Charge 3 exercise tracking stopping by itself

[Jifushin]

Hello!

I’m new for the Fitbit community since I got the Charge 3 as a present a couple of days ago. I was used to the Polar Watch that also has an exercise tracking mode but for some reason I cannot make the Fitbit one work properly. I select the exercise in the watch, put start and the “Let’s go”. It will start tracking for 5-15min until it stops by itself. 

The first couple of minutes I can see it tracking the excercise and heart rate but it will automatically go back to the main screen after a couple of minutes without me realizing. Then I can check in then app that the watch just tracked a bit of it before stopping it. Sometimes it will start “automatically” tracking an excercise after stopping the manual track so I still get data but not as accurate (in time and type of excercise)

- I have not pressed anything during the workout

- Tried setting a “time goal” but still stopped by itself after a couple of minutes

- Turned it off from the watch (with the setting options) and tried again. Still stops mid workout

- Restarted it by pressing the side button for a while until I saw the happy face. Still keeps stopping mid workout 

have been fighting with it for a while. 6 times in different types of workout already and always failed, so I’m starting to get frustrated. It does track my heart rate thus some of the calories burned are shown and sometimes it does automatically track exercise but not always accurate (yesterday got “elliptical exercise” even though I was walking in the treadmill for cool down 😐

Am I doing something wrong or is it the watch’s problem?

Moderator edit: subject for clarity

[Wesso]

Hi I am facing the same issue is there anyway to solve it I have checked the automatic stop and its off

[mszatny]

After speaking with Fitbit support a couple times..... they inform me that this is a known issue and they are working on a fix.  This Does not help me RIGHT NOW!

[personreal]

They have been telling me that since January when I noticed it happening to me.  I've communicated with them  several times and they basically blow me off and say they are still working on it. Not impressed

[SunsetRunner]

My FitBit Charge 3 has started doing the same thing to the point that it's now unreliable as an exercise tracker.  I've stopped wearing it until they fix this and in the meantime have switched to a well rated competitive tracker that may not have as many bells and whistles but at 1/4 the price of the FitBit it makes a reasonable backup.  I hope they fix this before I get too used to the other.  I prefer the FitBit, but only if I can count on it.

[SunsetRunner]

Help! Mine is doing the same thing. Not useful!

[SunsetRunner]

I think what might be the cause could be a simple software menu issue.

The software is designed so that while tracking an exercise all it takes is one touch of the side-button to go to 'Paused'.   I don't like this because the button is touch sensitive and the end of a sleeve could be the culprit at any random time.  If this is true, it could be fixed by having the menu ask for confirmation before pausing.

[SunsetRunner]

Nope. Not the case. Already have it asking for confirmation. And no sleeves. 

When i do get to end it myself it takes a lot of work!

[puppysnout]

This is marked as solved, but after reading this thread, I don’t see a verified solution. Is there a fix? My tracker drops about 50% of my workouts. 

[LynnH19]

My Charge 3 also stops tracking during exercise, but only "Treadmill." I don't see an auto-pause option for Treadmill on my device, so I think my issue might be different.  I have my Charge 3 set to give me a "Lap" notification for every 100 calories burned.  It works fine if I'm lifting weights, doing Pilates, or biking. But on the Treadmill setting, about 50% of the time, it will stop tracking shortly after my first "Lap" notification.  I'm not touching the device when this happens, but shortly thereafter, when I lift my wrist to check my heart rate or calorie progress, I'll see that the device has reverted to the general clockface. Any suggestions?

[amandawallwin]

I'm having the same problem! When can we expect this to be fixed? 

[LynnH19]

I spoke to Customer Service this weekend and they say it's a problem that they're working on. Just have to wait for an update when they fix it.

[personreal]

Um they have been saying that since January. I have contacted them twice and got the same answer. Seems like it shouldn’t take this long...

Get Outlook for iOS

[LynnH19]

I agree with you.  But that's their story and they're sticking to it.  I've only had my Charge 3 for a month, so I'm hoping this is the only problem I will run across.

[SunsetRunner]

Hello, I am having the same issue. Fitbit stops after around 30 minutes in the run, nothing saved til that point. I am using the tracker to prepare for a set of races and without this the whole watch is useless. Please assist.

[LynnH19]

My Charge 3 seems to be behaving better lately when I'm on the treadmill, as it has been recording my full workouts pretty faithfully. There has been an update issued since my last post, so maybe they've improved on that issue. But like you, when I'm out in the real world trying to use GPS on my walk, the Charge 3 seems to be totally incapable of maintaining contact with my phone.  It connects and disconnects constantly.  My phone is strapped to my upper arm and the watch is on the wrist of the same arm. Could they be any closer? I took the dog on a mile-long walk this morning, and while the Charge 3 recorded the exercise (time, steps, and calories burned), there was no GPS distance recorded at all.  

[MikeRK]

Hello, 

I have the exact same issue on my Charge 3, except I have a 50% chance that it will keep recording as opposed to just stopping. What was the solution on this?

[MikeRK]

I have no setting feature under the run option in exercise. The guide for the location of the autopause is not there. Also the description says that the watch will vibrate when it autopauses. My watch does not vibrate when it stops recording. 

[LMcF]

I am experiencing the exact same issue. The Charge 3 tracking stops by itself . I have reset multiple time. I does this when using the the walk exercise option. Nothing is touching the devise or interfering with it 

[varske]

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@mszatny wrote:

Having same issue as many here.  My Tennis Exercise session stops without any action from me.  Over a 2 hr period,  my Charge3 stopped my Exercise twice and I had to restart each time.  

I don’t see any specific fix for this yet in this thread 

MS

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Having the same issue.  I don't use Run or Bike, just Hike and Walk, so no on/off Autopause issue.  The first Hike was fine, nice map of Hike. The second cut off half way after about 30 mins, with cutoff shown on map.  Since then not much luck getting consistent map or tracking.  This morning, random GPS on walk (showed fine on another app, so not the GPS fault).  Tracking cut off after 30 mins, then random start again.  Generally irritating. 

Just looked again at what it did record.  It seems to be stopping when I stopped.  But when it started again it defaulted to Walk not Hike like it was set.  

[Foosh]

I’m having the same problem with “weights”. Happens almost every workout.