No Charge with Ring Power Adapter Cable and a Ring Battery Cam

I placed a Ring Stick up Cam in my mother’s house to keep tabs on her as she had been sick. I put the battery in and attached a Ring power adapter cable to it and plugged it into to a power strip. From day one, that camera never charged. After a few weeks, thinking the camera was faulty, I replaced it with a Battery Spotlight cam and two batteries. I bought a new Power Adapter Cable that screws into the back of the unit. Again, I am seeing no signs of charging. One battery is down to 88% and the other is 100%. I don’t have any problems with the six outdoor Battery Cams that are using solar panels. Except for one time, whenever one battery runs down to around 27%, the camera won’t allow live view. It doesn’t switch to the other battery either. This last time it did switch, but that battery eventually ran down too. I have to keep going to her house to put in new batteries. I don’t mind doing that for the doorbell, but why doesn’t the one attached to A/C power charge? It’s the newest camera. I bought this year. I don’t allow the lights to come on as as that would be annoying at night and it isn’t set to register motion. All it is supposed to do is just give me live views on demand. The power source for the camera in Device Health reads Battery. There is nothing to indicate charging. The signal strength is good and it’s online. I can’t use a solar panel in the house. I even changed the power strip and I’m still seeing the slow bleed of power. I’m beginning to think Rings Power Adapters are a waste of time. What’s wrong with this thing and what else could I possibly check?

Hi @LadyMai. Since you’ve had the same concern with different Ring devices, it may be best if you reach out to our support team directly. They can take a deeper look and offer more advanced troubleshooting help in order to find a resolution. Please give our support team a call at one of the numbers available here. We’re taking additional steps to protect our team and help reduce the spread of COVID-19, so this has resulted in longer than normal wait times. If you are outside of the US, please read our response to COVID-19 here to see how to contact support. Feel free to report back on what solution our support team recommends, as it may help other neighbors with similar concerns! :slight_smile:

I was considering getting a power adapter cable for my gen. 3 stickup cam because the solar panel is proving to be ineffective at re-charging the batteries. The question I have is if changing to the power adapter, do you set the device (cam) to “battery” mode or “wired” mode?

Hi @Tex78745. For that question, you’ll want to reference our Help Center Article here, which goes over how to change the power modes on your 3rd generation Stick Up Camera. By selecting Wired mode, you will get a more powerful (but more power-intensive) method of motion detection that would quickly drain a battery. Choosing the correct power mode for how your Camera is powered will provide the most optimal motion detection. I hope that helps! :slight_smile:

1 Like

Thank you for answering. Those instruction might have worked I was still using a stick up cam. As I believed it wasn’t working, I replaced it with a Battery Cam and passed the stick up cam to someone else. From what I’m reading elsewhere. It is hit or miss trying to use a power adapter. Most of us will still end up having to change the batteries anyway. I don’t see any difference in a constant tickle charge from a solar panel and a tickle charge from an A/C adapter. Ring gave us a way to look up past events easier. I don’t see why they can’t help us here too. Update the software to include an external charging source other than a solar panel.

So Caitlyn…"By selecting Wired mode, you will get a more powerful (but more power-intensive) method of motion detection that would quickly drain a battery. By choosing the correct power mode, you can optimize your camera for the best motion detection for your situation."

So do I assume from the above statement that either mode (battery OR wired) can be set using a POWER ADAPTER? (yes, I know wired mode increases battery drain)… AND, is the “trickle charge” from the power adapter more able to (re)charge the battery more than the feable solar panel? (let’s assume, in the latter case, we’re in battery mode). Because, at this point, I’m a little reluctant to try another charging source after the experience with the solar panel. (and the response/comment above mine gives me further pause!)

@Tex78745 Having a power adapter plugged into the Stick Up Cam will provide it with continuous power, while the solar panel will provide a trickle charge. If with a power adapter for the Stick Up Cam you experience battery drainage, please contact support as this should not be the expected performance. You can give our support team a call at one of the numbers available here. We’re taking additional steps to protect our team and help reduce the spread of COVID-19, so this has resulted in longer than normal wait times. If you are outside of the US, please read our response to COVID-19 here to see how to contact support.

I’ve given up on the stick up Cam and I’ve given up on using the Battery Spotlight Cam with a power adapter. I’ve got Battery Cams and solar panels set up at two houses. Going on the 2nd year now and all of them work beautifully. I don’t have the energy to deal with it anymore. I’m purchasing a wired Spotlight Cam. If it doesn’t charge right out of the box I’ll consider a different line of cameras for indoors.