Is Your RING Doorbell not charging even when hardwired?
Well you’ve come to the right place. Since writing about this a while back, there has been so many visitors commenting and reading below. I really appreciate all the inputs and interaction. The goal is to help our community so THANK YOU ALL for participating. It does seem like this is an on-going issue with RING’s Doorbell not charging even when hardwired. Hopefully the solutions provided by me and everyone else will help you solve the problem!
Battery Drained: This article was written based on our experience with the RING Video Doorbell 2. However, may be applicable for other RING models also.
Let me start off by saying the RING Video Doorbell 2 is a great product. It has performed to expectations when charged. We hardwired the RING doorbell to our existing doorbell wiring (diode) which should provide consistent charge.
Unfortunately, after 3 months, we took noticed to the constant low battery indicator. This prompted us to monitor the situation and discovered that the RING doorbell battery was draining far too quickly. The RING doorbell would last approximately 2 to 3 weeks before the low battery indicator appeared again. Therefore, I concluded the Ring doorbell not charging or working when hardwired.
We have attempted a few things to see if it would help such as reduced the motion sensor notifications and shorten the motion range detector. I also cleaned the wire tips to rid any residue causing connection problems and even swapped the wires.
In a weeks time, the battery continued to drain between 10-20% which was on the same pace as it was prior to all the adjustments.
Customer Service – 1st Call
Acknowledging that we were within our 1 year warranty period, we reached out to the RING customer service center providing them all the information.
On the first call, it took about an hour and we were wrestling for solutions and incorrectly assumed all was working.
Here are the details from the call
1. The technician reviewed the video history and activity logs to determine when the device stopped charging. This took 15-20 minutes, and was able to identify when the RING doorbell stopped charging.
2. Next, we went through steps to connect and disconnect the RING Video Doorbell 2 in attempt to reset it. Using the LIVE view on the RING doorbell, the technician was able to get a real-time health status read. We continued to press the door bell to see if the door bell chime would respond and it did not. This went on for a good 20-25 minutes.
3. Then we checked the home doorbell wiring to ensure it was working. We took the exposed wire tips and touched it to trigger the chime and it did work.
Escalation to the 2nd Level Tech
4. Lastly, the case was escalated to a senior engineer. It was only then it was determined that a recent firmware update caused the behavior we’re seeing. The explanation was that the RING Video Doorbell 2 device was not compatible with the latest firmware. For anyone who isn’t familiar with what a firmware is, it’s basically an update to the RING doorbell software. At this point, we were instructed to rollback the firmware to the previous firmware version. The technician completed this on their end reducing some of the frustration.
5. Once the firmware rollback was completed, the RING doorbell worked and was responding to the pressing of the button. We assumed that the latest firmware incompatibility was the problem.
Later, I checked and found the battery was still draining from 24% to 20% with only 1 motion activity. I then went outside to check the doorbell and it stopped working completely. Once I called RING customer service and asked for the same technician who called me back within 15 minutes.
Customer Service – 2nd Call
The technician explained that we’ve went through all the steps and was sending us a replacement. They provided a return label (via Fedex) so we can ship back the defective RING doorbell.
Note: Any saved videos could be merged as long as the location/device names are kept the same as they were in the original RING doorbell.
The Replacement
The RING doorbell replacement arrived within a few days and the RING doorbell replacement had some minor physical changes. For instance, the security screw that goes on the bottom of the RING Video Doorbell 2 is a bit larger (a new screw driver was included) and the casing is a bit larger as shown below.
The Installation
The RING doorbell installation is fairly simple even for a non-handy person. Once the doorbell is removed, exposing the two doorbell wires, they can be wrapped around the two screws and remounted against the wall and should be ready.
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Closing Comments
The battery life has remained at 100% since the installation of the replacement RING Video Doorbell. Only time will tell if it would hold up. I will continue to update this blog if anything changes.
**** Update 8/27/2020 – 1 year later ****
Thanks to everyone who have been leaving their comments below in wanting to help others. I am happy to report that the battery has continued to charge healthy at 99-100%. I’ll continue to update everyone as things progress.
