Blaze battery

[Gordoni]

I found a battery leakage issue in the Fibit Blaze. I have bought a Fitbit Blaze in Korea a couple of weeks ago and as I charged the Blaze there has been leakage of battery fluid. Thus, I have sent the Blaze to the Korean branch to exchange for a new one. I have received the new Blaze, however the same thing happened again. I would like to know whether I should exchange this for a new one again or just return it. I had great expectations for Fitbit product but this has been a very disappointing experience with Fitbit. I attached 2 photo file. One is before charging the Blaze, the other is after charging the Blaze.

Moderator edit: edited title for clarity

[Rich_Laue]

@Arun_Wilson since the Amazon Fitbit store is an authorized retailer being setup by Fitbit. It makes sense to let Amazon handle the return/exchange.

@jim_80 fitbit has never supplied a power source, why should they? The Fitbit is useless without an Internet connection meaning everyone will have a computer or a phone/tablet with a charger.. As for dangerous yes all lithium batteries are, that is why each cell needs its own processor to monitor it's charging. 

If a battery did leak, it will need to get past the electronics and out of the water resistant case, without shorting out or foreboding the electronics. Basically the Blaze would have stopped working, or blow up. 

I find liquid all the time on the inside of my Blaze, it's called sweat. 

Now for lithium batteries, in general you don't want to let it charge above 80% or let it drop below 30%. This also goes for your phone. 

[jim_80]

Well the point isn't that a charger isn't supplied, the point is that we must all be using different chargers and it makes sense to start there when you're looking for common factors with a (probable) battery issue.

I guarantee you it's not sweat. Unless the people in this thread have acidic vaseline seeping from theit pores.

[Rich_Laue]

If I didn't know better I would agree, but as someone who has been playing with electricity since under two, and was making electronic puzzles games and motors out of paperclips at 8, that was 55+ years ago. 

Knowing that a circuit will only draw the current it needd, and USB ports are close to 5volts. The regulator in the blaze is rated for 30volts, but I'm sure there is not a big enough heatsync for t is voltage. If the chargers voltage is between 4 and 6 it should be fine. 

[Arun_Wilson]

Just to clear out the sweat theory - here are 2 images.

The first one, I took it last night when I noticed the leakage & the second one from this morning. You can clearly see the electrolyte is still visible in the charger.

I use the USB port on my laptop to charge my blaze..

As for your comment "Now for lithium batteries, in general you don't want to let it charge above 80% or let it drop below 30%." Whilst I agree with the principle, we all charge our phones / laptops above 80% - but have never faced an issue with electrolyte leakage. Assume most products have over-charge protection within the circuit electronics.

[jim_80]

Also I think we'd all agree that the battery shouldn't be leaking, but there is genuinely fluid coming from the inside of the device and it's a customer safety issue.

I think it's important that we get to the bottom of it and/or shake a response out of Fitbit, even if that's just to say that they've identified a bad batch or whatever.

[AngelaMa]

Hello @jim_80. @Arun_Wilson and @Rich_Laue it's great to have you here! If you are experiencing any issue with your tracker's battery my advise is to reach our support team for assistance. 

Tag me if you need me! 😉 

[jim_80]

This is getting stranger and stranger. Fitbit support are being completely blazé (no pun intended) about this gunk coming out of the back of the device. The response being to assure me that it is safe and to give me dermatology tips in case it isn't. I finally had a return arranged last night and just bought another one on Amazon to replace the original.

My Amazon-supplied Blaze has just arrived and I gave it a good look over before doing anything. Sure enough, I can see that the plastic seam on the back is full of this clear gel. I can get a bit of paper in between the edges and sort of "scoop" it out and I can confirm that it is a clear, vaseline-like fluid.

I've done my best to picture this, but it's not easy.

Can Fitbit respond to this? Someone must know what this is, and it would certainly put some minds to rest if we could confirm that this is the "normal" state of the device (call me an optimist). I'm starting to think that it might just be the method used to make it splash proof. It's plausible that it could leak out when the internals warm up in the charger.

Anyway, some kind of explanation would be appreciated. Is the Blaze meant to have gel sealing the edges on its rear?

[Gordoni]

Hi Angela.

Unfortunately I do not love anymore fitbit products after I had the
experience of terrible fitbit CS.

Fitbit still did not officially apologize for this problem.

Refunds will not final solution for customers.

Anyway, please do not question anymore about this.


Gordon.

[I-J]

Hi

I am experiencing the exact same problem with my Gun Metal Blaze bought from USA in Dec'16.  The device is leaking oily fluid from the bottom while being charged.  

This is worrying!  Would it blow up caught fire like Samsung infamous Note 7 incident??

[ZetaZeta]

Just bought a blaze and noticed this and found this thread because I was curious. I didn't think it was something to be concerned about. It's odorless and feels greasy, and looks like no battery leakage I've ever seen.

If someone could post what "lithium battery catalyst" looks like or whatever the heck you're calling it, but until then I doubt the liquid has anything to do with the battery.

I attached mine for comparison - I sweat like a motherf***er at work and while playing DDR. The second time I charged mine, I didn't notice anything. (So the 1st time charged fine - new out of box). The third time I (now) I noticed how it looks in the picture (although I didn't look at it when taking it out).

Sweat is salty and acidic. I'd imagine whatever is in the device as a gasket has some kind of grease on it. Go to AutoZone and buy any gasket, bulb, or battery. They're going to try and sell you a packet of grease. Usually dielectric grease to prevent shorts from moist/salty environments. You put white lithium grease on parts, seals, o-rings that touches plastic like a plunger in a NERF blaster.

I bet they greased the gasket on the device (it has 4 star screws, anyone willing to void their warranty and open up their device) and sweat causes it to break down or ooze out.

It's odorless and feels greasy, and doesn't irritate my skin. I doubt it's harmful. If anything, the most harm it might do is get on the charging contacts and prevent the device from charging until you cleaned it off.

EDIT: Just checked my brother's dock. Same deal - looks just like everyone else's picture. I would imagine this would happen to 100% of all Blazes, and only a few people notice it or care. Which would explain why some in this thread are on their "4th unit" etc.

[I-J]

Hi

Just to update that Fitbit Support Team has seen my pictures and told me to return my Blaze to them for replacement.  So I did.

[I-J]

Hi Zeta Zeta

Your "leak" definitely looks much more than mine.

[Cyn1922]

I have had my Blaze for almost 2 months and about a week ago I started to get a burn/irritation on my wrist where the lights on the back of the Blaze contact my wrist. I didn't think much of it the first couple of days and continued wearing my Blaze. It got worse and the spot is now about the size of a dime. I stopped wearing my Blaze a couple of days ago so the burn can heal. I charge it both at my PC and also through my wall charger depending if I'm at home or work. After reading this thread, I will check my charging box when I get home as well as the device to see if there is leakage. Has there been any type of recall on this product? This is the first FitBit I've ever owned and although I love the features of it, I'm not sure if I should keep it if this is a recurring issue.