Battery drains in hours, disconnects from WiFi

[Lorcasaur]

Of all the complaints about battery life, I can't find one that quite matches what I've experienced for the past two days in a row -- not sure if any or all of this is connected:

1) Charging FitBit: notification that the device is charging slowly, which I assume is because of other stuff plugged into the outlet? I get this notification a lot, but it has never been a problem before.

2) Drained FitBit: just hours later, I get a 10% low battery notification.  

3) Not connected to WiFi: I had an isolated battery drain issue months ago, and a friend suggested it might be searching for WiFi. Sure enough, I was disconnected from the network. I restarted the device, reconnected and was fine. Same this time around, but twice in two days and three times in one week is not acceptable.

Device is less than a year old, software is up to date, not an issue with my WiFi (2.5g). Don't make me switch to an Apple Watch! I don't want one! Help!

[rainwind · Accepted solution]

The "charging slowly" notification to my knowledge mean one of two things.

1. One or more of the charge connectors on the back of your watch needs cleaning. I clean mine with a q-tip and rubbing alcohol make sure to squeeze the excess alcohol off of the q-tip before you use it (you don't want any alcohol dripping into the watch).  If that doesn't work,

2. look carefully at your charger are the four legs even with each other? Is one or more of them lower than the others in fact if you more closely examine the leg(s) you'll see that one or more of the legs collapsed into the charger. If that's the case and you're still under warranty call Fitbit customer service will send you a new one. If you're out of warranty fitbit will sell you a new one for twenty bucks or you can go to Amazon and buy a knockoff for less.

[Guy_]

Hi @Lorcasaur  - what @rainwind  says, pin alignment often isn't precise.

Your watch WiFi is not generally used so will not be the cause of an issue.

If it is draining rapidly see which features are being used, snore detection and SpO2 tracker app can use as much as 4 days.

See other issues in How to resolve the Major issues causing short battery life

Also after syncing try a full Shutdown from the watch Settings menu. Wait at least 10 seconds before placing on the charger to restart it and charge it, as this sometimes helps with the slow charging message.

You may get the slow charge message but often it will still charge normally, so you can ignore it unless it takes a long time.

The circuitry is very sensitive and a slight drop in voltage or current can trigger it, especially when it gets 50% when it needs a little extra current.

[Lorcasaur]

I'm embarrassed to admit that filth was the extremely likely culprit. 😳 I gave it a deep clean with an alcohol wipe and ... so far so good! Hopefully it's all taken care of, but if it happens again I'll consider replacing the charger. Thank you!

[Lorcasaur]

Just an update for the sake of future users who may have this issue: cleaning it seemed to work for a day, then the same thing happened again. I called customer support and they're sending a replacement. He noticed when I called that in general, a full charge was only lasting a couple days, which is not normal. I will, however, keep the new one much cleaner! 

[MsRedCurls]

When I called Fitbit support the agent told me they never replace the Sense due to battery issues. My battery is not lasting a day. I have cleaned the back. I bought a second charging cable. The agents answer was for me to set the Display on DIM. Then he hung up on me. Other suggestions? I don't use SPO2 tracker. I only use steps, sleep, weather. I won't buy from Fitbit again in the future.

[Lorcasaur]

I would definitely call back if I were you! It sounds like you clearly have a battery issue, and they should be able to see how often you have to charge it, and that you don't have always-on or SPO2 turned on. Maybe you got a rare unhelpful agent, which has never been my experience with many a faulty device.

[Guy_]

Hi @MsRedCurls - do check the features and settings carefully - Snore detection or an installed SpO2 tracker app [that works in background] can use as much as 4 days of your battery - see the full details in How to resolve the Major issues causing short battery life.