Hi, I have had a repeated issue where my cameras fail after power outages. I typically have to remove the cameras from my app and factory reset them to reconnect. All my cameras are connected to surge protectors and I still have this issue. My most recent power outage seems to have totally bricked one of my cameras.
I cannot get this camera to factory reset. I have held the button for 30 seconds on at least 10 attempts. When pressing Setup, it never says “Ready to connect.” In fact, it never says anything. The light keeps blinking red, it is never solid red. I have tried:
Holding setup to reset
Holding the setup button in different spots to see if it does anything different
Updating and reinstalling the app
Restarting the router
Rechecking all bluetooth permissions
Tried a different power cable
Things I’ve ruled out:
Removing the SD card (I don’t use a SD card for this particular camera)
My network is already 2.4 ghz
Camera is not in a place where moisture is a problem
Just to note - surge protectors are fairly worthless and likely aren’t doing anything for your cams. Even if they did manage to protect them from a surge, the sag (brownout) that happens when the power goes out can be just as damaging.
Try a different USB power adapter and see if it starts working, as usually that’s the first thing to fail after a power problem. You mention trying a different cable but it is the wall block that you’d want to try swapping, and a surge protector won’t do anything for that.
If you can’t get the cam to say “ready to connect” then it is nothing to do with bluetooth, the app, your wifi, etc, that’s on the cam itself.
As for previous instances, likely all you need to do is reboot the cam and router to get them to come back online, a power outage should not do anything that would require you to factory reset and re-add them, but that just happens to do the same thing in a more roundabout way. Often it takes the internet longer to come back on than the power and it is probably just a sequence issue.
Thanks for the note about the surge protectors. I just tried three different USB power adapters in different outlets and still have the same issue. No factory reset, no “ready to connect,” etc. Only sign of life is the flashing red light.
Unfortunately it sounds like it may be fried then.
There are some cases where the setup button gets some corrosion and using a pointed (but not sharp) object to push in hard and try moving it around/hitting from different angles will work.
It is possible the speaker has died, and that it is actually in setup mode, but if you’re not seeing it via bluetooth or in the app, I think it may just be the flash of death. You could try leaving it unplugged overnight (unplug the cam from the wall adapter before removing the wall adapter from the wall, that will help it discharge) just to let all the capacitors drain but unlikely to do anything.
They were on sale recently for $15 on amazon, looks like they’re normal price now though ($30). The v4 often goes on sale for $20 to $25 and is a worthwhile upgrade too (at least when they’re at that price).
Have you tried adding the Cam to the app even without the voice prompt? I’ve had a Cam Pan v3 give me the flashing red light without the voice prompt after a factory reset, and I’ve been able to do an “add device”/setup despite not hearing the voice prompt, because the status LED was telling me that the Cam was in setup mode.
