Ionic overheating

[Lionson]

Today I burnt myself with my Fitbit Ionic. I charged it at the end of the morning with power from my laptop, went for lunch and a walk. Back at my desk the ionic got terribly hot and I thought I smelled some garlic flavor when I realised it was my watch on my wrist getting very hot.

My ionic did not want to turn on anymore. When I connected it to my charging cable, it shows charging, only as soon as I disconnect it shuts down.

What is wrong here?

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity. 

[wvgambill72]

My ionic just overheated and burnt me less then a year old spent nearly $300 on it and I’m told they have to reassign it to new dept. and then see what they can do, really I spend 300 bucks and that’s the so called help I get I guess I wasted 300 is there anyone in here that can help me here because I’m feeling that Fitbit don’t give a **ahem** about me right now 

[BradleeSargent]

Thank you for claiming you are going to provide me with a refund.

[RobinEckermann]

I have another overheating case to add to the thread. I charged my Ionic overnight - and it was fine when I went for a walk this morning. I took it off to have a shower, and soon after putting it back on, felt it overheating. I have a thermal camera, and took a photo showing it "glowing" on my wrist at about 45 degrees Celsius - at which time I took it off because it was becoming too hot to wear and I didn't want to wait to see if it would cause a burn. It is now cooling down - but totally unresponsive to any button. PEOPLE NEED TO BE WARNED OF THIS RISK!

UPDATE: After initially posting this, I found Fitbit's chat line and found the fellow I spoke to quite helpful. He has asked me to return the product and provided a prepaid shipping label. I'll get it off tomorrow (Monday) ... he advises a replacement product will be sent out within 5 days.

[Jd747hogg]

Yep I agree, I have had 2 that have done this, one of them burned my wristSent from Samsung tablet.

[Jdaigle]

Charged fitbit before bed.  Was waken by wrist burning.  The watch was so hot.  I have a small burn from the watch.  Now the watch will not turn on.  

[RobinEckermann]

The folk at Fitbit have sent me a replacement ... have yet to collect it, but hopefully I’ll be back in business and won’t suffer the same experience.

[wvgambill72]

My ionic overheated in Nov. literally burned my wrist 2nd time this happened to me with the ionic luckily I was within my warranty so was able to get a refund just got that back and used on a versa 2 like it much better the battery life excellent only have to charge 1 time a week I think Fitbit needs to look into ionic more closely or discontinue it there’s clearly an issue with the ionic  

[SunsetRunner]

I suffered the same problem. Plunged it in cold water and it stopped overheating, but obviously the battery is fried: plugging the charging cable seems to resurrect the watch, but charge indicator stays at 0% proving that the battery is unable to store energy. The watch is unresponsive as soon as it's unplugged. I always took great care of the watch and it still looks new.

I agree, the Versa 2 seemed like an updated version of the Ionic, but its GPS capabilities are more limited. It's not the standalone device the Ionic is… Waiting to see what Fitbit will tell me: the watch is no longer on warranty, but that kind of problem is so serious that I would be surprised that they just dismiss it, unless they don't care about keeping their customers! Again, thanks for the info!  

[Cdive]

I plugged in my ionic for 10-15 minutes. My wife went to move it. It was so hot she dropped it. What’s going on with the ionic??

[Moro]

Mine was really hot today after it had been charging for about 30 minutes. Charge level had only reached 76% according to the watch and app (it syncs) but I cannot get it to charge anymore, using either of my charging cables.

I tried a few 3-button resets, and the battery is now down at 70% only.

It is an original Ionic bought at launch (October 2017), so way out of warranty.

It is running the latest firmware.

This is my third Fitbit watch, and the other two (Charge 2, Charge HR) only lasted about 14 months each so this one has at least lasted nearly twice as long.

I have ordered another watch to replace it...but not another Fitbit.

** UPDATE **

I just connected the charging cable and there was a strong smell of burning and some wisps of smoke!

I shall not attempt to charge this again as it now appears to be electrically unsafe.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[jaketdog]

My Ionic has just done the same thing. Felt it burning my wrist, took it off and the case was very hot to the touch.

Put it outside incase the battery was going to ignite.

Checked a few minutes later cold and unresponsive. No light, buttons unresponsive, no screen or vibration. Completely dead.

[Jd747hogg]

Great piece of kit when they work but too many occurrences when the ionic overheats get your money back mate and go for a different brandSent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.

[Limbro]

Hi all, my fitbit ionic was suddenly making some popping sound while it was still on my wrist. It turned off by itself after that, I tried to turn it on but to no avail, I realized it was getting very hot, so I quickly took off the watch and left it on the ceramic plate. I noticed the back cover has popped out a little bit, and I haven't charged it since then, what should I do now.

UPDATE:

Thanks for the reply from @BradleeSargent. I have contacted fitbit support via chat line, the fellow that I spoke with was very supportive, and the whole process was very pleasant. I was given a prepaid shipping label and instructions to return the defective ionic. Hopefully to get the replacement soon.

[BradleeSargent]

Call customer support. They reimbursed me for the cost of the ionic.

[ATT29]

Same thing happened to my Ionic. Middle of the night, wake up to being burned on my wrist by the watch and it would not turn on. It was so hot, I thought it might explode. In the morning it was not hot anymore and will not turn on. It was fully charged yesterday and I did not want to plug it back in. This seems very dangerous. What is Fitbit going to do to remedy this situation? 

[SunsetRunner]

Today I put my Ionic on to charge while I took a shower after a walk and when I went to remove it and put it back on my wrist it was so hot that I needed to drop it back on my desk.  I couldn't pick the watch up at all it was so hot and had to remove it off the paper on my desk.  It had a temperature gauge on the front which just said too hot.

I then went to look to see if I could charge it later and it looks as though the charging plate has completely fried.  When I tried to plug it back in to charge it nothing happened.

I normally wear it to bed but after reading all the comments here I am pretty sure that is not at all safe.  In fact I have even put it on a glass surface as I don't trust that it would not get too hot in the night and burn something.

My Fitbit Ionic is out of warranty for sure but this should definitely not happen and would suggest a faulty product.  Please help me with what I do next.

[Strongfijord]

Fitbit will probably offer to refund you if you return the device.  It's been a few years since I reported my issue (exactly the same as you and many others in this thread) and I find hard to believe that Fitbit have not recalled these devices - they are clearly dangerous. Good luck 

[Bonze82]

Same issue my fitbit overheated while I slept and burned my skin. I got intouch with support this morning and they suggested I clean the band and recharge the device, as the device had overheated, the back plate had popped loose and I have a first degree burn, I declined to follow those directions! Will call in the morning to see if things can be resolved with a phone call. This should qualify the device for a recall. These devices are fire hazards my ionic vented without flame thank God as I was sound asleep when it chose to overheat.

[SunsetRunner]

 Mine wasn’t so lucky.  😳. I had it charging while I was out painting.  I came back in about 4 hours later.  I picked it up to find it smoking hot, literally smoking.  Glad I checked on it when I did as it had the potential to start a fire.  This unit is about 2 years old, number 4 since my initial purchase in November 2017.  Never a problem until today.  Any chance for discount against a Sense?

[WilsonFitbit]

Hello everyone. @SunsetRunner Nice to see you around. 

I'm sorry sorry for the experience and thank you for the picture and for the information you've provided. I was able to see that you reached out to our Support Team and they were able to provide assistance and information. If you still have additional questions or inquiries, I recommend replying back to them and they will be more than glad to continue assisting you. 

On a side note, this thread is now closed and if you have any other questions, please post them in a new thread. 

See you around.