topic Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature in Cameras and Doorbells

Device offline because of extreme temperature

Paul38_1984 — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 21:59:01 GMT

Unfortunately I live in cold climate and it my Nest Cam with floodlight (wired) is showing offline because of extreme temperature.

My question is will the device come back online by itself once the temperature improves or will I need to reset in manually?

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

James11 — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 22:58:31 GMT

Yes it will come back online. I bought one last year and went through a winter with it. When the temp dropped it went offline and it came back everytime. Depending on the temp you will just have to be patient, unfortunately.

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

MplsCustomer — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 23:16:22 GMT

@Paul38_1984

We have what is basically the same camera, the Google Nest Camera (Battery) (plugged in) and it remained online during the last Minnesota winter at temperatures down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit.

The operating temperature for both cameras is: -4°F to 104°F (-20°C to 40°C)

Ours is helped slightly because it's mounted on the house and under a camera shade.

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

Paul38_1984 — Wed, 07 Dec 2022 23:27:07 GMT

Living in Winnipeg Canada and it was -25F last night

Here's hoping it doesn't happen to often

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

Craig_wpg — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 02:04:15 GMT

Same. Is there a way to bypass this battery backup during our long cold winters? Is there a thermal blanket we can wrap around to keep the camera operating? At least the floodlight continues to work.

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

MplsCustomer — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 02:30:30 GMT

@Craig_wpg

The floodlight camera runs off of household current, not off of the battery (unless the power is off). If the camera goes offline at -25 degrees Fahrenheit, it's doing so because that's below the camera's operating temperature.

We've been lucky so far with our plugged-in Google Nest Camera (Battery) at temperatures down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit, but I think it helps a little that it's tucked under a camera shade and is mounted on the side of our house. Our older cameras are mounted under our garage eave, and also stay online at those temperatures.

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

Brad — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 18:54:24 GMT

Hi there,

Thank you for your patience, and sorry to hear that you're experiencing this. I know that keeping your Nest devices charged is very important, and I would love to help you out. When it comes to keeping your Nest Doorbell (battery) or Nest Cam (battery) up and running, here are some articles and troubleshooting guides for the best charging practices:

This is a great article on general charging times for your devices.
This helpful article tells you how to save the battery with your doorbell or camera.
And this last article, will go over charging expectations when you may live in a cooler/colder environment which will address charging temperatures, etc.

I hope those articles help shed some light on charging and maintaining battery levels of your Nest doorbell or camera. Please let me know if you need further assistance.

Best regards,

Brad

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

Craig_wpg — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 19:03:03 GMT

Winnipeg experienced on average 60 days per year at -18C or below in the last decade. Would a thermal blanket help or does the camera turn off when Google detects -20 or below from a central source? Can we override this behaviour? Can we mitigate the cold to keep it from turning off?

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

Brad — Tue, 13 Dec 2022 19:36:11 GMT

@Craig_wpg

I am afraid this is not something that you can override. It's pretty inherent in most, if not all, lithium batteries in wireless devices. Colder weather is always going to affect battery life. You can lower your sensitivities if you wish, which has been known to help some users, but as long as it is in a colder environment, the battery may drain a bit more regularly.

Best regards,

Brad

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

Brad — Fri, 16 Dec 2022 21:17:56 GMT

Hi there,

Just checking in to see how the conversation is going. Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns. We'll leave this thread open for a little longer for follow-up questions and concerns.

Best regards,

Brad

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

EmersonB — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 00:21:59 GMT

Hi everyone,

Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.

I appreciate your help, MplsCustomer, James11 and Brad.

Best,
Emerson

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

Craig_wpg — Tue, 20 Dec 2022 04:11:21 GMT

Hi. The thread remains unanswered.

Does the wired Nest Floodlight camera turn off because Google tells it it is -20C or does it 'sense' it is -20C and turn off because it is cold?

Can I cheat and tell the camera it is somewhere warmer? Another 5 degrees Celsius means the camera would remain on longer.

Thanks!

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

Iurii — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 01:20:28 GMT

Live in Winnipeg also and battery powered ( plugged in) camera goes offline meanwhile older cameras ( wired ) and a door bell work flawlessly.

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

MplsCustomer — Thu, 22 Dec 2022 01:28:05 GMT

@Iurii

This is Google Nest's help page on cold weather battery charging behavior. We live in Minnesota about 400 miles south of you, and have had the battery camera plugged in for 15 months; it's always "Live" but the coldest it's gotten so far is -20 degrees Fahrenheit (last winter). We've had wired doorbells and cameras for as long as 3-1/2 years and so far none have gone out due to weather.

https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/11830989?hl=en

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

SedlerFam — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 00:13:06 GMT

I understand that this week is pretty cold but my 3 week old outdoor camera is offline and has been since -5ish fahrenheit. It has been plugged in the whole time. So are these cameras useless in Minnesota? I was working on switching completely from Ring but all of my Ring floodlight cameras are working and have never turned off due to cold weather. I understand why it wouldn't work if it was only on battery but I never plan on unplugging it... Did I make a mistake?

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

MplsCustomer — Fri, 23 Dec 2022 14:01:38 GMT

@SedlerFam

We've had a Google Nest Camera (Battery) for 15 months, plugged in with the optional 19-meter power cable, and it's stayed online and "Live" continuously, at temperatures as low as -20 degrees Fahrenheit last winter in Minnesota. It's -11 degree Fahrenheit right now. We have the camera mounted under a camera shade that gives it a little shelter.

Are you using the included 3-meter charging cord or the 5-meter or 10-meter power cable? Is your cable/cord plugged in so that it feeds towards the FRONT of the camera? When your camera is online, does it show as "Live" all the time? Under Settings | Battery, does it show as "Plugged in" with an infinity symbol? Did you get an extreme temperature message, or did the camera just go offline with no warning message? (If it's the latter, it could be due to Wi-Fi signal strength and not temperature.)

I've seen posts in this forum where the cord was plugged in incorrectly, or the USB plug was defective, or the 3-meter charging cord was defective.

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

janthadeus — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 02:30:02 GMT

Hey folks,

Checking in — we hope MplsCustomer’s response answers your questions. Let us know if you have more questions in mind.

Thanks for the help here, MplsCustomer, Brad and Emerson.

Best,

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

SedlerFam — Sun, 25 Dec 2022 03:16:47 GMT

Using the cord that came with it and the battery menu shows that it's plugged in. I have it mounted under part of our roof so it somewhat sheltered as well. I never received any weak wifi notice and it just went offline without any warning due to extreme temperatures. I appreciate your reply but everything seems to point to it just being too cold 🤷

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

janthadeus — Mon, 09 Jan 2023 02:01:54 GMT

Hi SedlerFam,

I'm sorry for the delay. Could you bring your camera inside the house and check if it's going to reconnect to your Wi-Fi network?

Thanks,

Re: Device offline because of extreme temperature

aatienza — Thu, 12 Jan 2023 22:11:42 GMT

Hello there,

I just wanted to follow up to see if you still need our help. Please let us know as we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I appreciate the help, everyone.

Thanks,

Archie