Charge 3 won't perform the long restart

[Ringthief]

I'm trying to "long restart" by following instructions send by Fitbit support but I'm not getting 7 vibrates or a progress bar. It seems to just be doing the regular 8 second restart.

(This is for black lines on the display)

Any idea what I'm doing wrong?

Are these even the right instructions they sent me?

"Thanks for the update and for sharing with us your email address. Upon checking, we've confirmed that you successfully restarted your Charge 3. Given the situation, we suggest you to try the long restart:

1. Connect the device to the charging cable.
2. While the device is plugged into the charging cable, press and hold the button down for 15 seconds.
3. The device turns on and shows a battery icon. Two vibrations occur: first a short vibration, then a medium vibration.
4. The device turns off.
5. The device turns on and shows a progress bar and short vibrations occur. The progress bar completes. Note: A total of 7 short vibrations occur.
6. Remove the device from the charging cable. The device shuts down.
7. Important: Plug the device into the charging cable. Since you successfully restarted the Charge 3.

Keep us on the loop on how it went and should you have any other concerns, we're just one tweet away."

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity

[Rich_Laue]

As long as your Charge 3 is charging, you should be good. When you plugged it into its charger, did it vibrate? 

You may want to get back to them as the final paragraph suggests. 

And yes a tweet usually gets the fastest response 

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there @Ringthief, welcome to the Community Forums. Thanks for the details provided and for taking the time to perform a long restart on your Charge 3.

I agree with @Rich_Laue, also wondering if you feel a vibration when your Charge 3 is plugged? 

Is there a reason why you want to perform a long restart on your tracker? Do you have issues with your tracker? If you experience any of the following issues, restart your device:

• Won't sync
• Won't respond to button presses, taps, or swipes
• Charged but doesn't turn on
• Won't track your steps or other stats

Restarting your device turns it off and on without deleting any activity data.

I'm looking forward to your response, keep me posted. 

[Ringthief · Accepted solution]

What are you guys talking about?

I said it won't long restart, and that I'm in contact with support for black lines in the display. I was hoping someone here could clarify the instructions they sent.

I get replies that everything is fine if it charges (not the issue ?) Contact support (I have/am?) And wanting to know if it does not vibrates when plugged in, (a thing I never reported ?)

They finally got back to me and are replacing it. Thanks everyone for the insight into the long restart I asked about. Bye!

[Rich_Laue]

@Ringthief could you please let us know if you feel a vibration when your Charge 3 is first plugged in. This vibration is confirmation that the Charge 3 is Charging. 

If you get a second vibration then the charging has stopped. 

If you feel no vibrations then the charging never started. 

[Ringthief]

Thanks for your reply Rich.

This has nothing to do with my issue however.

No I don't have a problem charging my device.  That is why I didn't include information about charging my device in the original topic.

As I said on my last reply, they are replacing it, so the issue is solved.

[Rich_Laue]

The reason we are asking is because the Charge 3 must first be in its charger and charging. Now the user simply needs to hold on the button to restart the tracker. 

You say that holding in the button does not restart the tracker. 

This means that one of two things are not happening. 

The button is not being held in, or their is a problem with charging v

If while holding the button, the charging stops and restarts, the tracker will fail to do a proper restart. 

This is the thinking behind our question. 

[Ringthief]

Or 3: it's broken and they are replacing it so the issue is solved, as I have already said earlier in the conversation...

[MuzzaWood]

If it helps anyone else, I just figured out that you have to start the 15 second press while the screen is showing the battery icon, and keep holding it down through the 7 short blips (and progress bar).  If you start from the home screen, it does the 8 second restart.

[DougAllan]

I’m getting infuriated with Fitbit’s replies to my emails on this. I’m telling them the long restart doesn’t happen and they reply with pithy emails about checking Bluetooth settings etc.

this all started as I’m trying to get the device to not record steps while cycling. Should I have it in the “cycle” setting ?

help.....

[JLRamos]

Mines won’t perform the long restart either. It begins and then it stops and the smiley face shows as if I did a soft reset. I have more and more lines appearing on my screen making it hard to read 

[Rich_Laue]

I'm still trying to figure out what steps are needed to perform this imaginary long restart. The manual doesnt mention it.

[MuzzaWood]

Pretty sure you plug it in to charge, then while the battery symbol is
still showing, hold the button in for at least 15 seconds. It's a bit odd
but did work. larger fingers like mine made it a little difficult, but I
got there in the end.

[JLRamos]

It’ll start it and stop part way and show a smiley face as if I did a soft restart. And the screen is getting worse by the minute. Even tried changing the clock face and it’s doing nothing.

[JLRamos]

It’ll start it and stop part way and show a smiley face as if I did a soft restart. And the screen is getting worse by the minute. Even tried changing the clock face and it’s doing nothing.

Sent from my iPhone

[JoeRowley]

I decided to try restarting my Charger 3 because it was telling me that I only had two to 4 hours sleep over a two day period. I went to sleep at around 2300 hours and woke up between 0600 and 0630 hrs, according to a conventional watch.

I attached my watch to the supplied charger and long pressed the button for 15 seconds and as I was holding to button all that occured is the watch vibrated and a line appeared and incressed in length. I released the button after 15 seconds the screen went blank and a happy face appeared. Did I try restarting my watch the correct way?

Thank you

Moderator edit: personal info removed

[Josephgal]

I have the same issue.  The bar appears, but immediately it is replaced by the smile and it fails to do the long restart.

I was able to get the long restart to happen once before this problem.  It didn't resolve my issue with the lines in the screen. 

[Aku2k2]

May be too late an answer for you, but possibly useful for others struggling doing the long reset or long restart.

1. check the watch is actually charging (vibrates once when connected to the charger and showing battery symbol) as this will only work while the battery is showing it seems.

2. as stated in the instructions support gives about this, hold the button for about 15 seconds.

3. after 7 vibrations and with a full progress bar remove the watch from the charger

4. connect to the charger again to reboot.

If, as I had it over and over, the status bar disappears after one or two vibrations/segments, the problem is you are not pushing the button firmly enough. It is quite a weird pressure point, and the slight vibrations from the watch are actually sufficient for the watch to think the button was released.

I tried multiple times with different fingers, unless I found that I was able to hold it firm enough with my right index finger coming in at about a 45 ° angle from the top. But you may have to play around with it. maybe putting something like a piece of an eraser in between may allow holding it firmly enough as well.