Nest Camera with hardwired floodlight - empty battery

[Dieter]

The camera and flood light are hardwired to electrical power and I have confirmed that power is live. 

However, again and again the camera battery status - in Google home app on iOS - changes from the infinity symbol to a battery level of 6% and then 3% and finally empty. Sometimes the device comes back online and shows the infinite battery status again. 

Even when the battery is shown as empty and a connection to the device is no longer possible, the motion sensor turns on the floodlight - proof that there is power.

What is going on? Why is the battery not being charged? Why doesn't the power connection keep the device alive?

[MplsCustomer]

@Dieter 

That should not happen. We have had the Google Nest Battery Camera (the same camera that's in the floodlight fixture) for over 3 years, plugged in with the optional power cable, and the battery has always remained between 77% and 100%.

I can think of only two things:

Is the power cable plugged in securely in the base of your camera, and is the connection clean? That USB plug seems pretty flimsy to me; maybe it is damaged.

If the circuit for your floodlight camera has a switch on it, is the switch always turned on?

If this doesn't help, you could try contacting Support:

1. Go to https://support.google.com/googlenest/gethelp.
2. Select a category/product family, and type in a brief description of the issue, then click "Next".
3. Click "Other", then click "Next step".
4. Under "Resources", just click "Next step". (Clicking one of the listed links will bring up a Help page page.)
5. Under "Contact options", choose to get a phone call or chat with the team, depending on availability in your country.

[Dieter]

Hello - like I said, the device is hardwired and power is always on. Just last night it showed up again in Google Home as functioning and connected to power. Now the battery is empty again and the device is offline. 

I already spoke to Google Support and they can't do anything because my warranty has expired. 

[MplsCustomer]

@Dieter 

Some customers in this forum have had success cleaning the contact points on the USB plug that fits into the bottom of the camera.

It's odd that you have a "Make sure your power cable and adapter are connected and compatible with your camera" message on your Battery settings page. We don't get that message on our battery camera, which has been plugged in since Sept. 2021.