Pavoro and Wasserstein

[LandJS]

For others on here who purchased the Pavoro or Wasserstein outdoor chargers.  My Pavoros quit working after the Arlo update and the two new Wassersteins won't work.  Both give a flashing battery and actually discharge some.  Since Best Buy is still selling Wasserstein for use with the Ultras I contacted their support and was told they will only work if you don't update.  But they would give me a link to Arlo Chargers, NO your selling Wassersteins for this purpose at this moment.  I haven't heard back from Arlo so I also let Amazon know as they sell both plus others.  I'll leave out my thoughts on this practice but I think Apple just lost a court battle for this.

[Johnny290]

Sounds like the people at arlo working hard to make sure that third-party devices will not work.

[srandall25]

my Wasserstein chargers work fine with the latest update.

[LandJS]

Keep in mind I was only talking about the outdoor chargers and not other products.  Also I was told by Best Buy support they will only work until the update and My Pavoro worked flawlessly for 4 months until the update.  Absolutely no hardware changes.  Had Arlo been timely with accessories people wouldn't have had to buy third party and even now almost a year later they are very limited, not everyone needs 25ft. cables orthe inability to buy chargers alone instead of $50 X 6.

[jsturess]

Does Wasserstein outdoor power adapter still works for arlo ultra?

[srandall25]

I have two of these for my security lights that appear to no longer be working. I suspect that a recent firmware update has disabled them. If true this would be total bs on Arlos part. Also since I only purchased the aftermarket ones because Arlo didn’t make the length that I needed. I’ve also read other reports on Arlo firmware update disabling third party power adapters. Can anyone from Arlo co firm this to be true or false?

[Mjbeuke]

I’m not so sure it’s possible for Arlo to “disable” other branded power bricks and cables through firmware updates. If you look at these charging bricks from Arlo, and other brands - they may have all slightly different electrical variances..... in either the input voltage or amps or output voltage and amps.....

I’m personally using the Wasserstein 25’ outdoor cables on two of my Ultra cameras.... one of them I’m using the Wasserstein power brick - the other I’m using the Wasserstein cable plugged into an Arlo power brick..... they are both working 100% after all recent updates to both the Arlo SmartHub and the cameras themselves......

Now I will say this: I’ve noticed that the 2 Ultra cameras are very sensitive to electrical variances compared to the 5 Pro 2’s that I have. The first day I received my Ultras and the Wasserstein cables from Amazon - I plugged both cameras into the Wasserstein cables and Wasserstein power bricks to start charging them. Once they got to about 80% battery in the app - the would start flashing between charging and battery in the app.... like they would just be going back and forth. There’s people in this thread saying that and people all over this forum referencing that issue. I found out that if I used the power cable and brick that came with the Ultra and charge it - not only would it not flash between the two - but it will charge to 100%..... once it hits 100% - you can switch back to the Wasserstein cables and it will keep your cameras at 100% from then forward.

I think it has something to do with small electrical variances in these power bricks - and also the 25’ nature of the cord (that cord has to carry the same electrical signal 25’ as opposed to the 4’ cable it came with).

It’s definitely very finicky with the Ultras. I’ve also used an Arlo charging brick and seen the same thing happen.....

I will still see a random ass time where the ultras will drop 1% down to 99% and exhibit this behavior for a few minutes and go back to normal....

No rhyme or reason but I thought I’d share just to simply say I don’t think there’s any one cause - and so do think it can happen with Arlo brand chargers also.

[Johnny290]

Good information thank you

[LandJS]

My Povoro bricks worked fine for 4 months with 25 ft, cables and quit the first day after the update and two Wasserstein bricks that came a day later refused to work.  Plug in the Arlo brick that is rated the same and it works hmmmm.  I did say something to Amazon, Povoro and Wasserstein.  Amazon just set up a communication with Wasserstein who then contacted me 2 days ago and their team is looking into it.  That and Best Buy support told me they wouldn't work after the update.  That being said, I did get a Povoro to work yesterday.  Bottom line, if it wasn't for lack of Arlo accessories  a year after roll out there might not be an issue.  That is on Arlo

[Mjbeuke]

Yea I think there is definitely a higher chance of having issues with off brand cables and chargers - and it’s kind of a PIA sometimes. However, you can do what I said and use the 4ft cable and brick the Arlo’s came with - charge them up to 100% with those (use an extension cord if needed) - and once 100% swap back to the offbrand. Chances are it will keep it at 100% from then on - barring some extenuating circumstances and being on battery/draining and having to do that again down the road. I haven’t had to do that since installing mine - but YMMV this is just what’s worked for me. I guess I got lucky and was not impacted by the update that botched your bricks/cables. Hopefully it works out!

[Mjbeuke]

So I did a complete system reset over the weekend to incorporate an older vmb4000 base station back into my roster of Arlo devices to test if they’d fixed the base station freezing issue (and it appears they have)....

Anyways amidst the full reset and adding all devices and a cameras back to my Arlo SmartHub, Base Station, and Arlo account only general - I believe I had a good observation relating to the charging cables/power bricks that I thought I’d share.

My Arlo Ultra on the back deck has not had any issues being on the Wasserstein power brick and 25’ cable - until I removed it to add it back to my system. When I plugged it back in it was showing the issue where it flashes between charging and not charging and stays at 99% never reaching 100% charge.....

I did what I said before and used an extension cord and the original Arlo power brick and 3’ cable the system came with.... charged it to 100%..... only this time when I switched it back to the 25’ outdoor Wasserstein cable it kept doing the charging issue and going back to 99%..... I tried about 15 different QC bricks I have around the house - Arlo branded bricks, Wasserstein it came with, and also Samsung smartphone chargers (also use QC capability)..... they all charged the camera but exhibited the charging on and off flashing.....

In a head scratching moment I noticed when looking at the front of my camera this particular cord had a tiny razor thin gap between the front lip of the camera and the magnetic cable - almost as if it wasn’t seating correctly.....

I finagled with it a bit and viola - it charged to 100% and has stayed there since.

I then pulled off the Wasserstein cable and looked at the electrical diodes that protrude up out of the charger and compared then with the underside of the Arlo branded charger..... the Arlo branded charger appears to protrude out just a tiny bit higher than the offbrand....

I’m thinking that the offbrand unit cables you just need to be 100% sure the diodes are seating correctly on the camera. I also observed that the magnetic pull on the offbrand cables is much less strong than that of the Arlo brand cable. Once I made sure the offbrand cable was seated properly, I fired it up with the Wasserstein brick and cable and it’s now charging fine....

Ultimately I used a small clear piece of tape and taped the charger flush on the camera base to be sure it doesn’t come disconnected.

I’ll report back if I notice any further issues - as if it is indeed the cable head being the issue as I suspect then it shouldn’t happen again being taped to the unit. If It does I’ll report back, but for now those of you having issues may check to be sure the cable is seating correctly with your offbrand cable.

[LandJS]

thanks for adding your observations and these are certainly something everyone should check.  It doesn't answer though how bricks and cables that worked for 4 months suddenly quit and without touching anything else, just replacing the brick with an arlo works.  As I mentioned though one Pavoro did work the other day just plugging in the brick to a cable in place so not sure what to think about it.  Getting close to time to charge 3 more so will watch both the Pavoro and Wasserstein later this week.  I ran my cables to keep from climbing ladders but just plug in for charging.  Old school I guess where it was best to discharge the battery and recharge, I see some still recommend it for cell phones for battery life.  If anyone still keeps one phone that long any more lol