This really brings in to question if there is the same lack of forethought in their other products! Designing this product for servicing & repair would be no more difficult. They have clearly put too much value in aesthetics and minimising build cost, than building a quality product.
This is an issue I have with them as enterprise networking products, I get a feeling they're going after Apple aesthetics for the "prosumer" market rather than businesses, especially for something that sits in a closet somewhere not being looked at, form over function.
Just as a note, if you buy a new Cloudkey 2 Plus now, they are no longer supplied with batteries. The Database corruption, that initially triggered the battery install, was solved long ago so CLoudkeys are no longer supplied with batteries in them. Additional note, if you do have an older cloudKey with the battery and the battery stops working, try an RMA first. Mine was 3 years old, and Ubiquiti RMA'd it with no question asked when I told them it was a battery issue. The battery was not really a good idea in these due to the heat, but luckily it is no longer a problem and not needed anymore.
I bought one new last week to replace a defective one purchased in 2019 . This was new in box, and shrink wrapped, and still has a batter. It had a manufacturing date of Feb 2022. So beware, they still exist out there in the wild.
Hi mate - I am here because my CK2+ stopped working via POE last weekend. It works fine / powers on via USB-C power. Will the device still power on with the battery simply removed / disconnected, running direct via USB Power? If the new ones are no longer supplied with batteries, do they still work via POE? (because obviously, with the battery unplugged, presumably mine won't turn on via POE anymore?)
@@fademan77 yes. New ones run PoE fine. I have mine in a rack mount running off one of the Pro 24 port PoE switches. Been like that since I got the replacement and it's been rock solid. Battery should not affect the ability to run on PoE at all.
That's just a terrible design. Especially considering they could've done something incredibly simple, like the G-Drive enclosures. Undo 4 screws at the bottom, and just slide out the entire unit.
For the SoC, it's a Qualcomm APQ8053 meant primarily for IoT applications but funny enough its basically just a run of the mill mobile SoC that you'd find in a phone; 8x ARM A53 (Octa-Core 64-bit @ 1.8GHz) Hexagon 546 DSP Adreno 506 GPU WiFi 4/5 (a/b/g/n/ac) BT-LE 4.1 GLONASS/Galileo/Beidou/GPS Camera, Dual ISP H.264/H.265 code FHD+/WUXGA Display Aqstic audio Security, QPS/QDLA/QCP
Happens to also be the one used in many of their connect displays, as well as the chip used in a few Lenovo android tablets and the Lenovo Smart Display 10" (and 8" I believe)
UniFi: “Why only copy the packaging from apple? Let’s copy the battery-nightmare as well!” My device only lasted 1 year and then failed. HW-Quality is really not matching the price point and the reputation here!!
The doorbell has some similar issues. They put a Li-Ion cell inside to sustain the doorbell during the chime sequence (while the power is diverted to the chime for a second or so). The battery is definitely 100% not rated for outdoor temperatures. They had the opportunity to fix this on the G4 Pro. Guess what they didn’t do? Yeah… same again.
As far as I know all of them have this problem because of design flaw, the battery sits inside a very hot case with no ventilation 24/7, no wonder battery it’s getting bad over time
It's a shame the battery isn't accessible via a flap on the bottom of the device. It's something I would expect of a fairly expensive piece of hardware like that. Also, how would you feel about leaving the battery inside after disconnecting it?
I don't really know enough about batteries to comment on the safety of leaving it in, I personally just wanted it out of there given how hot these devices get in use - I just measured the surface temperature - over 50c, so probably even hotter inside where the battery was!
@@camerongray1515 That's definitely approaching the upper limit of a battery that is in good health, let alone one in that condition. You definitely made the right decision.
