Maximizing the Battery Life of the Outdoor Security Camera Series 2
Updated
The Outdoor Security Camera Series 2 has a battery life of up to 3 months, depending on settings and usage. To help maximize the life of the camera’s battery, we recommend making the following adjustments to its settings and location.
Camera Location
Your camera is activated by a motion sensor for accurate alerts. If your camera is in the vicinity of a high-traffic area, like a busy road or sidewalk, the motion sensor will be triggered more frequently for unnecessary movement, which can cause the battery to drain.
If your camera is in a high-traffic area:
Reposition the camera so its field of view does not include the busy road or sidewalk. You can also set up Activity Zones to avoid monitoring these areas.
Make sure that there are no tree branches or large plants obstructing the camera’s view.
Be sure to mount your camera 6-8 feet above the ground, with the lens facing downward at a 30-degree angle.
Camera Settings
There are multiple settings that can be adjusted to help extend the battery life of your camera. To access these settings in the SimpliSafe® Mobile App:
Select My System from the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen
Choose Camera Settings
Select your Outdoor Camera Series 2
Battery-saving Settings:
Lower your camera’s motion sensitivity settings to Medium or Low - this will impact how frequently the camera is triggered.
Enable People-Only motion detection to ensure your camera only captures humans, and is not unnecessarily triggered by other moving objects or animals.
Set up Activity Zones to control the areas that the camera will monitor. This is helpful if there is a high-traffic zone in the view that you do not need to monitor.
Use Standard Night Vision instead of the Spotlight feature.
Charge the Camera’s Battery Fully
Charge it Completely
If the battery for the Outdoor Camera Series 2 isn’t completely charged, it will give the appearance of draining quickly. The camera’s battery takes up to 6 hours to charge completely. When the battery is charging, you will see a blinking white light. You’ll know that the battery is fully charged once all 3 lights are illuminated and no longer blinking.
Use the Correct Power Adapter
The battery for the Outdoor Camera Series 2 requires a USB power adapter with an output of 5.0V, 1.5A+. Failure to use the correct power adapter can result in the battery not charging completely.
A list of power adapters that fit this requirements are:
The SimpliCam® Wired Indoor Security Camera’s adapter
The Smart Alarm Wireless Indoor Security Camera’s adapter
Most cell phone adapters
If you don’t know the output of your power adapter, most models will have it printed on the device itself - as seen in the image below.
If you are using the correct power adapter, make sure that you are plugging it into an outlet directly in a wall. Using a USB power strip or USB power hub may not supply efficient power to charge the battery.