‎Outdoor cam battery issue now wont connect | SimpliSafe Support Home
 

Saturday, November 6th, 2021 1:01 PM

Outdoor cam battery issue now wont connect

This is the second time i have had an issue with this problem. The back yard camera is charged then a week later in the middle of the night i get a notification of low battery then immediately critical battery camera shutting down. I swapped a charged battery in and now the camera wont reconnect and the app still says dead battery. I have tried holding the test button down for 20 seconds to no avail. Please help.

Captain

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6.2K Messages

3 years ago

@lvrs first suggestion is to log into the SS website and change your forum handle for privacy reasons, not using your email.

As far as the battery, it should last much longer than 1 week and, of course, when you put a fully charged one in should reconnect. Hitting the reset button alone won't do it, and you should try removing the camera completely and then reinstall it.  Call SS support and work through it with a support agent. Also, use a signal app like Ookla's Speet Test (available for windows laptop, android or apple iOS phones) and make sure where you have it installed your wifi signal is strong enough.  If not, you may have to get a WIFI extender or another mesh point, depending on your setup.

SS has an excellent diagnostic tool for the Simplicams that they are working on (quickly it is hoped) to put into the Outdoor camera section of the phone apps.

Good luck and please post your outcome here if you get a chance.

Captain

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6.2K Messages

3 years ago

Dup.

3 years ago

This is the second time and second camera this has happened to in the middle of the night. The camera will not turn on at all nor will it connect.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

3 years ago

lvrskroach,

This initially sounded like an issue our engineers are currently investigating, but the fact that the camera hasn't come back online even with a fresh battery is new to me. We're having a Tech Specialist reach out to investigate.

- Davey D.
Community Development Manager
SimpliSafe Home Security

3 years ago

Has this issue been resolved? I am having the exact same problem.  I got a warning message suddenly that the battery was critically low (I had only replaced it a week earlier)  I swapped it out with a freshly charged battery and the camera will not activate.

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@TheGringoShow​ the latest firmware update for the Outdoor Camera does resolve the rapid draining. But we might need to replace your camera if it's not booting up at all. Give us a call at 800-548-9508 and we'll help with troubleshooting.

3 Messages

2 years ago

The problem I'm having is the same one @GringoShow is having. I swapped in a freshly charged battery (just charged fully right before the swap) and the camera still says low battery and it says Offline. I removed and reinstalled the battery several times. What do you suggest?

1 Message

2 years ago

I too am having the identical problem for a second time. The first time SS sent a new battery. This is the first time I have received a recharge notice on the replacement and after I recharged it and put it back in the camera, the camera has stayed offline and still indicates the battery needs a charge. The tech support person was nice but not helpful, only telling me to update my keypad. At all times, my only other camera (interior) was/is working fine. Very frustrating and more so now that I see I am not alone.

This comment was created from this reply

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@franklaw_1Updating your Base Station to the latest version might have helped performance (since motion detection signaling does depend on the Base Station a bit). But the Outdoor Camera does have its own firmware, which updates automatically. If there was a software issue with the camera, it would be in there.

One more thing to try is to place maybe a piece of card or paper on the other side of the battery contacts - to hold the battery in tighter. That might be the issue here as well. If so, or even if that doesn't work, then the next step might be the to replace the camera altogether.

1 Message

I am having the same problem with my outdoor camera.  Received message recording shut down due to critical battery low.  I just replaced with fully charged battery less than a week ago.  So I charged and replaced battery again but camera still saying need to recharge battery.  The camera is giving me a flashing blue light.   Based on above complaints it looks like this is an ongoing problem.  What is going on and how do I resolve this issue?

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@rsmalo​ have you already tried a hard reset of the camera? You can do so by pressing the sync button in the back for 16 seconds. That will fully refresh the device, and it might clear out firmware issues, if there are any.

But if not, then the solution might be a replacement under warranty. Our Support team at 800-548-9508 can take care of that ASAP.

1 Message

I am having the same problem as described above:

One of my outdoor cameras reported low battery (even though I have it on the SS solar panel which is in a very sunny spot and I live in California)

Pressing the reset button on the back for even 30s does absolutely nothing

The camera keeps flashing blue when it has a battery and sees motion, else it is dark. So it appears to work normally, just refuses to connect.

There is no chime when inserting a charged battery.

Leaving the battery out for hours also does not seem to reset the camera.

My suspicion is that the camera itself is stuck in some sort of firmware bug.

Any further tips from SS support?

Thanks

J

Community Admin

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5.7K Messages

@jk123,

 

If the camera can't even successfully reset, then the only other option is a replacement. Our Support team can help with that.

1 Message

7 months ago

2 cameras in system will not work, fresh charged battery installed, reset camera, nothing. The whole system might be a year old but if anything, is less than a year. 

1. Why does the battery drain so fast?

2. Why would it be working fine before needing the battery charged?

3. Why is the next option to replace the faulty ones with new ones?

4. With this being such a seemingly common issue, why wouldn't SS send quality cameras especially at the price of them in the first place?

(edited)

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