Versa 3 freaks out if it gets sweaty

[DesertChessie]

I don't swim and I don't take my watch in the shower but sometimes it gets wet when I wash my hands. Anyways, I've discovered that if I get very sweaty it freaks out. The screen goes to the logo, it vibrates, and then eventually just becomes unresponsive. The button won't work either to restart it. Last time it did this after about 5 hours it came on again and worked fine until today, when it got sweaty while I was working. This watch is a year old, why is this happening and can something be done to fix it? 

[Guy_]

Hi @DesertChessie - you seem correct, but it is unusual that it gets wet from just sweat, the symptoms are those for water getting inside.

Make sure you dry the watch thoroughly in a bag of rice for a few days and check it doesn't get hot when charging, as that can be dangerous. It may just recover but avoid contact with all moisture from then on.

[DesertChessie]

The first time it happened I was outside blowing sand out of my air conditioner. It was hot outside and I was sweaty. This time I was working cattle and a few got away so we were chasing after them and I got sweaty and it stopped working and as of 6.42am this morning, it's still not working at all. I suppose of it can't handle being sweaty then this just isn't the watch for me

[Guy_]

@DesertChessie - one thing to check is that it didn't start using the GPS and get a flat battery.

Also it may not be charging well. It is important to clean it well, especially if it got sweaty and also check the charge cable h see details in How to check charge cable - Sense/Versa 3 won't charge, won't start or blank screen

[DesertChessie]

I wiped it down, but I'll get a q-tip and see if I can clean the contacts better. Initially I tried charging it up in my bathroom and it didn't do anything so I moved it downstairs and it didn't charge up there either. Just a totally blank screen with an unresponsive button. So I'll try cleaning the contacts at lunch time and see what happens 👍🏻

[DesertChessie]

Alright, so I cleaned the contacts and surprisingly it actually started charging. It saod 0% and then after that the screen wouldn't work. So I left it alone and a while later it was vibrating uncontrollably. I was able to shut it down, but when it turned back on it began vibrating uncontrollably again. So I did a factory reset and now it's vibrating uncontrollably, the screen is black, the button doesn't work, it's can't sync to my phone.

I was hopeful I could get this to last long enough to get a different smart watch, but I think this one is just plain done. I'm really disappointed being outside when it's 85 degrees Fahrenheit and sweating damaged my watch this badly. I guess maybe it's time to look at different companies. 

I really appreciate the help, the thing about cleaning the contacts worked and really surprised me! Thank you for that tip! 

[AMS14]

I had this problem with an older version. I contacted fit bit. It was just out of warranty but they kindly swapped it out for free for me.

[DesertChessie]

I'm chatting with Fitbit now, but I don't have much hope. We'll see how it goes. I managed to update it and the side button is unresponsive still