Charge 3 blank display

[JvdMaarel]

It seems my Charge 3 broke down last evening after some 6 days of usage. At around 22:30, when I was reading in bed, it vibrated shortly as if there was a notification. The screen stayed black though; there is no display. From that moment on the Charge 3 has been unresponsive. Screen as well as button doesn't react to touch or presses any more. The heart rate sensor is emitting light constantly (green all the time, instead of slow flicker).

Connecting it to the charger doesn't change anything: no charge indication and symptoms stay the same. So no way to reboot either.

What to do next?

I'll contact my supplier in the evening, have a busy day at work today

HR sensor on all the time...button and screen don't react to touch or presses

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[almccomb]

It’s defective.  I’ve been through 5 of these now (4 returns).  All had the exact problem you describe.  All were updated, charged, and worn properly. “8 second restart” does not solve the problem and this repetitive suggestion from customer service is becoming insulting. Support is a nightmare. 

Fitbit most likely put out millions of these defective units.  Really slimy practice.

I heard from a reputable source that Apple Watch is gearing up to offer a $169 rebate with proof of Fitbit charge 3 malfunction return.. since so many are defective.  Keep your eyes peeled.

Moderator edit: format

[JvdMaarel · Accepted solution]

When I returned home my Charge 3 was completely drained (due to the HR sensor being on all the time probably, which doesn't seem right or good for the device either). Only after that I was able to recharge and reboot it again (charging didn't work while it was unresponsive). Now it is at 100% and after reboot it seems to be functioning as before the incident.

So problem seems to be solved, but I do hope this won't be a returning issue. 

[JuanJoFitbit]

@almccomb It's great to see you in the Fitbit forums! I'm sorry to hear that your Charge 3 trackers have not charged properly. I appreciate your feedback since I know how you feel about this. However, I want to follow up and would like to know if our Support provided a solution after the last unit they sent you.

@JvdMaarel Thank you for joining this thread! I replied to the post that you added in this thread. Please refer to it for follow up.

See you both around! 

[wfcunningham]

I have the same issue - my fitbit has done exactly the same as yours. I have since rebooted the device, I have cleared the data from the device and I have resynced the device and have contacted fitbit support. They responded with 

1. Go to the settings of your Charge 3.
2. Scroll down to the about option, the you sill find the clear data option.
3. Click on it and then set up the Fitbit again.
After these steps, the green lights should start working.

This has not resolved anything and in fact has made things worse. The screen has now stayed black, the Charge 3 has now totally unresponsive. 

[JuanJoFitbit]

@wfcunningham Welcome to our Fitbit Community! I'm sorry to hear that your Charge 3 also experienced the same issue. I was able to get in touch with our Support team regarding your issue and told me that they contacted you recently. Did they provide a solution?

Looking forward to your response! 

[wfcunningham]

They were passing the ticket onto your 2nd line support! In the mean, after I followed the 1st line suggestions the Fitbit stopped working completely - it wouldn’t record steps, heart rate, anything! It became a very expensive digital watch! I contacted Amazon and got a replacement Fitbit the next day - the journey continues

Sent from my iPhone

[JuanJoFitbit]

@wfcunningham Thank you for getting back! I'm glad to hear that you received a replacement from Amazon. I want to follow up and would like to know if your new Charge 3 is working properly.

See you later! 

[lainswo]

I had a charge 2 but its not use-able anymore. I got my charge 3 on Tuesday and the steps weren't very responsive but I wanted to give it an honest go. Wed & Thursday during high intensity cardio, the watch had the same heart rate as I have sitting on the couch. Today is Friday and the heart rate is blank and according to the app it stopped last night at 9:20 pm. 

I have reset it it many times. Played with the different bands it came with and also the wrists and sensitivity. I have now left it charged all morning to be 100% to see if that helps and it has not. 

I really hope Fitbit takes back my watch and does not send me another defective item. I am also wondering if there is anyone out there who has a Charge 3 who spends most of their time at the gym and has anything positive to say? 

[wfcunningham]

Hi,

I did everything Fitbit says you should do on their web site/ support forum and then logged a call with Fitbit support who responded quite quickly until
I mentioned I had followed all there suggestions- they then passed me 2nd line support who then took ages to respond! In fact I got so annoyed waiting for a response- I contacted Amazon (where I bought my Fitbit) and they responded with minutes and replaced it the very next day! So yeah for Amazon!

