I’ve recently acquired a G410 doorbell and single G5 Pro to test out before installing more G5s around the property. I’m still working through a number of teething problems related to false triggers, and think I’ll eventually get that resolved, but there are other issues that are more concerning :
- The most significant issue is with condensation on the outside of the G410. During the change of season, and temperatures dropping significantly between day and night, a lot of condensation is forming on the outer casing of the doorbell, including the front of the lens. This makes the image totally distorted, and impossible to get a clear view. This happens both in the evening and morning, making viewing the video impossible for hours at a time. Today is particularly bad - 13:30, and the video is still blurry due to condensation. There was bad condensation on the lens at 6:00 when I left home this morning. Is this normal? It makes the doorbell video ineffective for at least 4 hours a day right now, and often longer. For reference the G5 does not suffer from any condensation impacting the lens/video
- The G410 is very reluctant to switch into night vision. Right now I have a rule configured that forces a switch in and out of night vision at dusk/dawn.
- I have lights either side of the front door, one of which is in view of the G410 camera. They are dimmable. Unless the lights are off, or at the minimum level, the light completely swamps and overexposes the video. Maybe this is also related to night vision not switching in, but if it doesn’t the image is too dark to see anything (for reference we’re in a rural location, and there is no other source of light at night - no street lighting or the like).
- The colour balance between the G410 and G5 Pro is way different - this in itself isn’t a major issue, but does suggest the video processing in the two is different. The G5 Pro gives the more accurate colour balance.
Is anyone able to provide any guidance - the lens condensation is for me the potential show stopper for continuing to use the G410, as it completely undermines a key reason for having a video doorbell.
Thanks in advance.
Hi,
I can understand your disappointment and frustration.
To see how the G410 is installed would be super helpful to give any guidance and tips to help and improve
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Hi, I can take a photo and post it at the weekend (I’m not at home for a couple of days). It’s fitted to the outside of our porch, to the right of the front door about 1.2m from the ground. It’s an uncovered location.
There’s been no condensation in the past 24hrs - temperatures have risen after a cold spell.
Aqara technical support have also reached out to me and asked for a video of the installation. I’ll do this at the weekend too.
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Here is a photo showing the installation location.
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Thanks for the pic! Looks really normal to me as well. Is that the weather side? But still wondering why it’s condense inside! Maybe a housing helps?!
Or you can contact Aqara support- maybe there’s a defect lense?
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The condensation is on the outside of the housing, not internal. The whole of the housing shows signs of condensation forming on it. It’s 100% certain that it’s on the outside, because if I wipe the lens, the video distortion is cleared.
That position is East facing, and most of our wet weather comes from the West or South. However, when the condensation was forming, it was dry cold days. The past week has been milder, but much wetter, and there has been no condensation, or distortion to the image.
For now it’s not a problem, as the condensation hasn’t reappeared for a week, but I’m concerned that as doon as the cold, drier weather returns (which is normal during the Winter where I live), that the condensation will return and the doorbell video will be useless.
I don’t think you can really do anything about condensation. That’s just the weather, not a product thing.
Let’s see if we can address your other concerns.
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The G410 is very reluctant to switch into night vision. The Auto Infrared is based on the light sensor. If it doesn’t get too dark where you are, or if you leave that porch light on, it will stay in daytime/color mode.
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I have lights either side of the front door, one of which is in view of the G410 camera. They are dimmable. Unless the lights are off, or at the minimum level, the light completely swamps and overexposes the video. Maybe this is also related to night vision not switching in, but if it doesn’t the image is too dark to see anything (for reference we’re in a rural location, and there is no other source of light at night - no street lighting or the like). I think this is your problem. When the light is off and night vision is working, how is the image? It’s a grayscale night vision, but the picture should be better. If the light were behind the doorbell it would provide better lighting for the camera, but because it’s in front it is washing it out, because as you said, it’s the only source of light. I think you would be better leaving the light off completely.
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The colour balance between the G410 and G5 Pro is way different: I think this is just true. The G5 Pro has a better sensor overall and it’s designed with more power/more capabilities. I wouldn’t compare them.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Regarding not being able to avoid the condensation, that’s not necessarily true. You can get anti-fogging treatments (for glass), but without knowing the material used for the lens, I don’t want to put chemicals on it, unless anyone knows of tested / recommended solutions. Also, why is it affecting the G410, and not the G5 Pro? Maybe different lens material? Last night was colder, and I again encountered the condensation/fogging - I’ll post some images separately so that people can see what I’m experiencing. It’s so bad for me (as you will see from the images) that I can’t believe this is normal, and people are living with it.
Aqara support are also investigating, so let’s see what they come back with.
Regarding the other points, you make many valid points. I’m currently running the outside lights on minimum, and switching to night vision appears to be better.
I’ll continue to experiment. I can’t have the lights off completely - I live very rurally - no street lights, nothing other than the moonlight. It’s pitch black when there is no moonlight, so we need some minimal lighting for when anyone approaches the house at night 
I’ll likely add some automation so that when motion is detected, the lights increase in intensity. However, I’m now beginning to suspect that the lens fogging is responsible for the poor behaviour with night vision - check the images I’m about to post separately.
