Battery issue already

[vwstu]

I just installed my Arlo system today and the process was extremely easy and up and running quickly. However I just received  a notice that my front camera has only 10% battery life left. Since they only have been installed  about 8 hours ago I am needless to say a bit disappointeed that they are failing. Any help or suggestions.

Thanks

[jguerdat]

Believe what you want but I can get that battery life out of rechargeables with roughly half the capacity of the non-rechargeables. Batteries will deplete more quickly with usage (recording and live viewing) as well as a result of interference, distance and obstacles.  Small differences in positioning of the cameras and/or base can have a major effect.  Some folks have said that simply rotating the base has made a difference.

[Csullivan]

I just purchased & set up the camera. Also have only 10% battery life, but my camera is located inside the home where temps are set at 70 degrees.
Recommendations?

[TomMac]

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Csullivan wrote:
I just purchased & set up the camera. Also have only 10% battery life, but my camera is located inside the home where temps are set at 70 degrees.
Recommendations?

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First thing I'd ask is how much are you recording?  The batteries do have a finite life and the system is not made to record 24/7. Spec use is 4 mins per day.

I generally get 4 months per sets with the indoor cameras.  First time users sometimes also have a low battery life from setup/learning curve ofthe system.

As a PS, maybe bad batteries.

[Csullivan]

The battery meter showed low battery the minute it was installed.

[TomMac]

If the battery showed low from the start, it's either the batteries or the unit... prob easiest is to change the batteries.

If you do and its still low, then the unit is somehow defective... return it or put in a trouble ticket.

[Csullivan]

Thank you!!! I appreciate the feedback. I'll install new batteries. Any recommendations on the best brand that works? Size?
Thank you again

[vwstu]

I found the Surefire brand has given me the longest life and service. The size is 123a. I found the best price on Amazon for a dozen.

[Csullivan]

Thank you!

[TomMac]

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Csullivan wrote:
Thank you!!! I appreciate the feedback. I'll install new batteries. Any recommendations on the best brand that works? Size?
Thank you again

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First you are talking about the OEM regular lithium type 123 batteries  ( like the ones that came with the unit ) ??

If so,  ( only a user ) I get mine from online at about $1.35 - 1.50 a piece from a bettery supply house ( much cheaper than other places ) called Battery Junction.

Search is your friend for the best price/shipping cost.     http://www.batteryjunction.com/batteries-size-cr123a.html

When you buy regular 123 type batteries, MAKE SURE you buy from a "known brand" of good quality ( as there are many junk battereies coming from china these days )

[vwstu]

Thanks for the info.I'll check them out next time I need batteries.

[Cp1775]

Same issue I changed the batteries 1 week ago and now they are dead. This camera is an I door one so temperature shouldn't be an issue. Any ideas!

[jguerdat]

Lots. How many minutes of recording has it done. How many minutes of live viewing have you done? Those, along with positioning which also uses live view, are the major battery eaters. If that's not the problem, poor connection between the camera and base will also drain batteries because the camera is constantly trying to overcome the weak signal or other wireless interference.

[vwstu]

I have my camera's set to record on motion for a 25 second span. I only occasionally use the live viewing option. They are postioned around the exterior of the house and I never have a connectivity problem. One other thing is I have my motion set around the 70% level so as to not trigger many false readings. Like I had said I have been getting able to getat least 4 months on my batteries and even more on one of them. Make sure all your updates are current also.

I can't tell you the total amount of recorded time I have incurred, but I know It alerts me every time there is a delivery or someone enters  the house. So it's a pretty fair amount.

[glennEboy]

Hi

I bought my system maybe 3 weeks ago - everything has been working seemingly perfectly up until today when i noticed two cameras had gone offline. yesterday they were fine - today offline.

When I inspected them and just happened to open and close the battery compartment they kicked back into life but then the system told me they were at 1% battery life!? They were both up with full power according to the system yesterday but today they'd lost 100% of it?? 1 camera was not even active i.e. was not on motion detection at all. The other was on motion detection but was in a zone that had had literally no people in there (inside my garage).  

I have two other cameras that sit out the front of the house that were set up at the same time and record all day long and they're still showing pretty much full battery life. 

The firmware on the cameras are all the same: 1.2.4941 and the hardware versions are the same.

I cannot understand how the battery indicator can show full power on day 1 and be gone the next day :(.

Disappointing after I just started to sing the praises of my new system to friends and family.

Any thoughts?

thks

Glenn

[JamesC]

glennEboy,

I will reach out to you in a  private message to further assist with this issue.

JamesC

[Bearscreek]

Unfortunately, I've had 2 cameras have their batteries go from showing almost full to close to zero basically overnight in the past 3 or 4 days.  These batteries had been in the cameras for a while, but they almost never record, and my camera that records quite a bit only ran out a couple of weeks ago, so I expected the other 2 cameras to last a long time after the "busy" camera.  I'd appreciate any advice available.

This is coincidentally at the same time that one of the cameras started the pink hue issue.

