floodlight camera reporting false vehicle notifications

[Rootbear]

We purchased 2 floodlights with cameras.  One is facing backyard which seems to work fine (person notifications only) and 15 feet away another is facing our driveway. whose false vehicle notifications at night is gonig off every 10 minutes.  The house is in rural area with 100 foot long driveway that does a 90 degree angle for another 100 feet to the road.  The one facing the driveway keeps reporting vehicle movement at night and there is no vehicle movement anywhere in the vicinity.  i have set up zones so that it does not pick up on street movement but this did not help.  There are vehicles in the driveway but they are not moving and still i get notifications at night.  We live in a rural area so cars at night even on the county road are few and far between.  Last night the camera was sending me notifications every 10 minutes.  I had to turn it off or get no sleep.  This has totally defeated the purpose of having this camera in the first place.  When i view the 2 cameras, the backyard one is clear with no distortion but this driveway one looks like it is raining or snowing at night  Please advise.  

[Lance_L]

Hi Rootbear,

Thanks for visiting the Community.

I’m sorry to hear that you’re having issues with the Nest Cam with Floodlight. Don’t worry, help’s here.

Let’s try the troubleshooting steps below:

1. Unplug the driveway camera from the power source.
2. Clean the camera lens. Gently wipe away any dust with a soft, lint-free cloth. Eyeglass and optics cleaning cloths are ideal to remove dust and oily fingerprints, and they don't damage lens coatings. You can also use a compressed air duster made for electronics.
3. For tougher smudges, like oily fingerprints on the lens, use a damp cloth with a drop of cleaning solution that’s made for cameras, eyeglasses, and other optics.
4. Plug the camera back in.
5. On the Google Home app, delete the Activity Zone and create a new one.
6. Turn on vehicle detection inside the Activity Zone.

Here’s a handy guide on how to set up and use Activity Zones.

The camera runs algorithms to process video and audio data so it can determine whether it has detected something. It uses software to look for changes in color and lighting.

Learn more about how Nest cameras detect sound and motion.

Let me know if the issue persists.

Best, 

Lance

[andrejulius]

Same thing keeps happening to me. Anyone found a real solution? My Nest Floodlight keeps turning on for my parked vehicle every 5/10 min. It got to the point where I had to completely disable vehicle detection.

[Lance_L]

Hey everyone,

@andrejulius, thanks for joining the discussion. I’m sorry to hear that you’re having the same issue. Let’s check it out. Have you had any chance to try the troubleshooting steps above? If yes, how was it?

@Rootbear, how’s it going with your Nest cameras? Do you still need any help? Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.

Regards,

Lance

[Rootbear]

i tried your solutions and they did not work.   After watching this camera for several more weeks, it seems like if it rains or a bug files near the lens it is reporting it as a vehicle.  This can cause the vehidle notification to go off every few minutes.  I have to turn it off at night some nights to be able to get some sleep.  i bought this floodlight/camera unit because there have been so many thefts at night in the area and my husband has a shop with lots of tools in it.  So instead of getting some peace of mind that we will be alerted if someone is in the yard, we have to turn the notifications off.  Again the only one of the 2 that is doing this is the one pointing down the driveway.  The backyard one is not going off nearly as much even when it is raining.  We are going to switch the cameras and see what happens.  If the first one is still sending vehicel notifications when it is raining, how do i get a replacement?  There must be something wrong with it.  

[Lance_L]

Hi folks,

@andrejulius, I wanted to check if you still need help with your Nest Cam with Floodlight. Reach out if you have any questions.

@Rootbear, thanks for reaching out and keeping me in the loop. I’d be happy to look further into this. I need additional information from you that would be best shared privately. I’m sharing a link to a form for you to fill out so we can look into this further. This form is only meant for you to use, so let me know once you’re done.

Best regards,

Lance

[EmersonB]

Hi folks,

@Rootbear, how’s it going? We haven’t seen your form submission come through - were you able to access it alright? Let us know if you’re running into trouble or still need our help!

I appreciate the help, Lance.

