Why Is My Vivint Camera Not Recording Events?

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Vivint cameras are a useful accessory to add to any smart home surveillance system. However, you may run into an issue where your camera may go down and stop recording events. You may also run into an issue with the camera only recording events intermittently.

If the Vivint camera stops working, it may be an issue with the camera’s settings, the camera’s power source, or the online connectivity. Reconnecting the camera involves checking the camera’s settings, verifying power access, and resetting the Internet connection.

Your Vivint camera might go down and stop recording events, but it’s usually an easy enough fix if you know what to do. Read on to learn more about how to fix your Vivint camera if it stops recording properly.

Why Isn’t My Vivint Camera Recording Events?

There are three main reasons why your Vivint camera might stop recording motion-detected events. Here are the potential problems you’ll need to look at:

  • The camera isn’t set up correctly. If your Vivint camera isn’t set to record clips or detect visitors via motion detection, the camera won’t know when to start recording. The camera’s settings can be adjusted via the Vivint app.
  • The Vivint control panel needs rebooting. If the Vivint control panel loses connectivity with the camera, it may fail to record motion-detected events. In this case, a soft reset is needed to reconnect the control panel to the camera.
  • The camera doesn’t have power. If the camera’s battery is completely dead or the camera has lost its wired-in power source, the camera won’t record.
  • The camera’s connectivity to wireless Internet has been lost. Even though Vivint cameras are a hybrid WiFi system that can operate off a cellular network, they still depend on wireless Internet connectivity for live video recording. Internet connectivity is reestablished by resetting the camera directly.

To figure out how to repair your VIvint camera’s recording ability, you have to eliminate any possible sources of interference. Going down the list and checking for any potential issues above can help you isolate the problem and correct it.

How To Get Your Vivint Camera to Record Events

If you have an issue with your Vivint camera’s ability to record events, you’re going to have to do some troubleshooting to figure out what the issue is. Follow the troubleshooting guide below to see if you can get your cameras back up and running.

Reboot Your Vivint Panel

If your cameras aren’t recording events correctly, it may lead back to a problem with your Vivint SkyControl panel. Here’s how to get your SkyControl panel rebooted to see if you can re-establish connectivity between the hub and your Vivint camera (Source: Vivint Support):

  • Go to the Menu icon in the bottom righthand corner of the panel screen, then select Devices. At this point, you’ll need to enter your PIN passcode.
  • Tap Displays on the Devices submenu, and then select Reboot. Select Yes to confirm that you want to reset the Vivint panel.

At this point, the Vivint control panel will reset. If this was causing any cameras connected to the panel not to record events, the issue should be resolved.

Restart Your Vivint Camera

Another issue that may cause the camera not to record events is if the camera itself needs rebooting. Do this by pressing down the button on the top of the camera and holding it until the camera’s light indicator turns red. Release the button and when the camera’s light indicator turns from red to green, it is rebooted and ready to reconnect to the system.

Check the Camera’s Power Source

If your Internet connectivity is up and the control panel is working correctly, the problem could be that the camera doesn’t have any power. This should be easy enough to diagnose, as the camera should be lit up if it’s powered on. If it’s dark, you may have a power issue. Make sure that the camera has power access and that the breaker to that circuit hasn’t been thrown.

Check the Camera Settings

Your Vivint camera won’t record events if it isn’t set up to record them in the first place. To do this, you need to check and adjust your camera’s visitor settings. Here’s how to access them in the Vivint control panel:

  • Tap the camera icon in the control panel, then select which camera you want to record events on. At this point you’ll be asked to put in your PIN passcode to verify security.
  • From here, you can adjust the sensitivity settings on your camera, such as object size and motion detection sensitivity. Turn the sensitivity up higher and increase object size to increase recorded events.

You also need to make sure that your cameras are set up to record when they detect motion. Adjust these settings through the Vivint app or the control panel. When activated, the cameras can be set to record motion-detected events from 20-90 seconds.

Restart the Internet Connection

When your Vivint camera has lost connectivity, the problem may be at your home Internet router rather than the camera. Check to see if you still have an Internet connection.

Press the reset button on the model and wait for the Internet connection to reset before checking the camera again. If the camera comes back online, you’ll know that the problem was your connectivity, not the hardware.

Vivint Cameras Are Great for Live Security

Vivint surveillance cameras are a smart option for adding more security to your smart home system. However, they need to be in good working order to contribute. The guide above should give you a jumping-off point to troubleshoot your camera’s recording issues at home. If all else fails, try contacting Vivint technical support for more information.

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