Hey Cameron, Maybe I'm the first person to do this following your guide as I jumped to do mine as soon as I saw the video uploaded and followed along not even knowing the conclusion! I'm happy to report, I was able to remove my spicy pillow without any damage to my Cloud Key Gen2 Plus. I didn't scratch the plastic or break the screen or damage any of it even cosmetically. I chose to use a heat gun to heat the glue only 45 seconds of circular motions on medium heat was enough to make the glue malleable enough to pry up the plastic on the back and the front (OLED screen part) without issue. Mine is a retail version purchased in late 2019 and my OLED panel was stuck to the front plastic part with adhesive, they came off together as one piece. There was only a minor amount of glue around the front plastic part adjoining it to the back piece and there was no glue directly behind the OLED panel part, only the edges of the plastic facia. Thanks a lot for this guide, I was waiting for it since your last video before attempting to do it myself, my battery stopped working about a year ago and I was just putting off doing it but the concern of it potentially causing a fire was the last push I needed.
Could you not just wire up and 3D Print your own replacement caddy with battery contacts and then you could use a removable phone battery and easily replace it at any point in the future. Plus that would allow you to install your own mini fan to keep the battery temperatures lower.
I suspect the voltage would be a problem, as most phone batteries are rated at 3.7 volts, while this device contains a 7.4 volt battery. It's probably quite easy to install a small boost converter board in there, however this would make recharging the bettery much more difficult.
Worth noting, btw, that not only would you not be able to sell it in good faith, due to it's failed battery, but you legally could not ship it in the UK either, as a device with a known failed battery inside is prohibited from being shipped in the UK
great video , too late for me alas as i tried to take mine apart when it failed but ended up destroying it and turned to using a raspberry pi instead , which has been rock solid for 2 years plus, im on my 3rd USG and have reflashed the usb drive in them a few times lol , if im honest i wont be fixing anythng else that fails i will just move over to pf sense or one of the alternatives , i seem to have reached the limit of what my unifi gear can tell me and i feel pf sense is the direction i am going
Mine sat in a Unifi Rack mount for almost 4 years and it died a few weeks back. I suspect the battery has failed. A really useful video, similar to one I had seen before, about to start doing it, and the advice about heating it up I believe is crucial. Cheers.
Enjoyed the video. Thank you. Unifi novice here from Amplifi. Question. I have a new, out of box, unused, not (yet) installed UCK-Gen2-Pro. If I replace the HD now, prior to initial use, need I worry or have to deal with re-installation of downloaded backups (console, protect, network)? Can I just pop-out old HD, replace with new and then power up the CK for very first time with no need to concern myself with re-install of backup files? Tx you for your response.
Correction around @2:50 you say unifi cameras need this cloudkey, a unvr or a "dream machine" if you mean dream machine pro, yes that's correct but the ubiquiti product called just dream machine (UDM), does not support the Protect app. So no cameras. I learned the hard way :(
The irony is that the vast majority of users will sit this on a rack shelf….that is 1.75” tall. So they could have made this thing larger, simpler and easier to service without affecting the end usage.
I think the twisted pairs going to the rack mount kit connector must be carrying USB 3.x rather than Ethernet. The many-pinned Ethernet transformer module is only for a single port, which means the magnetics for the rack mount Ethernet port must be in the rack mount kit. It doesn't seem right to have a run of cable between the Ethernet PHY and the magnetics. I think there'll be another USB to Ethernet chip in the rack mount kit.
I suspect the twisted wires are on the port side of the Ethernet magnetics. So there is potentially two Ethernet ports in parallel. This would explain why they have used a separate Ethernet magnetics instead of using a Ethernet plug with the magnetics built in.
@@lhovo Ah, so you can only use one port or the other. Two ports in parallel doesn't strike me as a good idea but I suppose it might make sense if the existing port becomes inaccessible when rack mounted.
I just looked up the manual and it has this: Warning: To prevent creating a loop or other unfavorable behavior on the network, only one Ethernet connection should be used. Do not use the Ethernet ports on the Cloud Key G2 Plus and Rackmount Accessory simultaneously.
They definitely could be a fire hazard once ballooned like some have. When I removed mine it was not ballooned and was a stone cold 0v when tested. Part of me wonders if ubiquiti released an update to drain the batteries to nothing to remove all of their energy.
