Ionic stuck on 0% and won't charge

[Natstock85]

My ionic was working great and then the battery died the other day. I plugged it in to charge and came back a few hours later and it still says 0% when you press a button. It has now been on charge for 3 days and still says 0%. I have tried wall chargers and running it off the laptop USB but still nothing! I can't reset or do anything as there is no battery life! Help! 

[MyDogMags]

Mine did the same this morning.  Woke up and it was showing 0% battery icon.  Wouldn't charge.  It was at 60% battery life yesterday.  I tried restarting and wouldn't restart either.  I opened the app, and there was a firmware update that was pushed today.  I started the firmware update and the watch came back to life, restarted and started charging (showing 48% battery life immediately, so I don't think it was really dead)  All is good for today.

[mc_seem]

I had this issue already twice. Both times it's somehow related to new firmware. Last time my FitBit Ionic went completely dark in January 2020. Although the battery was good, at near 70-80%. That was happening at about the same time or soon after when I installed an update on it. It was showing 0% and won't charge - this is the previous thread.

This time I tried updating it to Firmware 27.70.7.27, it went dark again and was showing 0% and not charging. Now I plugged it into charger, kept pressing 3 buttons and plugging-unplugging the charger cord from the outlet repeatedly, every time waiting for the FitBit logo to appear. After about 5-10 tries I eventually got it booting up to battery that is 100% charged. Then I applied the update successfully.

There's some software or firmware glitch, where it's getting stuck at 0% not charging, creating an illusion that it's broken, but the battery is great and holding charge. It's just takes real good number of three-button resets to bring it to life. So it lasted almost 4 months now since I had to apply the trick. Hopefully it'd last for another 4.

[DScottG]

You can't do a factory reset if your Ionic wont charge and turn on!

[fraz58]

If you’ve tried all of the previous solutions and it still won’t turn on, it’s Donald Ducked and I would contact Fitbit.

Sent from my iPhone

[RyanFerrara]

I am having the same issue with my Ionic. It worked a day ago then died. Put it on the charger came back hours later to it showing the 0% screen. Tried resetting, tried different power sources, tried resetting while plugged in, tried everything. What can I do. It won't do anything.

[Adam_lancey]

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />

Hi ,

In my honest opinion, Buy a Samsung active watch. I have after my terrible experience with the fitbit useless customer service and service im general. 

[Adam_lancey]

In my honest opinion , I admitted defeat , customer service where shocking, how I'm not covered even though it happened with am update is beyond me. But Samsung came to the rescue I now have a Samsung active brilliant watch and the company is so much better than the thief's known as Fitbit

[fraz58]

Did you clean the connections on the back and on the charger?

[clintau]

All I did was hold all three buttons down until the watch reset.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

[Lynseym]

I give in & bought a Garmin

[Reeseferrera]

thank you. It’s works for me. Hold the 3 buttons for a munite or two and the diamond dots appeared and then press the single button again and tadaaaa! It works. 

[davey345]

The trick i have found, is never, never let your battery run below 25% charged, keep the back contacts clean at all times, and then it should last maybe 9-10 months, before it crashes. Currently on my third device, but as i took out the extended warranty i have been lucky and had it replaced every time, but have decided after three replacements in 2 years, next time it goes wrong i am replacing it with a different make, something more reliable.

[RyanFerrara]

That doesn't work at all. It won't reset.

[fraz58]

Did you try cleaning the charging points thoroughly

[Jjanet1]

Not sure have you cleans charging points carefully with a pin. If still
under warranty contact Fitbit support for replacement

[Greenfish]

Try cleaning the charging port where the cord attaches to the back of Fitbit. There is a small recess and it can become “clogged” not allowing cord to full seat in port. Worked for me.

Sent from my iPad

[Brentnlisa]

restarting my phone Worked fo me too. Super odd!

[pammys]

My ionic is dead completely. I saw 0%. But now nothing. Tried all the suggestions of restarting. Nothing will even light up. And yes I cleaned the connections still dead. 

[763lifegiving]

I hope my work around at least helped someone. A charge indicator is good to try. That way a person will altogether know for sure if their watch is completely charged. You can know when the charging is complete if there is a device that let's you know. From there, all of the other troubleshooting can take place. That red "0" means your Ionic has not charged. Something that has an indicator light, like an external battery that shuts off once the charging is complete, is a big help.  Making sure your battery is charged all the way  should be the first step, in my opinion. If the watch does not charge at all, then you know for sure the watch has failed. I waited until my indicator light showed me the charge was complete. Then I was able to start my watch. My Ionic completely failed to charge for three days. My experience is that even after a thorough and complete cleaning often, the watch would jump in and out of charge mode when connecting it on a normal basis. But how would I fuss with it on a dead battery without something to guide me? I bought a new Ionic last week for backup. I examined the connectors and saw a difference with the center post. I am thinking this is why I have to fuss a bit with charging. After using a charge indicator to make sure my Ionic watch was fully charged, I went from there. It works fine now. The next time I will use the same method. At least make sure the watch is charged. That is all I am saying here.  If the new update is at fault, one can know for sure without any guessing. There might be some case where the watch is fine. Hope this helped. 

[HerkNav]

Like the rest of us you are screwed unless it's still under warranty