New Blaze doesn't display battery icon when trying to charge

[Fenno1958]

When trying to charge my brand new blaze, there is no battery icon displayed, so not charging.

Tried restarting it but same problem.

[SteveH]

Have you gone through the setup process? The battery charging icon does not display until the setup is complete.

[Fenno1958]

Thanks .I have completed the setup but it is requesting an update. I am unable to complete the update as the battery is too low.

[SteveH]

There are a number of reasons why a fitbit won't charge as described in this help article:

https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1190/

I think the most common issue is that the fitbit isn't receiving enough power and I'd recommend trying a wall charger first.

[GMNelms]

I'm having the same problem. Did you work it out?

[AlejandraFitbit]

It's great to welcome you @GMNelms. If you are not able to see the battery icon at the moment of placing the tracker into the cradle, I recommend restarting your Blaze and follow the instructions provided in this post. Keep in mind that you can also see this icon in the upper left corner on your tracker's display.

Let me know the outcome. 

[Tablefor4]

Did you get a satisfactory response to this question?

I too have a brand new Blaze straight out of the box.  I plugged it in both the computer and the wall to charge, but no charging icon appears (yes, I had it the right way up and in the cradle properly). When plugged into the PC, you can hear the sound notification from the PC that something is attached via the USB port, so I know the it's connected.

I synced it with the app and my PC, but it needs an update but says there is not enough power for an update.  It's been plugged in for a couple of hours and still has no battery (it has enough juice to show the fitbit symbol, with the fitbit.com/setup icon on the screen). 

Honestly, if this is how reliable these things are straight out of the box, I'll be returning it for refund tomorrow and will go to a different brand.

[Tablefor4]

Okay, so it would be EXTREMELY helpful if Fitbit told you not to try pairing/syncing your tracker with your phone or PC until it had completed a 4 hour charge, on it's little setup card. Would have saved alot of angst. You won't see any indication that it is charging until it has been set up, and you can't set up until you've charged it for quite a number of hours. 

[dca_ct]

This is a bit unexpected for sure.

Why does the setup app even try to run if the battery is not charged sufficiently - one might ask...

-> dca_ct

[Rich_Laue]

@dca_ct not really sure what your asking. 

Until the setup had started, the tracker chosen to add has been selected and identified.. The app will not know the battery status, it is to late then, the tracker already has been connected to the Fitbit sccount.. At this time it checks the battery status and tell you to charge the tracker if the battery is to low.. If the battery has enough it proceedes to install the firmware. 

[dca_ct]

Rich,

(Thanks for the quick response.)

There seems to be no possible way to know what is required to get the thing on your wrist without digging through nested-reference docs that refer to prior-knowledge or action not referenced up front in logical order.

(I’ve done a little technical writing for newbies and have taken many virtual beatings over stuff like this.)

J

Rgrds,

dca

PS:

From the PDF manual...

...

To get started:

1. 　 Make sure the Fitbit app is compatible with your mobile device by checking http://www.fitbit.com/devices.

2. 　 Find the Fitbit app in one of these locations, depending on your device: • 　 The Apple App Store® for iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads. • 　 The Google Play™ Store for Android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Motorola Droid Turbo. • 　 The Windows® Store for Windows 10 mobile devices such as the Lumia phone or Surface tablet.

3. 　 Install the app. Note that you’ll need an account with the applicable store before you can download even a free app such as Fitbit.

4. 　 When the app is installed, open it and tap Join Fitbit to get started. You’ll be guided through the process of creating a Fitbit account and connecting ("pairing") your Blaze to your mobile device. Pairing makes sure the tracker and mobile device can communicate with one another (sync their data).

..."

Hooking it up and charging it (step 1.5 maybe) are not mentioned at all.

'Not fair' and embarrassing to (at least) some potential Buyers/Owners of what otherwise could be a superior product.

[Rich_Laue]

Many of my friends simply went to the address on the tracker http://www.fotbit.com/setup

From there they where directed to the proper app

Installed app

Ran app

Answered questions

Tracker setup. 

Easy peasy

[dca_ct]

Beyond the fact that there is no URL fotbit.com, I cannot get past the initial dotted diamond logo with the 'fitbit.com/setup' URI underneath it. (Easy peasy my foot. 😉

MS Surface running Winv10 pro, plenty of charge (used my HTC phone charger all night), deleted the device from my Fitbit.com web account, restarted the Surface and reloaded the blaze to Bluetooth.

Re-logged into the web account and looked to add the device again...  There is no indication for a link to do this...

The User interface is umm, awful.

I won't give up, but as a tech guy, I have to say that it looks like all the tech writers were fired and just the marketing guys (somewhat tech challenged folks) have taken over the asylum.

(Forgive me my attitude, but I have been working on this for too long to see it successful in the IoT market in this state of setup and support.  There's been too many 'pivot' responses to make me comfortable with the device - and I've been using MS Bands since they were $220.+ and wore both of them out...)

[kuland]

so I already tried pairing..unable to for the same reason as you. So what you did, to clarify, was just let it stay plugged in for 4 hours (without the battery symbol). Then took it out and tried pairing it again? Then it worked? 

[hesserbets]

New blaze doesn't display battery icon when trying to charge

[hesserbets]

I can't complete the setup until the battery is fully charged and I can't tell when that is.

[hesserbets]

I'm trying a wall charger but I still can't see any symbol  for a battery icon

[hesserbets]

how do I restart the blaze

[Rich_Laue]

@hesserbets a Blaze that has the setup message will not show a battery indicator while charging. This is the way it works. The vibration you felt tells you the Blaze is being chsrged. charged. 

Durring the setup procedure the app will notify you if the battery needs to be charged, no need to wait. 

I usually set it up while it is charging. The app doesn't mind. 

As for restart. Let's tap the help link found below and search for restart but it sounds like your tracker is doing what it is suppose to do. 

How do I restart my Fitbit device?

Troubleshoot a problematic device by turning it off and then back on