‎Outdoor Camera draining while plugged in | SimpliSafe Support Home
 
ambarro's profile

Friday, March 29th, 2024 2:07 PM

Outdoor Camera draining while plugged in

My battery at first lasted quite a few months with the power cord plugged in, then suddenly the battery was dead.  I put in a replacement battery and again plugged it into the power cord; two days later, that battery was dead.  I put up a new battery 5 days ago and it's already down to 39%.  I bought the power cord so I wouldn't have to continuously climb precariously to change the battery on my camera.  Why did I and others pay good money for the AC attachment when I see these posts that the AC is not keeping the battery charged?  

This post was created from this comment on different post

Captain

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6.2K Messages

8 months ago

@ambarro I have 2 outdoor cameras, both on the SS AC sit, and they work fine, no issues with dead batteries. Appears either 1. you don't have it plugged into a reliable outlet or 2. its defective and will be replaced under warranty. Call SS to troubhleshoot. Please post your outcome here if you get a chance.

7 Messages

Thanks captain.  The first thing I did was check the outlet to make sure it had not stopped working on me.  I plugged another appliance into it and it worked perfectly.  I'm resetting the camera per SS's suggestion

(edited)

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

8 months ago

Hi @ambarro ,

You're right. The whole point of the Power Adapter accessory is to keep your Outdoor Camera powered indefinitely. The batteries should only be kicking in if the power from the outlet is interrupted. So what you describe shouldn't be happening at all.

The first thing we want to check is that the Power Adapter is fully plugged in. You want to make sure that it snaps fully into place on the camera side, and of course that it's secured into your wall socket inside your home.

The next thing that could be a problem is that the camera could be using so much power that the power cable isn't able to recharge fast enough to keep up. Unless you happen to have the camera in an extremely high-traffic area, or if you're livestreaming non-stop through the day, then there might be an issue with your camera's firmware.

So I would suggest that you try a reset your camera, so we can start over fresh. You can find instructions here.

But finally, if you continue to have issues, our Support team can help with further troubleshooting, and possibly even a replacement if necessary.

7 Messages

thank you.  After trying a third battery that lasted only 3 days, I reset the camera as you suggested.  Fingers crossed.  

(edited)

7 Messages

Reset the camera; installed a third, brand new battery; changed settings to only pick up foot traffic and the battery, 3 days later is down to 83%.  I do not think the "fix" is working.  There is nothing wrong with the outlet, it has power.  

Community Admin

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3.4K Messages

@ambarro​ Since you're still noticing this battery drain after adjusting the camera's settings and resetting it, the next step here would be to reach out to our Support team. They'll be able to take a deeper look into your account, and send out a replacement if needed.

7 Messages

@emily_s​ The camera was replaced and the battery continues to drain.  I'm replacing the cord on my own.  Noone in Technical support has thought to ask about that.

3 Messages

I think the SS cameras are just junk mine do the same thing I have 4 of them and they all go dead  my neighbor across the street have some $39 wyze camera that will follow the motion with way higher resolution and can reach 5 houses down with clear view when I spent a $170 a piece on these SS cameras and they're totally garbage

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