The Arlo battery design fail

[MartinBekkelund]

I've had my Arlos for more than a year now, and I've come to the conclution that the concept is great, but they have a huge design fail: the batteries. I'll explain why, and at the end there is a question.

First, the price of a single CR123A battery is about 6 USD here in Norway. Buying 12 every month will cost me 72 USD, which is not going to happen. Given the price, and since non-rechargeables are bad for the environment, I will use rechargeables. However, Netgear is not recommending rechargeables anymore, which leads us to my second point.

Second, when buying my Arlos, I read nothing about not using rechargeables, as stated in this document: https://www.netgear.com/images/pdf/Arlo_battery_flyer.pdf. The document is dated october 1st 2015. I bought mine early 2015. If I had known, I would not have bought the Arlos, since the non-rechargeable batteries is bad both for your wallet and for the environment. As far as I concern, this may be a reason for claiming my money back.

Third, a set of brand new batteries — both rechargeables and non-rechargeables — lasts surprisingly short, even if the cameras aren't used or detecting motion. My record is the batteries supplied with the Arlos, lasting about a month if I remember correct. I have two complete sets of different rechargeables: a 500 mAHr and a 350 mAHr. Some cameras complain about the batteries from the very moment I insert newly recharged batteries, some lasts for a couple of weeks. This leads to a state where I cannot trust my Arlos to watch my property 24/7/365.

Fourth, there is the environment in which the cameras and the batteries operate. For the motion detection to function, the cameras have to be mounted outdoors. My Arlos are monitoring our mountain cabin while we're not there. However, the Norwegian winter does no good for the batteries.

Given the situation, I have a question. Given the fact that I will not buy non-rechargeables, what seems to be the best possible solution? To claim my money back? To sell my Arlos? To buy yet another set of batteries, and if so, which ones?

I hope that this is not too much of a rant. As mentioned earlier, I like my Arlos and I'd like them to work, I'm just tired of charging batteries every time I visit our cabin.

Best regards,

Martin Koksrud Bekkelund

Norway

[TomMac]

Sorry to hear the cameras aren't working for you... And at $6 US it would be a hard fit the way you go thru batteries

( as I buy my cells here for about $1.25 US each and they run 4 months for normal use )

You can check the last page of this thread and it may help you a bit about rechargeables ;

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Arlo-Wire-Free-camera/Use-of-Rechargeable-Batteries-in-Arlo-Web-Cam...

But be aware also  that even the best rechargeables will on average run 50-60 days of spec useage

If appears to me you have a few options, 1) sell them or  2) use them or 3) install something better suited...AND last choice, 4) modify them.

There are a few threads where users have powered their cameras with ac to dc power transformers.  If it's done the warrenty is gone and it's on you but you'd only have to run the wires once and never use batteries again....maybe somthing to think about.

I know what I would do. 🙂

good luck

[trickytcamgeek]

There are many posts about how long the batteries should last, and what you can do to make them last longer, like reducing the sensitivity so they don't record birds or clouds.  You usage sounds very short compared to the spec.  I wonder if is related the temperature in Norway, or to the way you use them?

As for price, it is definitely prohibitive to buy this type of battery in most stores.  Online purchasing, preferably from a seller in your own country is the way to go.  I paid less than $3 for mine.

[MartinBekkelund]

Thank you for your replies, TomMac and trickytcamgeek.

I've read about the Nitecore batteries before, and they seem like a good choice. I might buy them, but I'd like to make sure that I don't buy yet another set of batteries which doesn't last. As for the power adapter hack, I don't think it's going to be my preferred solution.

For one of the cameras, the one that's mounted outside, I've already adjusted the sensitivity down. Yesterday, I put fresh batteries in them, and later the same day they reported 13 % charge when I got the usual email «It’s time to replace the batteries in...». This is obviously not related to the way I use my batteries, but it might be related to the capacity of the batteries.

Non-rechargeables bought online here in Norway cost from 6 USD and up. That's the price.

Overall, my point is still standing: a product that doesn't take recargeables and is picky about the quality, capacity or brand of batteries, is not very well designed, as it obviously causes problems for the customers.

Best regards,

Martin Koksrud Bekkelund

Norway

[TomMac]

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MartinBekkelund wrote:

Overall, my point is still standing: a product that doesn't take recargeables and is picky about the quality, capacity or brand of batteries, is not very well designed, as it obviously causes problems for the customers.

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The problem with above is yes, Quality vey important but really not  brand... there are 4 quality brands that basicly all run the same in the real world.

Capacity is the more the better in any rechargeable cell ( also the cells should be 3.7v li-ion cells some of the LiFePo4 cells just don't works well )

But the problem is you can't physically fit more chemistry in theat size battery to supply more than about 700mahr. This results in a battery capacity of less than half the OEM primary cell.

Most quality branded cells will be > 600mahr and < 750mahr . The other downside is even with the best rechargeable cells, there is an average usage of  about 60 days on rechargeables.

Temp may also be a condition to be aware of re the low volage warning... I have only run the OEM and rechargeables in the low temp of of about 0 f. I do know the primary cells start to have chem problems ( slows down process ) in the -20f range. 

I have also seen new cells read low but continue to run in the low temps.  ( on a side note, check the sw version on the cameras an older sw version had temp errors with battery readings, the new cameras are running 1.2.4941 or 1.2.5699(beta test ?) )

best

Tom

[MartinBekkelund]

Thanks again, TomMac!

One of my sets is a set of 3.0 V 350 mAhr batteries. The other is a set of 3.3 V 500 mAHr batteries. Both are LiFePo4.

I may live with an average use of 60 days between each charge cycle, possibly shorter during winter where temperatures normally reaches below 0°F in periods.

Regarding my batteries, I see that you've tested the Nitecore NL166 with 3.7 V 650 mAHr. As long as we're speaking rechargeables, would you say that these are the recommended ones? If not, what would you recommend?

Best regards

Martin Koksrud Bekkelund

Norway

[TomMac]

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MartinBekkelund wrote:

Regarding my batteries, I see that you've tested the Nitecore NL166 with 3.7 V 650 mAHr. As long as we're speaking rechargeables, would you say that these are the recommended ones? If not, what would you recommend?

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Yes, I've tested 3 brands but to me the overall winner have been the Nitecore 3.7v 650 mahr cells mated with a Nitecore D4 charger.

Are there ones slightly better rated, yes... but in real world running the extra 50mahr just means a few days or so.

Overall for me, they have runn thru 50 charges and maintain their original rating well enough so far.