Just wish they'd update the line and give us a cloudkey gen3 at this point with an updated SoC, in a chassis roughly the same size & shape as the USW-Enterprise-8-PoE. LCD on the left, space for a disk in the middle and a PoE port on the right and some sort of alternative power in on the back. At that point with a more serviceable chassis maybe they could sell replacement batteries.
Does the rack mount connector have an orientation? It is hard to tell from the video. I suppose the existing bends in the wires should make it sit the right way around.
May I ask what camera you use? Because your videos are only 50fps, and I know of a certain manufacturer that stupidly sets their cameras to one of two modes for a given market, which makes accessible only "PAL" resolution settings in "PAL" regions, and only "NTSC" resolution settings in "NTSC" regions. Luckily, my friend and I found a forum thread with instructions to change the mode via the service menu and get 60fps on a UK/Europe model, and have done it successfully on 3 different (1080p) models, 2 of them newer than the thread and 1 of those 2 requiring 1 different button (correctly guessed by my friend) to be held down as part of the button combination. Edit: I since read the comment and your reply about this that was already in here, and correct me if I'm wrong but I think the light thing (50Hz lights not syncing with 60Hz video and flickering) only applies to non-LED bulbs/tubes, so shouldn't really be a problem nowadays. Similar with TVs/monitors, only applies to 25/50/100Hz ones (and at that, only CRTs I believe) so again 60Hz video shouldn't flicker with screens in "PAL regions" nowadays.
It's a Panasonic HC-X1500 recording to an external Blackmagic VideoAssist 12G 7". The camera can be set to "NTSC" frame rates relatively easily by changing the region but I don't really see a huge benefit. You're right that high quality LED lights such as my video lights are generally unaffected, however I something film in different locations under various traditional room bulbs which can sometimes exhibit flickering/rolling shutter issues when recorded at 60fps. Cheap LED bulbs with basic drivers can actually flicker even worse on camera than incandescent bulbs. It's just safer to record at 50fps and completely eliminate the risk rather than get to editing and only then spot that the footage is flickering or have to change the frame rate part way through a video and have to deal with mixed framerate footage.
25/50fps video is the standard in PAL countries such as the UK. When a camera is set to a PAL region it will operate at those frame rates. This is because it matches with our 50Hz electricity grid vs the 60Hz grid in the US and avoids issues where lights can appear to flicker when recorded at 60fps when being powered from a 50Hz grid. Tom Scott did a good video that explains it: ua-cam.com/video/uzP8FFKpwQ0/v-deo.html
Unfortunately I couldn't find any information on the panel based on the part number on the back so I suspect it's a custom part for the device. I suppose it may be possible to get a different, compatible part however it doesn't really seem worth the effort.
Thanks for the tear down. Mine just died about a week ago after running 3 yrs 24/7. So now I know how to take this ridiculous thing apart. I had figured it was the internal battery since it no longer worked on POE, I used my phone charger and it turned right on and started working. Though as soon as you unplugged it, it died. So I'll be removing the battery and purchasing a 3.0 charger to plug into the my rack UPS and then put this thing back in its rackmount unit and back in service.
Buy the UniFi Cloud Key Gen2 Plus on Amazon (Affiliate): geni.us/o9EXUV2
This really brings in to question if there is the same lack of forethought in their other products!
Designing this product for servicing & repair would be no more difficult. They have clearly put too much value in aesthetics and minimising build cost, than building a quality product.
This is an issue I have with them as enterprise networking products, I get a feeling they're going after Apple aesthetics for the "prosumer" market rather than businesses, especially for something that sits in a closet somewhere not being looked at, form over function.
I betcha this is on purpose aka planned obsolence
a shame it isn't just an 18650 in the back, they didn't think that through
they probably did think that through. a company like unify would prefer people to only buy their batteries.
but yea a plain 18650 or even a supercap
Just as a note, if you buy a new Cloudkey 2 Plus now, they are no longer supplied with batteries. The Database corruption, that initially triggered the battery install, was solved long ago so CLoudkeys are no longer supplied with batteries in them.
