Nest Cam, IR Lights remain off at night

[Georg]

Hi, I have Nest Cam since 4-5 months. Newly I noticed, that the picture at night is remaining dark. It seems that the infrared lights do not turn on at night. Therefore the cam do not register moves at night at all. Newly came my Son from a trip, at 2am and the cam didn't register that. 

I have to take the cam from the magnet holder and put it back. Then the IR  lights are going on and the cam is working well but only 2-3 nights. Then same occurs. 

The cam is with a battery, but is permanently powered over cable. Is it a software or hardware issue? The cam does not its job very well.

[MplsCustomer]

@Georg 

Perhaps you have a defective camera that should be replaced either by Google Nest or the retailer you bought it from. We have had a Google Nest Camera (Battery) since Sept. 2021, plugged in with the optional power cable--and its infrared lights turn on each night.

[Brad]

@Georg

I am sorry to hear that you have ran into this issue! It sounds like your cam might be malfunctioning by what you said here. I would suggest that you reach out to Support for further assistance on this issue.

Best regards,

Brad

[SteveT1]

Hi folks,

I appreciate the help @MplsCustomer and @Brad. Checking in to see if you have further concerns about your Nest camera? Feel free to update this thread, and we're happy to assist you further.

Thanks,
Steve

[SteveT1]

Hi there,

We haven't heard any updates from you. Please let us know if you still need help as we will be locking this in 24 hours if we won't hear back from you again. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

Regards,
Steve

[Georg]

Hello,

sorry, I had nothing to report. I contacted the 1st level nest support per email, for about two weeks. Since them we email us back and fort. I'm trying some orders from the 1st level support. I changed the position of the cam, I made sure no other lights are in the scene, I assured no other IR lights are present. I tried to change settings, the night mode turn permanently. I tried to reboot, then to reset the cam hard. Nothing. I didn't managed to turn IR lights back. The 6 IR diodes are lighting slightly red in the dark. But the scene remaining dark. I checked with IR cam of pixel 4, the nest cam does not emit IR light.

This is sample as the IR lights were working.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/q5ZMAu3GjSbriHSu7

This is the recent video whereby the IR lights are no more working

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pvWFjLimBwMmsV3r8

I guess the IR lights are not powered properly if the night mode is turned on. 

I hope my case will be forwarded by 1st level support to the technicians soon.  🙂 Then I can report how this ends.

Regards

Georg

[SteveT1]

Hi Georg,

Thanks for the update. Do you have the case number for your support interaction so we can check this further?

Regards,

Steve

[Georg]

Hi Steve, 

Sure, 5-8399000032429

[Georg]

Hi,

the support does not react on my emails anymore. No feedback since 3 weeks. In last email they asked me for my browser version.

Are there alternatives to get Cam repaired or replaced by working one? It is no go, the essential function of the cam is not working. At night there is no move detection and no picture.

I didn't though the support of google can be so bad.

Could someone suggest a good external IR illuminator? Does it matter the ir light frequency or have all the illuminators same technology behind?

I have a cheap IR flushlight with one IR diode, This helps to illuminate a little bit the scene, so that it possible to recognize  somewhat. But it is not enough.

I think its a better solution instead to wait on google support. 🙂

Thank you in advance

[janthadeus]

Hi Georg,

We haven't received your form. Were you able to fill it out? Do you still need help?

Best,

JT

[Georg]

Hello, I sent the form. Sorry for delay. Last 2 months I've answered many questions from german google nest support about my issue with nest cam. I just whant to replace my cam with working one. I dont want to go this way of questions and answers again. 

I'm about to order an external IR illuminator. I hope it solves my problem.

[janthadeus]

Hi there,

We've received your form — thanks for filling that out. I'll consider this post as complete and will lock the thread in 24 hours. Please keep an eye on your email as someone from our team will reach out to you to assist you further.

Cheers,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hi Georg,

Thanks for following up and I'm sorry for the delayed response. I can understand your situation where your camera must have a working high-power infrared (IR) LED at night to record and capture important events. It looks like the LED of your camera is defective. I appreciate your efforts trying to fix it and looking for an alternative. Let's check this out — could you please fill out the form so we could investigate?

Looking forward to your response.

Thanks,

JT