Ring Spotlight Cam Mount – Auxiliary Light Control Issue – Not working

I’m just going to show you guys a quick update about another feature of the Ring Spotlight Cam mount version that I’ve been trying to make it to work so that I can show you guys…at this time though, it is not working and Ring and I have been going back and forth trying to solve this issue.

If you have the mount version of the Spotlight Cam, in the manual, if you flip to “Advanced Installation Options”, you will see that you can wire the Spotlight Cam to be able to control auxiliary lighting. The third “red” wire from the Spotlight Cam can be wired to a light source which the camera will be able to control the on or off just like the camera’s built in spotlights. So, if you need extra light which with the spotlight, the brighter the better anyways, then there is this option.

On the next page, the best example for this is that you can mount the spotlight cam in the position of the motion sensor of a motion detecting floodlight..I know a lot of you will say…why bother with the mount version of the spotlight camera when you can get the floodlight cam in the first place which as of right now, both of them are the same price anyways.

Well, you are right…but what if you want a “daylight” or whiter type of light as compared to a softer yellow light that the floodlight cam has…then, this can be a pricier option. The instructions will tell you which wires to hook up to and also has a warning that the connected lights must not exceed 150 watts.

Ring Spotlight Cam Mount Review – youtu.be/9ZKZ8hURMRE

Ring Spotlight Cam vs Ring Floodlight Cam – youtu.be/9MRqF-9QVYU

Ring’s Night Vision Update – youtu.be/IszONtm9Kos

Ring Camera Security Products at Amazon: amzn.to/2CBKOjO

I got an LED floodlight which I will hook up with the Spotlight Cam. It has a total of 20 watts and has 1800 lumens and has a 5000 kelvin light output which will match the light appearance of the spotlights.

I have to cut and remove the motion detection sensor. Screw in the mounting arm and lock it in place…then screw in the spotlight cam.

I did install this in my backyard which after all that work, the floodlights didn’t turn on….so I have to take it down then do the testing and troubleshooting inside the house…

I connected the wires following the diagram in the manual which is basically connect the white wires from the floodlight, spotlight cam and the power source together…the black wire from the spotlight cam to the hot wire..and the red wire to the hot wire side of the LED lights. I have to add and lengthen the red wire here to have a good connection. Everything is wired as per the manual…but when you turn it on, the spotlight are the only ones that turn on and not the LED floodlights..

I also checked this using a line tester making sure it is not the LEDs that are not working. I also showed this video clip to Ring.

So, now we are thinking it is either the wire harness or the camera itself is faulty so they decided to send me a replacement…

…which I got the wired version instead of the mount…I then realized that they are the same camera just with different mounting options…they are basically interchangeable. So, if Ring decides later on to sell just the mounting plates and brackets, then the Spotlight cam will be a versatile camera with different mounting options..they can always add a floodlight or a porchlight kit for their spotlightcam…just an idea Ring…and you all heard it here first…

Anyways, I just have to replace the camera with the new one just by unscrewing them from the mount…do a quick swap and plug the camera back in….there is a little scuff here so that I can identify which camera is which..

Both cameras are the same..with the 3 wire pins at the back…So, Ring can actually sell these cameras separately and the customer can choose which mounting kits they want to use…

The only thing that differentiates these 2 cameras are the labels on the back..one says mount and the other one says wired…

I’ll screw in the replacement camera and see if this will work…if not, then it might be a wire harness issue…I’m just making sure I screwed it in tight and is is in locked position…

The wirings are the same..I just have to basically swap out the cameras..

Let’s try it out…

That little happiness is short lived because when I setup the camera, it has to update and you will see in the background the LED lights are on until the camera updated which after that, the floodlight didn’t turn on anymore.

It has been 3 weeks that I’ve been in touch with Ring trying to trouble shoot and I now think this is a software/firmware issue. On my original Spotlight cam mount version…I never saw the floodlights turn on which I think because the firmware has been updated already before I decided to hook up the LED floodlights…at first I thought it might be the wire harness or the camera itself…then the replacement comes in…now I saw that the floodlights turned on initially before the setup..so we can rule out the wire harness…now I was thinking it was the original camera until the replacement camera updated and then the floodlights didn’t turn on after the update..So, Ring knows about this and before I could say that it might be a firmware issue…they shipped me another replacement camera…which is on its way already…Ring said that the next update will happen in the next couple of weeks.. we will see then if the update will fix this issue…

So, what is your take on this guys..has anybody tried this with their Spotlight cam mount? Comment below if you tried it and it did or didn’t work…or it is just me that is wanting this to work…This feature is actually pretty neat if it works because you can wire regular lights that are separate from the camera…like you can wire your porch light to work with this feature.