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Klscook

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Spotlight Cam Battery not charging with solar panel
solar-panel

I have solar panels connected to my spotlight cameras & I have had to change the battery twice this week already. Initially it was jus one of my spotlight cams bit now both cameras I had to change the battery & the solar panel is on toof top getting at least 12hrs of sun daily. What could be causing the battery drain? This never used to happen

99258

1

424

06-11-2019 01:12:39

Responses (44)

  • T

    I have had my spotlight cam (single battery) in place with the solar panel for about eight months. It worked great up until a few weeks ago. Now the battery never gets over a 4% charge. I thought it might be a dirty solar panel so I cleaned it but the device still does not charge. Any ideas on what it might be. Thank you

    13

    14-11-2019 07:35:46

      D

      I am having the same problem, hate having to un mount it to recharge it , I have two stickup, one with battery pack and the other is with the confined battery ! and I can't find the quick release mount! help please

      3

      14-11-2019 07:53:29

      T

      I'll pull the battery and charge it from the wall, check all connections, put the battery back in and report back. We get a ton of sunlight here in Central California. It's still 80 degrees around here. I am up to a big 5% battery charge today up from 3%-4% the pase few weeks. The camera keeps recording events, the battery just doesn't charge. I'll report back next week. thanks

      3

      15-11-2019 08:27:52

      J

      I am having the same issue. I added a solar panel to my Spotlight Cam Battery about a year ago. I have two batteries installed. The first one is always at 100% and the second battery never goes below 98%, and I get a lot of videos. Today, I am down to 76%. I removed the connector for the solar panel, and everything looks good and clean with the plug and the receptor. I replaced the connection, but I think it is still not charging the batteries. I am wondering if this is because of a firmware update to the camera, because, starting today, when I look at Device Health - right below the Left and Right Battery Level, there is now something I have never seen in the couple of years of owning this camera. There is a new entry that says: "Solar Panel Status" with a line below it that says, "Add a Ring solar panel to Extend Battery Life". Has anyone else every seen any mention of a Solar Panel, in their Device Health? Not happy that my solar panel stopped working around the same time that this additional line appeared, but it would be great if Ring is starting to give some indication of a Solar Panel Status.

      22

      04-12-2019 08:34:28

      T

      Less than a month after fully recharging the battery is down to 78%. Not sure what to do next.

      0

      27-12-2019 05:22:29

      T

      Mine stopped working in the last month as well. I thought the solar panel was defective so I had the seller on Amazon send me a new one and it still is not charging. Mine is a non Ring branded solar panel. What brand are you all using that are having issues? I wonder if they did an update that forces us to Ring solar panels only.

      0

      30-12-2019 03:27:46

  • K

    I’m having the same issue. I’ve spoken with Customer support and have been waiting almost a month for a replacement battery. Don’t know what good that’s going to do when it’s clearly an issue with the solar panel. I’ve disconnected and reconnected to no avail. I’ve had others look at it and the connections are good. RING what do you plan to do about this issue???‍♀️?

    7

    09-12-2019 01:13:09

      C

      I'm having issues also. I have 4 spotlight cams with solar. It seems once the temps get cold they won't charge. I'm located in MA. Just got out of a text chat with ring. Trying to find out what I should see in the Solar Panel Status area under Device Health. All I get on all 4 cams is "add a ring solar panel to extend battery life". I have a panel on each cam and it doesn't even know it. I'm guessing the firmware on my cams is not capable of reporting. My units are all about 1 year 3 months old. Starting to tick me off.

      4

      22-12-2019 08:00:32

      L

      Yeah that seems to be a new field for me and like you it says to connect a panel when one has already been connected.

      2

      22-12-2019 09:26:57

      J

      I’m having the same issue with my Two solar powered spotlight Cams. Issue came on suddenly end of November. I now have to charge batteries manually. App indicates solar panel is not connected. I’ve never had this issue before November of 2019. Chat with rep did not help, nor did camera resets, or app reinstall. This is silly.

      2

      28-12-2019 10:48:15

      M

      Same notice for me with the newest update. It used to say solar powered as my power source but now it’s recommending I purchase a solar panel even though both cams have panels connected.

      2

      31-12-2019 01:28:53

      S

      So how do you get the batteries charged using the solar panel?

      0

      03-01-2020 03:13:19

  • K

    I'm having the same issue. I have two solar pannels side-by-side one charging a spotlight cam (no issues) and one that's not charging the stick-up cam. Oddly, I saw the stick-up go down to 9%, then charged all the way to 100%, but then went down to 0% and won't recharge. Did anyone get a solution from Ring?

