Ionic in Salt water

[blodsbror]

I'm often swimming at the beach, including surfing. Is the Ionic, fine when it comes to salt water? I of course won't be going very deep with the watch, but knowing that it can withstand waves and saltwater is rather important. Any feedback would be great, before I order!

[MR789]

Hi.  I found this thread because I am desperate to solve the mystery of why my fitbits continue to stop working.  I'm assuming it has something to do with surfing in salt water.  It looks like the only response we are getting from Fitbit is to go through the troubleshooting, rinse it, and that it is in fact submersible to the 50M.  I am aware of all that and comply.  However, I have been through a lot of fitbits and am starting to consider buying an apple after this.  I'm tired of the down time.

I asked a customer service rep whether it would be wise to just plug the altimeter semi-permanently, under the watch band.  My suspicion is that the watch band is degrading over time or just twisting and allowing water into the altimeter hole.  Maybe if it's closed up with some rubber cement type adhesive, it wouldn't allow water in.  Of course it would render the flights useless, but I don't care about that info anyway.

The rep said, no, don't cover it.  But offered no alternative suggestion or explanation as to why they continue to fail or reason why not to cover the hole.  I'm kind of at my wit's end with these things and willing to try anything.  

Gratefully, customer service has been gracious about honoring the warranty without too much trouble.  The problem is the inconvenience of being without it so long every time.  It interfered with a step challenge the last time, just a couple months ago.  I'm on my second replacement since then.  It's almost been too many to count before that.

[CJaySnyder]

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[CJaySnyder]

Yeah... mine died the first tie I took it in my freshwater pool. The only solution I see is not to wear it in the water. The water resistance of the watch is only as good as a rinse under a faucet or a short shower. When it comes to water and Ionic, I do not trust Fitbit brand or company

[Zal7]

What happened to your Fitbit?  How did the hardware on the band react, as well?

[Chr15t0s]

They sent me a new one. I will never use it in saltwater again though


Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

[CJaySnyder]

It would not charge and stuck displaying the Fitbit logo nothing I tried, per their suggestions, worked to correct the error. They did send a replacement, but it might have been a refurbished unit.

[Bruski105]

Went into the ocean for the first time yesterday with my Ionic & it stopped stopped working. Thought it just needed charging as battery might have been low. Rinsed it off & charged it when I got back home & only thing working was time & date. Battery went from 50% to 0% in only a few hours. Charged all day the next day & seems to be daring the battery pretty quick. Tried hard reset and time & date show but it will not track steps, heart rate, etc. unfortunately it is about 18 months old & worked well until now. First time I wore the watch in water and it was only for 10 minutes. Go figure. 

[Lorm]

Well, I can add that last Christmas, I wore my Ionic in the ocean, just boogie boarding, no deep water, rinsed it off after each use and it was fine all year. Just today, did the same thing for the first time since then and it's all buggy, not keeping time, says the battery is dead, won't accept a charge and won't cycle through the functions. I checked for sand particles in the contacts, etc, nothing.

Less than 14 months old and dead. So, going forward, I'd avoid salt water.

[Dougy94]

Mine died after one day in the ocean.  Never again.  I will where my flrx 2 again in future when going to salt water. 

[Tekn0logy]

Well, it is official. Water resistance of the Ionic is zero. 

Fitbit Ionic #2 (replacement) died the same way as #1; in 5 feet of ocean water (Chincoteague Beach) while I was swimming.  There was/is obviously either a blatant marketing lie or production problem with the Ionic line.

This time is a little different; I was able to charge once and do a hard reset, but now I see faint blue lines at the edges of the display, the touch screen is not working and does not count steps.

The watch will not charge now and is at 36% and falling.

BTW, wife is still on Blaze #1 and we were in the same ocean, TWICE...

[PaulMe]

@Tekn0logy,

Well, it is official. Water resistance of the Ionic is zero.

You can also add the Versa to that as well. Had a Versa. Died after swimming. Wife had a Versa. Died after swimming. They both died after several pool/ocean swims. But still flooded.

FitBit support was good, as we had no purchase receipts. They replaced both goodwill. I sold mine and got a second hand (but unused) Ionic. Don't swim or shower with it! Think the wife may still shower/swim with her Versa. Her risk!

[unagisan]

@PaulMe My Ionic died today after its first swim--after owning it for less than a week. Just shipped off to Fitbit's warehouse for inspection so hopefully, I'll be getting a refurbished replacement soon. How long did it take for you to receive your replacements? Trying to decide if I should just go ahead and try something from a more reliable brand or wait it out.

[PaulMe]

Took several weeks to ship the replacement(s) from Hong Kong to Australia (Tasmania). You have nothing to loose. Not sure you are eligible for a refund, so no other choice really? Just remember that this company doesn't reset the warranty on a replacement device. So keep track of your warranty from the original purchase.

And don't swim with it after the original warranty lapses.