Why do my older Nest outdoor cams not start recording when my security lights come on?

[slawyer711]

My older Nest cameras do not start recording when my motion-activated security lights come on, rather, they start recording when the lights turn off after a given period of time.

[Brad]

Hey there,

Thank you for bringing up the concern you're experiencing, I would love to look into this further for you. The first troubleshooting step that I'd recommend would be to restart your device. This process should keep all your settings, and reconnect it to the same Wi-Fi network. This is helpful if it ever freezes, has connection problems, or isn't working normally. If you do not see any changes, please let me know, and we can look into some next steps. 

Best regards,
Brad

[slawyer711]

The power to the camera has been turned off a number of times, but there's been no change in the problem I reported. Since the camera does record and send notifications as shadows and light play across the the ground and shrubs with the movement of the sun, and the two basic outdoor cams and the IQ cam record when interior lights illuminate windows, I don't understand why so often the camera records only the few moments before my motion-activated security lights turn off.

[EmersonB]

Hey slawyer711,

Checking in — have you tried restarting your Nest camera? If so, how did it go? Let me know if you need more help.

I appreciate the help, Brad.

Thanks,
Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hi slawyer711,

Were you able to do the steps above? I'd be glad to hear from you — I'd like to make sure everything is working.

I appreciate the help, MplsCustomer.

Best,

Emerson

[slawyer711]

See answer to Brad, above. Sorry i've been so long in replying, and I appreciate your patience.

[MplsCustomer]

@slawyer711 

Do you know whether there was actual activity that occurred (and did not get recorded) when your motion-activated security lights came on?  Or are you just looking for your camera to start recording when your lights come on?  If it's the latter, I think the cameras on Nest Aware (event history) should start recording when they detect activity.

[slawyer711]

Generally, it seems they do start recording both when there's physical activity and when lights come on or the pattern of light on the ground or shrubs changes. But quite often all I see is a few seconds of the scene fully lit by by motion-activated security lights. The lights go off and the recording stops.

[EmersonB]

Hello slawyer711,

I'm dropping by to ensure that everything is covered here. I hope that the information sheds some light on the issue. If you have other questions and concerns, feel free to let me know.

Regards,
Emerson

[slawyer711]

Thanks for sticking with me on this issue. I've typed in some answers to Brad and MplsCustomer, above.

[EmersonB]

Hi folks,

@slawyer711 thanks for getting back to us. Have you tried changing the position of your camera? Also, have you tried re-adding your Nest camera to the app? In case you decide to re-add it, remove it first to the app and reset the actual Nest camera to the factory default. Here's how to reset it.

Keep us posted.

Thanks,
Emerson

[janthadeus]

Hey all,

Checking in — did you get a chance to try the troubleshooting steps suggested by Emerson? If you haven’t reset your camera to its default settings, here’s how.

Let us know if there’s anything else.

I appreciate the help here, Brad, Emerson and MplsCustomer.

Thanks,

JT

[janthadeus]

Hi there,

Just checking in to make sure that you've seen our responses. Please let me know if you have other questions or concerns as I will be locking this in 24 hours if I won't hear back from you again. Feel free to start a new thread and we'll be happy to help.

Best,

JT