Camera Turns Off After Doorbell Is Pressed

[Gordonam3]

I have a 1st gen Nest Doorbell. Recently it has been turning the camera off whenever the doorbell is pressed. Trying to load the app, and answer the doorbell through my phone, takes precisely 30 seconds before the camera turns back on. It even shows how long it has been since the doorbell has been pressed. It always turns on at exactly 30 seconds. By that time, whoever is at the door has left. I followed the instructions on how to do a soft restart by using the pin on the back, and a full factory reset. Neither fixed the issue. Camera goes offline the moment the doorbell is pressed.

[MplsCustomer · Accepted solution]

@Gordonam3 

These are the exact symptoms that occur when the internal battery (the one most of us didn't know existed) on the Google Nest Hello Doorbell fails after a year or two. It has now happened over time to all three of our Nest Hellos, ranging in age from 31 months to 29 months to 14 months.

A workaround is to turn off the "Indoor chime" option (which also stops the doorbell from going offline when the doorbell button is pressed) and turn on "Visitor announcements" (https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7672451?hl=en) and rely on announcements on your Nest Hubs, Nest Minis, and/or Nest speakers.

It is also possible but not easy to pry open the doorbell, replace the battery with one purchased on Amazon, and glue the doorbell back together: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nest+Hello+Battery+Replacement/131729.

This thread on the subject has over a thousand replies; Google Nest says they "cannot" replace it if it is more than 1-year-old:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Nest-Hello-Doorbell-cuts-out-when-butto...

[MplsCustomer · Accepted solution]

@Gordonam3 

These are the exact symptoms that occur when the internal battery (the one most of us didn't know existed) on the Google Nest Hello Doorbell fails after a year or two. It has now happened over time to all three of our Nest Hellos, ranging in age from 31 months to 29 months to 14 months.

A workaround is to turn off the "Indoor chime" option (which also stops the doorbell from going offline when the doorbell button is pressed) and turn on "Visitor announcements" (https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/7672451?hl=en) and rely on announcements on your Nest Hubs, Nest Minis, and/or Nest speakers.

It is also possible but not easy to pry open the doorbell, replace the battery with one purchased on Amazon, and glue the doorbell back together: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nest+Hello+Battery+Replacement/131729.

This thread on the subject has over a thousand replies; Google Nest says they "cannot" replace it if it is more than 1-year-old:

https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Cameras-and-Doorbells/Nest-Hello-Doorbell-cuts-out-when-butto...

[Gordonam3]

Thank you so much for that very detailed response! I just spent 45min on the phone with Google/Nest support. They even had me test the voltage powering the doorbell. As you said, they only warranty these for a year or 2, and they take it on a case-by-case basis. So it looks like I'm out of luck with this one. I'm going to give the indoor chime option a shot and see how I like it. Very frustrating they wouldn't offer any kind of other options like a refurbished doorbell for $50 bucks. It was pretty much "yea you just have to buy a new one." I may try the battery option, as it doesn't look very difficult. Or just buy a new one (non-google brand) and take it as a lesson learned. For anyone else reading this, having the same issue I had... you're pretty much out of luck. Thanks again MplsCustomer!

[janthadeus]

Hi folks,
 

I’m sorry to hear about your experience. Keep us posted — we’re here to help.
 

I appreciate your help, MplsCustomer.

Thanks,

JT

[Gordonam3]

Janthadeus, do you have any technical reference material on replacing the internal battery? Or a step-by-step video I can use to crack the doorbell open and replace the battery? Apparently this is a fairly widespread issue which Google refuses to warranty yet you say "we're here to help." I have a new battery in hand and will be working on this tomorrow. 

[MplsCustomer · Accepted solution]

@Gordonam3 

Other customers have used this post on iFixit.  I can't vouch for it; we just turned off the "Indoor chime" on our Nest Hellos.

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Nest+Hello+Battery+Replacement/131729

[janthadeus]

Hey Gordonam3,

Checking in — did you get a chance to try the steps in the article shared by MplsCustomer? If so, how did it go? Let me know if there’s anything else.

Thanks for your continued assistance, MplsCustomer.
 

Best,

JT

[Gordonam3]

Yup, I followed the ifixit DIY and it worked! It takes a lot of prying to get the internal components out of the housing. And there's a blue o-ring that can very easily get damaged. But replacing the battery fixed the issue of the camera turning off when the doorbell is pressed. It's definitely NOT an easy procedure, and takes some glue to get everything back together, but it works. 

Once again, big thanks to MplsCustomer for the recommendations!

[janthadeus]

Hey there,

Awesome, we’re glad to hear that! We appreciate all your efforts here. As we got our resolution here, I'm going to mark this thread as complete. I'll be locking this thread if we won't hear back from you again in 24 hours. Should that happen, feel free to create a new one if you have more questions or have other concerns in the future.

Best,

JT