32 Seconds Lost - Every Time Someone Rings the Bell

[Dukefrukem]

This has been happening for years and it's finally annoyed me enough to investigate. If someone rings my door bell, video stops recording, and I cannot use the phone app until 32 seconds go by. It makes trying to use the app when I'm away from my home impossible. 

I tried creating a single clip of the most recent event, but it broke it into two clips, indicating there is just no footage in that 32 second gap, and posting both those clips will not be helpful. 

I can clearly see on my timeline, the video goes from 4:01:25 seconds, jumps to 4:01:57 seconds. During this 32 second gap, the nest app is spinning (like it's loading), and there is no footage saved if I go back and review the timeline using the desktop web interface. Overall, it takes maybe 4 seconds to jump from 25 and 57. 

Using the doorbell in every other capacity works great. I can create clips until the cows come home, as long as no one pushes the button. 

[MplsCustomer · Accepted solution]

@Dukefrukem 

If you have the older Google Nest Hello Doorbell (rather than the "Nest Doorbell [wired Gen 2] indicated in your post), the internal battery in your Nest Hello (yes, it has one) may have failed. The primary symptom is that the doorbell  goes offline for about a minute whenever the doorbell button is pressed. It has happened, in succession, to all three of our Nest Hello.

The primary workaround is to turn off the "Indoor chime" option. You lose use of your doorbell chime, but the doorbell no longer goes offline. You can turn on "Visitor announcements" and rely instead on announcements on your Nest Hubs, Nest Minis, or Nest speakers, if you have any. That's what we have done.

Google Nest says they "cannot" replace such doorbells if they are older than the 1-year warranty.

Some customers have tried prying open their Nest Hello to replace the internal battery, using these instructions:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nest+Hello+Battery+Replacement/131729

Here is a long thread on the defect, with over 1,000 replies:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Nest-Hello-Doorbell-cuts-out-when-butto...

[Dukefrukem]

I do have the older Nest Hello and this sound exactly like my problem. I will try to replace the battery and use your workarounds in the meantime. 

THANK YOU!

[MplsCustomer]

@Dukefrukem 

Keep in mind it's not designed to be replaceable, and some customers have reported trouble getting their doorbell re-sealed properly.

[Jenelyn_O]

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out. I'm sorry for the delay. I just want to check if you were able to proceed with troubleshooting using the work around provided above. Please let us know how it goes. 

I appreciate your help, @MplsCustomer.

Best,

Jenelyn

[Dukefrukem]

I disabled "Indoor chime" for now and it works great. 

[janthadeus]

Hey Dukefrukem,

Perfect, we’re glad to hear that! As we got our resolution here, I'm going to mark this thread as complete. I'll be locking this thread if we won't hear back from you again in 24 hours. Should that happen, feel free to create a new one if you have more questions or have other concerns in the future.

Thanks for the help here, MplsCustomer and Jenelyn!

Cheers,

JT