Charge 3 not tracking steps

[Susanwalker]

My 3rd day and now it did not record my steps

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[MarreFitbit · Accepted solution]

Welcome on board @Susanwalker, it's nice to have a new member around!  Hmmm... this is very strange. 

While reading your post I was wondering if during those 3 days you've been using your tracker this was the first time it did not track your steps? If so, I'd recommend restarting your Charge 3 by following the steps below:

1. Plug the charging cable into the USB port on your computer or any UL-certified USB wall charger.
2. Clip the other end of the charging cable to the port on the back of the tracker. The pins on the charging cable must lock securely with the port.
3. Make sure the button on your tracker is aligned with the button opening on the charging cable. You’ll know the connection is secure when the tracker vibrates and you see a battery icon on your tracker’s display. 
4. Press and hold the button on your tracker for 8 seconds. Release the button. When you see a smile icon and the tracker vibrates, the tracker restarted.
5. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.

Let me know if the restart does the trick! 

[Susanwalker]

Thankyou so much

t:

  I should have known from my previous fitbit. 2 days of probably achieving my 10000 steps not recorded. grrrr:smileymad

:....

[MarreFitbit]

You're very welcome @Susanwalker! I'm glad to hear that the restart helped you. 

Hope to see you participating in the Community more often since I think it would be awesome for you to explore our Community. You can go ahead and log to any of the topics that might be of your interest in our Discussion boards. Feel free to comment and contribute with your knowledge and experience.

Have a nice day! 

[VictoriaSw]

Hello i have the same problem and i tried restarting it but it didnt change anything ... anything else i can do ?

[walker222]

These steps didn't work for my tracker either.  After spending hours over the last 3 days trying to get this to actually track my steps..I am thinking these new charge 3's are defective.

[RiseAndShine]

I've read in other topics that some users were successful resolving different Fitbit issues (including step counting) by changing clock face... it might be triggering some kind of reset in the tracker - wouldn't hurt to try before going through some more involved steps. 

Also, in order to track steps, Charge 3 sensors need to 'feel' some kind of acceleration and 'feedback' from the ground (there're a bunch of sensors that work together... this is rather simplistic view). For example, walking on the carpet may not produce enough 'feedback' for tracker to register. Make sure you're walking on the hard surface so that tracker can register speed change and steps. 

You can always contact Customer Service for more help.

[walker222]

I changed my clock face...no difference.  I am beginning to think that unless I swing my arms violently, it doesn't track.  It doesn't count if I walk on the treadmill, push a cart, or while my arms are full.  The only steps it feels are countable are when I swing my arms in an abnormal way.

[RiseAndShine]

That's not a normal behavior.... you shouldn't be doing anything crazy compared to your normal activity (you don't even need to swing arms for steps to be tracked). I think your vibration motor sensor might be faulty... please, contact customer support and let them resolve it for you! Best of luck!

[dz1234]

me too. I walk a block and it registers about 3 steps. Any resolution? I think mine is defective.

[walker222]

I returned mine.  After working with support and resetting several times...it still wasn't accurate.  A 5k counted barely 3,000 steps...should have been over 10,000.

[Mumbobme]

After using the Charge 3 for several months, it just all of a sudden stopped taking steps. I tried the process above, I got the smiley face...and that was the last time I saw anything on my Charge 3. Now, the only reaction i get is a vibration when I plug it in to charge. This is so frustrating. This is the second time now that it refused to display. 

[kmm825]

I bought my Charge 3 soon after it was released in October 2018. It's worked great until last month when I started noticing an unrelated to this thread issue. Now, today, it did something new - it did not record steps & battery charge is not the issue. It just didn't record steps.

I've researched the help forum thoroughly and tried every recommended fix - even the canned response fix from FitBit staff. I'll give it another try. Maybe it was just a fluke.

[Mumbobme]

Same issue here with my Charge 3 that I bought inn October of 2018, it does
not record steps.

I've spent hours with support personnel yet nothing worked. I got an email
two weeks ago thanking me for my patience with a statement that it would
soon be resolved.

I wish I had something positive to say, but all I've heard is crickets.

[nidhi84gupta]

Hi..Mine stopped tracking everything all of a sudden. I tried restarting but it didn't work. Any ideas?

Nidhi

[Mumbobme]

I do not know why this happened to mine. But, after working with support,
they eventually just sent me a new one since mine was still under warranty
as I'm sure yours still is as well.

Did yours completely stop? Did you place your Charge 3 in the charging
cradle and then hold the reset button down for at least 20-second?

My Charge 3 would track only a few steps. Normally, I'm over 5,000 steps a
day, and quite often over 15,000. So, when it started only recording 10 or
15 steps a day, I knew it was time to contact support. I did have to
repeatedly stress upon the support people that 10- steps a day is not
normal. They would look at my online record and believe they were
successful in solving the problem because they saw 150 steps a day. That
was because I violently shook my arm to get it to record something.

Also, I noticed the quick display, which gets activated when you flick your
wrist, stopped working. I had to throw my arm hard like I was playing
baseball to get it to display. I believe the accelerometer sensor somehow
had some latent failures that creep it once in use for a while. It could
also be that the sensors are getting dislodged from their circuit due to
hasty manufacturing or little or poor stress screening.

I would be very careful not to drop these even if a few inches on a hard
floor.

I hope the hard reset fixes your Charge 3. If not, do not hesitate to
contact support and tell them that you have reset the Charge 3 in its
charging cradle.

[Shutterbug5]

I got mine on Black Friday and it's been great except this past month when I started having this issue as well!

[TPA8K]

I have a Charge 3 Special Edition that is rock solid.I bought the normal Charge 3 for my wife and this one just does not read her on a reliable manner.

I am an an active IT guy with over 25 years of experience. After witnessing my consistent  headaches with my wife unit and reading this forum I am convinced the sensors on the normal units were defective

I have tried different chargers, phones, version of Android etc. The normal charge is not reliable the Special Edition is perfect

[rjer]

Followed instructions. Did not work.

[TPA8K]

Did you had any results? My wife wants to return her charge 3 because is a pain to sync