Sent from my iPad

[JuanJoFitbit]

@lainswo Thank you for joining us in this thread! I'm sorry to hear that your Charge 3 stopped tracking your heart rate accurately even though you have restarted it several times. Due to this, I'll forward your case to our Support team so they can investigate further and provide a solution. You should receive an email from them soon.

@wfcunningham I'm glad to hear that Amazon sent you a replacement unit. Thank you for posting the update here. I really appreciate your comments and feedback.

I'll be around if you guys have any doubts! 

[SunsetRunner]

The same exact thing happened to mine today! 

[Tshah]

My screen won't turn on and I've tried to reset the fitbit - any other suggestions

[Rick32]

I just got my charge 3 yesterday and set it up last night. It was working fine this morning, then the screen went blank. It was still synced to the Fitbit app on my phone though. I couldn’t get the display to turn on. I reset the device (saw the smiley face) but still nothing on the display. I I’m-synced from the app, plugged the device into the charger, reset agsin (saw the smiley face again), and then tried to re-sync to the app. The app successfully found my device, and asked me to enter the pin that was displayed, but the display is still blank. The display can’t be burned out since I still see the smiley face when I restart, so why won’t it turn on at all other than the smiley face?

[Ajramos]

This is becoming a joke. I thought my switch from garmin to fitbit will better my experience but i was mistaken. First time not responsive restart and it worked for a week now it just vibrates when button is touch. So far a very bad experience whats next????

[CLARENCE52]

I have the same black screen problem.

It charges fine , vibrates when I press the button. I can't sync nor contact it with my phone.

[Cabenn]

I have the same problem happened for me 12/18/2018 around 1:40pm CST. Screen went black and I could get haptic feedback but nothing was working. In the middle of the night, the watch starting buzzing like crazy. While on the chat window, the rep was able to see the battery charge indication % which was interesting. Makes me wonder what other things they can see and I wish they would share it so I could help troubleshoot it. 

The rep had me do the following:

Rep said my problem was likely due to the fact my firmware wasn't updated. I asked then if it was caused by firmware why did it work fine for 2 months and then all of a sudden break? Seems most likely a hardware problem. 

Verify Android OS 8.1.0

Verify Location Services turned on

Verify Fitbit Service was running in the background

Verify Fitbit Software was updated (it wasn't so updated)

Soft Reset of holding the haptic feedback down for the 8 seconds. No Smiley was seen. Unplugged and repeated and still nothing.

Hard Reset of holding haptic feedback down for 15 seconds while on charger plugged into PC. Remove watch from Charger and Reconnect to Charger. Smiley should appear. I'd say it appeared maybe 2 times out of the 10. I still would never see the battery charge indication.

Watch Current Hardware Status:

no green led light flashing on or off charger

no battery charge indication

Physical Haptic feedback works but there is no display aside from a smiley when I attempt to reboot.

Fitbit Application Status: 

Fitbit App sees the the Charge 3 but is unable to sync. Tech said this could be related to 2 other bluetooth devices being near me which are unrelated to the charge 3.  (a keyboard and phone)

I've attempted to change the bluetooth AVRCP Settings from default 1.4, to 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6. Turned off Bluetooth and restarted phone. 

Each of the AVRCP versions did the We found your tracker! But was unable to progress anywhere after that. 

After being on the chat I had to go to a lunch so was unable to finish troubleshooting with the rep.

[ahamilton82]

Same problem. Now this is the 2nd time it's happened to me since I got it when it first came out! So frustrating! I ended up doing a hard reboot the first time but now this time I can't do anything! I will definitely be contacting Fitbit in the morning because I'm not the kind of person who has over  $100 to normally drop on something that ends up breaking a couple months later then continuously there after 😞 

[Remi22]

I had the same problems ,(black screen) on my charge 3. I could still see progress on my phone but I need a watch. I went to change clock screen and picked a new one and for now it works. Not sure why but glad I experimented. 

[ahamilton82]

Interesting! I ended up calling Fitbit Support and they tried SEVERAL things to no avail. They ended up sending me a new watch. I pray the same thing doesnt happen to this new one in a few months 😕