New Blaze - Update/No Charge Loop of Death - Fixed It Without Replacing!

[James_C]

 TL;DR: Used iPad charger to remove Blaze from chicken/egg charge/update cycle reported on forums several times over. 

So I just got my new Blaze delivered and was stuck in the "You must update to continue setup" and "Blaze not charging but nothing but the setup screen showing so can't tell if it is charging or not...wait 4 hours and realise that is most certainly is not charging."

This post is to outline how I resolved after searching these forums and making a few informed decissions and a single risk.

Basically, I had done the following:

1. Completed setup via iOS app
2. Connected to my USB3 port on my PC
3. Connected to my USB2 port on my PC
4. Reset via left and bottom right buttons and completed steps 1 and 2 again
5. Plugged into the 1A iPhone charger - no charge
6. Plugged into the 2.4A iPad charger - success!

The higher amperage of the iPad charger allowed the Blaze to draw enough charge to pull itself out of it's deat spiral and complete the update. I will remove once updated and see if it charges on the PC ports or the lower amperage iPhone charger. 

I have read elsewhere on these forums that the higher amperage iPad charger will deliver too much power and eventually fry the device. This is suprising as I was under the impression that most devices will only draw as much current as they can handle and no more. Given the price of the unit, I am not really willing to experiment here. If someone has a spare Blaze feel free to send it my way . 

Moderator edit: Format

[FerdinandFitbit]

Hey there @James_C. Good to see you in the Fitbit Community!

Thank you so much for taking the time to share this with us, I'm pretty sure that many other users will find this helpful and would be willing to try it out!

Hope to see you around more often!

[Rich_Laue]

Electrically your tracker will not pull more amps then needed, amps are related to power but not the same. The problem comes with the small battery, while the charging circuit will control everything, the more current from a higher wattage, again related but not the same as power, supply may heat the battery more than can be disapated. This extra heat could add to early battery failure. 

MY experience is that with the Blaze totally dead for a day, it might take a couple hours before it can turn on. This is with a 1 amp charger.

[James_C]

Hi Rich. Great response and well explained. That is the educated guess I was making however didn't realise the heat would be the issue. In hindsight it makes a lot of sense given how hot any device on the higher amperage gets. 

[Rich_Laue]

@James_C im not saying it will be much heat, just saying that with such a small battery it is better to err on the safe side.

Personally I dont like leaving it in the charger while sleeping and remove it after its charged, checking the level about every 30 minutes.

I find  a .5 amp charger to slow for me at times, having a second tracker to switch to is nice, the 1-amp supply does charge faster. 

With the surge a usb port or .5 supply seems to have problems charging for me, I dont understand why.

My fascination with electricity goes back to when I was barely 2 years old, made a crystal radio at 7-8, and rewired my bedroom outlets at 10.