Super Slow Charging Issue - Arlo Ultra (solved)

[jumpintoad13]

Hi all - posting this in case it can help anyone else.

I tried charging my Arlo ultras for the first time yesterday and they were charging EXTREMELY slowly (1% every 10-20 minutes plugged in, so after 6 hours we were only at about 20% (my other arlo products were always fully charged after a few hours). I called arlo support and spent the majority of a 1 hour phone call on hold while they asked me to do a variety of troubleshooting things. At the end of the call they sent me a new charger.

Being impatient, I decided to keep the charger plugged in, but when plugging it into a new outlet I reversed the plug so that it was right side up. Suddenly everything was charging quickly.

So if you think you have a bum charger or bum batteries, make sure you plug in the adapter so that NETGEAR is right side up. If it's upside down it will fit into the outlet but it won't work properly. Most of the time when appliances need to be oriented a certain way in the outlet, one of the prongs will be larger than the other so that there's literally no other way to plug it in but for whatever reason these chargers don't do that.

Hope that helps someone else out!

[JamesC]

jumpintoad13,

Thanks for sharing. I'm not sure that this specifically is a requirement but could be an indication of something odd going on with your wall outlet. Have you tried charging the same way in the new outlet to see if you get the same behavior?

JamesC

[jumpintoad13]

Yep - the same thing happened when the arlo ultra charger was plugged into a different outlet (upside down) and also went into a cafe to try it there as well. Same issue happened, but was remedied when the charger was plugged in right-side up. Meanwhile, no issues with plugging in other appliances upside down or right-side up in any of the outlets mentioned here. This is definitely an arlo-charger specific issue.

[JamesC]

jumpintoad13,

Interesting...I'll speak with engineering and see what I can find out. Thanks for the additional details.

JamesC

[jwoods]

Mine doesn’t appear to be charging at all. When I plugged it in it was 29%, and then it went to 30%. It has been plugged in all night and is still 30%. I even turned the camera off thinking that would help.

[JamesC]

jwoods,

When plugged in, does the charging symbol show up for the camera? Have you tried disconnecting and reconnecting the charger?

JamesC

[HazzMatt]

I have a related issue. I left one of my new Arlo cameras plugged in over night, and the blue fully charged light was on in the morning. However, when I unplugged it the battery charge level immediately dropped to 92%. I logged out and back in, removed and replaced the battery and still just 92%. Brand new battery and camera. How can this be?

[HazzMatt]

I neglected to say it was an Arlo Ultra - wanted to avoid any confusion.

[jguerdat]

Rebooting the base has solved this in the older systems.

[Expatian]

Just installed another camera and received error that charger was incompatible . Checking camera status for a hour showed no charging . Followed this tip to reverse charger and hey presto camera is now charging .

[jguerdat]

That's a hardware problem and may indicate a loose connection internally. I'd get it replaced so it works right and doesn't cause a potential fire hazard.

[carath86]

Thank you, I think flipping the charger around has solved my problem as well. 

Basically, because Arlo only included one charging cord, I have to get up on a ladder every other day and move the charger to the other camera (2 camera system). Two days ago I noticed that one camera wasn't charging hardly at all. I just flipped the charger around and it seems to be increasing the battery already! So thanks! Seems odd that we should have do that, but ok.

Also, if you're going to include only one charger at least make them available to purchase separately! I'm holding out until the outdoor chargers are released, but getting up on this ladder multiple times weekly is getting old!!

[jguerdat]

I would open a case with support to get a new charger. Flipping should not be needed and indicates a hardware issue to me.