Charge 5 tracker screen stays dark

[ZooMom5]

Yesterday, sometime after 9pm, my tracker went dark. I thought maybe the battery was dead, so I plugged it in. The screen stayed dark, no logo or battery charging icon. After a while it started flashing the logo, but that’s all it would do. I looked on the forums here and performed the troubleshooting steps I found. Turned the bluetooth off and on, “forgot” the device on the bluetooth then turned the Bluetooth off, removed the device from the Fitbit app, and hard closed the app, powered off my tablet for several minutes, then restarted and tried to connect everything again. No change. Then I tried the pulse reset on the charging cable with all the other steps to reconnect. Nothing. Still just a flashing logo. So I left it on the charger overnight. This morning I had the white X in a red circle on the display. So I went through THOSE troubleshooting steps, and finally I got a bluetooth connection, but when I started to set the device up in the Fitbit app it got to a screen that asked for a four digit code from the tracker, but the screen is again staying dark! I can’t see a code! I tried to go to the online chat to get help, but when the chat window comes up, there’s no text box at the bottom for me to type in! I’m at a loss, my tracker is about two years old, is that the best life expectancy I can expect? I don’t know when I’ll be able to afford a new one. Any new ideas on troubleshooting?

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @ZooMom5, welcome, It looks like your initial problem has been a loss of charge. If you are able to sync your Charge 5 (In the Fitbit app on your phone "Today" screen slide your finger down & release, note the value next to the battery icon in the top right) If you are not able to sync you will need your device on charge for at least 60 minutes to revive it from 0%. Note this article Why isn't my Fitbit device's battery charging?   When attempting to set up again If you do not see the 4-digit code on the Charge 5 screen (it's dark) tap the device to wake it up, and make sure the Charge 5 is still connected to a live charging cable.

Sadly there are increasing reports of our Charge 5 failing after 18 months, I suggest you talk to "Customer Support" using the chat facility or phone for a prompt response. It's always a good idea to prep for these calls & make note of what you have done & the results so you can give the agent the best opportunity to move your case forward.

I hope this helps

Cheers

[ZooMom5]

I appreciate you taking the time to reply, but I said in my post it’s not a charging issue. I said in the post I let it charge all night. I can’t sync the tracker because I can’t reconnect it to the app, because the screen stays dark. I KNOW to tap the screen to wake it up, how could anyone who owns one of these not know that?! I can tap it until my finger falls off, the screen is staying dark. I’ve read all the posts on the forum with a similar issue, I’ve done all the troubleshooting steps, **as I said in my post**, I just want to know if there’s something ELSE I could try. And I tried to use the “chat facility” AS I SAID IN MY POST, but that function wasn’t working either! 

[pegcordan]

The same thing is happening to me as well. First it wasnt syncing my steps, or it was syncing them wrong. ( you are not telling me that I do the elliptical for 45 minutes and it only registers 100 steps  come on that is ridiculous).  My battery goes from 100 percent to 35 as soon as I put it on my wrist. It then goes to 20 then 3 percent within 10 minutes. It went black tried charging it again. It went to 95 percent ( as seen on my phone) and still black. I tried resetting it as they suggested and NOTHING. Isnt it frustrating. My friend suggested going to an apple watch because they are more dependable. It they don't fix it, then I might. Good luck. 

[ZooMom5]

Yes, it is EXTREMELY frustrating. Especially getting canned answers from the people who should be actually able to help. 🤦🏻‍:female_sign:😏 I’d hate to go with another device, because I’m so used to FitBit, and comfortable with the app, but if 18 months is their limit of reliability then it’s time to look elsewhere. Hope you have better luck! 👍🏻

[cwadley]

I have tried all this too.

Chatted with a bot who told me they were "deeply saddened" by what had cooccurred and said it was out of warranty and gave me a connection to the store.

[cwadley]

Yes frustrating and time wasting.

[cwadley]

the chat is a bot and writes nonsense.

There's reviews all over the internet now about these sorts of failures for which there is no resolution. it does seem like it's either a battery issue or a software issue. But it doesn't matter because fitbit is clearly incapable of fixing it.

Sadly this is the best fitting and featured  fitness tracker out there - but it's not reliable and fails.  So instead of doing what many others do - buying another one and experiencing the same thing- I am going to look elsewhere.  I might have been tempted to try again  if they had offered me a discount.  I pay a premium subscription so they have lost that now also.  

[luciahito]

lots of problems with this device, I don’t know what to do anymore … very disappointed with the bad quality…

[patycakes1]

Did yours ever work..having the same problem