Sense broken charging cable

[ravinot]

Hi Community, has anyone experienced an issue with the charging cable pins recessing into their holes? I was given a Sense as a gift a couple of months ago and noticed the other day that it had stopped charging. When I inspected the cable, I can see that one of the pins has crawled back into the hole.

Is there any way to perform a DIY fix? I have seen cables on the market that you can purchase, but I don't want to go down that route yet as the watch is pretty new. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[LizzyFitbit]

Hi there @StanleyS.

Thanks for getting back and for taking the time to share your interaction with our Support team. I understand how you're feeling about this experience and I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. Every feedback shared in the forums never goes unnoticed as it helps us to evaluate our procedures and improve our products, features and services. Your feedback hasn't gone unnoticed and will be passed along to the proper team so we can prevent you from having a similar experience in the future.

Even though you have purchased new charging cables for your Sense, I've forwarded your posts to our team so they can review your case and provide you with further assistance. They'll get in touch with you via email with more information. Please follow up with your email case should you have any further questions

[StanleyS]

I did get an email from fitbit support. Here is what I received:

We acknowledge how you feel in this situation and we want to provide you with the best option based on the company's policies.

We can promise that all of our Fitbit products are in constant improvement development based, thanks to our customer's feedback. New products come and join the Fitbit family because we take into account our customer’s feedback. This can be reflected in the newer designs and features.

Our doors will always be open for you if you ever change your mind. Also, please keep in mind that we're always working hard to improve our products and give you the best experience possible.
 
Our Fitbit family loves to assist our members in the best way we can.If you have any additional questions about your Fitbit device or services, visit help.fitbit.com

---

So, my takeaway is:

1. They acknowledge how I feel about the cheap charging cable breaking. They don't necessarily understand why I think they should replace it, but they do acknowledge that I have feelings on the matter.
2. They promise me that they are continually working to make their stuff better. I can only hope this includes better quality control on their charging cables.
3. Their (Fitbit's) doors will always be open to me if I decide to ever "change my mind." I guess what they're saying is if I choose to buy another fitbit in the future (despite this issue and their decision to not to stand behind their product), they will allow me to do so.

Thanks.

[SunsetRunner]

This exact issue happened to me! That is the third cable since December 2020! It is unacceptable.  I  am thinking of getting rid of this Sense! 

[jsings]

I also just had the same issue, one day after buying the Versa 3 ... We have 3 FitBit tracker/watches. 

I've contacted Customer Support and asked them to ship a replacement charging cable. Let's see what happens.

[miq3l]

same issue here after 3 weeks

-------------------------

Hi LizzyFitbit,

Did you realize yet, there's a design or manufacturing issue with the charger pins?

I would expect, from a respectable company like yours , to put in place a product recall campaign ASAP.

thanks

 miquel

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[devnuhl]

Mine's got the same pin depressed as well.

[ashakantasharma]

Is the chat and customer support of Fitbit is specialed for some country or is same for all countries including India

[Gr4ndp4]

Hi, @ashakantasharma, welcome, the Fitbit "Customer Support" team is language based and I understand located in a number of time zones. You can discuss problems a receive assistance in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, and Korean. This link is dynamic so if I click it I'm directed to a UK based line whereas if someone in the US clicks it they are directed to US-based lines. I'm not aware of the technical details but I do know some community members and moderators are multi-lingual.

I hope this is helpful.

Cheers

[jsings]

UPDATE

Fitbit offered to send me an entire new device and cable, which made little sense. I asked them to send only a cable, which they did. 

Meanwhile, I bought a pack of replacement cables from Amazon quite cheap.  

All the cables work and the device is working fine, too. 

Clearly, this is a mfg defect. 

[MJC317]

I have had my Sense for 5 months. Cable failed after 4 months and was replaced.  Lasted 5 weeks. Same issue of same pin no longer popping up.  Customer service sent a reply asking for a picture with case number in picture and reminded me with bold underlined message that the warranty is up after 1 year and the replacement cable does not extend the time.  I am disappointed that such a message would be sent when they know they have a problem with the cables.  I am going to see if retailer will take it back and get an Apple watch.