Best,

Emerson

[VMARTIN1212]

I created a post too. I have the same issue. I live in a corner house and I get notification every 10 min too. My cars are parked in the driveway. it does seem to give me notifications for those, but any other vehicle that moves in the camera frame, even is out of the Activity Zone, gets me notify.

[EmersonB]

Hi VMARTIN1212,

Thanks for reaching out here in the Community. What was it that you’ve already deleted and reconfigured? How many Activity Zone setup? Just a reminder, If you overlap two or more Activity Zones, you only receive a notification for the Activity Zone where the activity first occurred. If the activity actually happened in two or more Activity Zones at the same time, you only get a notification for one of the Activity Zones.

A big Activity Zone captures more activity. In general, the smaller and more precise the Activity Zone, the more accurate your camera’s alerts should be. If your zone is too large, objects that don’t appear to be in the zone can trigger an in-zone recording or notification. Experiment with the size and placement of your Activity Zones to get the effect that you want.

You may also try re-setup your activity zone's and let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Emerson

[EmersonB]

Hey VMARTIN1212,

We got your form — thanks for filling it out. Our team will reach out to you via email to further assist you. 
 
Thanks,
Emerson

[VMARTIN1212]

Just checking status.

[VMARTIN1212]

I live in a corner lot house. I'm getting vehicle notification on the camera that it pointing towards my even though I have a zone set up encompassing my driveway and front patio, and Outside Zone notifications are off. i stil would like to get vehicle notification since I want to know if anybody drives in. I have deleted, reset and reconfigure, but nothing works.

[Old_Salty]

I am having the same issue. It's raining and my Google floodlight camera keeps turning on the lights for "vehicle" motion! Ugh!!!!!

[Old_Salty]

I think I fixed mine by creating a new zone and turning on motion in that zone for triggering the light. That seems to work.

As soon as I turn on vehicle in events, the light starts turning on.

It has to be something with the rain on the vehicle making the camera think the vehicle is moving.....

[Jenelyn_O]

Hi there Old_Salty,

Thanks for sharing the troubleshooting steps that resolve your concern with your Nest Camera. I suggest that you continue monitoring it to ensure that everything will consistently work. If anything comes up, please feel free to let us know. 

Cheers,

Jenelyn

[Rootbear]

We have installed a third camera on the shop itself.  The problem is getting worse now that snow season has arrived.  B=

[Rootbear]

i have responded to the fill out the form request but i would like to report the following .  1. we switched the 2 cameras and the issue did not change so not the camera itself.  2. I cleaned the lens and the picture at night is much better but that did not change the problem.  3. I came to the conclusion that rain or snow at night is activating the floodlight and that in turn was seeing our parked vehicles in the laneway and that was setting off a moving vehicle notification in that zone.   4. i modified the zone to be past our parked cars thinking that i had the answer but it is snowing tonight and the floodlight comes on and the notification is still reporting a moving vehicle even though the zone is well past our parked cars.  We added another camera to the shop itself and it too is going off telling me there is a moving vehicle and there are no vehicles at all in that driveway.  i think you need to work on the cameras abiltiy to differentate between a MOVING VEHICLE and PRECIPITATION!!!!!

[Old_Salty]

This is my exact issue as well!

[Rye]

We are having the same problem. Rain triggers multiple vehicle notifications.

[TNT_ranch]

We have the same issue. Our floodlight cameras detect our parked vehicles 30+ times per night. Rain, wind and fog seem to trigger the camera and then the camera turns on and goes, 'Oh a vehicle!' Nevermind that they are the same vehicles that have been there since the beginning. 

It makes it really hard to rely on a camera notification when the notifications are inaccurate. 

I also don't want to adjust my minutoring area because I would like to know if someone is breaking in to our vehicles. 

Frustrating.

[Randomuser23]

Same issue for me.  Nest flood cam with nest aware, car parked outside garage at night and any time of rain or snow will continually produce vehicle seen notifications.  Nothing occluding the camera, just detecting doesnt work well when it’s raining or snowing, doesn’t matter if it’s day or night but it is worse at night.