2nd Gen Doorbell won't stop "detecting motion"

[TheProfessor1]

after 3 months of ownership and not too many issues over all - our  2nd gen doorbell is having motion detection issues. We noticed extremely high battery drain and having to take it off the mount to charge (note, NOT excessive recording video)... after troubleshooting, I noticed the yellow motion indicator on the device overview was nearly always on (but not always recording video).  Once it goes into power saving mode, it will take hundreds of snapshots (As if there is motion), and then finally go offline because the battery cannot keep up. This is even if it was pointed at the wall. I restarted the device, restarted base station, changed routines, deleted and re-added rules, and even factory reset and re-paired device. Still does it. I turned motion sensitivity down and reduced (and removed) motion zones. Sometimes going into Live View and back out temporarily removes the "yellow motion" indicator. I now have the sensitivity set to 1 and am trying do do more troubleshooting/monitoring, but starting to think I have some sort of hardware failure with the motion detector. Since it's Saturday and I have things to do, I figured I'd check the community before getting on a call with support. 

[StephenB]

Did you try

• removing the doorbell from the account
• doing the hardware paper-clip reset
• adding the doorbell back?

Instructions for the reset are here:

• https://kb.arlo.com/000062934/How-do-I-reset-my-Arlo-Essential-Video-Doorbell-Arlo-Secure-4-0

[TheProfessor1]

correct. I factory reset the device, removed it from my account, then re-added it. I was able to get the camera to last a little longer by reducing sensitivity under 20. however, even with increased sensitivity it's not *actually* recording. I've done some motion sensitivity tests and I am definitely starting to think the sensor is malfunctioning. Today I have to remove it from the base and re-charge it again to do any more testing.

[TheProfessor1]

After charging (AGAIN), I did more troubleshooting. I found testing was easier if I turned the action to Snapshot vs record, because it was actually taking dozens of snapshots, so it helped me know faster if the camera was malfunctioning. if I turn sensitivity to 1, it does not malfunction as much but is nearly useless. if i go over 15 it will just take snapshot after snapshot with no motion. Unless anyone has any ideas it seems like I will need to request a replacement very soon.

[TheProfessor1 · Accepted solution]

Update: Arlo customer service has been great.  We went through many troubleshooting steps and found/confirmed the device keeps trying to detect motion even when there is no motion, even on lowest sensitivity. We have processed an RMA for my device.