Fitbit Charge battery problems

[itsladyj]

Dont charge your Fitbit with a wall charger!!!!!!! I bought my first Fitbit charge in mid February....after the first day or 2 of using it, the battery would last no more than 2 days. I contacted support, and they were pretty helpful and sent me a replacement within a few days. That second Fitbit had the same issue right when I got it...battery would last no more than 2 days even though Fitbit claims it lasts 5-7 days. And this was after turning off all the "extra" features... (Quick view, alarm, caller ID, etc). I contacted Fitbit again, notified them of the issue and again, they were helpful and sent another replacement (which I'm greatful for..great job to Fitbit for your customer service..it's excellent). When talking to customer support for the second time, I specifically asked them whether it was ok to charge Fitbit with a wall charger instead of though usb. Customer service assured me that as long as the wall charger was not a knock off it would be fine (I was using the wall charging block that came stock with my iPhone 6). I'm now on my 3rd Fitbit, and with this one I ONLY charge it with my computer, and it still works fine after nearly a month. My battery lasts about 7 days as of now. if you are having battery issues and get a replacement, I would recommend you only charge it with the usb cord and your computer and not using a wall charger. And Fitbit...I think you guys need to do some more research and see whether or not using wall chargers negatively affect the Fitbit battery and fix the issue if it does. Even though you say it doesn't, based on the 3 fitbits I've had since mid February, I'd say it does. It is so much more convenient to be able to charge with a wall charger instead of a computer, but not if it ruins the Fitbit!! But overall, very pleased with the product and their customer support

Moderator edit:  format and label. 

[ACG]

Lately, my Fitbit has been acting up if I charge it fully. So now when it is just under half, I charge it say for an hour. It is still charging when I dissconnect it and is roughly at 95%. 

Both my chargers at home and work are knock offs as I don't own a smart phone. 

This normally gets me 3 or 4 days of use. 

[ACG]

My Fitbit must of got hot while charging at one point the rubber above the battery is peeling away from the black plastic body. Now what I do is only charge it say to 95% full. Hoping this way will not overheat the battery and make it last longer. 

Also I glued the rubber sides back to the black body. I used super glue and only used a very little on the end of a toothpick. You also can straighten out a paper clip and use that as a dabber. 

See the You Tube video of the guy doing this with toothpicks. I also didn't glue the top of the rubber down so the battery could vent of gases while it is charging. 

Here are the super glued you can use.

Loctite 495 General Purpose

Dap Rapid Fuse

Loctite Gel Genral Purpose

[SunsetRunner]

"Dont charge your Fitbit with a wall charger!!!!!!! "

Sorry mate, but I have to send all Your precious THEORY into a rubbish bin. And all that with a PRACTICE test with an USBport multimeter. So that's the results:

Charging device: Port idle/Fitbit Surge connected

USB Toshiba computer port: 5,19V/5,16V
USB Dell computer port: 5,19V/5,12V

APPLE 1A wall charger: 5,22V/5,22V

Garmin wall charger: 5,2V/5,19V

BQ 2A wall charger: 5,12V/5,06V

MI 10000mAh powerbank: 5,2V/5,14V

Internet router with USB port: 5,32V/Not tested

LG 5V 1,2A wall charger: 4,98V/5,00V

Uncertyfied China wall chargers idle (tracker was already fully charged so not tested while charging): 4,98V and 5,2V.

The current stays ALWAYS(!!!) stable at the level of 0,07A (NO MATTER WHICH DEVICE WE USE) for the whole period of charging and drops to zero in the last phase.
-------

For people who do not understand what I wrote above I'll make it short and clear: IT IS BETTER TO CHARGE YOUR DEVICE WITH LG 1,2A or BQ 2A WALL CHARGER THAN WITH USB 2.0 (USB 2.0 should give ~0,5A) of Your computer. Chine stuff without UL certificate look also better that an UL Garmin charger that I got with my Forerunner110.

That is what all Your "wise" discussion was worth.

Best regards

Marcin

[SoCalRunner]

 I used my Surge for a couple of months then it stopped syncing with my phone. (While it worked, I was very happy with it.)  I contacted the Fitbit customer support and they replaced it with a new unit. The new unit will not charge out of the box - seems to be a common problem when reading all of the posts on this forum. And yes, I tried all of the suggestions posted here.  I contacted customer support once again and was told that since the first unit was replaced, the second unit which is dead on arrival will not be replaced. So now I have one Surge that will not sync and another that will not charge. I am DONE with Fitbit - probably moving on to Garmin as well. Should have read this forum before investing in the Surge. 

[ACG]

@SoCalRunner

If you still have warrenty, why won't they replace it.?