DON’T FORGET TO CHECK THE COMMENTS SECTION
Feel free to look through the comments section below. Over time, many visitors like yourself have went through the pain and some came up with solution that was not listed here. Maybe drop a comment and someone will reply!
My Ring worked well for more than one season, and is now giving me problems. The one thing I turned on was regular snapshots every 15 minutes or so. Wondering if that is causing battery drain. The doorbell still works, but I can’t live view. I started during a cold snap here in Canada, so I wondered about that as well. I also wonder what the lifespan of these batteries are?
There’s no doubt that this is an issue with the Ring doorbell, glad there are websites like this to help us out! Appreciate your efforts TGR!
I figured out the issue with our Ring doorbell due to this post! Thanks for sharing TGR!
As per ring helpdesk staff, the charging process for hard-wired doorbells is very slow. My doorbell 2 battery was at 45% when I connected it to a power adapter. It took almost 10 days for the battery to get to 100%. It then remained at 100% and has not dropped.
I recently acquired the first generation ring video doorbell. Charged it to 100% then we hardwired it. My app however, shows the power source is battery yet it’s clearly hardwired. Never has said hardwired on my app. Now the battery is down to 94% in two days. Everything else tests out good. Could this be just be a bad internal battery?
Hi Karen, I would suggest reading through some of the comments. There are some that have experienced the same thing. I would think that it’s more than just the battery. There were some faulty units, and for me, I was lucky to get a brand new model. It can be the firmware from a recent update or just a bad model as said earlier. good luck!
TG…Really appreciate your info. We’ve got the same problem. Installed it about 3 years ago. Never had a problem. Then 5 weeks ago, we noticed the battery was down to 20%. We were out of town, so it eventually went dead. When we got home, I spent 90 minutes on the phone with their tech support. The end result was they deemed the device was “defective”. Since it was out of warranty, they sent me a 35% off coupon to use to replace it.
Well, yesterday I installed the new Ring 2. But I STILL have the same problem. It’s showing to be running on battery, not hardwired. I’m so frustrated with this. I know it’s not the house chimes, because when it touch the doorbell wires, the chimes sound.
There seems to be a lot of agreement on the firmware issue. I wonder if the Ring Pro has the same problems? Really like the product, but if I cant get it resolved, I need to look at something else.
I hear you…sounds like an on-going episode for a sitcom series. 🙂 Thanks for posting a comment!
You should buy a 50W 25 Ohm resistor and solder it on one of the power wires. Look on Amazon.
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I bought the original Ring Doorbell and that failed in the winter. I then installed the Ring Doorbell 2 which has also now failed in the Iowa winter. I rely on this product as I am in Arizona for the winter months. I have now concluded that the Ring product is not capable of holding a charge in freezing weather. I will find a more reliable alternative. Don’t buy Ring!
Hi John, similar issues here in Michigan. I have a hardwired first gen Ring Doorbell. I installed it in January 2020 and didn’t run into issues until the summer. It was extremely hot and humid over the summer and the doorbell wouldn’t stay charged while hardwired. Removed it and saw that the charging plate had some residue on the part that charges the battery. It wouldn’t clean up, so I contacted customer service. They sent me a new one. And here I am, January 2021, the day after my policy renewal and the Ring malfunctions. I removed it from the charging plate and charged it/restarted it indoors. Fully charged. Placed it back outside and it’s 90% charged now less than a day later. It can’t handle the heat OR the cold. It’s worthless.
I bought my first Ring product (Ring Doorbell 2) back in April 2019. I had it hardwired since day 1 with no issues and it stayed at 100% up until January 2020.
I’m from Canada where the winters get pretty cold. It got to -35 to -40 in mid January and that’s where I noticed the issue started.The device lost connection to the WIFI. Thinking that it was due to the freezing temp I. I took out the external battery and warmed it up (covered it with both my hands for 15 mins) and reconnected it back to the device outside and then reconnected it back to the WIFI and got the connection again and all was good. In a couple of days I noticed that the battery is draining even though it was hardwired.
