Lens cloudy

Having trouble with the lens on the doorbell. Have had it for over 2 years. Cloudy view.

5 Likes

Hey @Thefrees17. Can you show us what this looks like? If it seems to be condensation in the lens, try bringing it inside to see if the water evaporates.

1 Like

I purchased my Ring Doorbell Pro on a promotional upgrade. Shortly after the warranty ran out the lens began to craze which caused a foggy image. The lens is finally so crazed there is now no image - the device is unusable. The best Ring support would do is offer me a 35% discount off full price. This makes replacing it cost twice (2x) more than I paid for it. This is not a solution that values a long time customer and promoter.

Ring support through e-mail was simply unresponsive over the past year. Chat is not taking calls for support. I had to call and wait on the line 30 minutes.

They have no replacement parts to offer even though it would be very easy (and cheap) to replace the defective part.

They offer no repair service so I cannot send it in for them to fix it.

They do not recognize UV decay of their plastic a design flaw which it clearly is.

I was an early adopter of Ring and promoter, but this experience has left me wondering if my loyalty was misplaced. These products are too expensive to not offer any real support to correct a problem like this.

Is anyone else having a problem like this?

14 Likes

My lens actually peeled. I’m looking here for advice. Obviously I wll have to look into another brand to replace it with because I don’t want to invest in a new device and have the same thing happen!

4 Likes

I’m having the same issue, seems to be in the earlier stages of what your lens looks like as it’s not as bad. There is just some haze on the glass that’s over the lens that I cannot clean off no matter what I try. I haven’t tried contacting support yet, but this definitely is a major design flaw as the glass that covers the lens is not easily replaceable. It’s basically useless now to try to identify anyone at my door as images are very cloudy.

4 Likes

An update with my Video Doorbell Pro:

Support over the phone basically said the issue is expected deterioration of the “lens” over time (what!). I tried explaining that the issue is deterioration of the glass over the lens, but they said there’s nothing they can do about it other than offer me the same 35% off discount code.

I’m on the fence on whether or not I should buy another, as it would make installation much simpler, and when it works, I’m very happy with their product and cloud recording service.

Anyone know if they’ve improved their design and haven’t experienced this deterioration after several years?

5 Likes

What you see is exactly the problem I had. Within six months I had no image due to complete hazing.

This is a design issue and really should be taken care of. There is no excuse for designing a transparent window that will be exposed to UV without the proper material science applied. This is just lazy engineering.

Support offers a discount but I found the product being sold for less at BH Photo.

Consider posting a one star review on Amazon and the store where you bought it. Be truthful and detailed. Amazon is ruthless with sellers that get bad reviews and the sellers pay attention. (Or should because they can loose access to Amazon). Then expect to be contacted by the brand manager - you can negotiate a better deal.

It is a shame they will not acknowledge the design flaw and replace the unit at no charge. They won’t acknowledge it because that might lead to a recall. I guess they would rather loose loyal customers.

I paid $99 for my replacement which was still better the 35% offer. The 35% offer was insulting.

I am sure this post will be deleted so act fast.

7 Likes

I had the same thing happen but it started leaking off. I very carefully scraped the top layer off then used. Nevr-Dull magic wadding polish on it. Took the crazing off and polished it up nicely. Depending on how bad it is you may have to work on it a bit. But you have to get the top layer off first. Hope this helps.

Had the same thing happen. I gently pealed the rest off and ofcourse there was crazing underneath it. I used Nevr-Dull magic wadding polish on it and it cleaned it right up. Just be careful pealing the top layer off not to scratch anything. Then polish it up with the Nevr-Dull.

Finish pealing off the top layer gently and use Nevr-Dull magic wadding polish on it. I did and it cleaned it right up. You may have to do it a couple times to get it all cleaned but it worked for mine.

1 Like

Looks like you left the protective shipping film on there. If you take the cover off the doorbell, it should have a sticker there saying to remove protective film.

1 Like

The protective plastic was in fact removed.

The problem is Ring did not formulate the plastic with appropriate UV inhibitors.

3 Likes

Has ring seriously not replied to this forum post? I too have lense haze on my front doorbell camera (Pro version). I have 2 of these cameras and 3 chimes. I’m stunned that a company producing products for outdoor use wouldn’t think to UV treat the plastics covering the lense.

I have 4 FLIR cameras surrounding my house for the past 6 years and they are as good as new. One is located above the doorbell and has not seen any decay whatsoever.

Please, Ring. Do the right thing. In an era of environmental sustainability, more junkyard electronics are not what the world needs. Make your customers whole by either repairing or replacing these UV decayed lenses that are becoming useless. Fix your product design. Be a steward of the environment.

As of now, if I receive no response from Ring, there will be 5 of their products laying in the local dump, waiting to decompose over the next 1,000 years…

Shameful.

4 Likes

Hi there, neighbors! Our outdoor devices are rated for weather resistance. That being said, we advise avoiding any direct torrential or submerging water and extreme climate conditions. There are times when environmental factors such as temperature or moisture can impact an outdoor device. For a lens with water or condensation, we have seen other neighbors report success with using a solution like Rainx. Other solutions may be different brands of anti-fog, DIY covers, or even a different mounting location.Bringing your Ring device inside is also a great step to take.

If this concern persists, please give our support team a call at one of the numbers available here. If you are outside of the US, please visit here to see how to contact support. Feel free to also check out our warranty page, and this help center article about our Protect Plus features for coverage information.

1 Like

Moisture? Ha! I live in Calgary. The average humidity here year round is less than 20%. We basically live in a cold desert. The clouding of my lense Is 100% due to Ring not UV treating the plastic lense cover and nothing else.

Improve your product. As per other posts here, I’m not interested in replacing a perfectly good camera at a 35% discount only to have it decay in time and require another replacement in a few years.

Again, IMPROVE YOUR PRODUCT.

5 Likes

I think I have the same problem. All of a sudden the lens looks cloudy, I took it down dried it up, reset it and still the same thing - cloudy.

3 Likes

I am also having this problem! Ring should remedy this problem.

2 Likes

I have been looking for a solution to this issue for months. searching up and down the internet and on youtube. with no results until now. Thank you for posting

My solution was to bite the bullet and replace it with a Hello. Better video doorbell all round. Sorry Ring your customer support and solutions suck, buy more Ring products with a way too little discount…how about 75%. Then you might have my attentionbecause I already bought a Ring product that fell short of expectation given the $200+ I spent for it.

I moved my blurry Ring to my driveway as a motion detector so I know somebody is out there, otherwise it’s a useless POS.

1 Like

My ring pro view became cloudy after two years. The camera lens is fine, the problem is the external plastic face in front of the camera which does not seem to have UV protection so it become crazed and opaque.

My solution was to carefully use a small drill and drill a circular hole about about 1/2 inch diameter. Note I was carefull not drill deepeter that 1/8 inch in order not to damage the camera lens. I then glue a 1 inch by 1 inch piece of transparent uv plastic to cover the hole.

The view now is perfect.

2 Likes