Additional note, if you do have an older cloudKey with the battery and the battery stops working, try an RMA first. Mine was 3 years old, and Ubiquiti RMA'd it with no question asked when I told them it was a battery issue. The battery was not really a good idea in these due to the heat, but luckily it is no longer a problem and not needed anymore.
I bought one new last week to replace a defective one purchased in 2019 . This was new in box, and shrink wrapped, and still has a batter. It had a manufacturing date of Feb 2022. So beware, they still exist out there in the wild.
How did the RMA work? Did they replace the entire unit? Or was it repaired?
I've been gifted one, so I don't have access to any proof of purchase.
@@markhayden4282 where is it you find the manufacture date?
Hi mate - I am here because my CK2+ stopped working via POE last weekend.
It works fine / powers on via USB-C power.
Will the device still power on with the battery simply removed / disconnected, running direct via USB Power?
If the new ones are no longer supplied with batteries, do they still work via POE? (because obviously, with the battery unplugged, presumably mine won't turn on via POE anymore?)
@@fademan77 yes. New ones run PoE fine. I have mine in a rack mount running off one of the Pro 24 port PoE switches. Been like that since I got the replacement and it's been rock solid.
Battery should not affect the ability to run on PoE at all.
That's just a terrible design. Especially considering they could've done something incredibly simple, like the G-Drive enclosures. Undo 4 screws at the bottom, and just slide out the entire unit.
For the SoC, it's a Qualcomm APQ8053 meant primarily for IoT applications but funny enough its basically just a run of the mill mobile SoC that you'd find in a phone;
8x ARM A53 (Octa-Core 64-bit @ 1.8GHz)
Hexagon 546 DSP
Adreno 506 GPU
WiFi 4/5 (a/b/g/n/ac)
BT-LE 4.1
GLONASS/Galileo/Beidou/GPS
Camera, Dual ISP
H.264/H.265 code
FHD+/WUXGA Display
Aqstic audio
Security, QPS/QDLA/QCP
Happens to also be the one used in many of their connect displays, as well as the chip used in a few Lenovo android tablets and the Lenovo Smart Display 10" (and 8" I believe)
UniFi: “Why only copy the packaging from apple? Let’s copy the battery-nightmare as well!”
My device only lasted 1 year and then failed. HW-Quality is really not matching the price point and the reputation here!!
The doorbell has some similar issues. They put a Li-Ion cell inside to sustain the doorbell during the chime sequence (while the power is diverted to the chime for a second or so). The battery is definitely 100% not rated for outdoor temperatures. They had the opportunity to fix this on the G4 Pro. Guess what they didn’t do? Yeah… same again.
As far as I know all of them have this problem because of design flaw, the battery sits inside a very hot case with no ventilation 24/7, no wonder battery it’s getting bad over time
They also cook the hard drives. I went through 3 hard drives before I upgraded to the UNVR.
It's a shame the battery isn't accessible via a flap on the bottom of the device. It's something I would expect of a fairly expensive piece of hardware like that. Also, how would you feel about leaving the battery inside after disconnecting it?
I don't really know enough about batteries to comment on the safety of leaving it in, I personally just wanted it out of there given how hot these devices get in use - I just measured the surface temperature - over 50c, so probably even hotter inside where the battery was!
@@camerongray1515 That's definitely approaching the upper limit of a battery that is in good health, let alone one in that condition. You definitely made the right decision.
Hey Cameron, Maybe I'm the first person to do this following your guide as I jumped to do mine as soon as I saw the video uploaded and followed along not even knowing the conclusion!
I'm happy to report, I was able to remove my spicy pillow without any damage to my Cloud Key Gen2 Plus. I didn't scratch the plastic or break the screen or damage any of it even cosmetically. I chose to use a heat gun to heat the glue only 45 seconds of circular motions on medium heat was enough to make the glue malleable enough to pry up the plastic on the back and the front (OLED screen part) without issue.
Mine is a retail version purchased in late 2019 and my OLED panel was stuck to the front plastic part with adhesive, they came off together as one piece. There was only a minor amount of glue around the front plastic part adjoining it to the back piece and there was no glue directly behind the OLED panel part, only the edges of the plastic facia.