I contacted Ring customer service and complained and with no hesitation they offered to replace my device. Three days later when I hooked up the replacement unit, the same issue is still happening where from a fully 100% charged battery, hardwired, within the 3rd day its now at 91%. I’m calling RIng support again to see what they’ll have to say. I don’t really want another replacement for the replacement unit..LOL.
I’m not happy with Ring and i’m just probably going to have to buy a second battery to constantly swap them out every time.
Any input on this would be greatly appreciated.
That is extremely cold. We have gotten as low as -5 and we haven’t experienced any issue.
My Ring 2 is barely one year old and it will no longer charge. I’ve checked the transformer (pushing 16-20 volts) and I even bought a separate power supply (which pushes 22.5 volts) and it too will not charge the battery. Oddly enough, the house wiring and the new power supply both charge another device I had on hand that hooks up the same way so it’s definitely a faulty device. I’m guessing Ring produced multiple batches of the Ring 2 and didn’t bother with replacing the earlier units with the better ones so we are stuck with faulty units. I will not be renewing my subscription (which I’ve always thought was preposterous to begin with considering so many competitors provide storage for free). I will just use the Ring 2 battery-powered in my back yard or something and just stick with live view. It is still a decent camera even if it isn’t all that useful anymore. I may even take it apart and see if I can fix something internally to get it charging again. Either way, Ring products are not impressive. I went with the Eufy doorbell (though I wish to God Wyze had their doorbell out cause I’d jump on it in a heartbeat. We have their doorlock and it is the bomb!) and once it arrives I know it won’t disappoint. Oh yeah and Wyze cameras freaking rule!
I have Ring Door Bell 2, I hard wired it with 16volt/30mV transformer, the Ring app said it was hardwired. Every day the percentage of battery decreased by 1 % in spite of very rare use. I called customer service, they advised me to reset it, which I did and did not make any difference. So, Ring sent me a replacement unit which also did the same thing, was loosing 1% charge every day so went from 100% – 90% in 1 week. I decided to resend the replacement unit, and kept my original unit. I decided to change my transformer from 16volt/30mV to 24volt, 40mV – which I got on Amazon. It fixed the problem. In 24 hours, my charge went from 92% > 100%.
1) Either the 24volt transformer fixed it OR
2) Ring designed this unis in such a way that the power slowly decreases and once it reaches close to 90% – then charging kicks in
Only Ring engineering unit knows, but 24 volt/ 40mV transformer fixed my charging issues.
same, hardwired, is not charging, 2 days old, thinking of upgrading to ring pro, as video quality is extremely poor as well, all i can see this product doing is making my property a target as they have already had hacking issues, also why only 30 second recordings when someone remains at your door? only way to continue recording is to answer motion…….less then impressed with product quality and now unfortunately get to look forward to what sounds to be like poor customer service as well……
I am thankful for all the comments, and now I have the same problem. The unit turned itself off.
The batter is charged yesterday outside of the unit, I have a charger plugged in yet it shows no battery power or charging. We do not have a ton of activity to trigger motion therefore use battery power.
To be honest with you guys, I am very disappointed. The only reason I got this to be able to video chat with people at the door. This is the only difference between the ring and my SimpliSafe security system. I bought the unit last month at Costco, so I think I will return it and get the SimpliSafe video doorbell instead.
I bought a Ring Video Doorbell just a little over a year ago, and I too have experienced battery drainage necessitating frequent battery charging. I do not have a hardwired doorbell, so three months ago I installed a Power Supply (output of AC 18V 500mA) and I am still experiencing the same problem. My question is; If I am using a power supply to charge the battery through the Ring device, then why isn’t it working?
I am having the same issue with my new ring 2 doorbell. Purchased the 18v 500mah power supply from Amazon and it worked for a few minutes, (showing hardwired and light ring lit up), but then it went back to battery status and no lit ring. Ordered a replacement power supply, same issue. Called ring several times, they just sent me a replacement ring 2. Hopefully, this one will work. Very buggy stuff!
