Outdoor Camera Battery Drains Quickly

I had the same thing happen to me. I’m getting a replacement camera now, and sending the old one back. Hopefully this was a fluke. 

@datkinson1958​ I have a camera outside set for people only and I even purchased a second battery so I could have one charged up when the other one died. I’m very disappointed that the battery was dead in about 3 weeks.

@genekeenan​ that's definitely not normal. Even after turning the settings down, are you still seeing a high number of motion alerts? And have you already tried resetting the camera to factory settings, in case it was a firmware issue?

@ambrose03in​ the 3-6 months would be the expected span with default settings (including People Only) in an average neighborhood. So what you're describing is very unusual.

Are you seeing a high number of false motion alerts?

Firmware 1.10 has some updates that improve performance. If your cam doesn't have it already, hopefully we get it rolled out to you soon.

Admit it Davey.  The camera batteries are junk.   They take almost as long to charge as they last.   I have three of them and only one has lasted longer than a week before needing recharged.  And it is the one that is the most active.  The other two need to be recharged weekly.   One maybe gets tripped 15-20 times in that time frame.   I can get 1000 HD pictures on my trail cameras before the batteries go dead.

I ended up buying the solar panels because at almost 70, I really don't appreciate having to get up on ladders all the time.  They panels better solve the problem or I will get a different system.

I'm disappointed. I left for a 3-week vacation, and within only five days, my battery was dead. I've also had the settings at the most economical possible. The only daily alert was from the mailman. So, I have no front door outside camera, the most important one. I think I'll send the system back when I return. The rest of the equipment works fine, but the outside cameras are way out of line.

@spd522​ do you use the solar panels with the junk batteries? Bc I too have junk batteries and was considering that option or going hard wired. 

@marcos9999​ With so few motion notifications and the proper camera settings turned on, your camera's battery shouldn't be draining that quickly. I would recommend reaching out to our Support team, as you may need a new battery.

Hi @rajan_gandotra​, welcome to the community!

As a first step, let's have you confirm which firmware version your cameras are running. You can see this on the SimpliSafe app by going to the three-bar menu then selecting My System > Camera Settings > Choose your Camera. Once on that page, scroll to the bottom until you see software version. We'd want this to be on 1.10.

If you are running 1.10, the next thing I'd be curious about is the placement of the camera. Does it face a busy street with lots of cars or pedestrians? If so, it might be best to set up activity zones to alert for motion only when it's on your property. You can do this under the three-bar menu > My System > Camera Settings > Choose your Camera > Motion Detection.

@billstreep​ so sorry to hear that battery life isn't as expected for your Outdoor Camera. Yes, we do estimate up to 3-6 months under typical conditions, but factors like activity level, connection strength, and environment do play a factor. If you haven't already, I suggest reaching out to our Support team and we can help bring that battery life up a bit!

Thanks. 

I have 4 outdoor cameras and 3 indoor cameras. The indoor cameras only record anything when the alarm is armed. I need the outdoor cameras to act in the same way. I’m unsure why the cameras are designed to act differently - what’s the design justification there?

Having motion detection enabled on the outdoor cameras all the time means that every time my kids go into the back garden (which is all the time) and very time my wife and I go out the front door (also all the time), the cameras detect motion and record us. 

If the cameras only detected motion when the alarm was armed, then they’d only record intruders and therefore not waste so much battery. It’s not practical for me to turn motion detection off on every outdoor camera every time my kids want to go into the back garden or every time me or my wife leave the house. That’s more hassle than just changing the batteries every week (as I’m currently having to do). 

On the alarm home/away mode - I need a day and a night setting for each.

When I’m at home at night, I want all my sensors armed. When I’m at home during the day, I only want my window sensors and garage motion/door sensors armed. 

When I’m away at night, I’ll still want everything armed. But when I’m away during the day I’d want some of my motion sensors off (to account for the areas my dog has access to - I know you can put the motion sensors upside down to only detect motion at height, but my dog jumps on the couches and beds in those rooms so there’s a risk that she’ll still set them off). 

There is definitely a hole in SimpliSafe’s functionality. 

@jonnielewisfilm​ We have submitted a request to our dev team to bind the Outdoor Camera's motion notifications to the system's armed state - just like you see with the SimpliCam. When we hear any news from them, we will provide an update in this thread. In the meantime, I would suggest enabling Snooze Notifications when people are outside and you don't want to receive multiple motion notifications. 

