Arlo Ultra Cameras - Battery Charging

[robmmartin]

Following a recent break-and-enter on my industrial building, I have purchased a four (4) camera Arlo Ultra package from Costco Australia (240V mains) and have a few questions re camera charging, please. My four cameras are mounted externally/outside at high level, and require ladder access for battery charging.

I am currently running the system on batteries alone, but as we are often overseas for extended periods, I would like to power the cameras via mains power Arlo chargers. My camera pack came with two (2) internal chargers and I will purchase two extra units via Amazon.

My proposal is to use Arlo internal chargers on the external cameras by running the charger power cable inside the building to keep the power 'brick' weatherproofed. I contacted Arlo via a Chat session and the operator's answers were far from ‘conclusive’. My questions are:

1. As an Arlo outside charger is nearly double the price of an inside charger (and I need four) is there any reason why I cannot use inside chargers for outside cameras if the power 'brick' remains inside the building? I have noted a suggestion on the Arlo forums that an Arlo external charger outputs a higher voltage. If so, that may be to compensate for voltage drop in the much longer cable on an outside charger. I also note that the external chargers are fully sealed. ie. They do not have the USB connector at the power brick. Is anyone operating a similar setup (ie. Outside-Inside), please?

2. Is the camera magnetic connector on an outside charger any better weatherproofed than the magnetic head on an inside charger, please? I have ordered Wasserstein silicon skins for my Ultra cameras and will probably run some silicon self-fusing tape around the camera body and under the magnetic connector. This should ensure that the connector remains connected at all times and should help to further weatherproof the power connection.

[robmmartin]

Forum did not allow my 3rd question. (ie. Too verbose).

3. I understand from an Arlo Forum comment that the LED spotlights on the cameras are brighter when operating from a power pack. This makes sense. Are the camera sirens also louder, please, as they are ‘pathetic’ (understatement) on the battery packs?

Many thanks in advance for any comments and helpful feedback, please.

[TomMac · Accepted solution]

Not that Arlo may agree ( due to a number of reasons ) but IMO, if the brick section is inside the cable will not be an issue.

( it is low voltage too ).

Only thing I can think of is that every now and then you may have to remove crud buildup at the magnetic connector to allow good contact...

You can also go over the connection parts with some silicon type caulking to ensure better seal if needed.

As to the siren... it's not really loud ( but then I compare it to the older 4000 base units which were like smoke detector loud ) and prob not much to be done there

[robmmartin]

Many thanks, Tom, for your quick and helpful reply.

As the siren is an important function in my situation, I am going to mount 110 Db  external sirens on the building, along with additional LED floodlights and a blue flashing light that I can trigger remotely (locally or overseas) via a smart power board. When the cameras announce some visitors, I can fire off the sirens.

I already run 2 x 100 Watt LED floodlights all night, but the bastards just wait until there are no cars around before creating havoc. They did not get into my building (I have a full time 82 year old resident caretaker), but they did smash their way into his car in the fully fenced, locked carpark in an attempt to steal the car. Long story. They cut a large hole in my chainwire fence for access.

Australia has this wonderful policy of banning guns - which gets bragged about all around the world. Now New Zealand has followed suit. Don't get me started. We own a home in Texas USA and have suffered zero crime problems. Our Texas neighbors all have guns. Perhaps there is a message here ...