[vwstu]

Not sure what your settings are on for recording on motion and time of recording. That seems to be the two that will deterimine battery life the most. I set my motion at 70-% and record time at 25 seconds. My batteries have been lasting over 4months. The wasps and bees seem to like the cameras and that sets them off mostly.

Also if you view the live setting at all, make sure you click on library iconand then come back to them so it stops live viewing. Live view staying on will drain them pretty quick. Hope I gave you some good tips.

[glennEboy]

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vwstu wrote:

Also if you view the live setting at all, make sure you click on library iconand then come back to them so it stops live viewing. Live view staying on will drain them pretty quick. Hope I gave you some good tips.

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I literally just replied the the support team for my open ticket on this that I suspect the mobile app (android) may have somehow left the live streaming open which would explain why batteries drained from basically brand new to 2% over night.

I think the advice of making double sure any "live streaming" is actually stopped before you move on to other tasks is a very good one.

[Bearscreek]

My recording times are all set on only 10 seconds, and the 2 cameras that both drained from full to almost empty this week are almost never used.  One of them might record for 30 seconds every other day, and the other one maybe 10 seconds every other day.  I may view live for an average of 10 seconds every other day on those 2 cameras.  I'm very picky about stopping the live recording after I view it, although I know it's possible I could have forgotten.  I just find it odd that both cameras drained the same week.  My third camera, by the way, gets quite a bit more use, and the batteries lasted 4 months, to the day, almost as if the system had a timer for notifying me they were low instead of actually taking readings on them.

[JamesC]

Bearscreek,

How long did the 2 affected cameras go without having fresh batteries? Are you having any issues with these cameras now that the batteries have been replaced?

JamesC

[Bearscreek]

With one of the cameras, I changed the batteries as soon as I received the email about it, and it seems to be fine.  I'm just surprised that it had been showing (and should have been showing) almost full, but went to almost nothing within a day.  The second camera is one that suddenly started showing everything in pink and then about a day or 2 later did the same thing as the other one, went to almost no battery power, when it also should have been showing almost full.  Both of these cameras get very little use.  All 3 of my cameras had new batteries at the exact same time, and the 1 camera with tons of use just ran out a couple of weeks ago, so I expected the other 2 to last quite a while longer, since they are rarely used.

I'm sending the one that's showing pink images back for a replacement tomorrow.

[Arlo559]

I have the same issue but have 4 cameras. One camera the batteries already dead. Reported to CS and they said its my usage for thst camera. I have two cameras I use more and it's just the one that the batteries aren't working. Lady said to take out the batteries and put them back in, that didn't work and then she asked if the camera was the furthest from the base and I said no. These batteries as they proclaim to be great awesome batteries are not as they claim to be.

[JamesC]

Arlo559,

Batteries should last for 4-6 months with normal use: What is the battery life for NETGEAR Arlo wireless cameras and how can I extend their life?

It sounds like there could be an issue with the location of the one camera that is draining it's batteries faster. Consider swapping locations with a camera that is behaving normally and see if the issue follows the camera.

JamesC

[mmootrey]

We bought a three camera unit from Sams Club.  Paid around  $359.00.  It worked fine for a rather short time, then it was also reporting low batteries.  We bought new batteries for around $30.00 from Batteries Plus.  They would not even run the system!!!   Took back to Batteries Plus and all the 3 volt batteries were putting out 3.4 to 3.5 volts.  Should be good,,right?  Nope.  We contacted NetGear for support.    They were terrible.  After 2 phone calls and a hour on the phone, finally they agreed to just send a new set of batteries, and not a replacement set up, meaning cameras and modem.   We installed the new batteries,  Much to our surprise the cameras DID WORK.   Our excite ended quickly, after just a few days the low battery message appeared.   

Our concern here was we were leaving Florida,heading back to New Hampshire for 6 months.  We needed to get them working, and now that they failed, we have NO security cameras there.  What a waste of money and no support from NetGear.

[vwstu]

Hi,

 Sounds like like you definitely have some settings issues. My cameras have had the same batteries now for over 4 months without losing any power. Not knowing how you have you cameras set to record it's hard to tell exactly. But here is how mine are set up. First I have the "My Device" setting for recording at Optimized for best of both worlds, for recording quality and battery life.Under "The My Device tab" go to the edit mode and under rules pick each camera and edit them. I have my cameras set to record on motion, for 25 seconds, and at 75% sensitivity. you can play with those after a few days of use to see what works best for you. I have push notifications only sent to me, not emails as that got a little too much. 

Also if you click on a camera on the front screen to view live ,make sure you switch to library and then back to stop the live viewing. Live will kill a battery faster than anything. The batteries I use are called "Surefire" I got the first ones at Lowes but have found them cheaper on line.

Hope I have helped you. I really have found that these cameras are now working as I expected they would when I first bought them. Netgear has had many firmware updates also so make sure your are set to get them automatically. These forums also have been a great help though I have had many contacts with netgear and never had any big problem. So it was kind of hard to believe that you did, maybe that someone had a bad day!