Fitbit Ionic not working

[MarcPelland]

I couldn't track anything down in the forums that came close to matching this... (Please chime in if you do know of something similar) ...but a whole bunch of things started going wrong with my Ionic about 3 weeks ago.

Here are the issues that popped up, and again, this all started happening at the same time:

1. All heart rate sensor readings stopped, though the sensor lights are still flashing. My last resting heart rate reading on the dashboard dates from the day things went haywire, 3 weeks ago, and hasn't updated since. I can't get heart rate readings during exercise either.
2. Step counts are off the charts, and completely uncorrelated with use, most steps are automatically registered without any wrist motion and when the tracker is not worn. For instance, I have not worn my Ionic today, it has been left charging, but at 3:50 PM my step count is 24,827 and counting.
3. Backlight screen is always on regardless of wrist motion. (Think about that: trying to sleep with the tracker screen lit up all night.)
4. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the above, the battery life dropped from ~4 days (with modest GPS usage) to about 20 hours per charge.

Here are the things that I've tried so far:

• Power cycling/Restarting
• Factory Resetting & Updating Firmware

Does anyone know of a fix? I am thinking that the accelerometer might be the culprit, since "phantom movement" detected by the tracker might explain the step count, constant screen backlighting and shortened battery life. (Could an overload of readings from the accelerometer also be crowding out inputs from the heart rate sensor too? Maybe.)

My Ionic is also a little over 1 year and 4 months old, meaning that there is definitely no more warranty coverage for this bad boy. I am hoping not to have to give it up, though, I love Fitbit but this is my third one to kick the bucket. (Two Fibit Surges, lasting a couple of years each, preceeded this one.)

Thanks in advance for the input. With any luck we will sort this one out for others dealing the the same issue(s)! Cheers!

Moderator edit: Updated subject for clarity 

[SilviaFitbit]

@MarcPelland Welcome to the Community. I appreciate the time you took to share your experience with Ionic. 

Thanks for the troubleshooting tried and the detailed information shared. It's pretty weird that your watch is showing you that amount of steps and your heart rate reading stopped tracking. In this case, I've shared your post with our Support team, they will continue assisting you and providing you with further options. 

I'll be around if you have any additional question.