Batteries went from low-mid 80s to 3%

[omangulo]

This has now happened twice within two weeks, with two different outdoor cameras. I had two different cameras, approximately two weeks apart, go from a battery reading of approximately 83% to 3%, within a day. Both happened without any unusual incearse in alerts.  I have two others that are currently in low the 80s (battery life) but am expecting to the need to replace those batteries soon, too.  Why the false readings in battery life?  They have been in place for 8 months or so, and would've been ok had the batter meter shown a steady deacrease in battery life, but from one day to the next...

[manfredz]

I've had a couple of cases where battery indicator dropped big time ( but not as big a drop of yours).  Opened battery cover, reseated batteries ( careful not to push down) and high level returned.  Noticed this happened in cases where i've picked up cam and relocated it)

[jguerdat]

It's worth testing the batteries with a voltmeter, too, to see if the batteries are actually low.  OEM batteries are dead at about 2.75-2.8 volts.

[Watch_dog]

I have the same exact issue happens to my house and my parents house where we have 2 separate camera sets installed.  Cameras have been installed for 5-6 months now.  The battery was showing 50% and 57% respectively on both cameras in 2 separate locations yesterday.  However it went completely drained fown from 50% down to 1% in less than 1 day.  Therefore the battery indicator is not working properly and its not showing correct battery capacity... its faulty and false where it can't give a clean/clear indication on when battery will be giving out.  Both cameras & base stations have latest firmware.  This is disappointing because when we go on vacation we can't trust the batter indicator even its showing 50%+ and we don't know when battery will go out and run out of juice.  Will Arlo development team will have a fix for this?  can this be corrected it via firmware, software update? 

[jguerdat]

It's possible that something is interfering with the battery contacts. Remove them and test with a voltmeter to verify they're all relatively the same (small differences are expected). If they're good, replace them but don't push them down - let closing the battery door do the work.

[Watch_dog]

Yesterday, I have taken it down and removed battery and reinserted them by putting them in different slots.  But they still showing low battery as in 1%.  I don't have voltmeter at home so I can't measure them.  What I have done to resolve this is to buy a new set of 4 batteries and insert them in.  But I must say, the Arlo software battery meter/measurement is faulty regardless.  And this should get corrected or else people don't really know when the battery will go out.   And we all know that these batteries are not cheap and easy to find in all stores

[manfredz]

no i meant swapping the batteries between the two cams.

btw if they are available in your country, you might wasnt to order the certified Tenergy 3.7v gold coloured rechargeable batteries (and charger). Save money in the long run.

[jguerdat]

My battery indicators work fine. I can't vouch for their absolute accuracy but it's close enough. It may be that your camera is having a hard time staying connected to the base and/or you're recording and live viewing excessively.

You can buy very cheap voltmeters at a home improvement store and many other places. It might be a good investment of $10.

[Watch_dog]

I borrowed my friend's Fluke volt meter this morning to measure these 4 batteries and found 2 are 2.8v which is bad news, and 2 of them at 3v.. In addition,  I have also use separate battery meter to confirm also and it's stating the same thing.  Then this raise a separate question where why 4 battery didn't drain at the same rate, while only 2 are completely drain?  In addition, this still doesn't answer my question on why battery indicator doesn't show the actuate battery reading until when it's 1-2% left.  This means there is no reading or showing inaccurate reading from 2% to 50%...  note as I mentioned earlier this happens to 2 different house 2 different set of Arlo, one for my house and one for my parents which I purchased both set with 1 month apart.  The only thing is common is same model number and same firmware version.  From reading the forum it seems others have same problem too?  This must be bug in software

[manfredz]

This doesnt explain much but don't know if you're aware but the cam does not use all 4 batteries in series but 2x 2 batteries parallel, toggling between the pair currently in use.

[Watch_dog]

I know the batteries are not going to be drain equally across the entire 4 batteries due to contact and sequenial, but what worries me is the problem that it drain 50+% of batteries in 1 day and that seems to happen to lots people in last few days, perhaps its due to extreme hot weather but my camera is sitting on a nice and cool area where there is no direct sunlight.  This situation is crazy and difficult for people to prepare.  At anypoint, i couldn't never be sure when the battery will go out, and i always have to stock extra set of battery all the time.

This has to be address via software update or firmware update or else its difficult for people constant worry about when the battery will go out due to its bad and false battery indicator

[manfredz]

don't think its an extensive a roblem as you suggest ot there'd be lots more people complaining.

i'm a very heavy user (doing an average of 110 x 120 sec recordings across 4 cameras who still tracks usage fanatically and i can tell you almost to the day how long my batteries last with no unexplainable big jumps

[Freddy112178]

This has now happened numerous times within two weeks. The battery reading of approximately 100% fully charge, within a day. It has either decreased or died completely. The motion and audio are also set low so theres not as much motion happen. I have tried to resybce the battery and clean it but nothing works. Does the battery to the need to replace?. Why the false readings in battery . If replacemwnt is needed the. Where can those be ordered.

