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Google Nest Camera - wired to house electrical - now on battery

Matt20
Community Member

Hello,

I installed a new nest camera, and hooked up the 30foot water proof power cable.  For a few days, the battery showed infinity symbol, and was running off the house electricity.  Today, a few days after install, the infinity symbol is gone, and the battery is at 97%.

 

I checked the wired connections, and nothing has changed.

Why would the camera switch to battery power when attached to house electricity.

7 REPLIES 7

MplsCustomer
Bronze
Bronze

@Matt20 

We've had the battery camera for 23 months, plugged in with the 10-meter power cable, and it's remained "Live" and online. When we've unplugged it to check the battery level (the only way we can check it), it's always been between 77% and 100%. When plugged in, it shows as "Plugged in" with the infinity symbol.

Did you have it plugged in while you installed it? I can't recall what happened when we installed it, but judging from other posts you either have to have it plugged in during the install or you have to specify that the camera will be plugged in during the install process. Otherwise, the software/firmware thinks the camera is running on battery power, though this is not entirely clear.

Is the USB plug seated firmly in the bottom of your camera? Some posts indicate the plugs are sometimes defective and don't make good contact. A few customers got theirs working better just by fiddling with the plug, which looks rather flimsy to me.

EmptyNester
Silver Product Expert
Silver Product Expert

Batteries over time (even short periods of time) do not always fully charge back to 100%.  As long as you are above 90% you are good to go and I wouldn't worry about it.

Matt20
Community Member

Thank you for the input and comments.

When I first installed the camera, the camera was on battery.  I noticed the battery power draw down was fairly quick given the activity the camera was recording.  I then, after a few days, installed the google waterproof cable to provide electricity.  This was maybe 4 days ago.  Then this afternoon, the camera switched to battery power.

Any insight?  

I suppose the next step is to remove the camera, unplug, maybe do a reset, and reinstall.  I am guessing at this point.

To bad no one at Google products can help with my question.  I am tired of BOTS giving me answers to questions I did not ask.

@Matt20 

Ah, your first post didn't indicate that you first installed your camera on battery power and then later switched to having it plugged in.

Other customers in this forum have also had problems when making this switch, and have had to remove their camera, do a factory reset, and then reinstall.

As I indicated in my earlier post, I can't recall exactly what happened when we installed our battery camera 23 months ago, but judging from other posts you either have to have it plugged in before and during the install or you have to specify during the install process that the camera will be plugged in. Otherwise, the software/firmware apparently thinks the camera is running on battery power. It's too bad Google Nest has no documentation on this.

I haven't been able to find the post, but this happened to another customer recently, and they reported removing their camera, doing a factory reset, then making sure their camera was plugged in BEFORE they started their reinstall.

Matt20
Community Member

Hi, thanks for the additional information.  After a factory reset, the issue persisted.  Then I was thought, perhaps, I am overthinking the issue.  Then I checked the outside outlet, and that turned out to the be issue.  I tested via long extension code from inside the house.  So, I have able to wire the camera, but not through the outside outlet.

So, I have a new problem, and its not with Google.

Thanks for your inputs into my issue.

@Matt20 

It's too bad your outside outlet isn't working. Ours is connected to an outside outlet with an inside switch; we just never turn it off anymore unless we want to check the camera's battery level.

Lance_L
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hello Matt20,

 

I’m glad to hear that this has been sorted out, and thanks for sharing your resolution in our Community. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions in the future.

 

Thanks for the help, MplsCustomer and EmptyNester.

 

Best,

Lance