Poor Performance of Unit Battery

[Illini]

I have three Google Nest Cams w/Floodlight.  One unit has very poor battery performance(even thought it is hardwired to electrical power).  Once battery dies, unit will not function unless you reboot/reset camera from switch on back of equipment.  Requires homeowner to climb a 12 foot ladder.

Battery finally died for good after 2.8 years of owning this particular unit.  Performance quite poor in winter months(below 40 F.).  At the end of life, battery completely died during summer.

Unfortunately Google design of Nest Cam battery makes replacement almost impossible.  YouTube channel shows how to remove bad battery, but unfortunately no one reliably sells replacement for OEM( Sunwoda Electronics Battery).  

Only viable option is to purchase a new Google Nest Cam w/Floodlight @ a cost of $279.00.  This is a scam for buying a whole system with Google security and smart home features.  Too bad the Google warrantee does not cover this problem.

I'd recommend buying a hard wired system that has better software stability once battery in unit fails and shuts down all function in camera/floodlight feature.

[MplsCustomer · Accepted solution]

@Illini 

That seems really odd.  We've had the battery camera for almost 4 years now (it's the same camera, but without the floodlight components), plugged in with the optional power cable, and it's been live and online continuously, through 4 Minnesota winters.  When plugged in or hard-wired, the battery camera is running off of household current, and not the battery.

Are your cameras on a switched circuit?  If so, is it always turned on?  If you go to Settings | Battery, it should show as "Plugged in" with an infinity symbol.  Does the proprietary USB plug stay dry?  (It seems rather flimsy, so I'm glad our camera is under a camera share to provide some protection from rain and snow.

If this does not 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. Select your device from the dropdown, 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.)
5. Under "Contact options", choose to get a phone call or chat with the team, depending on availability in your country.

[Illini]

Mpls Customer.  Sounds like you have a different product(camera only).  My three camera/flood light units professionally installed by authorized Google vendor.  All sit under eaves of house.  Protected from elements and hard wired.  Infinity charge sign shows in app settings.  Doesn’t matter on the “lemon” unit with dead battery.  It is a non issue with other two units on same circuit.  Based on my research, this is not a unique issue only impacting me.

[MplsCustomer]

@Illini 

The camera that we have--the Google Nest Cam (outdoor/indoor, battery) is the exact same camera that is used in the Google Nest Battery Camera.

It sounds like you indeed have a "lemon" camera.  Since the camera runs on household current ("For wired installation setups with a Nest Cam (battery), the wires power the camera directly." -- https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/11830989 ), the battery should not have failed.

One last thought.  Are you using one of the optional 5-meter or 10-meter power cables, or are you using the 1-meter charging cord that comes with the camera?  I'm not sure the 1-meter charging cord is suitable for powering the camera in plugged-in mode.