Nest Camera with hardwired floodlight

[netarc]

The camera and flood light are hardwired to electrical power and we have confirmed that power is live. When first installed the camera "battery" status - in Google home app on Android - showed the infinity symbol, as the camera is plugged into charging cable from the floodlight assembly, and the floodlight in turn is connected to AC power (confirmed that power is ON in circuit in question).

However, when viewing the camera later that evening, the battery level showed a percentage of 3%; this morning, battery now shows 6%, even though the camera itself has been plugged in, uninterrupted, for 12+ hours.

I would expect to see the "infinity sign" in battery status, as originally showed upon first installation.

Note that the camera in question is an RMA replacement for the original camera, which Google tech support determined was nonoperational (covered under warranty).

Finally, there's no option in the Google home app (device settings) to turn on the flood light when activity is detected on this device; note that when adding the device to the Google home app I selected "connected to floodlight" in the app.

[netarc]

See attached images showing the (hopefully incorrect) battery level - again, this unit (camera & floodlight) have been connected to AC power (verified ON/live) for 12+ hours.

Last nightThis morning

[MplsCustomer]

@netarc 

We've had the battery camera for over 2 years. It's the same camera used in the floodlight fixture. We've NEVER seen what you're seeing. It ALWAYS says "Plugged in" with an infinity symbol unless we unplug it, in which case the battery level has always been between 77% and 100%.

[netarc]

And as of tonight, the camera is no longer working, doesn't appear in Google home at all !!?

[MplsCustomer]

@netarc 

You could consider contacting Support. You can use the link and instructions in this post:

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

[netarc]

Update 1: so last night the camera no longer was available/responding, with the Google Home app showing "Device offline because of an empty battery" as below:

[netarc]

Update 2: then quite inexplicably, this morning, suddenly the camera was back in action with the "battery status" displaying as it had originally, upon first setup, as "plugged in" - absolutely NO changes to the environment nor to power to the camera+floodlight 😳 😕

[MplsCustomer]

@netarc 

And you are NEVER turning off the power to the floodlight camera fixture?

[netarc]

Correct - it is a switched circuit but the switch is ALWAYS ON.

Fwiw, there have been situations where the camera was offline, but the floodlight continued to work as triggered by the motion sensor ... That should pretty much verify that there's power to the flood light and camera assembly

[MplsCustomer]

@netarc 

If it were my camera, I would contact Support.

[netarc]

An update - spent over 90mins on chat support with Google to look into this matter; as a recap:

In the past week, the (replacement) Nest floodlight camera has gone back and forth from low battery to offline to back online with full battery+showing "plugged in" - the camera has been OFFLINE at least two different times over the past week ... inexplicably coming back online within a day or two.

I had checked/verified that there was no power outage nor was the breaker turned off during ANY of these event. I had also checked/cleaned the pogo connectors when installing the replacement camera last week; the last tech I spoke with advised to do this with the old camera, which I tried and didn't make a difference, but still when I installed the replacement camera, I again checked and cleaned the pogo connection power cable to verify clean.

One interesting point: when removing the power/pogo connector again today to verify it's clean (tech asked for pictures), I noted that the camera battery in the ghome app showed at 40% - even though camera had been plugged in, uninterrupted, for several days at that point.

Anyway, this tech had me factory reset the camera - at the time we chatted, the problem wasn't manifesting. Upon re-adding the camera it showed "plugged in" as was the case just before. So we'll have to see if the problem recurs, I suppose 😥

[netarc]

the other ongoing/unresolved issue is that there is no option for "What turns on the floodlight" in SETTINGS on the device in Google Home app, as should be the case per 
https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/10500343

Spent ANOTHER 30m on the chat with google tech diagnosing this matter, no resolution 😫

[EmersonB]

Hi everyone,

@netarc, thanks for reaching out here in the Community. We understand your confusion and we wanted to know more about this. Kindly share your case ID here so that we can take a better look at what happened and share the screenshot of the settings of your Nest Cam with floodlight in the Google Home app.

I appreciate your response, MplsCustomer.

Best,

Emerson

[netarc]

Thanks @EmersonB - case ID is Case ID:-9-1005000034673

[netarc]

Re: the settings, here's some screenshots.

First, during setup here's confirmation that I added the camera as a NEST+Floodlight:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/6H7vaN95b9t9Z2TA8

Here is the current Device Settings screenshot:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VBVS881FHQgLKytQ7

And here's an example of the ongoing/recurring issue of the camera falling offline due to 0% battery, even though the camera is plugged into the AC-hardwired floodlight assembly:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/KY8zMtnskS5qi6L56

[EmersonB]

Hey netarc,

Thanks for sharing this information. To confirm, do you still remember when and where you purchased it? Also may we have this information: 

• Make, model, and OS version of your mobile device.
• Version number of your Google Home app.

Looking forward to  your response.

Regards,

Emerson

[netarc]

I don't have at the moment where it was purchased but that information should be in the support case as I provided it to Google support 

The mobile device is a Google Pixel 8 with current version of Android. All security patches up to date

[EmersonB]

Hello netarc,

I appreciate you sharing this information. To further isolate this issue, please try these steps:

After the setup, go in front of your Nest Camera, the floodlight should turn on. If it didn't turn on when it detected you as a person or motion that means there's a problem with your floodlight. In case your floodlight did turn on when you go in front of it, the Floodlight option should appear on your Nest Camera settings. Just a reminder, your Nest Camera and its floodlight have separate serial numbers. In case there's a problem with your floodlight you should give the serial numbers located at the back of the floodlight. You need to remove it from its screws.

Let us know how it goes.

Thanks,

Emerson

[netarc]

fyi the floodlight motion activation DOES work; it's just that the controls/parameters for the floodlight do not appear in the google home app

[Lance_L]

Hey everyone,

@netarc, I’m sorry to hear that you’re having issues with the Nest Cam with Floodlight. Thanks for sharing all the details and steps you’ve taken to try and fix the issue.

Our support team has reached out to you via email with additional troubleshooting steps and instructions if the issue persists. If you have any questions, you may continue the conversation by replying to that email.

I appreciate the help, Emerson and MplsCustomer.

Regards,

Lance