I’m struggling with my Wyze Video Doorbell Duo Cam and wanted to see if anyone else has solved this. Even though I am hardwired to a powerful 24V 40VA transformer, my battery is depleting rapidly.
My Setup:
Device: Wyze Video Doorbell Duo Cam(using the Wyze Wi-Fi Chime, no mechanical chime).
Power: 24V 40VA Transformer.
Wiring: 15ft run of 18 AWG Tinned Copper Silicone wire
The Issue:
A few weeks ago, the battery would stay maintained for 14+ days. Now, it only lasts a couple of days before the camera shuts down and I have to manually recharge it via USB. I’m seeing gaps in my sd card timeline where the camera seems to be rebooting or losing power.
A 24V transformer usually puts out 28-30V since it is assuming you’re going to have a long run of old thin cable, but you have a short run of pretty heavy gauge cable so there is very little voltage drop. Most likely you’ve overloaded the doorbell. It could be permanently damaged, or maybe you’ve gotten lucky and just swapping in a 20V transformer will put it back to normal.
I have been tracking my power draw using a Kasa Smart Plug. For this test, both the Wi-Fi extender and the doorbell transformer are plugged into the Kasa. These numbers show a clear drop in power when the camera is active.
The Exact Numbers:
Base Load: 2.67W (Wi-Fi extender only; transformer unplugged).
Idle System: 8.43W (Everything plugged in; camera is not being viewed).
Active System: 6.29W (Everything plugged in; during a livestream).
The Takeaway:
When I start a livestream the doorbell , the total power draw at the plug drops by 2.14W.
This shows that the camera actually pulls less power from the transformer while I am watching it. Since I livestream 24/7, the camera is constantly in this “low-draw” state. This explains why my battery drains to 0% in a few days despite being hardwired—the camera seems to prioritize the video feed over charging the battery.
Not sure if that is the expected result or not. It is possible the charge controller has been damaged, or maybe it can only either charge the battery or power the cam, and not both.
From your original post it sounded like this was something new and that it was fine before, but is that around the time you started watching the livestream all the time?
@Glens - Why 24/7 livestreaming? That’s a huge demand on a battery based cam. The purpose of the transformer is to maintain the charge in the battery but your demand exceeds that ability. The operation of the duo is solely from the battery. Hardwired is a misstatement based on the duo’s battery operational functions. 24/7 livestreaming is not doable and maintaining the battery charge. There has to be down time to recharge the battery. It’s that simple.
Agreed, except it isn’t necessarily intuitive, especially in the days where everyone is used to their phone and laptop being able to charge and be in use at the same time. I suppose it isn’t unreasonable to expect the cam to support this, but sounds like it doesn’t. Sort of like USB power banks, some can charge and operate the output at the same time, others won’t.
If I had to guess, Wyze probably figures most people have an old 16v 10 to 15vA transformer and they wanted to make sure it didn’t get overloaded. Those things can get really hot and even catch fire if they’re running heavy load all the time, and it could cause the cam to be unstable, reboot, etc. So the build in controller probably switches back and forth as needed.
The other design would be that the battery is always powered by the transformer and the cam is always powered by the battery but that would probably severely impact the lifespan of the battery, so switching back and forth is actually good for most people’s use case.
I don’t remember which one it was, but I have a vague memory of a topic here a year or so ago discussing the operation and how Duo Cam Doorbell requires the installation of the battery even when it’s wired. I think maybe that requirement was confusing to a number of users after that product launched.
I think there was even one when I was looking at them (may have been Blink) that the wires were strictly for operating the chime and did not power or charge the battery at all. Don’t think it was a Wyze cam but I thought that was very misleading (and according to the reviews, many others did too).
My guess is that the cam can’t draw power from the transformer directly since it runs off DC and the transformer puts out AC. So they probably only built the AC to DC conversion into the battery charging circuit (since that’s a standard function of that circuit), and not the cam itself.
As to why it stops charging when the livestream is being viewed, I’m guessing that’s for battery longevity and potentially safety so the battery doesn’t get too hot.
In theory it wouldn’t be hard to have the AC to DC conversion happen earlier in the circuit so it could power the cam and charge the battery, but probably costs more and may still have risks from heat (and the fact that many people’s transformers wouldn’t be able to handle that).
I’m late to this thread but I may add to the data points.
About 3 weeks ago I upgraded from a v2 doorbell to a duo cam. The v2 had been running for almost 2 years but I wanted the newer features of the duo cam.
Whats interesting is the instalation was as easy as they come. The unit fired right up, connected 5gHz. I noticed a new icon that appeared to denote that there was a battery but it was on wired power. I watched the icon for a day or two and never observed the battery symbol alone. Screen shot follows (upper left hand corner) :
@ronl4625 - The plug symbol inside the battery icon is acknowledging the battery is being charged via a hardwired source. It does not confirm the duo is operating from a source other than the battery, thus the dual icon.
Add to the confusion, the Battery Cam Pro (BCP) when hardwired does not require the battery to be installed, but the battery icon is displayed with the plug in it. On the otherhand, if the BCP is connected via solar panel, it does require the battery to be installed as the solar panel is only charging the battery and the icon reflects the charged status. I have both installations active in network.
Considering the battery mah size of the duo, that time is probably to be expected. But you are also draining the life of the battery and that time will continue to decrease unless there is measurable downtime and a decrease in continuous recording.
I would not conclude something is wrong with the duo, i.e. defective. It’s just not designed for the type of use being imposed on it.
We got the first WYZE doorbell camera and it was OK for a while - not it hardly ever works. And the MYWYZE online webpage (where you can go to watch your cameras on you PC - well the cameras, especially the doorbell camera 9which is powered by the doorbell wiring, NEVER connects. I wish the folks at WYZE really cared about fixing things AFTER they release them.
I installed a duo cam doorbell last April 2025, When I first installed it I did something wrong and it thought it was not hardwired. I deleted and reinstalled, and it has been recording to the SD card continuously 24/7 for 9+ months without the battery ever running down. My transformer is a 16v/30va. My house’s mechanical chime is disconnected and I am using the Wyze Chime.
Other probably noon-relevant info: It’s on a 2.4Ghz IoT network with 4 other Wyze cams (2 V3, 2 V4) and 3 Wyze light switches. And about 30 other devices.
My old WYZE door bell camera doesn’t have the ability to add an SD card, although I did see a video on YouTube on a guy who figured out how to add an SD card - I believe he used an OTC connector??Will this work?
FINAL UPDATE: My Findings on Power and Livestreaming
Thanks for the help, everyone. Because I’ve been dealing with package theft and harassment, I really wanted this camera to stay “Live” 24/7. However, I’ve finally figured out why my battery kept hitting 0% and why my SD card had gaps in the recordings.
The Background:
Before buying, I checked the Amazon product page, which states that when the doorbell is hardwired, you can “livestream continuously without battery concerns”.
My Real-World Experience:
Even though I have a strong transformer and good wiring, my experience was different from that description:
Battery Drain: When I kept the livestream running all day, my battery still drained to 0% in just a couple of days.
Power Drop: My power monitor showed that the camera actually uses less power from the wall while I’m watching it, which is why the battery can’t keep up.
SD Card Gaps: While streaming 24/7, I noticed gaps in my SD card recordings where the camera missed several minutes.
Solution:
As soon as I stopped watching the live feed all the time, the battery started charging properly again, and the SD card is now recording everything with no gaps.
