Ring Security Cameras
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Klscook
Spotlight Cam Battery not charging with 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
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06-11-2019 13:12:39
Responses (44)
- T
One thing I have to say. Ring has certainly uped their security game to log onto this forum. Adding two factor authentication.One more corporate road block thrown at the little guy.1moreRobot is certainly correct, Ring is just allowing this to die down and would like everyone to move on or once spring/summer hits correct issue and claim it was winter.Wow, four months and Ring still has not even acknowledged that this could be a widespread issue. They are still blaming on cold, weather, dirt, etc.
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25-02-2020 14:25:33
THeck they don't even provide a change log.Ring when are you going to update us?
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25-02-2020 14:26:26
MWell, I complained when I had problems and so now I will note when I have solutions. I have had issues with the Spotlight Cam connected to a solar panel for months. I just could not get it to charge. It was not in an area of total direct sunlight for the entire day, but it was hit by sunlight for at least a few hours a day. Still, nothing. This week, we moved the solar panel by using extension cords we got from Amazon to move the solar panel to a location on a different side of the house that got direct sunlight for 4-5 hours a day at least. Well, today the charge went from 88 to 100 in a few hours (4-5). I am extremely happy and it seems my issues are over. My guess (and it is not based on any science) is that the Spotlight Cam for whatever reason requires more sunlight to charge them then the older Stickup cams. That's OK. As long as there is a way to get them to work I am elated. Hope that helps!
•1
26-02-2020 23:55:23
LSo as of today, everything is charged to 100%. All of a sudden, out of the blue. Today there wasn’t much sunlight at all either. Mostly a gloomy day in upstate NY. I would give Ring credit, but nothing was ever wrong in their end.... Anybody else having the same luck I am today?
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27-02-2020 01:34:35
THappy to hear that your panels are now charging. Just keep in mind, you can NOT use one day as a baseline. Several of us, myself included, thougth our panels were "fixed" because of a couple of charging days. Just to see them reverted back to not charging.Yesterday was a day with full sun about mid 50s, not one cloud in sky, at least six to seven hours of full sunlight on my panels. Still ALL four cams and doorbell lost at least 6% charge. While the A\*\*o cam and panel has remained at 100% for almost a week, after charging from 50% and only recieving indirect sunlight.
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27-02-2020 12:30:40
- 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 13:13:09
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CI'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.
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22-12-2019 20:00:32
JI’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 22:48:15
- 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 20:50:33
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- 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.
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24-12-2019 16:31:08
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JWhat 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 21:38:55
- 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 18:56:26
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JRemoving 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 22:09:40
DMorning 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!
•1
05-01-2020 09:31:31
CI 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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tedu
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
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14-11-2019 19:35:46
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