Hi, within the recent months (at least less than a year) I replaced the screw in porch light adapter used to power the camera as the original had failed. I subscribe to a service that detects electrical problems within my home. There was a “dangerous” arcing being detected and by process of elimination we found it to be the Birdty screw in adapter. Do you know anything about a problem with those? What do you suggest, try another ? Thank you.
Sorry, I mistakenly said “Birdty”, one of my solar operated cameras for the bird feeder. I meant to say Wyze.
Welcome to the Forum, @ruggles321! 
Are you perhaps using one of the Lamp Sockets? I see that the topic is tagged for Accessory Bulb, but that’s a product that’s intended to be an add-on for Bulb Cam. This makes me think maybe you’re using a Lamp Socket:
If so, then I’m curious about a few things:
- Which version do you have? Lamp Socket v1 has a white USB-A port cover and uses a special cable to communicate with its attached Cam. Lamp Socket v2 has a yellow USB-A port cover and communicates wirelessly, so a standard USB power cable can be used for the Cam. The comparison chart explains more differences.
- What Cam is connected to the socket (if you’re using a Lamp Socket)?
- How did you determine that the Wyze device itself is the problem?
- What can you share about the thing that detected an electrical problem?
This last one I’m curious about because I have a Ting device in my home that’s supposed to notify me of problems. In several months of use, it’s shown clean reports, but it’s still handy to have because the app/service also notifies me about power outages near me and about severe weather conditions in my area. My understanding of Ting’s system is that it will let me know if it detects a problem and then provide additional guidance, like a recommendation to contact an electrician for a service call to identify and remediate the problem. I wonder if you’re using something like that.
If you’re using a Lamp Socket and have already had to replace one in an outdoor light fixture because of device failure, then I’d be suspicious that the fixture itself is the problem, and that’s what I’d want to investigate or have an electrician check for me. If the arcing is within the fixture, then it may end up killing more Lamp Sockets or other light bulbs or do even worse things than that.
I’m not saying that the Lamp Sockets don’t have this problem. I just haven’t heard of it, and my only experience with those so far involves Lamp Socket v2.
Thank you for your detailed response. Ting is the service that detected the arching of my Lamp socket from Wyze. I have two of them and the backyard one has not had a problem, just the front porch lamp. Both are version one. We determined the problem to be the socket by trial and error of turning power to the fixture on and off while the socket was in and when the socket was out. Still, I am a bit suspicious of the lamp fixture, even though it seems to be arching only when the socket is in. I just ordered another socket so I will see if the problem stops. If it continues to be hard to sort out I suppose I’ll have to have an electrician over, as it is potentially serious and beyond considerations of cost, but first I’d like to go some simpler routes. Thank you, any additional info would be appreciated. P.S. the camera is the Wyze Cam 4 I believe.
And yes, the service I use is Ting.
Thanks for the additional information! 
I updated the tag to improve visibility. Hopefully other Lamp Socket v1 users will have some additional input.
This is what I wondered about what you were doing:
So Ting lets you know there’s a problem if the Lamp Socket v1 is installed in the fixture and the switch is turned on for that circuit? Are you testing that with Lamp Socket v1 versus empty fixture socket only? What happens if you test turning on that circuit when you have a regular bulb in the fixture? If you’re testing against an empty fixture socket, then would the fixture actually pull current to cause arcing? This and your experience of already having one Lamp Socket fail in that fixture are what make me suspect the fixture and/or its wiring, and that’s where I think I’d focus the investigation.
My standard disclaimer: 
I am not an electrician.
The test was 1) with bulb and Wyze socket adapter IN. 2) was with bulb only.
Thank you.
Good to know!
I wonder if the combination of Lamp Locket v1 + Cam v4 + bulb pulls enough more current (vs. bulb alone) to get the Ting device’s attention or if something else is going on, but I’m just speculating. 
This is probably one where I’d consult an electrician to be on the safe side if you don’t feel comfortable digging into the wiring yourself. I’d be interested in what other community members might have to say about this, too.
Thanks again for sharing more info!
Thank you ! I will get this resolved, one way or the other. I don’t want to worry about an electrical fire.
I’m glad that you’re trying to be safe with this. I can’t say with absolute certainty that the Lamp Socket is not the problem, but I think it’s best to thoroughly rule out other potential problem areas rather than just replacing the socket and operating under the assumption that everything else is okay. It could be that the Lamp Socket is just helping to reveal the real root of the issue, but I think I’d personally feel safer if I had an electrician check things out.
