Nest Camera with Floodlight Empty Battery

[fan005]

I have a wired nest camera with floodlight installed in Nov 2023. It used to have a problem where floodlight was offline in Dec 2023, even though the floodlight still turned out when detecting stuff. I flipped the breaker, it came back on. Then, after a rain in Dec 2023, both camera and floodlight are offline. The camera was offline due to empty battery. Then, after a couple of days, the camera  came back on, but the floodlight is still offline. I have to flip the breaker again to bring it back on. Last week, there’s a round of rain. Then, I have the camera and floodlight intermittently on and off for a week due to empty battery. I have seen plugged in with infinity symbol, plugged in with 7% battery, and empty battery screen. I once turned off camera’s night vision. After one night, 7% battery screen transitioned to plugged in with infinity. And then I turned on night vision three days ago. But the camera has been offline again with empty battery since two days ago until now.

Now I’m pretty confused. Why a wired camera with floodlight will have empty battery? And why the issue is correlated with the rain and be mitigated by turning off night vision? I have asked electrician to check; we have put silicone around and doesn’t look like a water issue.

[MplsCustomer]

@fan005 

If your camera and floodlight are going offline after a rain, I'd suspect water or electrical issue, though I suppose it's also possible you have a defective camera and floodlight.

We've had a battery camera since Sept. 2021, plugged in with the optional power cable, and protected by a camera shade. It's been online ever since, except for a two or three internet outages, and on the occasions when we've unplugged the camera to check the battery, it's always been between 77% and 100%. And the battery camera we have is the same one that's used in the floodlight camera fixture.

[fan005]

Thank you @MplsCustomer . May I ask for any recommended next steps to take?

[MplsCustomer]

@fan005 

You could try contacting Support, using the link and instructions in this post, to determine whether your floodlight fixture is defective:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Using-Google-Nest-s-quot-Contact-Us-quo...

But if this is happening after a rain, and starts working again after you flip the breaker, perhaps water is getting into your floodlight fixture, or perhaps the USB plug in the bottom of the camera is getting wet, or both. It does seem that power to the fixture is getting interrupted.

Do you by any chance have a light switch for your floodlight fixture? If so, it should ALWAYS be on; the floodlight camera fixture should always be connected to power.

[fan005]

Thank you @MplsCustomer . I have checked those and don't seem like a problem. There is no light switch, it just connects to the wire. That's why I have to flip the breaker. One thing I have found is if I lower the sensitivity of camera, it tends to stay up longer in the rain. When it rain, I see a lot of motions. I have a theory that because there is no eave nor shield over the camera, rains droplets keep creating motions. But still that's confusing given the camera is on wire not battery and I shouldn't worry about battery depletion speed.

[MplsCustomer]

@fan005 

If the camera is connected to power, it should be running on household current and not using the battery at all.  That seems to be how ours works. 

The reason I think it might be electrical is because you say the floodlight also goes out.

[fan005]

An update: no electrical issues found yet. We have found that the floodlight is turned on at night when motion detected. But the app still shows that both floodlight and camera are offline. This is quite similar to last time where I have to turn the breaker on and off to bring the system back; the difference is last time camera came back online and only the floodlight was offline, this time both floodlight and camera are off.

 

[Lance_L]

Hello everyone,

@fan005, thanks for reaching out to the Google Nest Community and sharing all the steps you’ve taken to fix the issue with the Nest Cam with Floodlight. I’d be happy to help; let’s check it out.

To completely isolate the battery issue, let´s factory reset the device. Follow the steps below:

1. Save any video history from the camera, if any. Follow this guide.
2. Locate the reset pinhole on the back of the camera head.
3. Insert and hold the pin (you can use an unfolded paper clip or a thumbtack).
   1. At 10 seconds, the status light will blink yellow four times, and you’ll hear a countdown tone.
   2. At 12 seconds, the status light will be steady, solid yellow while the doorbell starts the factory reset, and you’ll hear a confirmation tone.
4. Release the button. Your device will be restored to its factory settings.
5. After the factory reset, your camera will appear as “offline” in the app until you remove it. Also, the status light should be pulsing blue. If not, repeat step 3.
6. To remove it from the app, open the app, then tap Settings > Remove Device >  Confirm.
7. Add the camera back to the Google Home app.

Let me know if that helps.

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer.

All the best,

Lance