Spotlight Cam Battery not charging with solar panel

I’m beyond upset with this garbage called Ring. Due to bad weather, I went two days without my spotlight working - had to climb up and pull both batteries to charge. Prior to that, the solar panel WAS working allowing me to see videos just not live. Climbed back up and put the batteries in and one went to 96% and clearly was charged back by the solar panel (on an overcast day) Now, two sunny days later that same battery is sitting at 96%. Honestly, I should have just spent $2k to get a professionally installed and wired security type cam system for my house. My Ring and Spotlight are just toys now and not reliable for any kind of “home security” the way they false advertise. My amazon cams work 100% better.

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Sign me up too. My panels charged my Stickup cams great until about a month ago I thought it was the lack of bright sunlight but noticed the same connect solar panel ad and thought the panels had gone bad. Glad I found this thread before I spent too much time troubleshooting.

Ring get your act together. Paying customers shouldn’t have to beta test on products and apps that have been out for two plus years! WTF.

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Mine stopped working too after snow. No options to restart itself?

Ring customers: contact Help at Ring Com to report this issue.

Help@ring.com

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Is it possible that one must pay a subscription in order for the Ring Solar Panel to work? Our panels quit working right after three months.

JustJoe,
Did Ring Help help you?

Has it helped?

I pay $100 a year and they don’t work.

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I was able to get mine charging again by removing the device and re-adding it. The app still suggests that I add a solar panel to extend battery life, but the batteries are recharding. I removed the device from the network, recharged the batteries, reinserted them, then added the camera back to the network. It’s continued to charge for a couple days now.

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Reposting for those not reading all the pages

**For iOS users seeing “add a ring solar panel to extend battery life” read below.

I called CS… the person I talked to asked someone else about the “add a ring solar panel to extend battery life” statement . Developers told him that it’s on the IOs app only (not on Android) and that it’s there for everyone regardless of if they have a solar panel attached or not. It’s basically an ad. It’s not an indicator of if the solar panel is connected or not. They now know it’s causing confusion for customers that have solar panels attached.

Thank you Beth.

Even if we ignore the ad, the solar panels seem to no longer charge our cams. Not too sure what we can do to have our panels start charging again. Not sure why Ring would break this for us all. Sort of a slap in the face for those of us that bought panels, especially those that bought Ring cams because of the availablity of the panels.

The confusion I can live with. The cams needing to have their battieries charged I can’t. One cam is a big enough hassle to keep charged, but when you have several that need battery changes and charges at different times. It becomes a real hassle. Really disappointed that Ring broke my panels and cams with a poorly written app/firmware update.

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I tried the removing and re-adding as mentioned a couple of threads up. And the cam said it was updating firmware although in device health it showed as up to date. Regardless, still decreasing charge rate here in sunny AZ.

Ring – any comments?

What a disappointment that Ring is not weighing in here.

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***Try this ***

The Spotlight Cams DO charge with the solar panels BUT they don’t indicate they are charging until MANY hours later.

  1. Plug in panel
  2. Take note of battery power
  3. Allow 4-5 hours
  4. Recheck battery power level

Ring needs to fix this but they DO charge.

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Wait there is a new Super Solar panel put now? That probably is why. Jus like when new Iphns/Galaxy come out ur current one mysteriously doesnt work

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Negative. They “did” charge before the latest upgrade for many of us. That is what this entire thread is about, so many of us are not getting a full solar assisted charge or getting a very small one even with 100% all day Sunshine. I appreciate your suggestion. We all hope they are working on this behind the scenes to correct it.

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Agreed MinionJeep. My cams after putting fully charged batteries in yesterday lost 4% each and gained 1% all day today, full sunlight.

Before update, charging wasn’t even a question. They would be pegged at 100% every day. Now it looks like the panels are only slowing the need to manually recharge the batteries by only 25%. Completely not what I had in mind when purchased four months ago.

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Klscook, although it is hard not to agree with your point. The super panel was around when I first bought my regular panels. I felt paying double the price for the super was unnecessary since where I live we get 300+ days of full sunshine.

Hopefully Ring has not decided to throttle the charge rate of the regular panels to make the super panels appear to be more effective.

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Ring needs to address this directly and quickly. We have been loyal Ring device customers for years. The devices are not cheap. From the posts here this is not a brand new issue and has been around at least long enough to merit an honest response. When I had the issue with a brand new cam and panel I bought directly from Ring last week, the advice from Ring was to wipe the panel and wait a few days. WIPE THE PANEL? A brand new clean solar panel? Needless to say that was a pointless exercise. This needs to be fixed. It started out as an annoyance. It has moved into a problem. The next step will be more problematic.

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We take your feedback very seriously, neighbors, and appreciate you all taking the time to share your experience. As there are only a few troubleshooting steps that can be done with the solar panel, it’s important to also consider device and environmental variables.

If your concern comes from seeing “add a solar panel” in the Ring app device health on IOS, this is not an indicator of your Solar Panel failing to charge. This is merely advertising the Solar Panel as a helpful tip to neighbors with battery-powered devices.

For those who are noticing battery draining with a Solar Panel connected, do keep in mind, as seasons change and cold weather is more consistent, the charge life of a battery can differ. Check out our Community post about battery draining for tips and tricks on optimizing battery performance.

The best steps for troubleshooting your Solar Panel are as follows:

  • Clean panel to remove any dirt, dust, or debris.
  • Check the adapter is securely plugged into the device.
  • Ensure there is no debris or damage to the adapter or port area.
  • In most locations, winter means overcast. Please ensure your Solar Panel is receiving several hours of direct sunlight per day.

Of course, if these steps do not resolve your concerns, it would be best to reach out to our support team, at 800-656-1918, for more in-depth troubleshooting.

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