Ionic is dead and will not charge

[Nproctor501]

My ionic completely died and I have tried to charge it for a few days now through that USB on my computer and in the wall with no luck. According to the app it says my battery is completely dead and phone will not connect to it. I have cleaned the cable and connections but the charger works for my wifes, so I know its the watch. I'm not sure what else to do? I've tried to restart it holding the buttons with no luck? Can someone please help?

[grabai]

Agree

[Narenk]

I had the same problem of Cable not charging my ionic.. Saw some messages of "Zero" power from charging on the ionic.. Managed to charge by manually adjusting the cable ,

To improve the charging cleaned the Cable end and Watch with alcohol and a tooth brush

Cable stopped charging altogether, no message on the watch either.. Examined the cable charging tips, no clue on issue.. 

Not sure if am missing something here

Ordered a new cable, No idea if it will solve my issue... 

[Twigit]

If you look around the perimeter of the charge contacts you will notice that there is a small valley surrounding the contacts. If you work around dirt or skin can accumulate in that litttle valley. When you attach the charge cord the contacts are unable to touch the contacts on the ionic. This has happened to me numerous times. I have a very small pick that I use to clear the dirt out of the valley. Then the charge cord can properly seat so the contacts mate. You have to be careful because it is easy to damage the connector. 

[Narenk]

Thanks for your note, i did initially suspect the same and did clean to the
best of my ability... still not charging (currently at 25%).. so the only
way to test the hypothesis is with an another cable, so ordered one..

Regards

[Awuor19]

You are right, it does seem to work better when you don’t let the charge go down, though that shouldn’t make sense...

Sent from my iPhone

[batiz31]

I had the same thing happen to me and even called Fitbit and the only thing they did was offer me a 25% discount for another watch.

[batiz31]

That doesn’t work, I think Fitbit should do something about this problem. The Ionic is a very good watch but is really disappointing that Fitbit still hasn’t fix the problem and hasn’t taken care of the customers.

[greatwall]

It requires hardware change. It’s not going to help you and me.

Sent from my iPhoneX

[8all5ack]

It has been raised in other forums that you have a really small Pick, I salute your honesty.

Sent with my iPad

[greatwall]

I got my ionics dead for not using it for a couple of months. I tried
charging the watch for a couple of hours without any message at all.
Wearing the watch as it's good, press all 3 buttons to reset. It functions
normally after the on-wrist reset.

[Justin84]

My ionic was on charge all night after dying - yet did nothing and no display.
After resetting, the display turned on, battery at 5%?!? After “on” charge but not displaying anything, put back on same charger and is now charging....

[Starlord1]

My ionic won't charge. I've tried all the suggestions. It's a year old.

I wonder why they've stopped selling them?

[anchr]

Sigh, the same happened to me too. Some spec of dust had come into the moat around the electric terminals at the back of the watch, so that the charger cable didn't connect properly. By the time I noticed, battery was at 3%, and by the time I'd fixed it, the watch face informed me that battery 0% and turned off - and that's that last thing it ever communicated with me. RIP. I been in similar situations before and always been able to revive it. However, now I'm unable to charge it with any combination of charger and charging cable and fiddling with the connection. Using a charger that reports the number of milliampere of current on the USB port, I see that my wife's watch do charge, but my watch do not take any charge - and I really do not have the time to play around trying to get it to charge, as if it was some sort of Hanayama puzzle.

It was two years and three months old, and since I'm in Europe, that means that is was three months past the warranty. So it's time to buy a new one ... will it be a Fitbit? Nope. 

One of the reasons I chose the Ionic was the buzz about it having SpO2 measurement that would be enabled in a future release. Little did I know that 'a future release' was to be 18 months down the line (i.e earlier this year) - and even then, it only showed variations of oxygen in the blood, not the actual measurement. Disappointed!

In retrospect, I'm left with the impression that I chose a watch from a company that just about ended its innovation when around the time I bought it. At least I've learnt a lesson about what type of companies to trust, besides having a nice (although quite moody) watch for over two years. My biggest regret is convincing my wife and two kids into buying fitbit too. 

Bye bye. 

[Castlesa]

Had my last replacement Fitbit less than 5 months ago and the battery has again died.

Have had advice to use only a 1 amp charger and purchased one before 1st use but this did not cure the problem.

This was my 3rd Ionic and 2nd Surge.

Think it has to do with temperature they kills the battery as it was on 69% charge when I went to sleep and dead in the morning


Sent from my iPhone

[Starlord1]

Thanks for your reply. They seem to be designed to last 2 years only. I've been a loyal customer but not anymore. It's too much money to invest for just one or two years.

[Starlord1]

Thanks for your reply. Yep I'm not investing in another fitbit either. They seem to be designed to last for 2 years and that's your lot. It's too much money to fork out for very little return.  

All the best.

[youhippy]

Have you tried submerging the Ionic pebble in a bowl of water and try the 3 button reset.

My Dad's Ionic died twice and after trying to charge it for 24 hours there was no sign of life. 

I put it in a bowl of water and tried the 3 button reset the logo would appear. I have no clue as to how this worked but it managed to work twice for the same watch.

I make sure he never lets it die as it's clearly on it's last legs. 

[Starlord1]

Thanks. I'll try that later today.
Regards

[greatwall]

@anchr. Thanks for sharing your story. I am wondering if you have used your wife charging cable to charge your fitbit for a couple of hours, wearing it on the wrist, and pressing all 3 buttons together for 5 sec. Wearing on the wrist seems odd. Maybe "Hardware Reset" - "Charging" - "Hardware Reset" is the key. Hope you have a chance to try this and let us know if this helps.

[greatwall]

@Castlesa 

Have you tried the Soft Reset?

1. Start by waking up your FITBIT Ionic watch by clicking the button on the left-hand side of the watch.
2. Now, swipe to the left on the watch screen until you see a Settings icon. Press it with your finger to access the Settings menu.
3. In the Settings menu, swipe up to scroll through the options. Pick the About menu.
4. In the About menu, once more scroll up until a Shutdown option appears. Press it.
5. The FITBIT Ionic watch will now switch off. You can switch it back on by pressing and holding the left-hand side button.
6. The watch will restart and you're ready to use it again!