I can also confirm this. I just had a solar panel warrantied when I explained the problem to support. So hoping it was a solar panel problem. I experienced absolutely zero problems when they were connected to my V1’s
Hey dog! Haven’t seen you around here!
Could you get a log for the cam? Thanks
Tried tuning mine off and on and no luck charging. I am at 10% and get full sun. Now to take it down again to charge it
My WCO v2 has inexplicably reached 30% charge (solar panel only) today after bottoming out a few days ago…
EDIT-1: Now, towards the end of the day, it’s up to 42%. Them wyze peeps need to noodle on this a little bit. Would have been preferable to have noodling prior to product release.
EDIT-2: Next day… actually reached 43% and is still showing the charge indicator during peak daylight. However, charge is now depleting…
EDIT-3: The cam continued to deplete even during several bright daylight days. I arrived on site to visit the parents and changed it while it was in the 20-something-% range. Never did it begin charging again.
Mine randomly started charging again, and today it’s back up to 93%!
Do you watch the live feed? The camera should charge over 10% a day, but any energy you remove is taken from that.
Been 100% for 10 days!
Mine also randomly works then it don’t and yes it’s a wyze solar charger
Sometimes I disconnect it and turn cam in and off then it charges again till it don’t
I am just down at my parents’ place over the weekend and replaced the original cam with the warranty unit supplied by wyze Sunday afternoon (08/21). So far, it’s operating like the original cam did (during its first two weeks) and fully charging during the daylight hours to 100%. After the first two weeks of solid operation is when my trouble began with the original unit. Then, charging just became wildly unreliable & unpredictable. Early on, the wco v2 tanked from like 83% all the way down to 0% overnight. After that, it would stay in the single digits and bottom out. Got a couple of spikes followed by periods of depletion even during broad daylight with charging indicator showing. Not sure that I’ll have enough sampling time to say anything conclusively unless & until it starts losing charge and failing to charge.
Wyze also sent me a warranty solar panel since it was unclear which device might be at fault. My first instinct was to replace the cam only to see if we can isolate a culprit. However, I might just end up changing both at some point since I head back home this coming weekend.
Mine has been at 100% for about a month, and 4 days ago it randomly started dropping. Today it’s at 8%, Gunna let it die completely before I bring it in but I doubt it will recover this time on its own.
All my other v1 WCOs with solar panels literally next to each other, same event frequency, are at 100% and have been since I installed the panel.
Log: 712595
The warranty replacement wco v2 wyze sent me has also been operating as expected since I installed it back on 08/21. Stays fully charged during daylight and I don’t access it much after dark. We’ll see if it gives up the ghost or remains solid going forward.
My initial cam for this post would bottom out but then recover via solar panel charge. As I’ve documented in this thread, however, it was very sporadic how much charge it would regain. Nor would it ever resume regular charging as expected… Only when it was in the mood.
So I have 2 v2’s. I bought 2 solar panels. Both began charging, but one slowed down and then stopped. The other went up to 100%. The other one did not show the charge icon. So I have turned off camera (rebooted), unplugged, re-plugged, checked both connections multiple times. I finally brought my camera inside to charge. Turned off the solar panel check box on the app since it was no longer connected. Charging in the house worked perfectly. After it increased about 10 % I turned it off, turned it on again, plugged in solar, turned accessory solar back on in app and it started charging for a while. Then for no reason the charge icon turns off and it stops charging and going down. I have updated firmware, I have rebooted the base station, I have reloaded the app and nothing helps.
So either the panel is bad, which I doubt. Maybe that little USB connector on the back of the camera contains some electronics that is not working properly or my camera firmware stinks and can’t figure out what the solar panel is doing. And yes, bright full sun no clouds and 90+ degrees outside.
I think this issue might be fixed for me. I haven’t done a firmware update, I haven’t touched the camera, the solar panel, or the connections, but lately the solar panel and my wyze cam v2 outdoor have been working perfectly together. Weird, just started happening out of nowhere.
Funny thing too, we’ve had crummier weather here lately, more clouds and rain. We had a lot more sunshine during the spring and summer, and that’s when I was having issues.
I observed similar inconsistencies as did you. Often, I would even see the charging indicator lit but no gain in battery… only a steady decline until bottoming out.
Thus far, the warranty replacement cam Wyze shipped to me has been behaving as expected since I installed it on 08/21/22.
I had both the cam and the Soler panel replaced 3 times every time Except this last time I did the updates cause they were new .
This time I’m nut doing updates on both cams v1 and. A v2 4 says still charging. Hopefully it’s fixed now and I won’t do any updates until It absolutely necessary.
I know the updates had to be the problem cause e2 other times I updated and the solar failed a few days later I’m going on 4 or 5 days no issues
I actually set this feature on as well the very first time I connected the original cam. I noticed that during some subsequent viewing sessions, the setting was switched back off.
Is this an example of the product disengaging by design for efficiency or does it just forget periodically?
I am not willing to call it solved, but WYZE sent me a replacement solar panel (full packaging). All I did was replace that 1 ft. connecter cable that plugs into the camera and then connects to the long cord from the solar panel. Works correctly now. I thought it was odd when I used the first cable that it seemed to charge, then quit. No wiggle, not loose from what I could tell, But this connector seemed a little tighter. So maybe they are having quality control issues with their manufacturing of the connectors. When I get time I am going to run some continuity tests on that little cable and break out my high powered magnifier to see if there is an issue with loose pins etc. Kind of tough with the micro size of the USB plug.
As a side note the other camera panel is working fine, except somehow the camera stopped responding and literally drained to nothing with the solar panel plugged in. Rebooted and is working again as should be.
I like WYZE, but the super cheap cost is probably causing them to suffer some quality issues.
TBH, another thing that has concerned me about the entire rigging of WCO & the solar panel is how they direct you to break off the rubber stopper with which the cam is equipped.
While I don’t believe they would secure it to anything sensitive and I’m sure it’s only connected to something structural, I snipped it with scissors on the replacement cam rather than just pulling it until it snapped.