Hi All,
Has anyone else encountered solar panels no longer charging their cameras?
I’ve got Reolink Solar panels connected to two of my 2c cameras, but I’ve noticed they are no longer charging the cameras.
I’ve checked both solar panels and they charge other usb items like power banks and mobile phones, even on a cloudy overcast day. I’m wondering has Eufy done a firmware update so cameras will only charge from Eufy solar panels now.
Has anyone else experienced a similar issue with solar power charging?
Thanks
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Have you changed the Power source setting? Eufy did an update that added a power source setting that will let you choose between battery and solar panel. The setting is at the bottom of the Power Manager page for each camera. This is probably to keep the charge controller from overcharging when hooked to the solar panel, but it may have other functionality.
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but. @preset mentioned is possibly why it’s no longer charging the cameras. If they reached max charge then the controller would shut off stopping them from being overcharged. Also make sure the panels are clean, dirt/dust/pollen can impede charging and with as much pollen that’s been blanketing some states it would be enough to disrupt solar charging.
Same issue here. Although I’m using a different solar panels, they were working a couple of weeks ago but now no longer charging the eufy cameras.
Solar panels are working and charging other devices fine.
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Are the cams losing charge or just staying at around the same level? If they are losing charge while still hooked up, then you may have had more activations or longer recordings and the solar power isn’t enough to compensate. If the cams are just staying at a point somewhere between 80-95% and not charging further, that’s just the charge controller shutting down early to prevent overcharge. It sounds like your panels are OK.
For about $10 on Amazon, you can get a USB voltmeter that will tell you voltage and current from the panel. If you go that route, make sure that one or both of the connections on the voltmeter has a micro-usb connector so you can plug it between the solar panel cord and the camera.
Mine started the same last week. It drains the battery and in Solar Panel Mode, it doesn’t recharge …
Switched now to battery mode and it indicates charging (via the connected panel, now from 2% to 5% with loading flash displayed) … very strange
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If you are down to less than 20%, I would charge it manually until it gets to 80-90%. That way the solar panel doesn’t have to work so hard to bring it back. The Eufy panels are only 2.6 watts, which is good enough for maintaining a charge under normal conditions.
If you have more than 10 activations a day, or recording times longer than 30 seconds, or both, you could still draw your batteries down even when they are hooked to the panel. The panel only supplies a max of 500 ma of current under full sunlight, so cloudy or shaded, it won’t provide enough to catch up if your activations go up or your recording times are longer.
I’m having the same problem, it started about 3-4 week ago… I have the Eufy solar panels with the EufyCam 2c pro cameras.
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I’m having the same problem. Two 2c cameras; one charges with the solar panel and one doesn’t. Checked the panel to make sure there wasn’t something wrong with it. I recharged the camera via usb and it is losing power. The other 2c camera is at 100%.
The Reolink Solar panel produces too high a voltage in very bright light (our now current summer). This interferes with the eufy cam circuitry (not Reolinks own cameras though).
You could try pointing the camera down at an angle to avoid strong summer sunlight.
It should show the moving charging indicator if working and in non solar mode.
An issue I found is if switching to solar mode it will stop charging and even switching back to non solar does not fix this. You have to switch the camera off from the app and physically block light to the solar panel. It will then start charging again on reintroduction of low-level light.
It seems to be an issue with eufycam charging circuitry not liking over voltages. It likely worked for you before because we weren’t in the middle of summer.
Let me know if this works for you
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A further update from my last post. When the sunlight level is less bright ( summer evening) - you can switch between in battery and solar charging without issue - it will show the active charging when on battery mode without having to switch the camera on and off.
Even having adjusted the solar panel downward, summer sunlight is still too bright causing the camera not to charge. I am going to experiment with a step down voltage converter - buck converter - to see if this helps. I suppose a simpler option maybe to put some coloured filter over the solar panel.
Hi
I’m having the same problem with my 2C Pro cameras I just installed. Did you get your voltage step-down controller to work?
I’m also trying putting some tape over the panel to reduce voltage from it (the panel gets a lot of sun in my location).
If you are using the Eufy panel and set to solar, it should take care of any charge cycling and keep your batteries somewhere between 75% and 90%. Other panels don’t trigger the charge cycling which will overcharge and sometimes cause the cams to shut down.
Solution: in my case, it was high voltage from a non-Eufy solar panel. I installed a voltage regulator, set it to 5 volts, and the 2C Pro charged just fine.
If any of you are interested, I used this panel, and one of these voltage regulators though these require soldering and something like this might be easier to use.
Ive been reading about the voltage being too high from after market or non Eufy Panels but im sure I read somewhere that the cams can charge with either a 5V or 9V charger… if this is the case, does it not mean that a panel spitting out 5V - 6V should still work?
I got 2 panels which are supposed to be 5v 20w
Both cameras connected are not showing charging… The percentages of their batteries was 84% when I installed and has dropped steadily down to 72% over the course of about a week. It’s full on hot summer here in northern Australia.
Is it because the panels are providing too much power?
If this is the case why do the cameras not mind when I plug them into a high wattage charger at home?
The Eufy battery cams are meant to be charged using the Homebase. It outputs 5 volts dc at 2 amps. I have verified that it is 4.99 vdc with a voltmeter when charging a camera at 50% SOC.
If you overcharge lithium batteries, bad things will happen, so it looks to me like the camera will stop charging if the voltage is too high. At the moment I don’t have a camera I can sacrifice to science so I only tested for a couple of minutes.
Also, Eufy brand solar panels have a resistor between a couple of the data lines that let the camera know its a Eufy panel. Not sure what its does, but other 3party panels don’t have that resistor. It may be tied in to the Solar Source in Power Manager to let the camera cycle charge if it has too much.
@gme33 Have you checked to see what voltage your panels are delivering. I have seen several 3party panels that deliver anywhere from 9-15 volts, which will probably stop the cams from charging. A USB voltmeter is only about $15 from Amazon and they are a great troubleshooting tool.
I am having a hard time updating the app to get the to the point where I get the solar panel charging I have done everything I am also scared to delete the app and download it again because I would loose all my information can anyone help everte I tried to download it it’s says it will take time but it doesn’t actually update, please help me anyone?
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I have purchased solar panels that are supposed to be 5v 4w and they seem to charge and then just stop charging. The one that does charge fine is weirdly in the shade and I have turned all the other ones facing down and they also seem to charge now. I would prefer to have them facing the sun to get the most charging power from them.
Has anyone found a cheap solution to making sure only 5w 2a goes into the camera if that is what the problem people are suggesting on here. As I need a micro usb in and the regulators I see are always the large usb.
Especially when the price for each solar panel is extremely expensive considering what they actually are and do.
I’ve had the same issue with my 2C cameras not charging in full sun but they do charge if they are in shaded light. I did charge 2 to 100% and the panels on those are in full sun and so far, after about a month, they are still at 100%. They don’t get set off very often but one would need to be recharge every 3 weeks which is poor for cameras which are only about 18months old. The other 2 are at 59 and 94 % and charging, however slowly.
I stumbled across the problem when I noticed the cameras charging early morning or late evening but not during the day.
Changing between the settings of battery and solar panel in the app makes no difference to their operation, only the blue charging light on the camera which doesn’t come on if it’s set to solar. Obviously to save a bit of power.