Fitbit Sense not charging

[BrianWW]

I misplaced my Fitbit brand charger, and so went to buy another one.  The only store that had any was my local WalMart, and they had a brand called ONN.  Since they were $9.98 each, I bought two.  I went home, plugged in the charger and attached my Sense to it, as it was down to 17% charge.  The indicator on the face told me that the watch was charging.  When I came back (about 5-7 minutes later), the Sense was almost too hot to touch and the battery indicator read 0% in a red box.  I immediately took the Sense off the charger and let it cool down.  Then, I opened the second charger and plugged it into a USB port on my computer.  The watch would not charge or turn on.

I called the "support number" on the charger packaging, and was told that all I could do was to go back to the store I bought them from and speak to the store manager.  The store manager would not show, but sent out a couple of his assistants.  They suggested just exchanging the Sense (I did not buy it there; it was a Christmas present), but they don't carry that model so there was nothing they could do.  They filled out paperwork for a "warranty claim" and gave me a case number with the promise that I should hear from that company within 24 hours.

Lack of customer service or support from WalMart is not surprising, so that is not the point of this post.  The point is, my 2 1/2 month old Fitbit Sense is now dead from a cheap, defective charger.  No matter how this situation is resolved, my message to this community is:  Do NOT, under ANY circumstances, buy an ONN brand charger to use with your Fitbit product.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity. 

[Odyssey13]

Hi @BrianWW  sorry this happened to you, but it's a lesson for others to heed. I know people buy third party brand chargers and often without the reset button, which is crucial for restarting the device. If you paid for your Sense with a credit card, see if your credit card company has a warranty on your device. Often when purchased using the credit card, there is a warranty that we're not aware of. I do hope Walmart takes care of you. Thanks for the warning. No way of knowing how many people you'll help by sharing your sad story with us.

[Guy_]

Hi @BrianWW  - interesting post, it's not uncommon for watches to overheat, though more rare on a Sense.

Did you do an inspection of the devices to see in what way they are deficient and have you checked the back of your watch contact points for dirt or damage?

Are you able to post some photos to see the damage?

When you find the original charge cable [or get an official one] try cleaning the contacts and charging again.

If there wasn't a catastrophic watch failure it may recover, but make sure the contacts are properly cleaned and serviceable. Don't leave it unattended while trying to charge.

Shorting can occur if the pins on the charge cable are too short or improperly sprung and not making good contact. This may cause overheating and cause the watch to shutdown.

[BrianWW]

Unfortunately, the Sense was a Christmas present from my daughter, so I don't know how she payed for it.  That may be an avenue for me to look into though, and I will contact her about it.

As for Walmart, no there is no "taking care of me."  They filled out an electronic form that referred it to ONN, and then washed their hands.  My wife mentioned that they could have exchanged the watch, as it is sold on Walmart.com but not in the store.  All of the Senses on Walmart.com are sold by vendors however, and none by Walmart itself.  Given that I did not buy it there, I really wasn't expecting them to give me an exchange on the Fitbit.  Also, given how hard it was for them to admit there was a problem, I was not about to suggest that they look on their own website!  I was told on the customer service 800 number that I need to speak to the store manager, but he refused to come to the front of the store.  Instead, he sent two assistants to deal with me instead.

I do have a Fitbit charger coming from Amazon and it should arrive today.  I will try that, but am not very sanguine about it working.  I'm curious about the reset button you mentioned.  I don't think my original charger had one on it.  Where on the charger would I look for that?

[Odyssey13]

@BrianWW  sweet daughter you have. The Sense restarts from the device, not the charger. There are other style Fitbit products that restart from the charger with a small button that is pressed in. Fitbit Flex had a tiny pinhole in the charger and people would get third party chargers that didn't have that important pinhole. Hope the new charger gets you going again. Really think Onn should come through for you. I noticed they sell a lot of electronic products, including tablets and televisions.

[BrianWW]

If by "the devices" you mean the chargers, then all I have done is to inspect the outside of them.  There appears to be no damage to them.  However, I attempted to connect them to the Sense using my computer USB as a charging port.  I also held the button on the Sense down for 10 seconds to try and force a restart.  The computer gave me a message that said, "The USB device you attached has malfunctioned."  The Sense had some white lines flash across the face, and then showed the 0% message again.  After that there was no response.  

The back of the watch also shows no damage.  The contacts on the watch have what (at first look) appear to be black marks on them.  However, upon inspection under a bright lamp those marks appear to be nothing more than normal wear; i.e. no scorching or damage.  As I said to Odyssey 13, I have another Fitbit brand charger coming from Amazon today, and don't want to try these ONN ones again.  

