Charge 5 charging cable specifications

[Bebe_2010]

Is there anyone that can tell me the correct size AC to USB adapter that should be used for the charge 5 Fitbit? This is not stated anywhere in the charge 5 manual or online (that I could find). I even called customer service and they put me on hold for 10 minutes then said even they don't have the specs. Instead she ended up hanging up on me because she couldn't answer this simple question. For those of you who don't know, if you use the wrong size adapter it can damage your electronics. If you use a higher voltage adapter, measured in volts (V), or lower current adapter, measured in amps (A), it will damage your equipment and charger, which is exactly what happened with my last Fitbit. In the past with any electronics I bought, especially when they didn't give me an AC adapter (only a USB or USB-C charging cable), they at least supplied the charging cable specs in the box, but not this time. Without this information the warranty timeframe should not matter because the manufacturer didn't supply the equipment specs and should be responsible for the replacement even years later. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[SilviaFitbit]

@Bebe_2010 Welcome to the Fitbit Community. Thanks for the detailed information shared. 

I appreciate that you contacted our Support team prior to posting. Take into consideration that's it's recommended to plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer, a UL-certified USB wall charger, or another low-energy charging device. 

The easiest way to charge your Charge 5 is to plug the charging cable on the USB port on your computer, make sure you're following this procedure to charge it properly. 

Hope this helps. 

[Bebe_2010]

So you still can't give the requirements for the charger / equipment... all your saying is that I should charge it off my computer USB port. So tell me whenever you need to charge any of your electronics (phone, tablet, etc.) do you power up your computer every time to make sure you don't damage it just because you don't know the specs of your own equipment. I'm sorry but I normally charge my electronics while I'm not using them and I don't leave my computer on all hours of the day. Besides for Fitbit products, I am always given this basic information. As I said previously, if you can't supply this information, the replacements should be free even years down the line. I would really like to know why this is the only company that doesn't know the requirements of its own products. In addition, I have to say the "charging procedure is laughable". Think about it, no specs, no details but if it is damaged it's on us.....really? You should have some knowledge about your own products not to mention pride in what you supply so the consumer can feel it was a purchase well spent. Unless that's not your ultimate goal......

[Kenporon]

Bene_2010, thank you for saying what we all as customers want to say, I mean who wants to boot up there computer and leave it on every time you have to charge your Fitbit, Can we use an apple charger that plugs into an outlet? You can literally find any wattage and voltage charger with a USB port that plugs into an outlet on Amazon. All Fitbit hast to do is give us the charging specs and you can find a wall charger to charge it, how hard is that?

[Kenporon]

Also, they say to use UL-certified USB wall charger. Do you know how many UL – certified USB wall chargers are out there to buy of different wattages and voltages, too many to count. 

[UncleSlappy]

The USB 1.x and 2.0 specifications provide a 5 volt supply on a single wire to connected USB devices. A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and 150 mA in USB 3.0 (the only USB connectors matching the end attachment provided with the Fitbit USB charging cable). A unit load is defined as 100 mA in USB 2.0, and 150 mA in USB 3.0. A device may draw a maximum of 5 unit loads (500 mA) from a port in USB 2.0; 6 (900 mA) in USB 3.0.  Put another way, the average power of a USB port is about 5 volts, so an AC adapter should be limited to 5 volts and no more than 900mA to be safe (since that's what a computer/laptop would provide.  Although USB devices may be able to draw out a maximum of 500 milliamperes (mA), most default to 100 mA until prompted to provide more power by device software. If a device requires more power than 500 mA, it may work  slower or not at all or charge slowly (see Techwalla, SuperUser and Wikipedia).

[Rich_Laue]

Your Charge 5 has it own battery management chip, and any. USB wall wort should work. The lower the amperage the longer it will take to charge. I've checked the current draw and rarely see it go above 1000mA 6V or 1 amp even when.connected to a high powered wall brick

[wez_c]

A PC port is 5V and a max of 0.5A. This is a simple Google search away.

[Rich_Laue]

I find that 0.5 amps is not enough to charge any fitbit that is 7 or fewer years old