Charge 5 stopped working

[RafaelTrape]

My fitbit Charge 5, 2 years usage, simply "died" for no apparent reason. Obviously looked around for help on how to fix it, recharged, pressed the charge buttons etc etc but nothing worked... 

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[Tmessy]

Wow! I thought it was just me. Just over a year I've had my charge 5 and twice now it's just died when I've been running and when I put it on charge when home, it then has loads of charge left on it. So bizarre and not happy because I'm tracking my runs

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there, @RafaelTrape. Welcome to the Fitbit Community Forums. I'm sorry to hear that your Charge 5 has stopped working. I appreciate you've taken the time to troubleshoot this issue before posting here. I will do my best to help you sort this out!

As per the description of your post, it seems to me you're experiencing a battery issue. Sometimes a Fitbit doesn’t seem to be charging when actually the issue is that it has become unresponsive (this can happen if the battery has been allowed to discharge completely). I'd recommend putting it on to charge on a charging wire and outlet known to be working.  Leave it on the charger for a good two hours, even if it doesn’t seem to be charging.  

When it has had two hours, try restarting your Charge 5. I would recommend trying this maybe twice in a row if a first try doesn’t work.

@Tmessy Thanks for stopping by in the forums. It's sad to hear about your Charge 5's odd behavior. I understand how you must be feeling. I'm here to help!

As a first approach, please restart your Fitbit device as suggested here How do I restart my Fitbit device? If the restart doesn't work try to change your clock face. If this fixes the issue, you can change your clock face back to the original clock face. 

[Tmessy]

Thank you. I'll see how it gets on in the next few weeks. My GPS seems to now be an issue where it goes off and then reconnects when it wants. Ah well

[MarreFitbit]

@Tmessy You're welcome! I'm sorry to hear about the GPS inconvenience. 

May I suggest you review the GPS settings on your Charge 5? Dynamic will connect to your phone's GPS if present but default to the built-in GPS if absent. Built-in GPS has limitations due to the very small footprint of the device antenna. For more information, see How do I use GPS on my Fitbit device?

[Tmessy]

Thanks for the help. It is already set up as dynamic. 

Not had any issues until 2 weeks ago with it being unreliable. I've just fitbit for the past 4 years but part of me is now considering going elsewhere to try a new product as I am training for a marathon and would hate for it not to track my progress throughout the course. 

[RafaelTrape]

Hi Marre and guys, thanks for the fast response, I'm positively surprised 🙂

However nothing worked... I tried recharging fully, for hours, yes from a working power supply, I tried clicking on the cable button 3x as suggested in the "How do I restart" article, but no, my device is still dead. Not really sure what to do at this point as it seems to be a hardware issue...

Thanks again!

[DonnaTT]

I am having the same problem with my Charge 5. It turns completely off at odd moments and my phone can’t find it for syncing. It will only turn back on when I plug it in. This happens even when the battery has an 80% charge. I’ve tried everything you suggest (restarting device, pressing button 3 times and then restarting, GPS on dynamic, etc.) and nothing keeps it from going randomly unresponsive. Is this a subtle hint that I need to get the Charge 6??! I’ve only had this device a year and a half.