Charge 5 stopped working - logo flashes on and off when doing a reset

[MrsPingy]

Went to check the time this afternoon and discovered my Fitbit was blank. Tapped it and nothing happened. It had 57% battery when I last checked but decided to charge it just incase. Nothing happened so I googled troubleshooting which suggested to do a reset. So I tried it. The screen came on with a purple flickering background with the logo in the centre. But once unplugged it went blank. So I went on the Fitbit help live chat. They said to sync the watch but my phone could not locate the Fitbit. On the app it just say’s looking. They asked me to plug it into the charger. This time the screen flickered white with no logo. So they told me to try the reset again. This time the logo flashes on and off. It continues to do this for about a minute after it’s been unplugged then goes dead again. I’ve noticed when the logo goes off the red light at the back flickers on then goes off when the logo reappears. They wanted me to send video but I couldn’t get the video to load up to the chat. After an hour of trying to convert/load the videos, I gave up and left chat. So now I’m back to square one - trying to figure out how to fix the problem myself. So any advice would be greatly received. It’s less than 12 month’s old so it’s quite frustrating how it’s just decided not to work. 

[Trc2024]

I've had the same issue this afternoon.  Went to check my heart rate and Fitbit would not start.  Have tried restarting by pressing the button 3x for 2 seconds with no restart.  I uninstalled and reinstalled the app.  It is not able to connect.  I now have a red X displaying.  Very frustrating.

[EcargN]

My Charge 5 went to a black screen since 07/24/2024. I had plenty of battery that morning and it completely drained. I connected it to the charger, saw the Fitbit logo flash, and it went black again. I tried to reset it pushing the button on the charging connector 3x. Nothing. As it stays connected to the charger, on random occasions it'll vibrate. I uninstalled and reinstalled the app on my Android. Now my bluetooth can't locate the Charge 5, however, it says it somehow synced. There's a notice that says the Charge 5 needs an update, but I can't figure out how I'm supposed to do this. My latest phone app shows the 07/24/2024 update. I continue to charge it, remove it, reconnect it, etc. I write all of this to let you know that you're not alone in your frustration. As I'm doing more research, it seems like many people are having similar problems. I sent an email to the address listed on the phone app (this forum wouldn't allow me to type it in.) Maybe you can find answers there. I hope someone replies, but it sent me links to this community forum.

[DennisHOR]

Same my case!
You can only request a refund within the warranty period.

[EcargN]

UPDATE since my first response (maybe 20 minutes later?)... I connected my Charge 5 charging cord to my computer and hooked up my Fitbit to it. When I REMOVED by Fitbit from the charging cord, then my phone was able to locate it via bluetooth. I could then easily follow the prompts on my nearby phone to sync it and update it to my Android. My Fitbit actually shows the battery life, date, and time after a week of trying to troubleshoot. I had even kept my Fitbit over my house vents, thinking it might've gotten water damage; connected & disconnected it from the charger cord, etc. I'm soooooo glad I didn't give up and all seems like it's working correctly again!  This is my first Fitbit, so maybe it was just my fault in not knowing how to connect all of these pieces together.

[Traycd]

Hi, funny mine has started this today, Have tried resetting, my app shows full battery charge 5 shows Critical, was completely charged yesterday, are you any further forward in figuring in out?

[EAYMMUS]

Mine did exactly the same thing on Tuesday. Was working fine. Counted 3k+ steps, and then mid morning noticed that it was in a reboot loop which simply showed the logo.

Tried the reboot etc to no avail. It's almost like it's had a software update partially applied and can no longer load the software.

It was a replacement, for a previously broken Charge 5 so my warranty has expired (as it's based on the original device). This particular, replacement device is 18 months old.

Annoying as it doesn't feel like a hardware issue and isn't down to anything I've done. 

Have been given a discount on a new device but still means forking out for a new one.

These really should be able to last beyond their individual warranties.

[MrsPingy]

**UPDATE**

Thank you all for responding. 

I have googled everywhere and still cant find a solution to my problem. It seems a lot of people have the same issue but no solution. I e-mailed support to see if I could get an answer from them (after the frustrations of live chat) but they have yet to reply to my e-mail. So running out of patience I decided to try live chat again. Again the video’s would not upload even when they was converted to mp4 format, so they sent me an e-mail address to send the video’s to instead. (Honesty why couldn’t they have done that the first time?)

Unfortunately it’s not fixable. Apparently if it doesn’t work after trying re-syncing, connecting to charger or after doing a reset then it’s never going to work. Wish I could have found a solution for you all. Luckily mine is still in warranty so they have offered me a replacement. If yours is still in warranty I strongly suggest getting in touch with support for a replacement. (But I dread to think how long the replacement is going to last.) 

Again thank you all for your advice. Sorry I couldn’t find a solution 

[RiekoC]

Hello @MrsPingy 

Although this isn't a recommended troubleshooting process, this user was able to revive their Charge 5 using an unusual process. Here's a link to their post (<-- click link). It might be worth a try to see if you will have similar success.