Arlo Video Doorbell Second Generation trickle charge challenges (AVD4001)

[brett13ta]

#AVD4001 

Has anyone successfully had an Arlo Video Doorbell (2nd Gen) trickle charge from existing doorbell wiring?

I have confirmed that the doorbell wires have 20 VAC. The Arlo Video Doorbell is contacting the wiring, successfully ringing the doorbell chime when the call button is pressed. I'm on my second Arlo Video Doorbell device, and neither one is trickle charging. The video doorbell is in a low-activity area and only records video when activity is detected, typically once every three days.

I previously had a Skybell HD doorbell camera in the same location, which had no issues operating in a hard-wired configuration.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[StephenB]

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@brett13ta wrote:

I have confirmed that the doorbell wires have 20 VAC. The Arlo Video Doorbell is contacting the wiring, successfully ringing the doorbell chime when the call button is pressed. I'm on my second Arlo Video Doorbell device, and neither one is trickle charging.

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What is the charge level?  It won't trickle charge until the battery drops below a threshold - I don't recall what that threshold though.

[brett13ta]

Thanks - my understanding is that the trickle charge occurs between 65% - 80%.

In my experience, the battery charge goes from 100% to 0% without any increase from the trickle charge occurring. Even though the doorbell is not recording video, the battery runs out after a few days.

[jguerdat]

If the battery runs down that fast (a few days) I'd suspect the WiFi signal strength/quality. That could also explain why the trickle charging isn't keeping up. If you use a WiFi phone app to monitor signal strength when the phone is next to the doorbell, what do you see? Try taking the doorbell indoors for testing and see if the battery life improves.

[brett13ta]

Thanks - I performed a connection test using the mobile app. The connection strength is Strong.

[jguerdat]

Are there any other wireless devices that also use the 2.4GHz band nearby? The next step is to move the doorbell temporarily to see if that helps. Those other wireless devices are only one possible issue while house construction, etc. can also be a factor.