Calories for hike from Charge 2 not accurate

[LaAnTu]

Now I am really getting fed up with this watch.

Today I went for a hike on the same route as I have taken MANY times before.

My calorie burn is from 800 to 900 on this route.

Today I went faster, had avg. bmp higher than before. really good feeling! But then! When I came home and synced the calories was 290...

How is this even possible?! This thing is meant to acctualy make u wanna excercise, is doing the opposite. Im trying to loose weight, and when the heartrate doesnt work all the time, and now suddenly this..

Is there any way to get it to recalculate the excersice?

Would really appreciate a solution, otherwise this thing is going in the garbage...

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hey there @LaAnTu! 

I'd like to take a closer look at the situation with the calories. Could you please take a screen shot of the full graph for the calories you burned for that day and let me know what is the timeframe for the hike? That way I'll be able to take a closer look and determine what could be causing the reduced calories.

Look forward to your reply so that we can correct this situation.

[LaAnTu]

Hi, sorry for not posting before, but what happened 4 hours later?

Yes the kcal went from 290 to 664. 

4 HOURS later, i did update several times, but nothing, then suddenly 4 hours later it said 664 kcal.

so I guess 664 kcal is about right.

But seriosly, has anyone any solution for the faulty heartrate monitor on the Charge 2?

Today I took the kid out snowracing, then I towed him up the hill again. 100 meters quite steep.

Not one time did the heartrate show bmp. just as allways "--".

And this problem reflects in the burned kcal... Because the right number is just not there.

The only time it ALWAYS shows the bmp is at home, with no excerice.

Its super frustrating... Always trying to correct the posistion of the watch, dry away sweat ect ect.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @LaAnTu! Thank you very much for that update. 

I'd like to ask you some questions in regards to the HR monitor on your Charge 2:

• If it always showing the two dashes? Does it, at any point, show any number in regards to the HR?
• When did that start happening?

In the meantime, let's try to do a restart on the Charge 2. To do a restart, please follow these steps:

1. Begin charging your Fitbit.
2. Press and hold the button on your tracker for four seconds. When you see the Fitbit logo and the tracker vibrates, this means the tracker has restarted.
3. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.
4. Try it on again and check if the HR comes up.

Look forward to your reply so that we can get this straightened out.

[LaAnTu]

I'd like to ask you some questions in regards to the HR monitor on your Charge 2:

• If it always showing the two dashes? Does it, at any point, show any number in regards to the HR? Answer: Its like this. I am outside, walking in the forrest/hills. And I do quite hard walking. max HR for me is 186 accoring to the fitbit calulation. I avg. about 145-150 bmp on any walk and reach about 173 bmp on the hardest hills. (Trying hard to loose weight, and just snow and ice here in Norway, so walking is better now) There is almost never any problem with the HR monitoring when I start the walk IF the ground is level and my puls goes from normal 80 and slowly builds up to e.g 150. The problem is almost ALWAYS when i reach a steep hill and the puls climbs rapidly. Then the HR monitor says "--". It can take 2 minutes for it to show me a HR number, or it can go 10-15 minutes, and often its shows a number then goes "--" again. The problem here is that I know that i have reached e.g 173 bmp, and i have been on high bmp for a long time. In the apps tracker data and in the apps heartrate later on there is no data of me having this high bmp. Same with intervall training running up a hill with 10 minutes break for each run. I did this run and there was not recorded any high bmp, even though I was probably closer to 180 bmp.

• When did that start happening? Answer: It has been like this since I bought it Jan. 6th this year. I wanned to return it, even got a returnslip from the seller, but then I started reading about this problem in various forums, also here. And I found that I am not the only one. So I would guess, returning it for a new one would make noe difference.
• About the restart; I have done this several time. The watch is still the same.

About start tracking from the watch in RUN mode is not usable for me because of the button. I have some layers of clothing since its cold and if I accidently press the button the timer stops. I am always trying to adjust the placement of the watch every time the HR goes "--".

What I did do instead was start tracking in RUN mode from the phone. (then there is no way to accidently press pause) On a 3,7 km route the fitbit tracker showed a 3,2 km. 500 meter less then in reality.

But really, I dont care so much about the distance anymore, my concern is the HR monitoring. HR has to be accurate and work all the time if the Charge 2 shall be used as advertised.

Questions for you:

1. Does it react badly to build up heat under clothing?
2. Does it react badly to cold temperatures?
3. Does in measure poorly when there is sweat?
4. Does the hairs on the wrist make HR reading harder?
5. Does plastic between watch and skin help? (possible solution in forums)
6. Does deoderant on the skin help? (possible solution in forums)

What I have found that tighter the watch, the better the HR monitor works. But not so tight that its unpleasent of course. But still having to push it furher up once in a while is frustrating, because it moves downward caus' gravity and sweat 😛

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hello @LaAnTu! Thank you very much for answering my questions so thoroughly.

To answer yours:

1. Question one and two, the Charge 2 has an operating temperature of 14° to 113° F. Anything between the two shouldn't affect it in any way.
2. Sweaty skin shouldn't cause the tracker to read the HR poorly. Having said that, if a lot of sweat, dirt, small particles build up on the back of the tracker, the HR will definitely be affected. Cleaning the back of the tracker regularly is a good way to make sure that it works.
3. Hair shouldn't really affect the tracking as long a the skin is still visible. 
4. As for the last two questions, those are things that have worked for some users but we cannot guarantee that they will work on this case.

What I'm thinking that could be the cause for the HR, specially since you mentioned it happens when you're going up a hill, is the positioning of your arms. Since the Fitbit reads your HR by looking at how your blood vessels contract and expand, some arm positions could constrict (slightly) the amount of blood that goes through and thus the reader needs to readjust to the change. When you go up a hill, do you keep your arms to your sides, hold them up, flex them or change their position in any way?

Look forward to your reply to better understand this situation.

[LaAnTu]

I keep my arm down and "swinging" like every person normally do. I try not to make a fist while walking upwards, and dont think I do anymore. So quite normal with the hands/arms.

What I did today; i tried making a fist for a while, I held on to the straps and the rugsack quite hard and for a long. All going upwards steep hills.

The HR was not affected by any of this.

Ill try again tomorrow, same walk, 40minutes with just steep hills and 160+ bmp.

Only thing I find thinking back is the tightning of the watch, that seems to help. Now its just above the "round" bone on the wrist and I thighten to the point that I can move it. Bit uncomfortable at first, but that feel quickly disappears.

Just thinking if this is a solution, then Fitbit should make a new band that is very stretchy. Then one can tighten it quite hard, but it will stretch so it will be less tight but always in place.

Because, i feel, that everytime the HR goes "--" then pushing the watch futher up "without" losning it works I think. At lease the measurement comes back faster than not doing anything.

[LanuzaFitbit]

Hey @LaAnTu! Thank you very much for reaching back with those details/

I'd be really interested in seeing how any further testing with the positioning of the tracker that you described. How has it worked since then? Did you notice an improvement?

Let me know about this. Look forward to your reply.