    1

    09-12-2019 08:50:33

    • C

      I've just about had it with this charging issue. My 4 spotlight cams always charged. Ever since the line SOLAR PANEL STATUS was added to Device Health on my phone the batteries will no longer charge like they use to. If I had one cam I'd be suspecting something with it or the panel but when 4 stop all at the same time something is rotten in Denmark. Could it be the phone software is screwed up and will no longer report properly? I know when the temps get well below 32°F charging becomes an issue. We were at 50° yesterday with full sun on the panel. It would not charge. There was one instance sometime back the battery was not fully charged. It was a warm day, sun out but no report of an improving charge level. Right before the end of the day the battery level went from 80% to 100% in an instant. That's weird. Yesterday I put in a different fully charged battery in a cam. From use it went to 99%. Right now it's above freezing and the panel is in full sun. The cam has not been used but it refuses to go to 100%. What the hell is going on? Ring seems more interested in pumping out a variety of new products than in taking care of existing customers. I spent an hour in a text chat the other day. The guy didn't have a clue what I was talking about when I mentioned the SOLAR PANEL STATUS field. I had to send him a screen shot. I had to delete the app from the phone, restart the phone and load the app again. It was the same software version. 5.21.0 I leave home for weeks at a time sometimes. I don't have anyone to come climb a ladder and change a battery. I'm a pretty patient person but this is really starting to grind my gears. I'm going to start visiting some sales sites and expressing my displeasure. There has not been one Ring rep chime in here. Ring, please fix your software and end this issue. If I wanted to be on a ladder changing batteries all the time I wouldn't have bought solar panels. One last point! You added the field to the software. Why? All it does is tell me to add a solar panel to extend battery life. It doesn't even know there is one there.

      21

      24-12-2019 04:31:08

        V

        Hi any update on your issue? My cameras have all stopped charging after a year ... suddenly batteries flat. Nothing has changed, weather is the same as this time last year ??‍♀️

        0

        23-06-2020 11:30:52

        J

        What good is a solar panel that isn't even recognized by the attached camera? Don't tell me to clean it or reconnect it - I wouldn't be writing this if I hadn't already tried that and everything else. This product is a failure. And why is this community forum just full of problems with no solutions? Where is the customer support?

        1

        24-10-2020 09:38:55

    • K

      Ring Support was able to help me. In my case it was as easy as reseting the camera and repeating the setup.

      2

      24-12-2019 06:56:26

        L

        So completely reset and remove the device and then go through the whole setup again? That seems really tedious as I have the camera tied into SmartThings, Alexa, etc., but if that is the only way...

        2

        26-12-2019 04:40:25

        C

        I just performed a hard reset. 35 seconds on the cam button then a regular push. Set it up all over again. Still nothing in Solar Panel Status. I wish I knew if there was suppose to be something there and if anyone else is seeing anything there.

        1

        26-12-2019 07:08:35

        J

        Removing and reading didn’t help mine. I had the same problem and was sent a replacement cam so it has just been adding and It’s still not charging and says add a solar panel when I already have one added

        1

        04-01-2020 10:09:40

        D

        Morning all. I’m having the same issue with my spotlight cam & solar panel set up. After speaking with an advisor this morning they said they were unaware of this thread and any issues surrounding the solar panels being detected by the camera. They had me up and down ladders to get to my camera to reset it and eventually told me it’s likely that the solar panel is broken and are sending me a replacement. Although I doubt this is the issue I thought I’d go along with it to just appease them. And when it doesn’t work I will contact them again. She did mention that according to their system my camera has 2 batteries in it- which it doesn’t. Clearly something wrong somewhere! ![5ECEDD02-CC5A-45FA-9B7B-59A7A5B3318D.jpg|1125x2436](upload://w2MH29d1c9161DzbBWttcCAixqM.jpeg)

        1

        05-01-2020 09:31:31

        C

        I have 4 spotlight cams with panels. They ALL started acting badly at the same time. Coincidence? I don't think so. Tech support was no help. I felt like I was training them not the other way around. I'm finding the cams will charge sporadicly as long as they have not been used to much. In settings, I've had to lower the frequency down to the lowest level. Here's the bottom line. For over a year, through all 4 seasons my 4 cams and solar panels worked great. This past fall all 4 began to charge poorly. What conclusion would any thinking person draw from that?

        5

        05-01-2020 12:07:58

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