Hi All, was hoping someone had a solution to my problem. I purchased the Ring Doorbell 2 and hardwired it to my existing doorbell but when I flipped the breaker my doorbell chime immediately started ringing and wouldn’t stop. If I flipped my diode around and it didnt work at all as expected. I examined my Doorbell/transformer combo system and it says it’s 12 VDC. I know ring doorbell only works with AC so I was wondering if someone has a solution and what stats I need to look for when purchasing new doorbell chime/transformer system. Thanks!
Need to use an AC power supply, DC will definitely not work.
(edit) I would just get an appropriate power supply and wire it on its own. If you want a combo doorbell and ring function, buy a new doorbell chime that accommodates a high power transformer. Personally, I would just get an Amazon dot to replace the old doorbell. It chimes and announces someone is at the door. That would be cheaper, and probably easier then installing a new doorbell.
UPDATE on Tony S. December 5, 2019 at 5:56 am
I got hold of Ring’s “support system” three times and after much wasted time rebooting and rolling the firmware update back, the Ring 2 will still not charge or ring the door bell in the house anymore.
They were quick to point out I could get an out of warranty discount of 35% on a replacement unit. As a result, I will be cancelling my subscription as promised. I’m pretty sure this is a marketing gimmick. With all the choices out there, and the recent articles released about Amazon’s incredible access to your videos whenever they feel like it, it’s probably a good plan to shut it down anyway, no matter how good the video quality is. Thank you for your time.
You have a very informative site and I would like to thank you of course, and everyone else who has posted their issues and fixes, etc. I have an original ring at another house which is still working, albeit not recording since I will simply not pay for two hardwired door bells. My second one is a Ring 2 and I will not be upgrading it. You could say that I have had it with the brand. This Ring 2 no longer charges the battery and it no longer activates the house door bell despite showing 18.61 Vac at the Ring 2 terminals on a calibrated Fluke meter . Shorting these two wires rings the house bell without hesitation. I am on my third transformer “upgrade”. I should have shorted the two wires going to the Ring 2 to see if the house bell worked first, or checked the voltage in the first place but because the Ring 2 was not ringing the bell in the house, I assumed incorrectly that my voltage had dropped from a 30 year old transformer and that it was failing, because it all worked fine in the past. It turns out all three transformers are fine. No returns on electrical parts where I live. This last one is a 16 (18.61!) Vac 30Va transformer. So I will assume a firmware update killed these two functions or my barely two year old Ring 2 is part of a planned obsolescence program to force me to upgrade. That won’t happen. I liked what it did, but when you pay for a service on top of having issues with the product, that’s just going too far. Taking the battery out to recharge it each time it goes flat is one more thing I do not have time with. Things just don’t last anymore. I have better results with WYZE V2 cameras, no fees, peace of mind, plus they’re so much cheaper to replace. Thanks again for a very informative site. Cheers!
Tony, I have had the exact same experience as you. Though I never had the Ring 1 but my Ring 2 is barely one year old and it will no longer charge. I’ve checked the transformer (pushing 16-20 volts) and I even bought a separate power supply (which pushes 22.5 volts) and it too will not charge the battery. Oddly enough, the house wiring and the new power supply both charge another device I had on hand that hooks up the same way so it’s definitely a faulty device. I’m guessing Ring produced multiple batches of the Ring 2 and didn’t bother with replacing the earlier units with the better ones so we are stuck with faulty units. I, like you, will not be renewing my subscription (which I’ve always thought was preposterous to begin with considering so many competitors give their stuff storage for free). I will just use the Ring 2 battery-powered in my back yard or something and just stick with live view. It is still a decent camera even if it isn’t all that useful anymore. I may even take it apart and see if I can fix something internally to get it charging again. Either way, Ring products are not impressive. I went with the Eufy doorbell (though I wish to God Wyze had their doorbell out cause I’d jump on it in a heartbeat. We have their doorlock and it is the bomb!) and once it arrives I know it won’t disappoint.
