Security Light AL1101 Batteries will not charge

[Xichlo]

OK had Bridge problem awhile back and had to figure out myself or keep waiting for level III call (Several weeks), now the batteries are not charging altought the indicator shows charging from Solar Panel. So call Support again and explained syptoms, was told above his level would get higher level to call me back. 

   Well this had happened since I got lights (batteries indicated between 92, 81 on the 3 lights, changed the lowest with a spare battery that came with), but fixed itself a few days ago during update and went to 100% all 3. They were going down again and yesterday one went offline, today one is at 91, other at 92 and third is dead. Brought light in and hooked up charger cable, charger unit didn't even get warm so no draw likely, tried other battery that had shown 81 and it showed dead. Went out and brought a camera in, took its battery and installed in light, it flashed. Reinstalled Light to my system and it showed 100% and shows charging symbel. Put thought to be dead battery in camera and it showed 63%, hooked charger and now 92% (1.5 hours), will charge both batteries and then wait for NetGear/Arlo Tech to call.

    Its in the Light Software not allowing full charge and shutting down, bricking the light!!!

[Wklovelace3]

Sounds right. All these battery issues are software/firmware issues. Just dont understand why engineering cant figure it out. I had the trial firmware back in may. It fixed my battery drain but then they put out 2 more updates and im back to square 1. Same story battery lasts 2 weeks . used to last 2 months

[Xichlo]

Problem is they are on Solar Panel and deliberatly in hard to get to locations for theft deterance and its a pain to have to take a unit in to use as a charger. They show the charging symbol during day but the % never goes up except a few days ago when all 3 went down for software upgrade, after that they went 100% for one day

[Xichlo]

Ok, so another light went to brick yesterday, tried different method to prove its firmware/interaction between light and solar panel. This time I tried using Charger cord again, nothing, removed light from Arlo and attempted to reinstall with existing Batt., it could not be found. Swapped out to new 100% batt. and again tried to reinstall light, found and installled light. Swapped out to old battery and hooked to charger, batt. was still at 87% as last reading before it went brick and went to full charge, 100% in less the an hour. 

   Called Arlo again to update what I had found, got run around, Level 2 Tech tried to convince me that Solar Panels only hold exsisting with trickle charge, I laughed and explained I've had 5 Cameras since Oct and the recharge from 80% to 100% in less then an hour. Asked for a Supervisor and was told they can not do anything, then why have Supervisors?

    So supposedly I am waiting for Level 3 Engineer to work this out, wonder how long this will be going on. Going to look for US Corporate Headquarters Phone and Email contacts and maybe find a way to get this to the CEO's Desk. Maybe, just maybe find someone at NetGear that cares and has the authority do get this fixed!!!

[jguerdat]

The solar panels do only provide what's basically a trickle charge. If they supplied what the wall charger supplies, you'd be able to use the extra features of various devices. The speed of charging really doesn't matter - it's the overall current capability from a small solar panel.

[Xichlo]

Yes I agree it is a trickle charge, but he was explaining that was the reason my batteries were not charging but only holding charge. They should be fully charging the batteries everyday when Sun is higher by 10AM as do the Camera Batteries, after all the lights only come on at night. Basicly now the Solar Panels on the 3 lights only show the electric Flash Symbol but do not deliver the trickle. There should only be minimal load during the day and they did show charging to 100% from the 80's % one day after going offline for update about a liitle over a week ago and that went pretty fast. 

[Xichlo]

Again, am I the only person with the lights on solar panel or are there others out there with solar panel and not charging problem and how many months does it take to get a level 3  to find the problem. Are they waiting till the "Free Support Time" runs out? Very poor Customer Service!

[JamesC]

Xichlo,

I will reach out to you in a private message to gather more information on this issue.

JamesC

[Xichlo]

Level 3 asked some questions through the Level 2 Agent and wanted pics of the camera locations. Also sent JamesC the pics and info, so now will see. 

[Baldness]

My light is attached to a solar panel and shows a charging icon however it is dropping percentage each day.   Not had sevceral days uininterupted sunso it is a bit early to tell if the panel will keep the light up.

Is there a way to stop the light activating  at all .. disable the Bridge ? 

[JamesC]

Baldness,

The engineering team is investigating reports of odd behaviors when using the solar panel with lights. I don't have an update yet but will post again when I have more information.

If you want to stop the light from activating, you can simply switch it to "Disarmed" mode, this keeps the light from detecting motion and turning on.

JamesC

[Carlos5]

I have exactly the same problem. Light connected to a solar panel, it discharged and now it would not charge, even when connected to the power supply.

[jguerdat]

There's an FAQ here for how to get a totally dead battery in a camera to charge. I expect it would work for a light, too.

[myousri]

This issue wasn't solved even with the latest firmware update!!
The solar panel charged the lights for 2 days then now it doesn't!! It seems like a software thing.

[JamesC]

myousri,

What issue are you experiencing that indicates the solar panel is not charging your lights. Can you provide details?

JamesC

[myousri]

Hey James,
After the latest firmware update the lights were charging from 67% till 98% for 2 days after that in the following days the battery keeps on losing charge although the solar panel is connected and the charging icon is showing on the app!

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

myousri,

What level is your battery at currently? The Solar Panel is designed to start charging only once the battery has been depleted past a certain point (around 87%).

Adding to that, the Solar Panel provides a slower charge than AC power. If the camera is constantly in use, the Solar charge may not be able to keep up with the usage.

JamesC

[myousri]

It's 90% now, is that a new thing to charge when it's 87%? Cause I've an arlo camera that charges using a solar panel even if it's 98%, maybe it's different with the lights so I'll wait and see anyway,
The lights are disarmed in daytime and working only at night, so the solar panel has the whole day to charge

[JamesC]

myousri,

There are some hardware differences between the cameras and the lights so they behave slightly different in this respect. If your light is showing 90%, it sounds like you're good to go.

JamesC

[michaelkenward]

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@myousri wrote:
It's 90% now, is that a new thing to charge when it's 87%?

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Not sure that I understand what that means.

My lights do not alert me until the battery gets down to a few percent.