Fitbit Sense not charging

[SJImrie]

Brand new out of the box and I can’t get my Fitbit Sense to charge at all.

I’ve tried connecting it to a USB port on my laptop and to a UBS plug socket, and neither are working. 

I was advised to gently wipe the back of the watch and the pins on the charger, but again no joy. 

Does anyone have any suggestions? 

[rawich]

Hi @LizzyFitbit 
I'm having the same charging issue here.  I've just opened the box yesterday to use the Sense as an upgrade from Charge 3.  

• I noticed right out of the box that it wasn't charging at all, but I set it up with the app and replaced the Charge 3 anyway.
• Contacted Support team via Chat yesterday, and was told that someone will contact me via email.
  It has been a whole day, and no contact.
• If I hold the watch and charger in certain angle, I can get it to charge for a few seconds.

I've been using Fitbit for years, and it has been a big part of how I stayed active and maintain the good health.

If I don't hear anything back in the next day, I'll just return the Sense.  

I found a workaround to get the Sense to charge. I hope this help someone in similar situation.

• I put a few layers of small pieces of PostIt (sticky notes) on the charging pad, close to the cable side. See the pics.
• I hang the charger and charge cable from above, so the Sense will be hoisted while charging.
• To get it to start and continue to charge, I still need to jiggle the watch and charging pad a few times.
• Actions that might help to start the charging: Gently press the watch against the pad, or put pressure on left or right sides of the watch while gently pushing the pad from another direction.

 

 I still haven't heard back from Fitbit. This is really unexpected for $300+ watch.

Moderator edit: merged reply

[BrianRKelley70]

I too was having the same problem. I tried many USB plugs including the one that came with my Apple phone and nothing was working.  I remember having the Amazon fire and the USB plug that came with it was a fast charger. I hooked it up and it seems to have solve that problem. The plug is a LG MCS-01WR plug. I hope this helps you like it helped me.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @rawich and @BrianRKelley70. Welcome to the Community Forums.

@rawich, thanks for the time taken to troubleshoot your watch and contact our Support team. Also for the pictures attached. I understand how you're feeling about your new watch not working correctly and I'm sorry that you're having this experience. Because you already have a case created, I've forwarded your posts so our team can check your details and get in touch with you soon. You'll receive an email, so make sure to check your inbox, spam and junk folders.

@BrianRKelley70, thanks for letting me know that your watch is having this issue, as well for sharing the suggestions that worked for you. I'm sure other members will find your post very helpful. It's great that your Sense is now charging correctly and please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any other question. 

[dthfb]

10+ year Fitbit user, had sense for a couple months. I'm now completely unable to charge my device. Extremely frustrating.

Similar to others it will vibrate and attempt to start up, but never ever charges.

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @dthfb. Welcome to the Community Forums.

Thanks for joining this thread and sharing your Sense's behavior. I see where you're coming from about your watch not charging correctly and I'm sorry for this inconvenience. I went ahead and contacted our Support team about this situation, however it seems that you already have a case created with them. Please keep an open communication with them so you can receive further assistance.

[Pritchd]

I just want to add another "I've got the same issue" post. I got my Sense direct from Fitbit on 9/25, and its worked perfectly until yesterday afternoon - now it won't charge. Judging by the number of posts with charging issues, this is a common problem.

I've opened a case with Support (after trying the varied suggestions in this forum to no avail) and am waiting for their email.

[Lazywalker]

I want to add another Fitbit not charging post. I’ve had mine since August and had other issues around heart rate and Fitbit just randomly restarting but now it just won’t charge. 
I’ve tried wiping connections, switching between usb and power sockets. Using different charging plugs and the charge is still dropping at 19%

Raised a case with Fitbit support and got a quick although useless response informing me battery life was only 2 days if display was set to always on. Whilst interesting information not exactly relevant to the fault I reported

im getting rather fed up with Fitbit support as I now have 3 outstanding issues raised and very little assistance. 

I’m not really certain where to go next as they don’t seem to have any way to directly contact them. They’re even ignoring Twitter now 

[SunsetRunner]

Hi guys,

This seems to be to be an issue with the OEM charging cable in the box. As someone above posted workarounds to the OEM charger to help, I simply went and bought a double pack of 3rd party chargers off Amazon for £6.99. They have a longer cable (Why do Fitbits chargers have such short cables?) and a wider base and I got them today and my Sense is charging like a dream. So my issue is the charger and not the watch.

Ridiculous to have to do this after paying £300 for the watch but hey-ho

Link for those who want the same: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08KXYDLMT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Pritchd]

I just ordered charge cables from Amazon which should be delivered Saturday. Hopefully it’s the solution as my battery is now completely empty.

I haven’t received any communication (the promised email) from the Sense support team. It’s been several days now and honestly I would have expected at least an acknowledgement from them that they are investigating or something similar.


Sent from my iPad

[Lazywalker]

Just got new charging tables from amazon and sense is charging now. Happy but disappointed as I would have expected the original cable to have lasted more than 6 months. 

Sense now showing 15% charge and rising

[SunsetRunner]

Glad that worked for you. Fitbit should be reimbursing us for the cost though

[Lazywalker]

I wish they would but I’m not holding my breath for it



Sent from my iPhone

[rawich]

Thank you, @LizzyFitbit can you help follow up with the support team again?  They said they would analyze the issue, but haven't been responding for many days.

Moderator Edit: Personal info removed

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi everyone. It's good to see you here in the forums and welcome to our new members.

@Pritchd and @Lazywalker, thanks for sharing your experience with your Sense, as well for giving a try to @SunsetRunner's suggestion. I see where you're coming from about having these issues with your new watches and I'm sorry for this inconvenience. This isn't the type of experience that we want you to have and be sure that your feedback will be passed along so our team can work and enhance our products.

@rawich, thanks for contacting our Support team and I'm sorry that you've not received a reply from them. I've got in touch with them and I was told that your case is under review but they'll send you an email shortly with more details. Please wait for their reply and keep an open communication with them so you can receive further assistance.

[rawich]

Thank you Lizzy.  I've received the response from Support team.

-Rawich

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi @rawich. I hope you're doing well.

You're welcome and I'm glad you're receiving assistance. Please keep an open communication with them as I'm sure that they'll be happy to continue assisting you the same way I will be if you need anything else.

Have a nice day!

[Pritchd]

Here is an update -- I got the charging cables from Amazon and they work great - my Sense is charged up and working - which means that the original Fitbit cable died after two months. I did hear from Fitbit Support, and after trying their suggested steps (none of which worked) they confirmed that my warranty is still in effect and will be sending a replacement charging cable.

[Lazywalker]

You’re lucky. They haven’t offered me a replacement cable and I only got the Sense in September



Sent from my iPhone

[BrianRKelley70]

fantastic, I am very happy to hear that it is working for you as well.

[Pritchd]

I didn't wait for them to offer -- I asked for one since I tried all their troubleshooting steps and was still under warranty. (I bought mine in September too) You should still be good.