Spotlight Cam Battery not charging with solar panel

I also have this solar panel status and have a panel installed and the app is not indicating that a solar panel is plugged in. I have tried everything even resetting the Spotlight battery camera, reconnect to WiFi, charged both batteries with AC power the. Installed them but still app not indicating the panel is detected or their? Anyone know why or have this issue?

I am the original poster of this thread and I live in SUNNY Miami. My panels are on the roof and its always sunny.

that’s a wonderful idea on my app i see a line that says if you connect a solar panel it will help you charger the battery but the panel is connected when i call them it seem that they know if it’s connect what is it a secret we need to see if it’s connect

i just got mine and they have had to change the solar panel and the camera but i have always had that line may be what your saying the problems are on there end

1 battery, it’s happend since I got the camera AND solar panel - I’ve never seen the panel charge my battery and it gets sun ALL afternoon in Northern California

ordered 10/17/19

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hi i uste got mind too it came in dec and i have been on the phone ever since with them . they changed the solar panel even when i tested it with a bolt meter and saw it was pumping out the 5 bolt that it give out they change the camera i just got that back and i am installing it today but i think it still will not charge i also had to install a 2nd bat to give myself more time but the problem is at their end and i told them if this does not fix the problem i want a refund maybe more of us should ask for a refund maybe they will do something about this problem

Ours started around Oct-Nov 2019, did not notice until Dec when cams and Doorbell 2 sent messages that the batteries were low on charge.

I live in a city in Texas that has 297 days of sunshine a year.

Worked fine the few months I have owned all batteries where kept at 100% or high 90%.

Although out of the refund period, I am in still in consumer warranty period. Unless corrected by month end of February 2020, I will be seeking a refund for entire Ring system. Four panels, two Doorbell Pros, one Doorbell 2, 4 Spotlight cams, 4 Stickup Cams, 4 Ring indoor Cams and various other Ring accessories. About 3000$ worth of at this point toys. I have spoken to American Express and have their backing on this.

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Yes…I noticed that when that new solar panel status alert on the app showed up…my batteries just get drained. I’ve done all that have mentioned in this string and still have to manually recharge both batteries twice per week. The whole point was to not have to climb a ladder…so disappointing and frustrating.

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Gallant_King, while waiting for a Ring fix (if Ring decides to believe us and fix the problem), you can cut down on your battery changes by disconnecting the solar panels. I have noticed the batteries drain quicker when they are connected.

Ring,

In mid December when I noticed my battery level getting low and I had go up a ladder and swap batteries, so it could have started in November/December. So far my battery last a month with out solar charge.

Hope a fix is coming soon because I have to go up a ladder and swap batteries again this weekend.

I am helping a friend who has this same issue. He actually has the super solar panel which is much more powerful than the regular one, and the same issue is occurring. Battery shows discharged even though solar panel is connected and putting out 5 volts. This started in last month or two.

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I am super annoyed by this. My camera is in a precarious spot that is very tricky to safely reach by ladder. Ring, are you willing to accept safety liability for borking all our devices and putting people at risk? If I fall off my ladder or my camera isn’t functioning when it needs to, I’m coming after ya.
FIX ?? WHAT ?? YOU ?? BROKE ??

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Checking my camera this morning, I noticed the battery level has increased. At the time of my original post it was at 35% (about a week back) and it is currently showing 81%.
Was there a firmware update released? Woudl be great if the app showed the version number instead of “Up to Date”

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Sounds like a class action lawsuit

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I believe that is going to happen as well. It is a shame as it is not the optimal solution for anyone except the lawyers (and I am a lawyer). I hope Ring solves this asap. These is no reason it should not be. It is apparent from the posts here and lesewhere that this is a screw up of biblical proportions. Please, Ring, fix this. If nothing else go back ot the pre-November firmware. But please do something.

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Yeah, just adding to the numbers for strength. I only today installed a Stick Up Cam Battery with a solar panel add-on. I’ve never seen any message in the applicable settings area besides the recommendation to add a solar panel. That seems a bit obtuse. I’d appreciate a little more A.I. for my money than an undetectable expensive component. I’ll be looking forward to an update and a resolution.

This issue of Spotlight Cams not being charged by solar panels has been going on for about three months. The responses from Ring are weak at best. From all indications the fix should be simple. As a senior software engineer who used to develop software for aircraft, cruise missiles and other aerospace systems and manufacturing robots, I have some amount of knowledge about real-time software design and implementation.

It appears to me that the Ring software development team does not use professional software development methods or engineering disciplines. Who knows where the software is actually being created or what engineering life cycle processes are being used? Rapid prototyping? Ukraine? China? Who knows? The resulting software release numbers are not shared with end users. There are no roll back options provided. Nothing is backward compatable. It appears to be a write code/toss it over the fence/and see what works approach. No published software test reports. No offer of Beta testing by users. No open source opportunities given to end users who are able to review the source code and offer insights into potential solutions. No information given about what software language(s) are used as the source code? In short, Ring sofware deveolpment appears to be a totally ad hoc process with little understanding of real softare engineering protocols, configuration management or design control.

Jamie sold Ring for $1B+ to Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and then rode off into the sunset on his new mountain bike. Good for Jamie. Of course one of the hardest things to manage in a new company is growth and because Ring is now a teeny tiny part of Amazon, the issues and concerns of customers are much less important than when the company was first started. Jeff Bezos most likely doesn’t know or even care about the fact that Ring products are becoming defective because the objective is to put more and more products into the pipeline. And, as more products and increased interactive complexity is introduced into the product offerings the frequency and severity of resulting problems will become worse. Bezos may not even know that Amazon owns Ring. It’s of little matter or importance to Bezos that products don’t work. Microsoft was very good at this game. In the end the increased number of defective product offerings will destroy the company and along the way a competitor may take over the market and Ring will be history. For Bezos it won’t matter because Ring is juat a little afterthought to his bottom line and the loss would most likely help him to continue not pay any federal income taxes.

So, this little episode of a software glitch involving Spotlight Cams and Solar Panels is just the tip of the iceburg. If the Ring software folks can’t fix this little problem, their future looks very dark.

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The only part you got wrong is Jamie didn’t just “ride off into the sunset”. He still appears on commercials from time to time.

I think you got it there ! Cheep solar panels that we overpaid for ! They pay people thousands of $ a year to figure this stuff out !!! Ring should step forward and fes-up !!! Waiting to see if anyone has a fix ! Might switch to different device altogether!!! I’m gonna try cleaning off panel and it’s connection to the light really good and see what happens I guess !!

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Now that you mention it I saw the same things you the same way you did !! I thought that maybe it was always there and I never saw it… I totally agree with you…