Blaze won't charge, contacts damaged

[JMulls15]

I've had my Blaze for almost 2 years and haven't had any issues until earlier today.  Went to charge my Blaze and it wouldn't charge. I looked at and wiped the connections off, tried a second outlet, tried my wife's Blaze charger and nothing. It won't charge at all. I looked at the pin connectors on the back of the Blaze and they looked damaged. Can anyone help?

Moderator edit: Clarified subject

[Peter_S]

I am very pleased for you. Perhaps there has been a shift in policy which
would be great going forward, but my Blaze is in the bin and my old Surge
us just about hanging in there though held together with Gorilla tape.

[Petem289]

Can only comment on my own experience which has involved multiple emails from the other side of the world and honouring a warranty they didn't have to acknowledge. 

[Eaglesfield63]

You're still not being specific with details Peter.
Was the Blaze you had still within the warranty period and was it replaced
free of charge?
It's no good saying you had a great customer experience if you don't give
details of what that experience was.

Regards
Peter

[Petem289]

The Blaze was two years and two months old and is being replaced by the company. ... that's correct. 

[Eaglesfield63]

Excellent news. It must be that the new management are taking a better
approach with customer service.
They certainly didn't take that approach in the past.

[Robkinn]

Hi:

      Have tried to charge my Blaze and it seems to be on its way out.  Have done the reset and cleaned contacts and pins....have tried connecting to a different outlet to no avail.  For awhile now it has seemed to be resistant to accepting a charge but I usually could have it do so.  Now, nothing appears on the screen when put in the charging cradle (used to be able to see the charging meter appear and go from red to green when complete.  Any ideas?

[Peter_S]

probably its a permanent failure but you could try taking the four screws
out that hold the back on and check the pogo pins there and clean them.
other than that its bye bye Blaze.

Peter

[TheOldFatGuy]

Robkinn,

This appears to be a common problem. My blaze stopped charging the other day. When I examined the contacts on the back with a digital microscope it was obvious that the charger pogo pins had worn holes in the contacts, obviously breaking the connection to the internal wire. In my humble opinion this is a design flaw or planned obsolescence. Since my Blaze is well out of the warranty period I did not bother to contact Fitbit. I truly like my Blaze and for what it cost it should have not worn out in this manner. I have an A Watch as well, but it doesn't track heart rate as well as the Fitbit nor does it track sleep without a third part app. So I really want to resurgent  my blaze as I do not like the looks of the new Fitbits and honestly I invested too much in the blaze to just throw it away. So I did order a replacement back cover on a well known Auction site. It was roughly $15 USD.  I figured it was worth a try. I have not received it yet. When it arrives I will install it and post an update.

[LegallyBlonde76]

I bought a replacement back on Amazon for $15 for my son's Blaze, switched
it out, and it it is working great! You do have to remove the ribbon cable
from the old back and place it into the new back. Be very careful when you
pry the old back off--don't yank it hard, or you may damage the ribbon
cable. Just be gentle as you remove the back, and you should be fine.

[Eaglesfield63]

Good luck. I look forward to your update 😊

[MunkeeBoy]

Just jumping in to say I am having this issue as well. I've cleaned the connectors only to notice they have chipped off my wristband. I got it from my mother as a gift so we could monitor my BPM as well as sleep patterns.

Really disappointed to see this is a design flaw as I love my watch and its usability. Here's hoping it can be replaced or repaired. If not, I'll have to look at a different brand that I can afford.

[Eaglesfield63]

What is truly sad is that Fitbit continue to sell an item with a clear
design fault.
Designed to last only as long as the warranty period.

[TheOldFatGuy]

I received the replacement back, but then realized that I didn't have a T3 bit to remove the old back. When that finally arrived it was a fairly easy swap. There is a video on YouTube that I recommend you watch before attempting it. The toughest part was removing the sensors from the old back without damaging them. With my old eyes I had to use a digital microscope to remove the heat stakes that hold it in. But for most a magnifying glass should do. Then you will need a soldering iron with a fine tip to melt the posts that hold it into the new back. Having said all that, it tool 15 minutes to repair my blaze and it is working fine. Total cost of replacement back and T3 screwdriver, roughly $20. I've attaches a couple of photos of the contacts pre-swap

.

[Eaglesfield63]

Excellent news 😀

[Qasim_Qayyum]

I have the same issue... pls help me out...

Moderator edit: personal info removed