Battery Life

[2112]

Hi,

I've purchased an Arlo 4 camera set.  I've seen battery life reviews that are all over the map, from 1 week to 4 months.

Can I get a feel for what other's experiences are with battery life?

[jguerdat]

Rapidly depleting batteries implies either excessive recording/live viewing or weak WiFi signal between the camera and base.  There could be other issues, of course, such as wireless interference from anything else on the 2.4GHz band but these are the most likely culprits.  How much usage is the camera getting via recording or live viewing?  Remember that spec usage is 4 minutes/day for 4+ month battery life.  If that's normal, having the cameras struggle to maintain a connection zaps batteries badly.  Also, if it's only on certain cameras, try swapping them with other cameras that are working ok to see if the problem stays with the camera or the position.

[TomMac]

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tivoboy wrote:

It doesn't really seem like there IS a low power mode

 Having had the VUE system for years, with my usage profile (only when away on holidays and some days - set to motion and not sensing ANY motion) I used to replace batteries MAYBE once every 2-3 years.

Now, it's looking like having to replace batteries once every 4-6 months, so 3-4X WORSE as far as batter life goes.  

 snipped.

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I also had a Vue zone system... and  yes, the batteries lasted longer.

BUT, if you compare the two systems, the Arlo one is sooo much better... Quality video require power.

Also the spec life in Arlo is only 4-6 months which is what your getting.  Along those lines tho, some of my low use cameras are running 7 months on the OEM cells which is great.

[Mare57]

I have an Arlo camera and the battery only lasted for 1 month.   I do have the best quality video so I can see the person's face clear, so that is important.

Not very happy about the battery life.  I am thinking of changing to Scheduled on and off times to perhaps give the battery a longer life instead of having it run constantly.   But it's important to have the camera on at night and when at work even though I have a camera inside too. 

[jguerdat]

Again, it's all relative to the number of minutes of recording and LJ e viewing. The spec is 4 minutes per day to get 4-6 months of battery life. What's your usage?

[rhbowhunter]

That's just not good. I'm glad I returned it. Now I record 24 hours a day, 4 cameras and the whole system cost me 299.00 dollars. Yes I admit it sucked running the wires but that's over. You aren't going to catch anything running 4 minutes a day.

[rhbowhunter]

Oh and it's also 1080p recording, it's crystal clear.

[lrheard]

I purchased the system 7 months ago.  One camera has 8% of the battery life remaining.  The other two cameras have not triggered an email alert.

The cameras are active a minimum of 100 hours per week (60% of the time).  Unless I am out of town for the weekend.  Then the system is active 24/7 until I return.

The camera that triggered a low battery email monitors an area that other tenants walk through to get mail.  There are also some "tresspassers" that use the area for "a short cut".  The "short cut" traffic has greatly reduced since I installed the system.

The other two cameras monitor my front door.  The most frequent motion trigger lately are stray cats.

I hope that helps.

[paulmiller]

Sounds like the solution to battery life is not to use the camera.

[rhbowhunter]

That sounds about right.

[UVet]

So if I have it set to Motion On from 5-midnight it will only work during those hours unless I, for example, access the cameras via the app?

[rhbowhunter]

Yes

[AZDesertGal]

If I knew what I know now I would never have bought this camera.

When I purchased it I asked about the batteries and was told they take a normal battery which are cheap to buy. WRONG!!!!

First the batteries that came with it lasted 2 weeks. I was sent new ones which only lasted 3 weeks. I purchased rechargeable as I cannot afford to keep buying batteries. These lasted also on a few weeks. I bought new non rechargeables which lasted about 6 weeks.

This system is eating me up alive.

Everytime the batteries need changed mean my camera is down usually about 3-6 weeks. I am old lady and cannot go up on step ladder to change batteries. Not only that but I cannot open the battery cover door as it is very difficult to do. So I am stuck unti someone can get to my home to rescue me.

This is one of the worst purchases I have ever made in my life.

I hope to post this on many sites to warn people this is not a good value.

[jguerdat]

You do realize that a wired system, which wouldn't require batteries, would have a much more involved installation process with power and maybe Ethernet cables needing to be run, right?  I'm 66 with vertigo and don't want to run up and down ladders much either but have taken the time to properly position and aim the cameras for good battery life.  One size doesn't fit all but there's a lot of successful installations out there.  And a salesman's comments about batteries isn't a Netgear problem - it's a store problem.  Take it up with them.

Proper positioning and aiming involves having a good WiFi signal and a scene that isn't triggered by every car going by.  Aim the cameras so that only the area of interest is monitored.  Posting some screenshots of your camera scenes could be useful so we can maximize battery life with positioning suggestions.

[rhbowhunter]

I agree with the more complicated installation, but I did it and it wasn't that bad now I never have to worry about batteries. My batteries died way to fast with very few triggers. But it was winter if you live in a warm climate it might be better, if in a cold climate this system isn't good. The batteries are way too expensive to change every three weeks. I'm so happy with my wired system it records 24 hours a day 365 days a year, I miss nothing. Even if you can't install, it's worth paying someone. Oh and also it's free to record on my system forever.

