Could cold temperatures affect night vision?

[NPorzelt]

Hi everyone, I have 4 Arlo cameras, 3 of them have been having problems with the night vision not working at night. The temperatures here have been extremely cold, with temperatures only about 10-15 F during the day and at night they dip to close to 0 or even below. This has been ongoing for a couple weeks.

I've tried removing the batteries, power cycling the cameras, removing them and resyncing them, etc. I was able to get two out of the 3 working today by simply taking out the batteries indoors for a few minutes and once I put them back in and tested it in a dark room the night vision worked. I put them back outside and once nightfall came I tried to do live view and the picture is black, no working night vision at all.

I spoke with an Arlo tech person today and they are RMAing the one camera that I couldn't get working again. My question is, being that the operating temperature says 15 degrees, could the fact that Temps have been below that for days and days affect the night vision from working? Thank you so much for any and all help. I'm desperate to get these working again. My one year warranty ends in about 2 weeks and luckily Temps are back near 40 on Monday and Tuesday so I plan on testing to see if the night vision works then.

[brh]

I am assuming that you are using the original Arlo HD cameras a s you mentioned that you removed the Batteries. If so the mminmum operating temperature is rated at 14°F (-10°C).

I am not sure what happens to the electronics inside the cameras when the temperature falls below that nor do I know how the cold weather affects the CR123 batteries. I hope that inside the cameras Arlo senses the temperature and battery status and shuts everything off inside to protect the electronics. Usually batteries recover when exposed to room temperature for a while.

So, my guess is that the cold weather is affecting the night vision and that the cameras should be ok once the weather warms up.

But, just for curiosity sake - do the cameras even try to record when the night vision is affected? And I am assuming you are not getting any email notifications from Arlo that the batteries are low?

Brian

[NPorzelt]

Brian, thanks for the reply. Yes I'm using the original Arlo wire free cameras, not the Pro model. The cameras had tried to take video two times in the middle of the night about a week ago but the recording was pitch black so I have no idea what triggered it. As for the batteries that's correct, although one of the cameras had about 25 percent life left so I replaced them. The night vision worked after when I tested it inside my bathroom if I remember right but by nightfall the night vision (after I put it back outside) didn't work anymore.

I use the Streamlight brand of the CR123's if it makes a difference

[brh]

I am thinking that it is just this cold snap that we are having. Do you have a porchlight or some bright light that you could shine on yourself standing outside while looking at the camera in live view?

From the outside can you see any red lights glowing on the front of the camera when it is on?

This may be a dumb question, but did you remember to arm the camera and do you have any schedules that may be causing it not to come on?

Try the live view outside and look for the red infrared detetion lights on the front of the camera as you move around outside and get back to me.

Brian

[NPorzelt]

I just tested it out and the red infrared lights light up as soon as I walk into its field of view on the two I have in the back yard. I got the phone Arlo app notification also that both cameras detected motion but the video is pitch black.

Sorry, forgot to mention that yeah the cameras are armed and theres no schedules any of the cameras are on.

[brh]

I know that I am asking a lot of what seem to be dumb questions, but I am trying to go through the process of elimination. It apperars that the cameras use some sort of IR filters. How they work I don't know, but a lot of people are hearing a clicking in their cameras, so I am wondering if it is mehanical in nature and the cold weather is affecting it. Some customers hear the clicking noise and there is no problem, others hear it and there is a night vision problem. Either way, clicking sound or no clicking sound, if the filter is mechanical it is possible that it is getting stuck due to the cold weather.

Ok, were you able to shine a light on yourself and see your self in the picture?

Are there street lamps or other lights causing a reflection that is messing up the camera's white balance? (I am going to assume that they were working before in that location and nothing changed, but what the heck - it is another variable).

What happens when you turn off the night vision in the app for these cameras?

Does the picture get better, especially if you are shining a light on yourself?

I'll save the rest of my questions till the next reply>

Brian

[steve_t]

The night vision setting only affects the operation of the IR illuminators.

The original Arlo HD wirefree cameras have a mechanical IR filter. You should be able to hear an audible click sound when it changes from light to dark. The easiest way to check is to hold the camera in daylight and then cover the lens with your hand or face it into your chest. You should hear the click. With the cold, I would not be surprised if the IR filter is stuck. Even without the cold, the filter can get stuck as is demonstrated by many threads around here about pink images during the day. Some people have found that if they mount the camera upside down and then go into the camera settings and Invert Image, the filter works more reliably.

The Arlo Pro and Arlo Pro 2 cameras do not have a mechanical IR filter