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?

[Tac0cat]

Mine has done the same thing today. None of the tips and tricks worked for me. My wife has the same watch and all our chargers work on hers. Mine is just plan unresponsive!

[RayTan]

Get in touch with the chat support team. They r helpful.

Sent from my iPhone

[2719tdog]

So I have had this issue as well and in the middle of the night my Ionic died completely and of course I used it as my alarm. So I just chatted with support and got the whole Fitbit does not cover this and luckily I paid for the extended warranty and SquareTrade has a claim now. But my question is if so many people are having this issue why is the fitbit engineers not addressing this and offering a remedy? I love the fitbit products but honestly I am unsure about buying another one I've had my account since 2013 and just feel a little robbed at $300 spent and only lasting 18 mos. Thanks for letting me vent 🙂 

UPDATE*

SquareTrade has another Ionic coming from Fitbit (got the email it's on it;s way) But now the scary part, is this going to be a re-manufactured fit bit that already has a death sentence from the limited life expectancy? UGH $300 to the wind...

And on another note I bought a used Ionic (before I even started having issues with mine) for my fiance and guess what SAME ISSUE!!!! DEAD!!! NO LIFE!!!! I was in the middle of the setup all screens were on and poof dead. WTHeck Fitbit???? PLEASE FIX THIS!!!!

[RayTan]

I love Fitbit too. Let’s hear from them. I also have the newer Fitbit charge 3 and it works fine even when the batt is dead, it can be revived simply by charging. Not so for the ionic.

Sent from my iPhone

[Goresh]

The problem is probably the little pads on the back of the watch where the charging cable goes.

It is a major design flaw with the watch thst they put the pads next to the skin to ensure they gum up and corrode, particularly the crntre pad for some reason.

You may have some success scrubbing with isopropyl alcohol and a wood toothpick, but it is just going to get worse over time.

I had the same problem with the surge, but the buttons also corroded and jammed on it.

If you can get contact you may eventually get some juice into the battery but unfortunately there is no way to tell if you are getting contact when the battery is flat.

Should you eventually get it voing, my advice is never let it go flat again.

So far I have managed to get an extra couple of months use by scrubbing every night and wiggling and jiggling the cable until I gat a charge indication. I then try to wedge the cable connection at just the right angle and position to allow it to charge.

Important thing is as I said, never let it go flat as you have no way of telling when you get a connection and you can look forward to dsys of frustration trying to get just the right positioning long enough to do a restart.

Good luck, you will certainly need it.

[G22176]

Same exact thing happened on mine after I tried using the music transfer feature, I had it at full charge as well, right near the end the Ionic went to blank screen.  Got on the Live Chat and tried every reset procedure they had, did not work, and they offered same discount to me since mine was 2 months out of warranty as well.  I voiced my frustration they couldn't do more, I spent almost 300 dollars and have been a loyal fitbit user for several years.  They lost my business over this. I have a Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro now and absolutely love it.

[SunsetRunner]

I had a problem where all of a sudden the battery would only last 22 hours. So after reading this forum I tried a factory reset. The only way to do that btw is to create another account otherwise you can't get it to pair with your smart phone. Logging in with an existing account bypasses that bit of the setup, so I found. 
Anyway, during setup it wanted to update. That failed and the thing is dead. It won't respond to anything at all. Dead. I don't think I've ever done an update on the Ionic where it has worked first time. You sit there watching a never ending update and it always fails. Normally though it works after a few attempts. But this time, nothing.
I thought I was screwed when I told my wife, who bought it for me Christmas before last. So it turns out I'm about 20 months in to a 2 year guarantee. She bought it from John Lewis and decided to phone their customer service. Whilst she's on the phone I thought she was wasting her breath and thought I'd have to do the very painful Fitbit chat thing. 
However, John Lewis told her to pop it in to the shop is Cardiff and they'll exchange it, not problem. They offered to post but since today is Thursday, we decided we'll pop down there on Saturday morning and pick it up. Happy days.