[Korbel]

I reset my cameras last week to 100% sensititvity and 45 second recording, to try and lessen the starting lag time. It was 10-12 seconds and now it is 2-4 seconds.  The big negative is the battery life.  I put new batteries in each camera.  In 5 days the batteries are down to 48%.

[tivoboy]

Wha I really don't understand is the following:

The camera battery will show bad battery life, and then just stop working - with the green screen of death in the app and the camera won't function.

when I go to change batteries, I'll check the batteries and TWO of the 3V batteries will be at about 1v or less and TWO of the batteries will be completely full and at 2.95V or something like that.

WHY on earth wout only TWO of the FOUR batteries drain to the point of the cameras failing when the OTHER two of the four have near FULL capacity? Seems a stupid way to use the energy in the batteries if prolonging camera usage life while outside the house should be a priority.

and before anyone says maybe it's the camera, this is happening exactly the same with two of four cameras.

[TomMac]

First I'd check and make sur the SW version is the same on ALL 4 cameras...

As to the 3v cells, when new they read about 3.2 v.... when you get to about 2.8v they are almost completely depleted.

As to why 2 of the four cells are that much lower, have no idea... basically they are in parallel ( the 2 set ) but I do know there is some other circuitry involved , esp for the ir illumination.

[Schorschi]

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TomMac wrote:

As to why 2 of the four cells are that much lower, have no idea... basically they are in parallel ( the 2 set ) but I do know there is some other circuitry involved , esp for the ir illumination.

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Could it be possible that the two battery pairs feed separate circuits, one dedicated to the IR LEDs only? That could explain the uneven discharge state of the two battery pairs.

...since you wrote in another recent thread that an early beta camera only had two batteries, and was later expanded with a second set of batteries for the IR LEDs:

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TomMac wrote in Arlo battery meter not accurate:

Yes... there was an un-released DAY Arlo camera ( no IR lights )... that cam runs on 2 cells and actually works quite well with a 40w light in my 2 car garage ( since light is always on, this cam suits it perfectly ).  The extra pair of cells were added for the current drain of the IR illuminators.

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[TomMac]

....there is additional circuitry in there...they aren't 100% connected....haven't determined exactly what goes to where.

But you can run the camera 100% with two cells in the front slots or back two....so as stated they basically are in parallel 

[Howie411]

I've noticed when the batteries go bad only 1 out of the 4 is bad.  I've tested the batteries after pulling them out.   On my battery tested, 3 still show green (good) and 1 is usually red (low).

[TomMac]

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Howie411 wrote:

I've noticed when the batteries go bad only 1 out of the 4 is bad.  I've tested the batteries after pulling them out.   On my battery tested, 3 still show green (good) and 1 is usually red (low).

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Tho your not the first person to mention this ( unless it was u prior ) , that is odd.... for the last year plus, I've been checking my batteries when pulling ...  they are all about 2.75-2.8v +/-. This is the 5%left/ doa charge.

There is always one a slight bit higher but not good enough to use in an Arlo cam...talking 1/10 v ( so one might be 2.9v )...maybe good for a flashlight

Remeber the cells are 3.2v when new.

I would ask if able to check on a voltmeter.

[SGD]

Arlo cameras (and I have 10) don't run the batteries evenly. Buy a battery tester and only replace those that need doing so

[TomMac]

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SGD wrote:
Arlo cameras (and I have 10) don't run the batteries evenly. Buy a battery tester and only replace those that need doing so

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This is one thing I would recommend against.... Have personally seen batteries "leak" the chems due to having used batteries placed in with new.

The used battery CAN be forced into an opposite charge state and leakage can occur.

If thinking of doing it, at least save the 'good' used cells till you have 4, which then would all be in a similar condition.

[paulmiller]

Here's what I recently discovered about battery life.

I have a camera outdoors that is on maybe 8 to 9 hours a day. It's triggered several times daily, not a lot. I noticed the battery icon on my phone showing low battery. I went out and purchased new batteries in anticipation of replacing soon. I't been showing low for a few months now. One day I happen to notice the battery for that camera showing fully charged.I checked it a few days later thinking it have been a fluke. Still fully charged.

Could it be the second batter kicked in? I don't know.

[TomMac]

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paulmiller wrote:

Here's what I recently discovered about battery life.

I have a camera outdoors that is on maybe 8 to 9 hours a day. It's triggered several times daily, not a lot. I noticed the battery icon on my phone showing low battery. I went out and purchased new batteries in anticipation of replacing soon. I't been showing low for a few months now. One day I happen to notice the battery for that camera showing fully charged.I checked it a few days later thinking it have been a fluke. Still fully charged.

Could it be the second batter kicked in? I don't know.

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No... prob what you experienced is the recent SW update on the cameras...part of the update involved battery gauge ( serveral others have seen same )

Just keep an eye on it.