Michael

[StanleyS]

My charging cable failed after 5 months. The only "offer" I got was I had to go deal with the issue at the place of purchase. This is the first time in my recent memory where a "big" company has failed to stand behind an obviously defective product. Shame on Fitbit. Shame on Google for allowing their "child" company to not stand behind their product in a sensible, non wasteful, manner (I consider it as waste of resources to return the entire product back to Costco when all I want is a functioning replacement for the defective charging cable).

[betty340]

I have had the same experience , bought my fitbit sense in late march 2021 and I am on my 3rd charging cable .....not even 6 month

I have been super careful handling the charger after the first one failed thinking maybe it got miss handled someway so the pin got pushed in
Now I am sure this is a design flaw!
Would be great if fit bit would make a charger that wont keep on breaking every  other month

[MJC317]

I am disappointed that Fitbit is not stepping up to deal with this issue.
What good is the product if you cannot charge it? I replied to customer
service with the pictures of my cable they requested on Monday. It is now 4
days later and no response. They are dropping the ball.

[Ktgogators]

I'm glad to see I'm not alone. It's now happened with my second charger. This is quite ridiculous. What, of anything, has Fitbit done to resolve this issue? 

[Sephem]

Well, this has also happened to me twice in 6 months. Every time this happens I cannot use my watch for days until the new one is shipped out to me throwing all my stats out.

Has anyone found a better 3rd party charger? Everyone I have looked at for review seems to have the same issues.

[ravinot]

This is the one I ordered: https://mobilemob.com.au/collections/fitbit-chargers-cables/products/fitbit-versa-3-sense-charger-ca.... I've not had an issue with it, as the pins are designed differently with a small base to prevent them from recessing back into the hole. I hope that helps.

[SunsetRunner]

This site just send to Australia and New Zealand...

[Yuriamari]

My fitbit last exactly a year of everyday use before the pin gave out. I've reviewed the forum. I tried finding pins that can replace it but the mount on the pin is unique to say the least.  The watches dont last very long uncharged, so once the charge breaks it's pretty important to replace.

Although this is a pretty crappy fix this is what i did.  

1. Disassemble the charger, being carful to not damage any clips or connections. 

2. Fill the damaged pin backing with saulder. Its best to try to extend the pin first. Due to the damage the pin will not extrude fully for every one if your lucky test the charger the pin may be stuck out all far enough it will no longer recess like the other pins.  In the event the pin is fully reassessed or no out enough continue. 

3. Now the pin is up some its easier to remove excess material around the pin. Carfully remove plastic around the pin. 

4. Using the smallest ammount of saulder make a standing pin it should bond easily to the copper pin if you have experince. Then clip the excess. If its still not making good contact undo the saulder n try again. 

This got my watch charger worling again.

I Still recommend you buy a new charger. 

@Vincent no the current moves along the platted shell not the spring.

[MJC317]

Thanks for your information on how you fixed your charging cable. I just
took a small amount of tin foil and balled it up placing it in the pin hole
on the back of the watch. I then must give the cable head a few taps to
make the pin drop out a bit before placing it on the watch. It sometimes
takes a few attempts but eventually it works.



My watch is still under warranty, so I contacted customer service and they
asked for pictures of the cable head. After ten days I had not received a
confirmation that they received my reply, so I finally called them back.
They had received my reply but said that they are so swamped with problems
that my case was still in the middle of many. Because I had called, they
delt with my case immediately. I got a message saying they would send out a
new (this is my third) cable overnight shipping. Fitbit overnight shipping
means 6 days. Should have it middle of the week. Hope it lasts longer than
5 weeks like the last one.

[Yuriamari]

My charger did last about exactly a year before the pin gave out. So i highly doubt i can get another from fitbit. I always order my trackers from fitbit themselves.

Id suggest being more gentle on your charger.  Charging watch face down lifting from cable or not letting it horribly snap on by its self rly hard. 

I'm glad the foil ball worked for you. I'd say thats a more worrying fix since it can bridge a contact to the back plate, and aluminium and copper are very reactivate conductors.  It can cause arcing shorting resistance and oxodize the pin faster. I'd find another material to punch in there. Id definitely monitor the temperature of your device as it charges. Use an alloy or metal that isnt reactive like copper,lead,silver.