[Goresh]

Yeah, factory reset seems to result in a paperweight much of the time.

Tried a factory reset on the old ionic when the warranty replacement arrived, sure enough...

[JackSR]

My brother and I had the same problem.  We both tried charging for days.  We both tried rebooting and factory reset.  There is no green light at the bottom of the watch.  My watch had been 50% charged before I had any issues.  I connected for adding to the charge when going into a shower.  Upon my return the watch was dead.  Similar experience for my brother.

He had his watch for less than a year so he got a replacement refurbished watch.  My watch was 1 year and 3 months old so what do I get?  A 25% discount.  I got my watch with a 20% discount.  If FitBit thinks I'm going to spend $250 Canadian plus taxes on a yearly basis for their watch, well let's just say that's not happening.

It was a fun toy but I'll stick with a regular watch after this experience.   Watches like this should last 5-10 years for there to be a reasonable return on the investment.

[djarriel009]

thanks this work for me. now I owned my  Ionic fora year,have never been able to down load any music.can you help. 

[phantom2]

Same problem.   Went for a long bike ride and watch ran out of juice before I got back.   Now it is dead with black screen and will not charge, 

No way to reset as no screen image to know if it worked.

Tried multiple USB ports

Will leave plugged in overnight but not expecting any changes.

[Naif.Alk]

I have the same issue and your solution doesn't work. 

[JoeJun]

Don't buy FITBIT !  I am the owner of at 1.5 year old DEAD fitbit IONIC. (It was Charged to 72 percent at midnight last night. IT was dead (BRICKED) this morning). I called support. After some steps to confirm it was dead I was told "that's too bad" here is a 40 percent discount on one that is less capable (Versa lite - no gps or altimiter) or 25 percent discount on any other.   One year warranty or not. Any 300$ + watch that dies in less than two years is an unacceptable product. In looking at your forum I see this is a common experience many report.   THIS JUST CONVERTED ME AND MY WIFE FROM LOYAL TO EX-CUSTOMERS.  I WILL BE VERY VOCAL WITH MY COMMUNITY REGARDING THE POOR QUALITY OF YOUR PRODUCT.  We were about to get her a newer nice FITBIT.  Not now. I have an Aria Scale. Not sure yet it will even work without my fitbit. I am sold on fitness watches but DONE WITH FITBIT. 

Too bad I do not live in Europe - they have 2 year warranties there. 

[JoeJun]

Yes after a year you are SOL. Looks like there is a common issue of IONICs going dead (bricked) in less than two years. Mine just did at 1.5 years old. 72 percent charge last night. Dead to the world this morning. I called support and confirmed it was dead.  All FITBIT offers is a 25 percent discount on another. Unless you live in Europe. The warranty is 2 years there. 

[Denank]

I have the same issue with my Ionic - 22 months and then it just died (with 80% battery charge). Totally unresponsive to all reset suggestions. I am so done with Fitbit. Not interested in a discount on another product that will certainly fail. By the way, don't worry about having an Aria scale without a fitbit. It will likely die within 2 years as well. Mine did. And judging by the Aria forum, it's a common problem. An expensive doorstop!

[JoeJun]

On the happy side. It turns out my credit card warranty extension of an extra year has me covered. (Thanks to the suggestion from this forum to look into this). I just ordered a Galaxy Active Watch 2 for the same cost as the reimbursement check on the Ionic. Crossing my fingers in hope it will perform better. 

- Joe

[Gendarme02]

I had three die the same way in less than 2 years. Gave up when they wouldn't replace the third one. Be aware replacements only have the remainder of your original warranty or 30 days. Whichever is longer. 

[Goresh]

And now the replacement has died.

[Denank]

Don't worry about your Aria scale. It will fail too. Another expensive product that is poorly made.

[Goresh]

Aria is still ticking over. They are replacing the replacement watch.