Camera Lens Cleaning

I have 3 FloodLight cameras. They all work flawlessly. My question: they are exposed to the elements and things get a bit dirty. Cleaning the lights are simple enough: soft terry cloth and water…maybe a mild detergent like Dawn or something. But what about the actual camera lens (that dome-like thing on the underside of the unit)? Would the same logic apply (soft cloth with water and a mild detergent)? I have looked everywhere and keying in ‘clean the lens’ reveals zero suggestions.

I would use one of those wipes that you would use on a pair of glasses, should be safe.

Yep, stick with lens or screen cleaners. Either for glasses/cameras or products for cleaning a computer screen. Soft cloth is logical of course, but could be a risk its not a soft as you think.

Glad to hear they are working flawlessly, that’s not everyone’s experience. Do you have your motion sensitivity to “people only” by any chance? If so, does that work at night for you?

Dude, alant89:

Actually, my name is also Alan.

Thank you for the return. I, like you, logically determined that either a micro-fiber cloth (right, again - some not so soft), or an eye-glass cleaner cloth/wipe (I used the Zeiss Lens Cleaning Wipe - available at any Walmart) should be, and was, used for this purpose. That seemed to do the trick as the unit was brought back on-line and is now working properly. As to my using the “people only” setting, all I can say is that before selecting this option, the cameras were picking up the movements of passing squirrels, the occasional stray dog and/or cat, and even a medium-sized white-tailed deer. After selecting “people only”: no false positives, none. I did, however, and immediately after bringing everything back on-line, discover that the notification tones chosen for each cam (different one for each) were not getting broadcast. I thought that I might have needed to delete-then-reinstall the RING app. No need. When we awoke the next morning, taking the dog out for his morning ablutions and using the front door as our exit path, lo-and-behold !!, the chimes started playing. As it so happens, the front door was used as this was being written: success. I think it’s safe to say that “all is well, again, in smallville”.

Having said all of this, I do wish that a cleaning procedure of some kind be included in the HELP section of the website. As well, in every User Guide that comes with each product…just a suggestion. Also, I think it should be mentioned that care MUST be taken when cleaning on or around these units (no matter interior or exterior). I have since discovered that the liquid sprayed on the dust stick was: Thyme Oil, Lemongrass Oil, Citronella, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate - all non-petroleum, but, the “oils” and Lauryl Sulfate and caught my attention. It was the “oils” that caused a blurr and left a film on the lens casing causing the unit to “see” something and then turn on the lights. And when the requisite 30 seconds had elapsed and the lights were automatically turned off, the unit, once again, noticed something on the lens and turned the lights back on. Fortunately, and in my case, all of my FloodLight Cams are independently controlled by their own internal light switch and can, separately, be turned on or off - which I did for this one - until such time as I could further investigate. That ‘oil’ was what I wiped off using the Zeiss wipe. I have notified the pest company of this and asked them to please tell all of their technicians of my request-to-not-disturb and to be aware when ‘dusting’ other client’s properties when a RING product is discovered.

Take Care,

alan