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Last night was colder again - not as cold as a week or two ago, and the fogging wasn’t as bad, but I was able to capture some images that illustrate what I’m experiencing.
The first is with night vision off (forced), and as you can see - the image is pitch black, except for picking up the porch light which is dimmed to minimum here. There was cloud cover by the time I took these images, so it was totally dark outside the house. This image illustrates just how dark it can be where I live.
Next I force night vision on, and you can see more - but it’s terribly distorted. You cannot recognise anything in the image.
Next I go outside, and wipe the lens with a cloth to remove the condensation / fogging. Voila, the image is now clear and completely acceptable.
Is this typical performance for the doorbell video in these colder weather conditions? It makes the video pretty much unusable when the lens fogs over, and from my experience a couple of weeks ago, the fogging can last for several hours.
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You have a beautiful property. I love the stars and open skies. What part of the world do you live in? Yeah the night vision looks great, but that condensation is a bugger. We are in freezing temps where I live, with pretty wet winters but I don’t experience anything that bad. Are you suggesting the condensation is blocking the light sensor preventing it from switching to infrared night mode? Might be worth a test to disable your scheduled automation and check the picture before and after wiping the lens down.
@Aqara_PM_Donie - @neilc_gardner has a question about the outer lens material so they with a chemical for anti-fogging. Are you able to share any insight on that? It’s some kind of plastic.
Thank you. I’m located in East Anglia, England.
As the light waves pass through the condensation (water), it will be refracted. We can see that with the video image. Presumably if it’s enough condensation on the lux sensor, the refraction can impact the level being detected. The condensation was much worse during the cold snap a couple of weeks ago. The night vision switching has been ok for the past week - I suspect it will become more unreliable once it gets really cold, and the condensation worsens again.
For reference, there is a reasonably degree of condensation this evening. This is how it looks.
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Hi, I can simulate your situation on my car (it’s always outside). At this time of year, my right mirror always has condensation, but the left one doesn’t. On the right side there is an open area (a field, on the left a house covers the driveway. Maybe try making a small visor (on the side) to stop the passage of cold atmospheric air. I mean side protection (not from above).
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Sorry, I just saw this post. It’s a very important feedback. I didn’t expect the winter air in the UK to be so humid. In China, winter is dry, and only in spring do some southern regions experience brief days of humid and cold weather.
Regarding the differences in usage between G410 and G5 Pro, I provide some methods to help you identify the cause of the problem:
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The G5 Pro must always be powered on and maintain a temperature of around 50 ℃ during working, which makes it difficult for water vapor to condense. I guess your G410 is using a battery as a power source and operates at extremely low power consumption in sleep mode, unable to generate a large amount of heat energy to resist water vapor condensation. This may be the main reason.
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Another difference between the G5 Pro and G410 is that the G5 lens is hidden under a piece of glass (which is part of the structure rather than the lens, and the lens is actually wrapped inside a piece of glass), but I think it is still the first reason that makes it less prone to lens fogging.
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If you have the opportunity to use an external power supply for G410, it will increase its operating temperature and generate heat. You can observe if this problem still exists.
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If you are unable to modify the power supply of your doorbell as recommended in step 3, then I do not have a suitable solution recommendation for this issue. I will inquire with my optical lens supplier if there are any chemical agents that can be applied to the surface of the lens to prevent this condensation behavior. However, this is not my personal suggestion and I cannot make a commitment on whether it will have a long-term impact.
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The weather in the UK can be very variable for a small island nation - by region, and by day. There is an expression in the UK that we can experience four seasons in one day, due to how quickly the weather can change, and vary.
Humidity has been high for many days recently - I’ve not got sensors measuring it (externally) at home, but the weather forecast says it’s 90% right now. I can imagine it may have been a little higher at times recently.
You are correct that I am currently operating on battery power. My intent is to add external power, which involves bringing power close enough to the doorbell in an unobtrusive way. I will do this over the seasonal holidays, when I have 2 weeks off work. I did wonder if the difference between the G410 and G5 Pro might be the natural heating effect of having an externally power source available. I also note your comments about the different construction of the G5 Pro.
I will post an update once I’ve fitted an external power source. This won’t be for several weeks - I won’t complete the work for at least 3 weeks, and then I may have to wait for suitable weather conditions to occur to check for improvements.
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@Aqara_PM_Donie I wasn’t sure whether to create a new thread, or add it to this one, but I think best to add it to this one as it will affect my ability to fit the external power supply next week, and see if it helps reduce the condensation problem I’ve been experiencing.
So, today I noticed a new problem - pressing the door bell no longer results in a chime being played. There are no doorbell ringing notifications either.
I fear it is a hardware failure, and I will need to return the G410 for fixing / replacement, but before doing so, is there anything I should try? I’ve unplugged the hub/chime from the power to see if that helps, and also removed the batteries from the doorbell for a couple of minutes, before replacing them. Neither of these helped, and the doorbell continues not to ring.
Everything else seems to be working ok. I have video, and motion is being detected and triggers alerts. Just the doorbell has stopped chiming when pressed.
I hope this is fixable without having to return the G410, as I have time off work from Friday for 2 weeks, as was hoping to use this time to fit the external power to the G410 (and also the plan was to buy and fit a U200 at the same time, although I will likely delay that give the troubles I’m experiencing with the G410).
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