Spotlight Cam Battery not charging with solar panel

We updated our iOS app as soon as the reports started coming in. Our battery continues to decline daily. We have had this up and running for several years and never had to manually charge the battery a single time until this whole debacle started. We had always stayed at or near 100% no matter the season. Whatever improvements others have seen in recent days, they have yet to come to our house.

Update

I guess I spoke too soon. This whole week has been nothing but sunny days without any clouds. Except for Monday. I have started to notice my devices are dropping in charge. They are now in their mid-80s, for a couple of days last week it seemed As though they were finally charging and my test device actually kept its charge to 100%.

This is definitely a firmware issue, but since no one knows and Ring will not tell us anything. I am assuming that with the app updates there is a possibility that the updates push firmware updates to the cameras.

I cant believe how slow RING are in fixes these issues, i am just glad i returned and refunded my spotlight cams and solar panels as soon as i did and replaced them with the wired versions!

RING initally told me that the panels and cameras were defective and replaced them and when the replacements also didnt charge with the solar panels they changed there tune and said that there was a firmware issue and assured me that the next lot of replacements will have the right firmware on them?? you know what i said no thanks give me my money back!

I am starting to think that these devices cant even update thier firmware themselves OTA, as why else would RING say that the 2nd lot of replacements will have the right firmware on them?

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ring we need developers and people with technical skills reading the thread not social media managers or marketing people please fix the issues, and more important stop wasting our time with responses that dont make any sense, do you thin we did not search the forums and tried everything already???

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@river2018 You hit the nail on the head…each of my devices say “Firmware up to date” yet still I am having so many issues…I work for IT and if we had this much issues from users For such a period of time…a lot of jobs would be replaced with ones that could ensure that whatever system/product works properly (no one says that all systems are perfect but this is ridiculous)

Ring needs to be more transparet on what firmware version our devices are on, not just “firmware up to date”

If I recall, EVERY Ring device that I have installed, has done a firmware update when setup. This update usually takes a few minutes and the device is not usable during the time. So the devices do have the ablity to update OTA, at least when first setup. Whether they continue to update once they are put into service is a question that we can’t answer due to not knowing what update they are on.

If I recall when I first bought into the Ring eco system, I want to say that the firmware version was listed on the device health. Now that Ring has dumbed down the app, we are missing important info.

Hi neighbors- please stop thinking this is a firmware issue as it has not been confirmed from the team it is. As mentioned, it could be due to weather (specifically colder temperatures), angle of device, multiple things, AND we have the team currently testing in a variaty of situations. I would kindly request your patience during this time.

I’d also like to remind the neighbors here that an APP update is different than a Firmware update. Some neighbors are confused saying version 5.13, 5.22, etc is Firmware, it is not. That is your App version.

Also, as the Community Manager of Ring, I assure you that popular topics are sent to the appropriate team members on a daily/weekly basis. Your comments are heard and I will continue to update you all with information as it becomes available, but please take into consideration the Community Guidelines. Harrassing the community team and these post will not help in these matters but know that we are here to help and ensure that we get answers for you. Your happiness and overall satisfaction with Ring is top priority for myself – we appreciate your patience while we work on this.

Jennifer (Community Manager) I am sorry if you think I am harassing the community but I believe for the monies that have been Invested into these devices we deserve to at least hear from an Expert about our concerns (no disrespect to you) it’s not just 1 or 2 people with issues and I think it’s only fair…I was actually glad to find this forum because when I contacted the Ring Customer Service was pretty clueless as to why The issue was occurring…which I never mentioned but if you see my posting and responding to other consumers that are experiencing similar issues as harassment then I do apologize

I have the same issue on a brand new spotlight cam and solar charger. Everything was setup and after a few hours of sunlight I don’t think its charging the battery.

You might want to check the version of your Ring software app. If it is version 3.21.1 then you should download and install the update to version 3.22.1. I was having the same problem with my new Spotlight Camera and solar panel. After downloading and installing the software app update, the battery in my new camera went from 82% to 87% in about an hour and is now at 90% and climbing. I am using a Samsung Galexy smartphone, which is Android of course. Maybe this also applies to Apple iOS users, but don’t know. Hope this helps.