I will also forward your suggestion for multiple Home and Away settings to our dev team!

@jonnielewisfilm​ I have the exact same complaint. Its such a simple fix to make the outdoor camera only detect motion when its armed. My outdoor camera is also in my backyard. Camera lasts less than one week. Its so bad had I not purchased on Prime Day I'd return. I might put an indoor camera outside under my covered patio. 

@emily_s​ snoozing should be a permanent option after the first trigger, like Swann cameras do.  Not on a per incident bases. My bigger issue is it should have the same options as the indoor camera my battery on my outdoor camera lasts les than one week because of using my backyard.  

Mine has lasted about a day. Getting a replacement camera now. Hopefully it last like advertised. The customer support was very easy to work with and kind. 

Good to know. Getting my replacement camera due to an original bad battery. Thinking of doing solar if that doesn’t work. Do you use your solar with that “bad” battery? 

@drewtbridge​ They do have a 25' power cord if you have an outlet within reach. They should be giving them to everyone until they get batteries that last as well as Arlo cams do.

@Sadie​ there might be something else going on with your specific unit. Have you already been working with our Support team? Perhaps a replacement battery or camera might be the next step for you.

I've actually been charging mine for 24 hours and the battery has been draining to nearly half overnight. I just took a different battery off the charger, slid it in a camera and it reads as 56%. They've got a quality issue with these outdoor cameras, as I've already had one of my three replaced and I'm barely into eight months of ownership.

And I'm in wholehearted agreement about receiving a spare battery we can just swap.

@SJMCK​ If this new camera's battery is draining, it can help to look at the environment of this camera and its settings. Is this camera facing a high-traffic area like a busy street or a bird feeder and triggers more than 10 motion events a day, it could cause this camera's battery to deplete faster. If this is the case, I would look into setting Activity Zones to avoid motion detection for these areas, or slightly reposition the camera. 

You can also lower the camera's motion sensitivity and enable People-Only motion detection to further preserve the life of the camera's battery. You can learn more about off of these settings in this Help Center article.

This camera's battery is a useless piece of trash!  I have charged it several times in a month.  I have limited its view, resolution, and motion sensitivity to the lowest, almost unusable, and still the camera is draining the battery very quickly.  We live in a secluded neighborhood with no significant traffic, motion, or noise of any sort.  

I am extremely disappointed.  I don't know what SimpliSafe's folks are saying when they talk about "settings".  The only way for this camera's battery to maybe last 3 months is to turn it off and never use it!

• SimpliSafe needs to save its reputation or lose business very quickly.

@aimsaka​ this rapid draining is extremely unusual, especially since you mention that it's not even pointed at a high traffic area.

I suggest resetting that camera to factory settings by pressing the button in the back for 30 seconds (or until you hear the confirmation tone). You can then follow the setup process again in the SimpliSafe app.

But if that doesn't work, the next step is a replacement camera. Our Support team would be happy to help.

Same issue here with the battery draining.  

I noticed one response here saying “is it recording people on the sidewalk?”  Isn’t that the point of the camera, I’m confused.  So instead of recording the 9 or 10 people who walk in front of the house every day and wanting to see if they choose to come on the property because the camera does have a lead up time to turning on(I can run from the sidewalk to the house and it won’t turn on in time), I’m forced to set the camera to only record the drive which means it just drains the battery to empty as it records an entire episode of me loading and unloading my truck.

I have asked about why there isn’t another setting besides “home” and “away” and they say you shouldn’t need it.

Like a lot of people, I don’t live in fear when we’re awake and moving around the property.  What we care about is when we’re sleeping, when we’re away.

All cameras, all devices should have granular level control so I can tell my outdoor camera that I only want it on at “Night” or “Away”.  If the batteries can’t cut it these devices need to be hardwired.

Anyway, I’m returning the system.  It’s just not reliable and it doesn’t record when I need it to.

@Bfhdkcubedj​ I'm concerned that perhaps your camera is using energy faster than it can replenish, which could cause this battery drain. 

If you haven't already, I would try resetting your camera by pressing and holding the button on the back for 30 seconds. When you release the button, you will be prompted to set the camera up again in the SimpliSafe mobile app.

If a reset doesn't help, there may be a hardware issue, so we would want to replace that camera. Our Support team can help with the replacement.