I replaced the Wyze adapter (used old conecting wire since new one was not configured right, mine has an “elbow.” I’m no longer getting the arcing. Ting will continue to monitor so if it shows up again, it might point to something in the fixture that’s causing it to go bad. Thank you for your comments; it’ll be interesting to see if anyone else has this problem.
I’m not sure what you mean about the wire, but I’m glad that you’re not seeing any arcing reports. I’d still be suspicious about the possibility of a problem with something in that fixture or circuit when you put the built-in socket (whatever you’re screwing the Lamp Socket v1 itself into) under some kind of electrical load, and I’d expect Ting to let you know if that happens.
I was re-reading some of the Ting materials, and my understanding is that they offer a credit that can be applied toward remediating electrical fire hazards that they identify, so that makes me think it’s possible you could have an electrician check out the circuit for you without costing you anything out of pocket. I haven’t had any experience with that part of the service, though. If you choose to pursue that, then I’d be interested in learning how that goes for you.
What I’ve personally seen from the service so far (which I’ve been using just since last year) is warnings (push notifications) from the app when there’s a severe thunderstorm warning for this area. Just a couple of days ago, there was a brief power blip during a storm, and within a minute or so I had a notification for a “Community Power Outage” that “was also experienced by 16 Ting homes in your area.” I thought that was kind of cool, and it’s nice to have that additional layer in my storm warning system.
Thank you for this. I haven’t ruled out that the fixture could be causing the issue, but so far there is no arcing with the new adapter. My reference to the wiring is that there is a USB wire that runs from the camera to the lightbulb adapter. It wasn’t the problem, as I had to use it (the old one) again on the replacement socket adapter because the new one didn’t fit my Wyse camera. And yes, they indicated they’d send an electrician out at n/c. That’s what I’ll do if there are any new arcing issues. Meanwhile, I know it’s being monitored.
That’s weird. I’d probably let Wyze know about that, because my understanding with the Lamp Socket v1 is that it includes a special cable for passing data between the Lamp Socket and the Cam, and that cable has a funky angle to the USB-A connector end (just the way the plug is molded) to fit the contour of the Lamp Socket itself. With Lamp Socket v2 (the one with the yellow USB-A port cover), a regular non-data charging cable works because communication between the Lamp Socket and the Cam is wireless. If they’re sending you the wrong cable, then they might be sending others the wrong cable, too.
If it is the right cable, then maybe you’re not using Cam v4 with it? The included cable is supposed to be USB-A on one end (to plug into the port on the Lamp Socket) and Micro-B on the other (to plug into the pigtail of a Cam v3 or Cam v4). If you’re using a Wyze Cam that requires a different connector (like USB-C) and choosing a different cable because of that, then I wonder what Cam you’re actually using, because it’s important to be aware that Lamp Socket v1 and Lamp Socket v2 have different power outputs (as noted on their individual product pages and the comparison chart I linked in a previous post). Because of that, the newer Lamp Socket v2 is able to provide power to a wider range of Wyze Cams, like some of the Pan or newer Cams that require 1.5 or 2 A (the older socket is rated for only 1 A output).
That makes me wonder if you’re using a Cam that’s trying to draw more power than your socket is rated to supply and if that’s what the Ting monitoring device eventually ends up seeing, but again I’m just speculating without knowing more about your situation.
I didn’t have a record I could easily find of what version I have but it must be v1 because it had that elbow at the connection that you describe. I’ve found it difficult to get a hold of Wyze for any info so I’ve just proceeded with trial and error. The error was that the cable was wrong so I used my previous cable. No arcing so far. I have another in the backyard and there’s been no issue. Thank you for your head-scratching and problem solving !
I’ve found that they’re pretty responsive if I create a ticket in the Help Center. Instead of waiting on hold in a phone call or live chat, I usually just tell the chat bot create ticket to get a form for entering basic information where I can start that process and then just handle communication via e-mail. Once the ticket is open, your first response is likely to be from another robot, but if you reply to that then you should have responses from human agents afterward.
Now I’m seeing that there’s a problem with what the AI bot on the Support site is saying, so I’m going to ping someone at Wyze about this and see if it can be addressed.