Charge 5 only works when connected to the charger

[Sin9ular1ty]

I noticed yesterday that the screen was locked up displaying only the fitbit logo.  It was like this for a few hours and then it turned off completely.  If I plug it into the charger, it will boot up and start charging like normal.  After charging it to 100%, as soon as it's unplugged, the screen turns off and won't wake up.  I plug it back in and the charge goes right back to 0%.  While plugged in, I've reset it through the settings menu and after reboot, the same thing.  0% battery.  Tapping the button 3 times on the charge cable to reset it also does the same thing.  I've owned it for about 1 1/2 years and haven't noticed any battery life issues till now.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Sin9ular1ty]

I left my charge 5 plugged in for about 24 hours, unplugged it this afternoon and it stayed on.  It instantly dropped to 25%, but it's staying on and seems to be building up a charge that remains when it's unplugged.  Just now I took it off the charger at 100% and it dropped to 85% so at least things are starting to work normally.  Its like it lost the memory for when the battery is full and empty.

[SunsetRunner]

This began 2-3 weeks ago. First I received constant notifications to add a credit card. Then the battery life, which was good and lasted 3-5 days depending on use, dropped to less than one day. Now less than 1 hour. I never touched the settings and have followed all Fitbit's recommendations and it only got worse.

Why would this happen to so many people at the same time? To me, this is a software/app issue.

[Sin9ular1ty]

I wanted to give an update on my issue.  I've been charging my fitbit nearly every day since the issue started and the battery life has not changed and is lasting for only 8 hours.  Another weird thing it does is cap out at 99% charge.  But sometimes after leaving it on the charger for a day, it will eventually get to 100%.  I've done all these steps that fitbit suggests in other battery related posts and then some.

1. Confirm your Charge 5 has the latest firmware version. For more information please visit How do I update my Fitbit device? and What's changed in the latest Fitbit device update?
2. Check to see if you’re using high battery use features. For more information please visit Can I extend my Fitbit device's battery life?
3. Let’s try a 3 press restart with your charging cable. For more information please see How do I restart my Fitbit device?

I've uninstalled all apps, cleared user data, turned off every feature that can be turned off, started a new fitbit account.  Nothing effects this 8 hour battery life.  At this point it seems that the battery has been permanently damaged in some way.  Again, prior to this issue, it was lasting for a week solid and I didn't notice any degradation over the year and a half that I've owned it.

I'm probably outside whatever warranty would be available for these.  So I'm going to attempt to replace the battery myself.  I should just toss it, but I hate throwing away things when it's possible to fix them.  Hopefully it just a faulty battery, but it's possible the watch itself damaged the battery.  I'll find out in about a week when the battery arrives.  Wish me luck!

[Avishkar]

Yes. Support was terrible and only choice was to throw it away as no fix available yet is affects multiple users. Very disappointing 

[Arsull]

I was still the exact same thing today. How do you change the battery on it? I wouldn't even know where to find it.

[Sin9ular1ty]

You have to remove the screen to get to the battery.  Much like modern smartphones.  The glue has to be melted using a heat gun and you need very thin pry tools to get under the screen.  I tried it and ruined the screen.  I think the pry tool scraped away at the back of the screen, so I went too deep and probably needed to get the glue more melted.  I ended up just buying a used one on ebay.