Can’t add Charge 5 to my existing account

[SteveMan]

I’ve had a Fitbit account for 6 years and used 3 devices. When I attempt to add my Charge 5 to my account the device fails to pair and instead goes into an endless reboot loop.  I’ve tried this on multiple IPhones with the same result. I attempt to attach the Charge 5 to a new user account it works fine. I have updated to the most recent firmware- no change. I don’t want to abandon six years of Fitbit data. 

[Julia_G]

Hi, @SteveMan , that is an unusual problem!  You definitely should be able to add your Charge 5 to your existing account, although you may need to delete other devices (depending on which ones they are).  You should not need to abandon 6 years of data!

If you have incompatible devices on your account (basically all Fitbits since Ionic) normally you get a message saying “You already have X Fitbit attached to your account.  Do you want to switch to Charge 5? and then the deletion of the other Fitbit happens automatically as part of the set up.

It is possible that Bluetooth from the different devices are causing interference and making it difficult to find your Charge 5.  It might help to get all other Fitbits out of Bluetooth range.  Also if you are used to syncing your Fitbits with two different devices (for example a tablet and a phone) it might help to have Bluetooth turned ON on only one of the two devices while you are doing the set up.

Which Fitbits do you already have attached to your account?

[charleskn]

You can also "forget" the other devices in your bluetooth settings, and remove them from your account. This will not delete your historical data.

[Julia_G]

@charleskn if the other Fitbits are incompatible with the Charge 5 they should automatically be deleted when the Charge 5 is set up.  Forgetting them under Bluetooth settings or even deleting them from the Fitbit account may not prevent the Bluetooth signals from interfering - if that that is what the issue is.  

It would be helpful to know which other devices are attached to the account.  Some Fitbits should be able to happily co-exist once set up is complete, but could potentially interfere with set up.

[SteveMan]

Thanks for the reply. All other devices were removed from the account and from my iPhone Bluetooth settings, and shut down. I should also mention that when this first occurred I returned the charge 5 for a new one, only to have the identical problem. Clearly it has something to do with the account itself. 

[Julia_G]

@SteveMan this is very curious.  Can I ask what the other devices that you removed are?  You mention that they are all shutdown, but most Fitbits aren’t able to shut down.

Also, since this seems, as you to suggest, to be account based, what happens if you try to add one of these older Fitbits back in? Can you add any Fitbit to your account?  (I don’t know how that would happen, but I guess it might help to know for sure.)

[SteveMan]

I’ve had Charge HR, Charge 2, and Charge 4. The Charge 4 is the only one that still works and it hadn’t been charged for 5 months. At your suggestion I charged it, attached it to my account and it worked as designed.

Note that I also loaded the Fitbit app on my son’s iPhone, logged into my account, and had the same results with the Charge 5. 

[Julia_G]

Hi, @SteveMan , when you say you had the same results with your son’s account, do you mean that it was not possible to set it up?  That suggests an issue with the Charge 5 and not the account.

I would say that that is confirmed if you can add the Charge 4 to your account but not the Charge 5.  I would recommend getting in touch with Fitbit Customer Support on Contact.Fitbit.com .