[Chefmel]

Turns out that my phone was the culprit. I had to send it in for repair. Since then fit bit syncs as it should. I had an issue with a previous fit bit failing and received A-one customer service.
Sent from my Verizon 4G LTE Smartphone

[kim11]

it only lasts just over 3 hours now no matter what I do . Support are sending a replacement as this is not good enough. Thanks for your advice but I have tried all these things I only ever charged for an hour before to get full battery and it would last 4/5 days. 3 hours is not good enough after just 3-4 months. 

[Theranger2]

I've tried all that and nothing still and I only use Fitbit parts 

[kim11]

I would get on to fitbit support by email/phone/twitter and request a replacement.

[MarkL]

Hi, I just bought my Fitbit Charge about a month ago and the charge doesn't last 48 hours, maybe jus about 36 hours if I'm lucky. This is my second Charge and I'm quite disappointed. Can you help?

Thanks

[ACG]

@MarkL

Email them as it sounds like you have a battery problem. 

http://help.fitbit.com/?cu=1

Also turn turn off the all day sync as this drains the battery. 

Alarm notifications drain the battery quicker also. 

[Oladosu]

My question is not yet answered. Maybe I should explain further. 

I am currently in the USA using and charging my fitbit. I will soon relocate to Nigeria where the electric voltage is quite different from that of US. 

US has a 110/120 voltage whereas Nigeria has 220/240 voltage. 

My question is will I be able to use Nigerian voltage to carve my Fitbit?

THANKS. 

[ACG]

---

@Oladosu wrote:

My question is not yet answered. 

US has a 110/120 voltage whereas Nigeria has 220/240 voltage. 

My question is will I be able to use Nigerian voltage to carve my Fitbit?

---

@Oladosu

Nigeria has the voltage as Europe. If it was me, I'd plug the USB side of the Fitbit charge cable into your computer. The computer chips lower it downto the correct voltage and amps. 

[SunsetRunner]

@Oladosu

Your question doesn't tell anything about the charger You want to use. Just take a look what is written on Your charger. At the moment as I'm writing this post I have two usb wall chargers lying next to me. On one of them the input voltage is 110-240V, on the other one 100-240V. The output will be aways 5V.

We used to have 220V in Europe as well in the past. Now it is theoretically 230V but if You check it, it is always higher or lower. In Europe it can be anything from 220-240V. Every electric device must be able to work between 220-240V. I suppose for "110V" in USA that range can also vary between 100 and 120V.

@ACG the computer doesn't do anything with the amps. The electronic chip of the fitbit's battery does it and takes always 70mA no matter how strong is the charger. It has to give 5V output and that's all. USB of the computer gives 5,1-5,2 so I do not understand the recommendation to force people to use a laptop as a charger.

[Oladosu]

Thanks it was quite helpful. 

[sunilsub]

This is helpful. I am facing similar issues of battery draining within a day and also tracker not found. Waiting for automatics tracker update to happen. May be these issues may get fixed with an update. From India it is difficult to call Fitbit call center. No number to call and email conversations take very long.

[SunsetRunner]

I also had the same problem. I didn't contact fitbit support. I went to Settings and turned off everything that could drain the battery: auto backlight, Bluetooth, Heart rate, EVERYTHING to "off". Perhaps it is even a good idea to turn the device off and restart. Then I charged my Surge to 100% and the battery lasted for 7 days. As I noticed that the battery itself was OK, I began to turn the functions on again: every day the next function on: first the backlight, then a heart rate, then Bluetooth and observed how every single function influenced the battery draining. If I do not use GPS and auto backlight, my tracker lasts for about 6 days. I also observed that the bluetooth may be the reason why the battery went empty every day. Today my bluetooth stays on all of the time and without heart rate, poorly designed backlight* and GPS, I charge my Surge every 5-6 days.

-----------------------------------

*poorly designed backlight - the automatic function could be "cool", but because of my lifestyle it turns on by mistake to often. I had to turn the "AUTO" setting off. The ON setting is what I call "poor designed". I would expect that in "ON" mode my tracker allows me to turn the backlight on by touching the screen or pressing a button rather than staying on all of the time.
Because of that I have to live without light at all and am unable to see the time at night. I think Surge has two buttons to much: the two on the right side. We do not actually need them. Why can't they turn the light on?

[kim11]

I have had a replacement now. The Alta was unusable as only lasted 3 hrs max with everything turned off . Which is not what it was designed to do. Had no buttons etc . New one fine and lasts 7 days!

[kim11]

I have had a replacement now. The Alta was unusable as only lasted 3 hrs max with everything turned off . Which is not what it was designed to do. Had no buttons etc . New one fine and lasts 7 days!

[SunsetRunner]

Given that I am in UK with 240v I would say yes. My fitbit charger is USB
so fits anywhere.