle4]

Plugging it into the base is what my case worker told me to do. 

[jguerdat]

I think I can assure you that person was grossly in error.

[steve_t]

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burncycle4 wrote:

Plugging it into the base is what my case worker told me to do. 

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That's very strange because it won't work. One thing I'd like to check is that you called the official Arlos support number and not just the one at the top of the google search, which is an ad for a company that is not associated with Netgear/Arlo. There have been a number of people who have called this third party number for "support" thinking they were ringing Arlo support. I'm very glad to hear you didn't have to give a credit card number then, because if you'd called the wrong people, if you'd called the scam artists, I'd be concerned about your credit card details being abused.

Otherwise, it does sound OK and hopefully the new charger will arrive soon to charge all of your cameras!

[burncycle4]

I didn't call Arlo support, I simply opened a case online.  I'm hopeful that the replacement adapater they are sending me will resolve the issue.  At this point I'm going to assume it will and I'm holding off on any further troubleshooting until it arrives.  If you don't see anymore posts from me on this topic, then that means the replacement adapter fixed the issue.  Thanks all.