Thanks a lot for this guide, I was waiting for it since your last video before attempting to do it myself, my battery stopped working about a year ago and I was just putting off doing it but the concern of it potentially causing a fire was the last push I needed.
Glad I just got a raspberry pi and installed the controller software... this thing souls sub par...
Could you not just wire up and 3D Print your own replacement caddy with battery contacts and then you could use a removable phone battery and easily replace it at any point in the future.
Plus that would allow you to install your own mini fan to keep the battery temperatures lower.
I suspect the voltage would be a problem, as most phone batteries are rated at 3.7 volts, while this device contains a 7.4 volt battery. It's probably quite easy to install a small boost converter board in there, however this would make recharging the bettery much more difficult.
@@jamescollins6085 nonononono, just take a 2 cell battery with protection
@@_DSch Ah yeah, that would work. Could even make one fairly easily.
Worth noting, btw, that not only would you not be able to sell it in good faith, due to it's failed battery, but you legally could not ship it in the UK either, as a device with a known failed battery inside is prohibited from being shipped in the UK
On my Gen2 the heat is much greater when powered by POE, however when powered by USB it runs significantly cooler.
Which is how my CK2+'s battery is cooked! It sits on a desk, loads of air flow, but with POE, it's hot enough to cook eggs - without, no real heat
Good stuff don’t even own one just like ur vids thanks
great video , too late for me alas as i tried to take mine apart when it failed but ended up destroying it and turned to using a raspberry pi instead , which has been rock solid for 2 years plus, im on my 3rd USG and have reflashed the usb drive in them a few times lol , if im honest i wont be fixing anythng else that fails i will just move over to pf sense or one of the alternatives , i seem to have reached the limit of what my unifi gear can tell me and i feel pf sense is the direction i am going
Mine sat in a Unifi Rack mount for almost 4 years and it died a few weeks back. I suspect the battery has failed. A really useful video, similar to one I had seen before, about to start doing it, and the advice about heating it up I believe is crucial. Cheers.
Enjoyed the video. Thank you. Unifi novice here from Amplifi. Question. I have a new, out of box, unused, not (yet) installed UCK-Gen2-Pro. If I replace the HD now, prior to initial use, need I worry or have to deal with re-installation of downloaded backups (console, protect, network)? Can I just pop-out old HD, replace with new and then power up the CK for very first time with no need to concern myself with re-install of backup files? Tx you for your response.
Correction around @2:50 you say unifi cameras need this cloudkey, a unvr or a "dream machine" if you mean dream machine pro, yes that's correct but the ubiquiti product called just dream machine (UDM), does not support the Protect app. So no cameras. I learned the hard way :(
The irony is that the vast majority of users will sit this on a rack shelf….that is 1.75” tall. So they could have made this thing larger, simpler and easier to service without affecting the end usage.
Did you try isopropanol to weaken the glue as you were prising off the back?
It looks like an iPod battery
now where to find a replacement battery
I think the twisted pairs going to the rack mount kit connector must be carrying USB 3.x rather than Ethernet. The many-pinned Ethernet transformer module is only for a single port, which means the magnetics for the rack mount Ethernet port must be in the rack mount kit. It doesn't seem right to have a run of cable between the Ethernet PHY and the magnetics. I think there'll be another USB to Ethernet chip in the rack mount kit.
I suspect the twisted wires are on the port side of the Ethernet magnetics. So there is potentially two Ethernet ports in parallel. This would explain why they have used a separate Ethernet magnetics instead of using a Ethernet plug with the magnetics built in.
@@lhovo Ah, so you can only use one port or the other. Two ports in parallel doesn't strike me as a good idea but I suppose it might make sense if the existing port becomes inaccessible when rack mounted.
I just looked up the manual and it has this:
Warning: To prevent creating a loop or other unfavorable behavior on the network, only one Ethernet connection should be used. Do not use the Ethernet ports on the Cloud Key G2 Plus and Rackmount Accessory simultaneously.
Failed battery, "Made in China." Great. Are these things fire hazards?