I had the same issues as the original poster and Ring sent me a replacement. I’ve had the replacement about six months and I’m starting to have the same issues again. I’m so so of it, I decided to order the Ring Pro to see if being able to customize the motion areas will keep from having all the false notifications and maybe bids have been worked out in this one. If I have issues with the Pro, I’ll go with another company.
Thank you for great information on this thread.
I gust got Ring 2 and hard wired to house chime.
The chime will not work with ring 2. Called customer service and the said my chime is not on there copatibility list. My chime is 30 year old mechanical chime.
I used a meter to measure voltage at the bell. I measured 20v.
So I am not sure why the chime would not work. I don’t accept that customer service answer of not compatible since the device is pure mechanical chime and there is adequate voltage..
Anyone else came across this issue.
I have the exact problem. If you cross the wires outside and the doorbell rings inside it is a faulty ring device Mine is over 2 years old so I’m out of luck, have to charge battery inside now
I had same issue, it was resolved when I disabled the HDR Video option, which was causing a lot of false motion detection.
i just ordered the ring doorbell pro…it has no battery and can only be hardwired
I’m experiencing same issues. Ring sent new battery but charge is starting to go down again even though hardwired. Will have to call back
I’m sorry to hear John. Since I had my replaced, I’ve been fortunate not to have any issues. The battery has remained 100% charged. *Knock on wood. 🙂
Thank you, thatguyr. Your review along with reddit posts, helped me (finally) persuade the on-line chatter that this was a known issue. Boy, it was still hard work though. I’d figured out there was something fishy before searching for others’ same problem, so this got around the fault finding steps they ask you to do by having done all you can do already.
My tip is to ask for a supervisor if the first chatter isn’t, or says they are not aware of the issue. My new one arrives tomorrow.
No problem! Thanks Richard! I’m sure those visiting this site will see your comment. Very helpful!
Hi Elaine, I would suggest calling RING customer support and they will be able to direct you on whether you can get a replacement or not especially if it’s a faulty unit. All the best.
I have a Ring 2, purch. 4/18; worked fine until about a month ago, when the battery lost power. Battery was replaced with new one (fully charged before placing in the doorbell). Three weeks later I see that the replacement is slowly draining power. Have checked all connections, as well as checking the voltage/power coming from the old doorbell wiring; no problems with any of that. It appears to me that the problem is that the Ring2 has lost its ability to charge its battery… Also of note, the old battery (the one that failed a month ago) took a “recharge” from a USB charger and appears to be perfectly fine. I can only conclude that there is a fault within the Ring 2 itself causing it to fail to keep its battery charged. So… how do I get this problem repaired?? Or am I stuck with buying a replacement, since it is no longer “in warranty”?
So here goes folks the reason your hardwired doorbell is not staying charged is due tonthe fact that voltage will only trickle to the battery when the button is pushed, which is why on a standard doorbell the chime only rings when you press the button ie (complete the circuit) if you read on rings website they say with normal use the battery will stay charged or probably require less frequent recharges i dont know about you but people dont really ring doorbells that often anyway if you truly want to hardwire your ring you will need a resistor and will need to bypass your chime and wire directly to your doorbell sonyou have a constant supply of voltage and the resistor is there to prevent the flow of current so that the batteries sont overcharge really surprised ring customer service has not ever mentioned this
What ohm resister?
Mike, this is not correct. The circuit will provide power to the charge circuitry. The same way regular doorbells stay lit with a back light. When you press the doorbell you short the 2 wires together when the doorbell is not shorted the battery charging circuit is the load.
Joe, not sure if you are an electrician, but maybe you can answer my question. When I charge my battery manually it is with regular 120v. Most doorbells are low voltage wiring. Is it possible that this could be why the ring does not keep the battery charged?
Liz, the doorbell wiring steps the voltage down to 24V and the charge circuitry steps it down even further to the required charge voltage,
Mine is hardwired and works fine. Heavy use, kids coming and going, ups fed ex guy. Maybe I’m lucky? hardwire is charging me good.