Replacing a Charge 2 with another one

[jt_stl]

I actually have two questions.

My Charge 2 just suddenly stopped working. I charged it halfway and then used it an hour. When I took it off the charger it showed the charge indication. But an hour later the screen was black and nothing has helped to revive it.

My son has an old Charge 2 with a cracked screen (he switched to an Apple watch long ago). But it works, so I have used it the last couple days without adding it to my dashboard. In the meantime I bought a "new" Charge 2 on eBay because I am almost at 50,000 floors after 5 FitBits (a Charge 2 and four HRs) and want to keep tracking floors.

Question 1. Is there anything I need to do with my son's Fitbit so that I can store it as a backup if the one I just bought (probably should say when the one I just bought) fails? Is there some way to turn it off to save the battery?

Question 2. My dashboard has my old Charge 2 on it (and the indication it synced 45 minutes before it totally died). Do I need to do something to remove it from the dashboard before starting the process of setting up its replacement? At just shy of 50,000 floors and 15,000 miles I don't want to do anything that would reset my miles and floors back to zero!

Thanks in advance for any advice you all can provide.

[JohnnyRow]

You mention your "dashboard".  Does that mean you are syncing to a computer rather than to a phone?

Not avoiding your question, but that info might affect the answer.

[jt_stl]

Hi,

Thanks for the help. Yes. I am syncing to a computer, not phone. I am still using a dongle from one of my old Charge HRs. Works fine for what I need.

[JohnnyRow · Accepted solution]

As long as you use the same account, nothing will get reset.  Your data is all stored on the fitbit database under your email/fitbit ID and your new data will add seamlessly to previous data.  Incidentally, that is true even if you go to a different Fitbit model, though if you know the Charge 2 and are happy with it, there's no reason to change.  And a few of the newer models do not count stairs.

I haven't used dongle for many years; expect what I say applies the same but not absolutely sure.

Being logged in with that same email, go to add a device and choose Charge 2.  On phone app and I expect with dongle also, it says something like 'you already have a Charge 2 attached?  Is this a replacement?'.  You answer 'yes'  and it removes the old connected tracker and adds the new one.

I don't think there is any way to get the data from son's tracker into the database now, so you will have a few day's gap in data, but otherwise will look continuous.

As for using our son's tracker again, just add it the same way you just added your "new" one, preferably always syncing the one to be removed right before removing it to avoid losing data since last sync.

As for turning off to save battery, I forget about Charge 2, but don't think it has that option.  Just let it run out, then charge again if want to re-use it.

Re-reading, I think I made it look more complicated than it really is.

[jt_stl]

Thank you. Your reply is extremely helpful. Adding a device seems to be a bit challenging. I don't see that option in the dashboard. I THINK I need to go to the FitBit Connect app and Set Up a New Fitbit Device. I thought there might be something in settings, but not seeing it. Where does add a device show up in the phone app?

[JohnnyRow]

See How do I set up my Fitbit device? 

Trackers and watches section.

[jt_stl]

Thanks for being patient with me. The Fitbit connect information seems a little out of date. But should be enough to get the new Charge 2 going. Sounds like I should remove the old one first, but I think I will start out seeing if I get prompted to do that.

I think I will not upload what is on my son's fitbit. My first HR started having charging problems after 10 months and support suggested I do an update. The update  totally bricked the HR, i.e. went from charging but holding a charge very long to nothing but a black screen and was totally unresponsive. A little worried an update on a partial charge bricked my Charge 2. I would rather return the borrowed one still working. Hopefully the new one will survive the setup process!

Thanks again for all the help.

[jt_stl]

I have my "new" Charge 2 working. I needed to use the FitBit Connect program and add a new device after plugging the new FitBit into the charger. It just replaced my original Charge 2,  it did not ask, just did it. It then spent about 10 minutes updating before it was ready to use. I gave it an hours charge and so far so good. I have my fingers crossed the battery is in good shape. I had to get it on eBay, and while it was listed as new unopened package,  it was in a somewhat dirty package that had clearly been opened. But the tracker itself did not appear to have ever been used. I suspect it has been sitting around for some time, though.

[JohnnyRow]

That's good news.  I am pleased - thanks for the update.  Charge 2s have not been made for several years so it would have to have been at least sitting around a while.

I had been thinking that if you couldn't get set up through Fitbit connect, if had anyone with smart phone, could use that just to get through set-up, then go to back to using computer rather than phone, but I guess not an issue any more.