[jguerdat]

Weak connections with the base can be the issue.  Distance, walls, house construction, other 2.4GHz wireless devices nearby causing interference, etc. can all cause this. What are the WiFi indicators for the cameras showing? Have you tried moving the cameras closer to the base to monitor battery usage?  Do any cameras work fine?  If so, try swapping cameras around to see if the issue stays with the camera or the position.

Also, verify that your firmware is up to date by comparing what's installed with what's in the Release Notes section here.

[REB1149]

After buying a quality 123 battery tester i found out about the severe false reading problems also , and what's worst is the fact so many forums have been shut down to keep more from knowing the problem . I'm furious at the good batteries i've probably thrown away . Neatgear needs to get the issue fixed . Moral to the story , Buy a battery tester , and fuss ! 

[khallyman]

The battery meter in three of my four camras cannot be trusted. The meter goes down from almost full to a point that the cameras disconnect. The drop is so fast that there is not event time to send the customary email notification. When I open the battery door and close it again, the meter shows minimal charge and then the notification email is received. I have tried different regular battery brands as well as rechargeables. All cameras are running with the same and most current firmware release.

Unfortunately the wire-free benefit of the arlos comes with a low reliability price tag. I am now using cheaper wired back-up cameras. I have also disabled night-vision and gone into the inconvenienece of replacing batteries on the arlos on a weekly schedule, ignoring the battery charge readings. 

[jguerdat]

Rechargeables would reduce your overall battery cost. Monitoring actual battery voltages when changing batteries would give some clues and may lead to an understanding of when to change batteries rather than just changing them because.

However, figuring out what's going on is the real key. You've already invested a lot of time and money in these cameras. Take the time to troubleshoot. I would remove all devices in Settings, My Devices and start fresh. Use the Add Device button on the Devices tab and then sync the cameras. Make sure all firmware is up to date. Leave the cameras, or at least one at a time, near the base and monitor battery use and display. There's a reason for what's going on - you just haven't found it.

[jimye888]

I have same problem in one of camer. I replaced a brand new Battery four weeks ago and now it shows 6%. The battery gets low very quick. Any firmware update can resolve this issue?

[JamesC]

jimye888,

How much usage is the camera seeing that has the issue?

JamesC

[khallyman]

James:

I purchased this set a year or so ago.

I decided to switch to better technology as got tired of replacing batteries and resetting cameras every week. The system is not appropriate for users that travel for extended periods. When batteries die and there is no one home to replace them, security is compromised.

[Micolabn]

I spent about an hour on the phone today with Netgear, the parent company of Arlo.  Like many others, I have had battery problems.

I explained that it is not the camera as so many people are having the same problem with both new and old camera.

It is not the batteries as we all use different battieries.  That brand new quality batteries  go bad as well as older batteries.

I didnt think it was a router issue as we all use different routers [ Mine is a Netgear router]

He told me that the distance between the camera and the base station was not the problem

I told him it was not the weather as I had problems with both inside and outside cameras.

My guess was the latest firmware version as many of the problems seem to have started when the new firmware came out.

I learned that even when deactivated and turned off, the camera still "talk" freqently with the base station.

My quess was the firmware, Netgear thought it was the base station.   I told him I had reset and rebooted the base station, removed and then added the camera again without any success.  The person I spoke to said he was aware of numerous folks having problems.

I am going to try a new base station although I still think it is the firmware. 

GOOD LUCK to all.

Does "Ring" have inside versions?

[Micolabn]

One of my camera is within 3 feet of the base, with nothing between them.  Batteries still drainedvery quickly.    I hope this get solved.

[apples1]

My system does this constantly. Brand new batteries and the next day they all say 20% or less. That occurs even when it is scheduled off so it is not from constantly being set off or anything.  Our system is a couple years old now and it has been doing this most of it's life. They then remain on 20% for maybe a couple weeks before dropping furher. Very annoying and means you never know when you will get caught out with flat batteries . Have just purchased the recommended rechargable battery system so hoping this will work better

[khallyman]

Battery life has improved drastically since I updated the caeras' firmware to 1.2.21616. My batteries now last thre or foru weeks. Incidentally, one of the cameras rejected to update and had to be replaced.

The issue I continue to experiement is the random disconnection of cameras for unknown reasons. Unfortunately the only way I know to reconnect a camera requires that I have it physically in my hands.