Arlo Ultra Solar Panels Stopped Charging?

[KwisatzHaderach]

I recently set up 4 new arlo ultra cameras, which are all working well. I've only had them a few weeks so far. 

I just added three arlo solar panels and at the time of set up, all three connected and showed the "charging" icon under the device display.  One of the three panels gets lots of sunlight, and it quickly charged the cam battery up from 50% to 100%. 

The other two are in locations without as much direct sunlight, but still plenty of afternoon sun. 

Initially these two panels connected no problems,  the charging icon showed up and they were working, but at some point

after that (i don't know exactly when), the panels stopped charging (the icon went from charging to

battery power). For one of these, I took off the camera, popped the battery in and out, then reconnected cable for the solar panel and the charging icon came back right away. but then again, at some point after that, the icon changed back from

charging to battery. the charge levels of these two cams are not fully charged, one is around 80% and the other is around 50%. Not sure whats going on with these cam/solar panels, but i need the solar panels to stay connected and charging. 

i can't keep getting up on a ladder to take the batteries in and out in order to the get the solar panel to charge. 

does anyone have any ideas on whats going on here?

[catemp]

Are those Arlo panels or aftermarket?

I have two cameras on AC power that about once a month I have to pull the battery to get the camera back charging. Of course they are aftermarket cables, so I’m curious if genuine accessories cause it too.

[jguerdat]

The one Ultra I have on an Arlo solar panel has worked fine since connecting. The other is battery-only so I have to recharge it. I've had a couple of instances where I have to wipe the connection on the cable and camera to get it to supply power. I wonder if you have a similar situation that is cleared  not so much by popping the battery out but by removing and reconnecting the cable. Try cleaning both parts of the connection and see if it remains connected over time.

[KwisatzHaderach]

So after watching my cameras for a few more days - It looks like the charging icon only shows when the solar panel is literally charging the battery. So on cloudy days or times of day without direct sunlight, the icon goes back to battery. That makes sense, but wasn’t clearly stated anywhere that I could find.

I’ve had these cams and solar panels only a few weeks so still learning.
Overall, I’m happy with them, but I e noticed some issues:

1- I really wish The Arlos had more access to data - the batteries are a good example - I’d like to see
what time of day the batteries charge, and for how long. Same for the battery itself - what’s the health, how many cycles has it used, etc.

2 - I wish I could selectively turn off notifications from certain cameras. It seems like the notifications are a global setting on the hub?

3- I’m a little shocked that arlo doesn’t offer MFA auth on its camera accounts. It makes me question how serious they are about security.

[jguerdat]

You can trun off notifications by editing your modes and rules. Since you want them sometime and not others, you'll need to use custom modes. Read the FAQ ere on how to create and modify them. All settings are in your mode and rules. Use the schedule to automate the switching.