Battery Doorbell Continuous Recording

[Ram_799163019051222]

Can there be a software change that allows the battery doorbell cam to record 24/7 while it is connected to my houses electrical wiring. I understand why its not able to do that while it's in battery mode, but if it is constantly getting power from my electrical, I don't see why that wouldn't be an issue. I have other cameras (Google Battery Cam) that are also labeled as "battery powered" but they give me option to record 24/7 when its is connected to power. It's a nice camera but there are some key features that are missing that can be fixed with a software and UI update.

[joseph_1979]

@ram_799163019051222 Unfortunately no. If used as 24x7 the consumed current will be higher than the charging current. Opt for a POE or mains powered WIFI doorbell for 24x7 recording.

[Onlooker_890638347890931]

@joseph_1979 Not true. You can test yourself by keeping camera live (manually don't let it sleep) and you'll see the battery stays fully charged. If you plug a USB power meter into it, you can also see the live power usage(charging vs 100% charge and running).

A wireless powered doorbell uses 3watts; a 1amp USB charger is 5W, and even 2A USB chargers work so...

Reolink is being quite lazy not implementing 'easy' features to make their cameras at least as functional as 15 year old Panasonic security cameras.. I want to buy more Reolink for the quality/power but hard to justify when you just can't get them to work right.

https://community.reolink.com/topic/15223/feature-requests-easily-make-reolink-much-better?post_id=36148&_=1739466286563

[weiliang]

@onlooker_890638347890931 You are describing charging via USB, which when I discussed with Reolink support they did not recommend (for the Battery Doorbell) because it was not sufficiently rated for water ingress. But with charging via the two terminals (AC/DC) - the Battery Doorbell does not charge simultaneously during the time the video stream is open. When charging by DC current to the two terminals, I measured that it is 0.5 - 0.6 Watts during the actual time it is trickle charging

[joseph_1979]

@onlooker_890638347890931 Depends how much it is triggered. Once I tested an Argus 4 Pro on an intense traffic road and it didn't cope.

[Onlooker_890638347890931]

@joseph_1979 @weiliang There could be some exception, but generally internals of electronics just try to maintain voltage; so if the power input(available) is sufficient it'll go where it is needed... I have encountered insufficient external power before... running camera/features-on-max while plugged in, the battery % goes from 100%, to 99, to 98,97, down to potentially 0... This was resolved by having a higher amperage external charger/power supply...
This can have it's negatives hypothetically; if the battery is low, and device is in 'low power usage mode'; a higher capacity power supply can pump too much power, too quickly into a battery... With these low power cameras etc.. I'm sure one could find a happy medium.

I myself use an Argus 3E for 'hours at a time'(constantly clicking 'stay alive') with external power during daylight hours; it runs just fine; I wonder if anyone at reolink is gonna make those feature requests (ugh).. really could use a bypass to the sleep(keep alive checkbox, regardless of battery state) and ftp upload of images in the timelapse(most important) and those filenames uploaded really need an identifier for the type of event triggered(timer, motion pir, motion videodetection, yada).

USB connection is what the 3E uses for 'outdoor'/external power maintaining its waterproof rating .. I donno.. Reolink excuses perhaps.

[joseph_1979]

@onlooker_890638347890931 It is the battery charger that controls the charging current, not the chargers power supply. In most lithium battery powered devices the charger is integrated into the device itself, and using a higher amperage power source has no effect on the charging current whatsoever. Devices where you can set the charging current as you wish, like radio controlled models, but those are in the minority.

[Onlooker_890638347890931]

@joseph_1979 They call it a BMS, battery management system and in theory they can do anything but in reality all(and temperature, and cell balancing) most do is cutoff the battery once a cell/battery is fully charged. Hence phones or whatever charges twice as fast with a 2amp power supply vs 1amp. IF* the charger/power supply is too high, it reads 'fully/overly charged too quickly, faster than the cells can absorb and 'trips it saying 'full' ; but then your device seems to power down quick.. ie: Sometimes why your battery will last longer when charged on a weaker/slower charger..

Just sitting here cursing Ring for "Ending livestream" cause I don't pay for a local camera, and Reolink for prompting to "stop live view cause of battery that is 100%"; Also have some delayed video even tho i have it on fluent at least kbps possible thats making me think of trying a different router; except in other 'apps' i don't see the lag so...... Watching dogs in backyard.

[joseph_1979]

@onlooker_890638347890931 I know what is BMS and as stated the charging current is set by the charging cct within the cam. Even though you see it 100% charged, it is not 100%. To prolong the life of lithium batteries, they are normally charged to 80%. No need to delve further.

For all battery cams, there is a delay of say 6 to 10s. Only the PIR and the WIFI ccts are consuming current. Application is in cold state. This is triggered once PIR detects an object ot the WIFI cct detects a preamble message. Battery cams is better than having nothing. For prompt reply one has to opt for POE.

[yofiveoh_476071468032204]

@ram_799163019051222
I'm not sure why you purchased a battery powered doorbell if you have existing wiring to power a WiFi version. I installed a Reolink WiFi doorbell, powered it with the existing doorbell wires, and record 24/7 to my Reolink NVR. Works like a charm.