Camera - Outdoor Wired- Power Issue

[mth123]

Nest Outdoor cameral is connected with Nest power adapter and hard wired to 120v. 

Test with multimeter shows 15 volts at the connection that magnetically attaches to the camera.

Home app shows it is plugged in an it works.  But in 8 hours the batter is dead. 

I tried multiple cameras, so not the camera. I replaced the adapter and with the voltage test, not the adapter. 

This same set up worked for one year. Then when temperatures got very cold, stopped.  But every part has been replaced since then to try to solve. 

[grandbeach-ca]

Nest cameras seem to stop charging at cold temperatures and will start to charge again when the temperature warms up.   The doorbells are very bad for this issue and in cold climates you must use the non battery version.  What temperatures are you seeing this issue?

[mth123]

It is no longer cold. And all was replaced since.  

[MplsCustomer]

@mth123 

We've had a Google Nest Battery Camera since Sept. 2021--plugged in with the optional power cable--and it's been online and "Live" through almost 3 Minnesota winters.

Judging from other posts in this forum, there are several things that could be at work here:

1) Are you using the 5-meter or 10-meter optional power cable? It seems some customers have had issues trying to use the enclosed 1-meter charging cord to power their camera on an ongoing basis, or have discovered their charging cord was defective.

2) Was your camera plugged in while you installed it in the Google Home app? There is some kind of option or choice that's available only during the install process, where you specify that your camera is plugged in or is running on battery power; if you check the latter, it seems the camera runs off of battery power and tries to charge the battery.

3) Is your power cable plugged in with the cable feeding towards the FRONT of the camera (as its should)? Some customers have had theirs plugged in backwards.

4) Is the USB plug-in seated firmly in the bottom of the camera? Some customers have had problems with their USB plug-in breaking or coming apart, or not seated firmly.

5) Under Settings | Battery for your camera, it should always show as "Plugged in" with an infinity symbol.

[mth123]

I replaced the charging cord, so I ruled that out. I also tested it with a multimeter and it is putting out 15v as it should. I did see the infinity / pluged in on the app. It was seated correctly and facing the correct way.  Thank you for the things to try but I have tried all of them.   

Why am I showing 15v and the camera is plugged in, but it goes dead in 8 hours from a full charge.  It seems as if something is discharging since not plugged in it would last more than 8 hours. 

[MplsCustomer]

@mth123 

I can see these possibilities:

1) I'm not sure you can correctly power the battery camera as a plugged-in camera using the 1-meter charging cord, but I could be wrong.

2) If your camera was originally installed in "battery mode" rather than in "plugged-in mode" (I can't recall what these options are named, since we installed in Sept. 2021) and with the camera plugged in at the time of the install, then I think the camera runs in battery mode even though it is later plugged in. (There are posts in this forum from customers who've had battery problems because they added the optional power cable sometime AFTER their initial install, and were able to resolve them by removing the camera from the Google Home app, doing a factory reset, and reinstalling.)

3) If neither of these is the problem, then maybe you have a defective camera. I know this: If the camera is installed with the optional power cable, and "plugged-in mode" is selected during the install (you can only select this mode during the installation), and is in fact plugged in, then it is running on household current and is NOT even using the battery. In the 2-1/2 years since we've had our battery camera, whenever we've unplugged the camera in order to check the battery level, it's always been between 77% and 100%.

That's my take as just another Google Nest customer.

[mth123]

Thank you for your suggestions.

The camera worked for one year with the 1 meter cord.  Unless Google made a software change to not allow charging with a 1m cord, while still showing on the app that it is plugged in, I dont think this is the problem.

I bought a new camera and have the same issues. So the reset idea was already tried.  This rules out the defective camera idea as well. 

[MplsCustomer]

@mth123 

Unfortunately, Google Nest does not definitively state whether the 1-meter charging cable can be used to POWER the battery camera. The Google Store posting says "If you’re installing Nest Cam outside, you have the option to hardwire it with the weatherproof cable – no charging required." And: "Continuous video recording requires that you wire Nest Cam with the Weatherproof Cable (sold separately)." (https://store.google.com/product/nest_cam_battery)

Further, while this forum has numerous posts from customers asking for a power cable that is shorter than the 5-meter and 10-meter options, not once has Google Nest Support ever suggested using the 1-meter charging cord as a power cable, even though they sell that charging cord separately.

Further, the Google Store lists the weatherproof cable as having a "power adapter keep your Nest Cam connected with continuous power" (https://store.google.com/us/product/nest_cam_weatherproof_cable) while the listing for the charging cord says its a "spare charge cable" "for indoor use only" (https://store.google.com/us/product/nest_cam_charge_cable?hl=en-US).

And over the last 2-1/2 years, I've seen other customer posts that seem to indicate that trying to wire the battery camera using the 1-meter charging cord just doesn't work very well.

And it's not whether the charging cord can CHARGE the battery, but rather whether the charging cord can POWER the camera on an ongoing basis. I'm guessing that the charging cord can CHARGE the battery when it gets depleted, but perhaps cannot POWER the camera on an ongoing basis, even though it shows as "plugged in" when it is in use.

Also you mentioned your problem started when temperatures got very cold. As Google Nest disclosed about 18 months ago (and only after NUMEROUS customer complaints), "At temperatures between -4°F (-20°C) and 32°F (0°C), the battery can still power your device, but it won’t charge. It may also drain more quickly than usual. At temperatures close to -4°F (-20°C), your battery may have less than half the life that it has in warm weather." (https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/11830989)

[mth123]

Thank you again for your help. Yesterday I tested all parts with a multimeter. I changed the transformer part that the usb plugs into for the 1M cable.  It is working now after 24 hours.  I replaced an aftermarket transformer with the same one but new.  The next thing I will try if this doesn't work it to use the 5M instead. It could be that google detects a certain cable 

The power source is on a circuit that has a dimmer.  This could be an issue, but I tested the volts at the 1m cable connection and the output was the same at full power or half power. 

[EdmondB]

Hey everyone, 

@mth123, thanks for reaching back out to us. I'm glad to hear that everything's sorted out now. If you need anything else, just let us know we're always here to help.

Thanks for the help, @MplsCustomer. 

Best,
Edmond