Arlo Ultra camera overheated and then melted, is there a notification for overheating?

[michellecardina]

One of my cameras that is indoors overheated, the battery seems to have exploded and the case melted.  I had issues early on with this camera maintaining charge and I bought a new battery for it, though its possible that this was not an Arlo battery.  I cannot tell who makes the battery as the case is melted so I can't pop the battery out.  Is there a notification for an overheated camera?  I receive emails when a battery is low (I can't find where to configure this?), but not for this situation, and it would have been very useful as I could not locate the source of the smell, and it took another day before I checked my cameras in the app and saw that this camera had overheated.  It was sitting on a wooden mantle, so I was pretty lucky that all that happened was the case melted.  Thanks.

[Edinburgh_lad1]

I don't know where you live (in terms of countries) but here in the UK, the topic of batteries exploding has been very much on the agenda every day almost. It's always a good idea to use branded stuff (so Arlo batteries) and all I can say is that you're very lucky.

As you probably can guess: no chance of replacement since you used non-branded equipment, but let's hope this is a warning for you and others not to use cheap, non-branded, stuff, especially in relation to batteries, power banks, dodgy chargers etc. ever again. It's better to spend extra to have the peace of mind.

Sometimes one has to learn the hard way, unfortunately, which is your case, but let's also hope this is a lesson for life.  

PS I don't work for Arlo in case you think I'm trying to get you to buy their stuff. 

[michellecardina]

Point taken, not an answer to my question. And as i said, i am not sure it wasn’t an Arlo battery but i have no way to tell. I would just like a way to be notified that my camera is about to start a fire since the technology clearly knows that this is happening.

[JamesC · Accepted solution]

michellecardina,

Arlo cameras will indicate within the app if the environment is too hot or too cold for the camera to operate safely, and the battery will no longer be charged and the camera can no longer be streamed. This message isn't however sent as a push notification or email and is primarily designed as a mechanism to prevent the camera from charging the battery in unsafe conditions. These conditions may not be detectable when using third-party charging adapters/batteries (one of the main reasons we highly discourage using non-Arlo branded accessories).

JamesC

[michellecardina]

Thank you, this is helpful.

[websti]

Hi James,

I am receiving the message of a too hot device/environment in the app since about two weeks. Putting the Ultra camera inside our house or removing the battery does not help. In the meantime temperatures also normalized in my region, but the camera can no longer be reached, recharched or restarted. Any idea how this can be fixed? Sounds more like a software bug to me.

Stefan

[jguerdat]

Sounds more like a hardware issue. What happens when you first insert the battery - do you get a brief blue LED flash indicating power is connected? If you have another camera, swap batteries to see what happens. Make sure the battery is charged.

[websti]

Thanks for the hint jguerdat! When re-inserting the battery I briefly got a blue LED flash followed by orange flashes. When trying with another battery it worked properly again with only blue flashes when connecting. Will buy a new battery as it can no longer be recharged since the overheating.