My unit is charging correctly now.
I asked Ring to send me a replacement spot cam, replacement solar and new battery. One if them did the trick I think. Even with the gray winter day and a fairly chatty notification setting it hovers between 99-100%.

Virginiabeef - I have the lastest version on IOS - 5.22.4. Thanks for the suggestion.

Let me see how it works out for a few days.

Jennifer, if you are sending this to developers in a daily basis why it has not been resolved? or at least by now you should know what is the issue. it has been at least two months. our cameras are not charging and it was proven to you several times is not because positioning or weather

there is a problem and needs to be fixed and we need direct help from developers to troubleshoot the issue

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I have the original stick up cam and the past month it’s stopped charging from the Ring solar panel. Also I’ve noticed the solar panel charging option has disappeared from the App. Hope it’s sorted soon as the battery only lasts a few weeks from full charge.

Well if I send something to someone else and don’t hear back from them, what am I supposed to do? I guess keep sending them it… Can’t make someone answer you if they don’t want to right? Call the corporate office. That’s the top. This is a member to member community to help each other. Ring had people here to help. But customer service is the place to call. If they don’t help go higher up.

I don’t think anyone it trying to attack on a peprosnal level. We appreciate any news or information that we can get and appreciate your reports. But there is a logical conneciton, cause in fact, if oy will, that is hard to ignoore in this situation. I will use my situation as an example. My devices all charged fine with solar panels for a very long time - through warm and cold weather (I live in the deep south so not a lot of cold weather to be sure). Suddenlt, at the end of last year, with no equipment change, they all start losing the ability to hold a charge. It is not impossible, I suppose, but it is hard not to imagine that the common element is a firmware issue. Would love to be proven wrong, but without some real solution that fixes things without reference to firmware, that in my mind is not possible to do. Thanks.

I received this email today regarding my smoker grill that is WiFi connected.

The email explains what they plan to do, how long it will take, how it will affect customers and a work around.

Completely the opposite of how Ring has treated us.

I find it almost impossible to believe that Ring has absolutely no clue or suspicion that whatever they rolled out last year in Oct/Nov has something to do with all of our solar panel issues. This is the same company that wants us to take them seriously and trust our homes and safety to there alarm system. Come on, give me a break!

I would like to add my grill and grill app allows me to see what firmware update it currently is on.

Occam’s razor. How, starting in November/December, hundreds or more customers now affected, at the same time, despite living all over the country, suddenly impacted simultaneously by dirt, angle, temperature…or a firmware malfunction.

On a different note, the latest update made my router name go from black to red. Everything else seems to be the same, including saying my imaginary solar charger is connected, but red implies a problem. Why? I have gb internet connection with a very good signal RSSI -44. Anyone else seeing this?

@Jennifer_Ring wrote:

Hi neighbors- please stop thinking this is a firmware issue as it has not been confirmed from the team it is. As mentioned, it could be due to weather (specifically colder temperatures), angle of device, multiple things, AND we have the team currently testing in a variaty of situations. I would kindly request your patience during this time.

I’d also like to remind the neighbors here that an APP update is different than a Firmware update. Some neighbors are confused saying version 5.13, 5.22, etc is Firmware, it is not. That is your App version.

Also, as the Community Manager of Ring, I assure you that popular topics are sent to the appropriate team members on a daily/weekly basis. Your comments are heard and I will continue to update you all with information as it becomes available, but please take into consideration the Community Guidelines. Harrassing the community team and these post will not help in these matters but know that we are here to help and ensure that we get answers for you. Your happiness and overall satisfaction with Ring is top priority for myself – we appreciate your patience while we work on this.

I am sorry @Jennifer_Ring but i want to clarify something… as you have directed this to everyone i just want to point out that i did not think it was a firmware issue, i did not make it up… it was RING support team that put it in my head when they put me on hold and came back to me and said it was a firmware issue and its known with no timescale for a fix. Maybe RING itself needs to stop confusing nieghbours and just officially announce whats wrong and what they are going to do about it.

Not just this solar panel issue, but all the other issues - especially the motion zones/people/human only modes!

yes my wifi is now showing in red i change it the other day to a different one thinking i had a problem but no matter what setting the wifi notification is red