[BrianWW]

She's very sweet indeed, even if she doesn't want anyone else to know it. 😁 She's an Apple kid, so pushed me to get an Apple Watch instead.  I've already owned a Charge HR and a Charge 3, so was committed to Fitbit products.  

[Guy_]

Here are some photos to compare.

Top charger is the Fitbit one

Next charger is one direct from China, works better

Last photo is my Sense which needs cleaning as contacts aren't as gold as they should be.

Fitbit cable on top

[BrianWW]

Well, let me try and upload some photos of my devices.

As you can see, the contacts on the back of the watch are not gold colored.  I don't think they were when I got the watch.

[Guy_]

@BrianWW  - thanks for the good photos, it all looks good and no visible damage. Are you sure it isn't actually just a watch problem?

One thing to check on the charge cable is that the pins are all the same height and have the same spring pressure.

What may be possible is the pin centers don't correspond with the holes and if the magnet is incorrectly placed the pins could be touching the metal case.

The only way to know is to use a meter to see how much current is being drawn. The one I use measures a maximum of 310 ma

Am not an expert but imagine the contacts are merely a means of applying power from the USB power source to the watch and that the cable has no circuitry inside. So it either makes good contact, poor contact or none at all. May be someone else knows.

[AndreaFitbit · Accepted solution]

Thanks for getting back to us and for sharing your experience with Fitbit Sense charging cable @BrianWW. Thank you for your assistance and  advise @Odyssey13 and @Guy_. 

I appreciate the warning and the pictures. Please try the charging cable that it's on its way and don't try the other charging cables. The best way to get help for this problem is to chat with us online or give us a call. Click here to get connected, they can give you a hand with your Sense. 

Keep on visiting the forums. 

[BrianWW]

I don't think it is a watch problem,  per se.  It was working fine until I used that charger.  I DO think you might be onto something with the spring/pin strength/positions.  The springs under the pins on these chargers feel very loose and sloppy.  Also, the pins don't appear to be the same diameter as the branded ones when comparing the photos above.  Purely subjective I know, but 🤷🏼‍:male_sign:,

[BrianWW]

Andrea,

Thanks and you don't have to worry about me trying those chargers again!  I'm currently waiting for the Amazon delivery like Snoopy in a mailbox.

If the new charger makes it work, then I will let everyone here know.  If it doesn't, then I will get in touch with the Help people.  I'm afraid it won't because the store lead at Walmart got a Fitbit brand charger from somewhere and tried to make the watch work.  I even told him, "Where was that?  If I'd seen it, I would have bought it."  He ignored me, so I suspect he got it from a Versa, since they sell those.

Also, thanks so much for the suggestion to contact the help group.  I didn't really make the post to ask for help, but it is very nice of you to offer.  Clearly you're willing to stand behind your products!

BWW

[DramaQueenDiva]

You should contact ONN directly and tell them what happened. I don't know what the outcome will be, but you may be able to shed light on an issue they're not aware of.

Second, for what it's worth, I got a Fitbit branded charger for my Sense last week off of Amazon. I'd be happy to send you the information. I've had no issues with it whatsoever and made sure it was from Fitbit for that reason.

[BrianWW]

Kristen,

Thanks for the offer, but mine came in between your message and my response.  And yes, it is a Fitbit brand in a Fitbit box (this time).  Unfortunately, it didn't work so I am going to get in contact with the Help group that Andrea gave me the link to.

I am going to have to contact ONN directly, as Walmart turned the entire situation over to them.  I have a contact at their parent company that Walmart provided me, but am supposed to wait 7-10 business days before contacting them.  Obviously, I am not going to wait that long. 😁

Quick update with the Fitbit charger:  After about 5 minutes of charging from my computer USB port, the back of the watch was once again hot.to the touch.  There's no doubt to me now that the trouble is inside the watch, even though there's no visible damage on the outside.

[AndreaFitbit]

Thanks for getting back to us and for letting us know what happened with your Sense when you got the Fitbit charging cable @BrianWW.

Please get in touch with our team as soon as you can in order to get assistance. 

Thank you for your help @DramaQueenDiva.

Keep on visiting the forums. 

[N8teGee]

Personally I think it's the device (Fitbit) that is faulty. Modern electronics are built to control the charging current which includes thermal control. In other words there are mechanisms in place to prevent over charging, under depletion and over heating. To me it sounds like one of these has failed.

I'd recommend contacting Fitbit customer support to discuss your warranty options. 

[Guy_]

As Gil Grissom [ CSI ] says, there's no such thing as a coincidence, but in this case he may be wrong and @N8teGee may be right!

[AndreaFitbit]

Thank you for your comments  @N8teGee and @Guy_. 

I hope this gets fixed soon @BrianWW.

Have a nice day.

[BrianWW]

Andrea,

Am getting in contact with them after I finish the responses on here tonight.  Thanks again.

BWW