Versa stopped working in hot temperatures

[Geobound]

I know that this topic has been covered several times, so I'm not going to regurgitate the same thing as everybody else. No my comment is a bit different, but it does relate to having the black screen of death.

My first Versa died under what I thought was unusual circumstances considering its touted as an exercise tracking piece of equipment, but when Fitbit kindly offered to send me a replacement I didn't think much more about it. Well now my replacement ha suffered the same death, and I’m seeing a pattern.

I wear my Versa all day with the exception of bathing, swimming or doing any other type of water activity, despite it being rated for 50M.

When my Versa died the first time it was on an extremely hot day and I had been working outside cutting down trees. I was sweating excessively and when I came in to wash, I took the watch off and laid it on the counter.

When I went to put the watch back on I had the black screen of death, and did like most of you and came here for help.

As mentioned a replacement was offered since I was still within warranty, and on I went.

Fast forward to yesterday when I was outside working on another extremely hot day, doing a very similar task and the exact same thing happened to my watch?

The correlation that I can see is hot outside temperatures, mixed with excessive sweating, and physical labour.

Neither watches have suffered any drops, bangs, or scratches and as mentioned has never had anything to do with water aside from sweat, splashing when washing my hands or rain?

I’m hoping that this post finds its way to the technical support team so that they can do some independent testing on their own, as it does seem a bit suspicious that two identical watches should suffer the same fate in very similar circumstances?

I know I am out of warranty and as such am beyond any sort or repair claims, but I would be happy to send my Versa in for a technician to dismantle and see if they could suss anything out? 

Please let me know.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there @Geobound, welcome to the Community Forums. I am sorry to hear that you went through that situation with your Fitbit Versa. We acknowledge the limitation we have on our part particularly on what you have experienced. We‘re taking into consideration your comments and sentiments with regards to our products and services.

Please note that our main purpose is to avoid negative experiences to our customers, we're always willing to help and provide troubleshooting steps. Then, if the tracker is deemed defective we review eligibility using the one year warranty option.

Additionally, our products are indeed designed and made to last (this goes for each product component) however, there is not an infallible way to ensure that no issues will be present in the long run. Because of this, our Warranty Policy is set into providing as much coverage as we can.

Please see the environmental conditions below:

Operating Temperature

14° to 113° F
(-10° to 45° C)
Non-operating Temperature

-4° to 14° F
(-20° to -10° C)
113° to 140°F
(45° to 60° C)
Water Resistance

Water resistant up to 50 meters
Maximum Operating Altitude

28,000 feet
(8,534 m)

If you haven't troubleshooted your Versa yet, in order for me to better assist you with this, please confirm that you've followed the steps below as described in the help articles:

1. Check in the Fitbit app if your Versa is still syncing, if so, try changing the clock face to a different one by following these steps: How do I change the clock face on my Fitbit device?. The steps are done through the Fitbit app, do not worry if you cannot see anything on the screen for this process. 
2. Please confirm if you've restarted your device by following the steps from this help article: How do I restart my Fitbit device?

If the suggestions don't work and your watch doesn't vibrate when you connect it to the charger, it may be that the battery of your Fitbit is not charging properly and therefore it does not turn on. Said that, I recommend doing the following: 

• Clean the charging contacts on the back of your device and the pins on your charging cable using the instructions in How do I clean my Fitbit device?
• If the error "insufficient power source" appears on your device's screen, remove other devices plugged in to your power source, or plug your device in to another source.
• Try a different USB port or a UL-certified wall charger.
• Check the alignment and try reconnecting your device to the charging cable. For more information, see How do I charge my Fitbit device?
• Restart your Fitbit once again. For more information, see How do I restart my Fitbit device?

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

[Geobound]

Hi Marre thank you for reaching out to me.

I just want to be clear so that anybody that may be following this thread, that I feel the Fitbit warranty is spectacular and have zero complaints in which things are handled.

Having said that I am certain that my Versa is outside of the 1 year warranty period, and only thought it worth mentioning the similarities between the death of both identical devices for engineering purposes.

Thanks for posting the temperature ratings for resting and working devices, and note that I was definitely within those ranges when working outside.

I don't know if the combination of operating a device like a chainsaw combined with the sweat on my arms was enough to overpower the sensors in the Versa, but the circumstances of the demise of both my watches were quite similar.

I have tried all the reset and cleaning options, but to no avail. I did leave my Versa on charge over the night to see what would happen, and the device (at the connection point) was quite warm, but still nothing.

When trying to sync my device it was not found, and in fact as I go back and look at my log record it shows that it hadn't sync'd for a few days prior to it giving up the ghost?

Just so you know, I have two Fitibit charging docks connected to two different power supplies, and neither will bring my device back to life.

If Fitbit wants this device back to look into finding out what went wrong, I would be happy to send it back to you.

In the meantime I will see about finding a version one of the Versa as I do like some of the features on this device, that don't seem to be available on Version 2.

Please let me know what you would like me to do.

Again thanks for your reply,

John

[MarreFitbit]

Hi there @Geobound, thanks for getting back and for the update. I appreciate you had followed the tips and recommendations provided above. Since this sounds a bit more serious, I've created a support case on your behalf - you should soon receive an email from Customer Support at the email you used to register with the Community forums. Note that we may take a bit long to get back to you since due to recent events affecting our operations, support options are limited and wait times are longer than usual. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know.

[RyanW76]

I had the same issue with my Versa just 2 days ago. 100 degree day and a lot of activity and sweat. I received the black screen, and resetting/rebooting did not help. 24 hours later, the watch tracked steps, but the screen never displayed. The battery drained quickly. 24 hours later, the screen has come back on, but the battery appears to be draining quickly.  My Versa is a few years old…