Arlo wireless battery use

[DMon707]

I installed this camera in May, 2016, and only check it while I am traveling to make sure there is sufficient water in my koi pond. The last time I checked before today was 44 days ago and the batteries were at 100%. Today I got a notice by email that my batteries were at 2%. It has rained recently and I suspected that water may have entered the battery compartment. When I checked the batteries, two were fully charged and two were kaput. The bad batteries were both on the lower part of the compartment, just in back of the lens. There was no sign of moisture in the compartment. Now that the two bad batteries have been removed, the power is back to 36% on just the two good batteries.

1. Does the camera draw power when I am not using it? If so would it just draw power from two batteries?

2.  Is the fact that both bad batteries were in the lower part of the compartment significant?

[TomMac]

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DMon707 wrote:

1. Does the camera draw power when I am not using it? If so would it just draw power from two batteries?

2.  Is the fact that both bad batteries were in the lower part of the compartment significant?

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1) if the camera is DISARMED, it does use power but very little... it should have no problem going 6 months if never used

Spec usage is <5 mins a day of record/viewing ...at spec use the batteries should go 4 months if not more. Most people seems to get at least 3 months.

2) Yes.. the camera uses both set of batteries ( will run on 1 set as you found ) in sort of a parallel formation but there is some circuitry that switches between the two set every now and then to equally discharge both sets.

So when you put in new batteries, it should reset the camera... keep an eye on the batteeries in the future,  If it happens again, then contact Netgear as the camera may have a problem ( all batteries should be about 2.75v -2.8v each when pulled out.).

[jguerdat]

Yes and yes. The camera has to stay in contact with the base even if not recording. That usage is very slight and should last many months.

The 2 dead and 2 full batteries seems to indicate that the full ones weren't installed properly or weren't making contact somehow. The batteries are wired in series-parallel so will run on two, switch to the other two, then back and forth, etc. to even out battery life. Obviously, if one set (the front) weren't being switched in, the rear batteries would be the only ones to drain and would have a short lifespan. It could be a bad camera but I'd bet on the battery installation first. Could just be a piece of something that prevents contact.

[jguerdat]

BTW, I use an inexpensive automatic water feed to keep my koi pond's level.

[DMon707]

And yet the front batteries are still installed exactly as before, tested at full power, and are running the camera as we speak at 37% charge. The back batteries went from full to 2% in 44 days.

[DMon707]

It may be that the camera only draws power from one set of two batteries as opposed to all four, or alternating, when the camera is not armed and not being used. The camera reset itself after I tested and reinstalled the two good batteries. My testing equipment isn't sophistocated enough to give me the voltage on the bad batteries, but they are both about third-way to the top and deep in the red.

[DMon707]

Not sure how a water feed works, but if my pond is leaking water from a clogged barrel filter, I want to know about it. Water is expensive here!

[TomMac]

The fact that you opened the camera and the camera was reset by doing so... so at this point you'll never know (yet ) if the camera is bad or bad contact on one set of cells. ( and, yes... the cell sets switch back and forth to drain evenly )

That's why i said to install 4 new batteries , make sure they are in properly and the camera working... If it happens again the same way, then you have more data that maybe the camera is off.

There was a report of the newer Arlo cams NOT touching the rechargeable cells properly, so just check if the contacts all look the same ( not  bent, etc ).