They definitely could be a fire hazard once ballooned like some have. When I removed mine it was not ballooned and was a stone cold 0v when tested. Part of me wonders if ubiquiti released an update to drain the batteries to nothing to remove all of their energy.
they should add a battery release compartment where you can replace or remove the battery, also they can sell separate battery replacement.
Just wish they'd update the line and give us a cloudkey gen3 at this point with an updated SoC, in a chassis roughly the same size & shape as the USW-Enterprise-8-PoE. LCD on the left, space for a disk in the middle and a PoE port on the right and some sort of alternative power in on the back. At that point with a more serviceable chassis maybe they could sell replacement batteries.
Your instructions worked for me. Glue Gun was the secret. No damage and puffy battery removed. Thanks so much Cameron!
Why not use a bloddy super capacitor? Especially if they are going to use such trash batteries...
i had the same problem but managed to fix it by changing the drive. It booted up and was ready to be adopted
Does the rack mount connector have an orientation? It is hard to tell from the video. I suppose the existing bends in the wires should make it sit the right way around.
Unified said the new models don't have batteries anymore
May I ask what camera you use?
Because your videos are only 50fps, and I know of a certain manufacturer that stupidly sets their cameras to one of two modes for a given market, which makes accessible only "PAL" resolution settings in "PAL" regions, and only "NTSC" resolution settings in "NTSC" regions.
Luckily, my friend and I found a forum thread with instructions to change the mode via the service menu and get 60fps on a UK/Europe model, and have done it successfully on 3 different (1080p) models, 2 of them newer than the thread and 1 of those 2 requiring 1 different button (correctly guessed by my friend) to be held down as part of the button combination.
Edit: I since read the comment and your reply about this that was already in here, and correct me if I'm wrong but I think the light thing (50Hz lights not syncing with 60Hz video and flickering) only applies to non-LED bulbs/tubes, so shouldn't really be a problem nowadays. Similar with TVs/monitors, only applies to 25/50/100Hz ones (and at that, only CRTs I believe) so again 60Hz video shouldn't flicker with screens in "PAL regions" nowadays.
It's a Panasonic HC-X1500 recording to an external Blackmagic VideoAssist 12G 7". The camera can be set to "NTSC" frame rates relatively easily by changing the region but I don't really see a huge benefit. You're right that high quality LED lights such as my video lights are generally unaffected, however I something film in different locations under various traditional room bulbs which can sometimes exhibit flickering/rolling shutter issues when recorded at 60fps. Cheap LED bulbs with basic drivers can actually flicker even worse on camera than incandescent bulbs. It's just safer to record at 50fps and completely eliminate the risk rather than get to editing and only then spot that the footage is flickering or have to change the frame rate part way through a video and have to deal with mixed framerate footage.
How did you manage 4k50, it’s more bitrate but it’s nowhere near as smooth as 60fps also none of the integrated devices do 50hz
25/50fps video is the standard in PAL countries such as the UK. When a camera is set to a PAL region it will operate at those frame rates. This is because it matches with our 50Hz electricity grid vs the 60Hz grid in the US and avoids issues where lights can appear to flicker when recorded at 60fps when being powered from a 50Hz grid. Tom Scott did a good video that explains it: ua-cam.com/video/uzP8FFKpwQ0/v-deo.html
have you got plans in replacing that OLED screen? so it restores it back to 100% functionality? im sure you can get them pannels fairly cheaply
Unfortunately I couldn't find any information on the panel based on the part number on the back so I suspect it's a custom part for the device. I suppose it may be possible to get a different, compatible part however it doesn't really seem worth the effort.
thanks @camerongray1515 for the tutorial. does the cloudkey works with poe without the battery? or does it only works with the usb?
Thanks for the tear down.
Mine just died about a week ago after running 3 yrs 24/7. So now I know how to take this ridiculous thing apart. I had figured it was the internal battery since it no longer worked on POE, I used my phone charger and it turned right on and started working. Though as soon as you unplugged it, it died. So I'll be removing the battery and purchasing a 3.0 charger to plug into the my rack UPS and then put this thing back in its rackmount unit and back in service.